High-Altitude Learning Climbing Teams Gain Popularity At Area Schools

Climbing teams from St. George’s and Gonzaga Prep met two weeks ago at Wild Walls climbing gym, the second time this year the schools have faced off against each other.

Competitions like this are new to Spokane, but that doesn’t stop coaches of the teams from envisioning a day when area students will compete in a high school climbing league.

“OK, on belay,” shouts Mike Poutiatine, St. George’s climbing coach.

A green rope slides like a listless snake through the carabiner on Poutiatine’s harness - slightly slack, allowing just enough leeway for Devon Christenson to move freely on the wall.

Poutiatine offers encouragement: “Nice, good, nice, oh, yeah, Devon.”

The burly director of St. George’s experiential education program helped found the private school’s climbing team last spring. G-Prep’s team started this fall.

Without warning, Christenson plunges from the wall. The green snake in Poutiatine’s hands snaps instantly taut, mirroring the muscles in his broad shoulders. Secure in his harness, Christenson swings harmlessly through the air.

“Oh, man,” says Poutiatine, lowering his weary charge to the ground. “You almost had it.”

Situations like this are second nature to experienced climbers. But they also illustrate why an organized high school climbing league would be a great idea, Poutiatine said. In such a league, students could learn under the watchful eye of qualified coaches.

“With the number of young climbers increasing, you read about inexperienced climbers falling and dying,” Poutiatine said. “These are errors that might have been eliminated if the kids were properly trained.”

Despite rumors of programs getting under way at other Spokane schools, St. George’s and Prep remain the only high school teams in town. That’s something Poutiatine and G-Prep coach Rick LaBelle would like to see change.

LaBelle surveys the “playing field” at Wild Walls. There are routes set up all over the indoor climbing wall, marked with numbers designating difficulty and scoring. In the competition, climbers were allowed seven attempts - one every half-hour. Their three best climbs counted in scoring.

Turnout for G-Prep’s team exceeded LaBelle’s expectations.

“When we thought up the club, I thought a few people would be interested,” LaBelle said. “I was shocked when 30 kids showed up to our first meeting.”

Next year, G-Prep climbers will have the opportunity to earn a school athletic letter.

Both teams practice at least twice a week during the winter at Wild Walls. Wild Walls owner Tim Behan estimates that 40 percent of his clientele are high school-aged students.

Alongside climbers from St. George’s and G-Prep during the competition were members of Wild Walls’ own youth team, ranging from 10 to 19 years old. They come from schools all over Spokane, Behan said.

With interest peaking among young climbers here, Behan said a climbing league would be a great fit.

When warmer weather returns this spring, Poutiatine and LaBelle expect their teams to resume outdoor practice at popular local climbing areas like Minnehaha, along the Spokane River.

Team members - there are 17 “playing” for St. George’s, while G-Prep has around 30 - are certified to belay on the indoor wall at Wild Walls. Experience levels run the gamut on both teams - some of the kids started last week, while others have been climbing half their lives.

G-Prep junior Rick White began climbing just before Christmas.

“I use climbing as cross training for track and cross country, for upper body strength,” White said. “Plus, it’s a great sport.”

His inexperience didn’t stop him two weeks ago; White wound up in fourth place. St. George’s Jake Beren won the boys’ competition between the schools, while G-Prep’s Carolina Reyes captured the girls’ contests.

St. George’s climber Allegra Samuelson doesn’t like to run. She doesn’t play any of the other mainstream sports, either. A climbing league, she says, would offer an alternative for students not already immersed in traditional athletics.

“You’re not learning in the book sense when you climb,” Samuelson says. “What you learn here is technique and the right moves. You get a sense of well-being.”

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: Interested? Students or coaches at Spokane-area high schools interested in getting their own climbing teams started can call Wild Walls (455-9596), Mike Poutiatine at St. George’s (466-1636), or Rick LaBelle at Gonzaga Prep (483-8511) for logistical support.