At climbing club TilSAC, students reach great heights

With weekly training sessions, social activities, and nearly monthly trips across Europe, climbing club TilSAC is the club for climbing enthusiasts, boulderers, and alpinists. Here, students climb high into the ropes. ‘You really get a dopamine rush once you reach the top.’

‘Choose an on-sight route and climb it without taking a break, until you can’t go any further. That means climbing until you fall or until your muscles give out,’ trainer Janne Stolte (22) instructs a group of about fifteen climbers. ‘You might have to climb the route five or six times—just don’t stop.’

In climbing, an on-sight route is a path just below your level that you have to complete in one go without closely studying the wall in advance. And although tonight’s routes are technically on the easier side, the endless repetition makes the training session particularly tough. It’s no surprise that many TilSAC members choose to follow their own plan on this Friday evening.

Student corps

TilSAC stands for the Tilburg Student Alpine Club. The climbing association was founded in 1984 by members of T.S.C. St. Olof and remained a sub-club of the student corps for many years. However, the club has long since become fully independent and now brings together a solid group of around ninety alpinists.

Tonight’s training is held at climbing center Neoliet, a large hall in Stappegoor where climbers, secured in harnesses and ropes, ascend colorful walls up to ten meters high. Spread across several floors, the center buzzes with activity.

Some TilSAC members are focused on climbing, while others stand below with rope in hand, “belaying”—securing their partners by keeping the rope taut or letting it out as needed.

One of the climbers is Rick van de Sande (23), who has just descended from the high wall. He’s been a member for two years now and has developed a serious passion for climbing. ‘I had just graduated and thought: I’m not going to meet any new people anymore. And I also hadn’t found a sport I really liked,’ he says.

That’s why Van de Sande started checking out different sports clubs after graduating. At TilSAC, he immediately felt at home: ‘This was just the most welcoming and fun club. I now climb two to three times a week, and I’ve even earned my first climbing certificate!’

Climbing trips

But it’s not just the climbing itself that keeps him coming back. ‘Some of my best memories are from the climbing trips the club organizes. Camping in nature, climbing a lot, barbecuing in the evenings: those are the kinds of days that stick with you.’

Four times a year, the club heads off, usually to well-known climbing spots in Belgium, Germany, or France – like Ettringen in Germany or the bouldering paradise of Fontainebleau, just outside Paris.

For Danny Vong (39), those climbing trips are also a highlight. According to fellow climber Daan Michielsen (35), Vong has broadened his horizons considerably. ‘Danny has already climbed in Jordan, Nepal, and Argentina,’ Daan says with admiration. But adventures like those come with their own challenges. Vong laughs: ‘In Argentina, you have to poop in a bag so you don’t pollute the mountain. So yes, you literally carry your own shit.’

Dopamine rush

Taking care of nature is very important in the sport, say members Veerle Scheijvens (24) and Aliza Runia (20). ‘What’s so great about TilSAC is that you find a community here with the same values,’ says Scheijvens. ‘We all have a love for nature and care about the environment.’ She joined in February after taking a climbing course at the university’s sports center – and now she’s hooked.

The same goes for Runia, who’s been climbing for about nine years. ‘I actually have a hard time concentrating most of the time, but when I’m climbing, there’s a new puzzle to solve every ten seconds. That’s what makes it so fun.’ Scheijvens nods in agreement, adding with a laugh: ‘And you definitely get a dopamine rush when you reach the top.’

After an hour and a half of climbing, the two call it a night. It’s already 9 PM, and they have an early start tomorrow. For many other members, however, the night is still young—they’ll be hanging in the ropes a little longer.