Our History
The team unofficially began in 2017 when Max Hammer competed in the USA Climbing Collegiate Regional, National, and World championships as the sole athlete representing the University of Michigan.
The following year, Max wanted to expand the competing climbing scene on campus and began working with the Michigan Recreational Climbing Club as the competition chair. During 2018, the competitive climbing community exploded at Michigan. Climbers from all experience levels joined the growing team to travel to competitions around the state, and by the time the USA Climbing Regional Championships arrived, the team had amassed 26 excited students. Competing against schools from the surrounding seven states, the team went on to sweep the regional title for all 3 disciplines, boasting the largest and strongest team in the region. This allowed 12 motivated students to go on to the National Championships where we were proud to place 14th out of nearly 150 schools from around the country.
The incredible growth and performance of the team throughout the 2017-2018 season impressed the Michigan Recreational Sports Department and earned us a spot as an official Michigan Club Sport in 2019 among the ranks of rugby and rowing. Gabe Linderman joined Max for the 2019-2020 season to help pioneer our first year as an official Michigan Sport, during which the team nearly doubled in size. By the end of the season we were immensely proud of our community of 45 athletes that supported one another both on and off the wall.
After a difficult year and a half of COVID-19 and many challenges, we are now extremely excited to welcome the leadership of Katya Kornievksaia and Amelia Espinosa to the team, and look forward to a 2020-2021 season filled with camaraderie and growth.