Thursday, April 24, 2025
Despite the thuds hitting the mats, claps from around the gym, and music pouring from the speakers, the “K-House” cheer from nearly 20 students and coaches still made a statement as the Rufus King rock climbing team opened practice at Adventure Rock’s location in the Walker’s Point neighborhood on Monday, April 7.
After a brief team huddle and icebreaker to start practice, students and coaches scattered around the gym, testing themselves against Adventure Rock’s wide range of climbing walls.
At the start of the 2024-25 school year, Milwaukee Recreation launched its inaugural season of the Rock Climbing Club, creating a new community for all high school students living within the city of Milwaukee. Rufus King, which already had a rock climbing team in place in recent years, seamlessly slid into this new Milwaukee Recreation club concept. Reagan High School and Milwaukee School of Languages (MSL) also fielded teams in 2024-25.
Through this program, Milwaukee Recreation offers affordable opportunities for young people to build on existing skills and develop new ones. “Our team is very welcoming to beginner climbers, all the way up to anyone who has been climbing for a handful of years,” Rufus King coach Vicente Delgado said. “We really work with everyone on an individual basis.”
Delgado is giving more than just the traditional “coach speak;” students do truly join Rufus King’s team from an incredible range of climbing backgrounds. Junior Devon Weber has been scaling walls with his family since he was two years old. Phoebe Combs merely joined the club as a freshman in search of friendships and a new activity; as a junior, Combs is now a co-captain. Inocybe Gutierrez, meanwhile, was always interesting in rock climbing, but just had one small barrier in her way—her self-proclaimed “huge” fear of heights.
“I wanted to kind of conquer it a little bit,” Gutierrez said. “I feel more able to come down from those difficult situations… and I can more easily put myself in the mindset where I’m in the zone, this is not that hard, I do this all the time.”
Weekly practices include individual training sessions with coaches, free climbing time with teammates, and team instructional sessions. Throughout the winter and spring, the Wisconsin High School Climbing League (WHSCL) also hosts monthly competitive events, with discounted registration fees for Rock Climbing Club participants, at locations around the area. Rufus King, Reagan, and MSL all sent students to the five competitions. Notable finishes included:
- Spencer Hensersky (MSL): second in D3M at Comp. 1
- Evan Kress (Rufus King): third in D3M at Comp. 1
- Daniel Monton Garcia (Rufus King): first in D2M at Comp. 2
- Aelish Linn (Rufus King): one of the top 20 female climbers in the WHSCL, and was invited to participate at the American Scholastic Climbing League National Invite
All told during the spring season, 42 total students from Rufus King, Reagan, and MSL participated in the program, with 12 representing Milwaukee Recreation at the state competition at Adventure Rock Milwaukee on April 12. Heading into 2025-26, the goal is to bring even more students and schools into the fold.
“I really like that climbing is something that you never master,” Linn said. “You never hit a ceiling in climbing, no pun intended. You’re never the best you can be, and it’s not demoralizing. It’s so empowering because you are always getting better.”
Milwaukee Recreation continues to expand its extracurricular sports presence for high school students, beyond the traditional athletics opportunities that are available by way of the Milwaukee City Conference. In addition to the Rock Climbing Club, Milwaukee Recreation also supports and organizes an Esports League, as well as a Ski & Snowboarding Club.