Climbing to the top: Club Climbing Team at Pitt ranked No. 3 in the nation

Pitt’s sports teams are nationally ranked, including Pitt volleyball, men’s soccer, football and, as of recently, the Club Climbing Team at Pitt.

The Club Climbing Team at Pitt is ranked No. 3 among collegiate climbing teams nationwide, behind the University of Colorado and the University of Utah. The competitive team is preparing to qualify for preliminary qualification events at the end of this month to get ready for nationals in the spring. 

Rock climbing, whether competitive or recreational, is a sport that involves scaling rock faces, sometimes with the use of equipment. It requires a combination of muscle strength, cardiovascular endurance and flexibility. Sam Gotthelf, a sophomore in mechanical engineering, described climbing as “a unique sport.”

“It’s really close-knit,” Gotthelf said. “And you can climb with someone of a different age, a different ability — all these different things, and people really come together.”

In competition, climbers face various types of walls individually and as a team. Zachary Dallal, senior neuroscience major and president of the Club Climbing Team at Pitt, highlighted the different types of techniques that each type of wall requires. 

“There are some people that are really good at hang style,” Dallal said, “and there’s some people that are really good at this slab style — it’s basically just the angle of the wall.”

JoJo Hillman, a junior rehabilitation science student and member of the climbing team, emphasized the inclusivity of rock climbing. 

“The biggest thing for rock climbing is that it’s a sport for everyone,” Hillman said. “It doesn’t matter gender, age, size or skill ability. A lot of people think that rock climbing is strength-dependent, but it’s really not — it’s about problem-solving on the wall and being creative.”

Within the past year, the club has grown in membership, which resulted in the largest number of members attending the national competition. Dallal was one of nine members who attended Nationals last year and said the experience was “awesome.” 

“It was crazy too, because it was totally unexpected,” Dallal said. “We didn’t know that we were going to be anywhere near contention for [the third spot on the] podium. Originally we all went just to have fun, mess around. Once we saw that something was actually coming, we got very serious.”

Dallal has been a climber since high school. He noted how much the Climbing Club at Pitt has grown since he joined in his freshman year, and how he is optimistic about the club’s future.

“This club specifically is still very young, very new,” Dallal said. “Back when I joined freshman year, I saw there was a lot of potential that could be done, especially within my time here. So I’ve been doing a whole lot of stuff to try and get this team moving up.”

Giovina Leeds, a junior public health major and vice president of the team, noted that people might not expect Pitt to rank so high in collegiate climbing teams because of its location. 

“When you think of climbing, you think out west,” Leeds said. “You don’t really think of Pittsburgh, so it’s really cool that we are number three — that we’re on that top nationals list.” 

The team aims to match, if not surpass their previous success at this year’s competition. 

“It’s really cool to see our team place a lot higher than we had expected,” Leeds said. “We hope to do even better this year, and we’re really training for it.”

Gotthelf was another team member who attended nationals. 

“It was awesome for us to beat some really strong, powerhouse, athletic schools and well-established climbing teams,” Gotthelf said. “Our goal is to keep going with that, so we’re working to secure some brand partners … which is a thing that’s not been really seen in the collegiate competitive climbing world. That will help us push ourselves even further forward.”

The team now has sponsors from companies since competing in nationals. They’ve partnered with FrictionLabs and have memberships with ASCEND, a local climbing gym in Southside, where the team practices three times a week at a discounted rate.

“We’ve gotten a lot of recognition after getting third at nationals,” Zachary Dallal said. “That was a huge player in everything that’s been happening.”

Zayne Dallal, a sophomore electrical engineering major, is the fundraising chair for the club. He is responsible for setting up the Engage Pitt donation website to raise funds for the upcoming season. 

“That has been a huge, huge responsibility,” Zayne Dallal said, “and it’s also really fun because I feel like we’re seeing a lot out of it. It’s been really successful and I’m really happy about it.”

The first and second-ranked collegiate climbing teams, the University of Utah and Colorado, receive “insane amounts of funding,” Zayne Dallal said. Because of this, “they don’t have to do Engage Pitt projects like us.” 

Zayne Dallal is confident in the club’s self-supporting nature and the community they’ve built. 

“The fact that we got third, off of just our own money, off the kindness and support of others, and our own motivation is one of the most incredible things ever,” Zayne Dallal said. 

A previous version of this story misstated that the Climbing Team at Pitt was sponsored by their partners.  The article has been updated to accurately reflect the relationship between the team and it’s supporters. The Pitt News regrets this error.