Club Spotlight: Rock Climbing Club
By V MURDAYA ‘27
Rock climbing is often perceived as simply a straightforward test of strength, but it requires much more than that. The intricate patterns of handholds and footholds scattered across the climbing wall create a unique challenge for every climber, making each ascent an unpredictable journey. On television, the sight of climbers strategizing their moves, stretching toward the next hold, and testing their grip strength is a testament to the precision and focus the sport demands. Fortunately, most do not have to learn this instantly. The physical and mental demands can be learned, and there are stages to this learning experience. The Exeter Rock Climbing Club aims to provide the necessary tools and assistance to help each member reach their climbing goals.
While the club technically meets from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. on Sundays in the climbing room, there is no specific set time that members have to arrive. Co-head and lower Simon Courchesne explained, “It’s like an open club. It’s really an uncoordinated meeting.” Moreover, the club is open to climbers of all experience levels and hopes to accommodate everyone. Club member and senior Lucian Gleiser said, “We always welcome every level of climber! If anyone has a question, we’ll answer it the best we can and make sure to define any new funky climbing terms. We always make sure our gym has climbs suited to all climbers — total beginner or advanced.”
Co-head and senior Varit Asavathiratham gave an overview of an average club session. “We’ll start playing music. We’ll put out all the snacks and whatnot…We’ll usually have a couple of people come in straight at 10:00 a.m., and we’ll be sitting on the mats chatting. We’ll be getting up and trying climbs every once in a while and then coming back down to rest.“
Courchesne added, “A lot of it is kind of basic, like teaching people how to climb and then setting new climbs on the wall.” He also noted that the club frequently plays climbing-related games, such as races up modified versions of climbing routes.
Although the club primarily focuses on indoor climbing, they frequently venture off-campus to outdoor bouldering locations, particularly during the fall. Courchesne described a fond memory of such an adventure: “We went to Pawtuckaway to do outdoor bouldering [and] that was so fun. All the co-heads came, and a lot more members than usual attended, and it was really fun.” He continued, highlighting the obstacles that club members faced. “There were a lot of challenging climbs, and a lot of people showed that they were better climbers than they had ever anticipated because outdoor bouldering is so different from indoor bouldering.” Other locations the club visits include other indoor climbing gyms and parks.
Rock Climbing Club has also recently founded a competitive team to train and participate in various climbing tournaments in the academy’s region. Advanced climbers have begun meeting additionally on Wednesday afternoons to prepare for such competitions. The club already saw immense success from the very first climbing competition in which they competed. At the Notch Climbing Gym in Lebanon, NH, Asavathiratham won the men’s advanced U18 category, while Courchesne placed third in the same category.
Looking to the future, the club seeks to increase its membership attendance. Not only does the club offer an opportunity for members to bond between periods of breaks or go to lunch as a group once the session is over, but there are also both physical and mental benefits to climbing. Gleiser said, “Climbing is definitely one of the best conditioning sports out there — it offers a full-body workout and also trains balance, coordination, and quick thinking. Every climb is like a puzzle, which is why we call them boulder problems!”
Asavathiratham echoed that sentiment, noting that “everybody who climbs has really good upper body strength.” He continued, “Climbing is also really good at training the mental or problem-solving aspect of your mind because when you climb, when you see a route, you have to figure out, okay, this is where I’m going to put my hands, this is where I’m going to put my feet. And so that’s a really interesting aspect that I think a lot of people don’t think about when they think about climbing.”
Courchesne encouraged students across campus to join the climbing club: “Waking up at 10:00 a.m. might be a little hard for some people because they want to sleep in, but if you can will yourself to get up, I advise you to come because it’s a very open and welcoming community. We don’t really have any reason for you not to come because we try to be very accepting of beginners and people of any skill level. So if you are interested in climbing at all, you should come.”
