Reaching New Heights: CVHS Climbing Club

Carnegie Vanguard High School (CVHS) is a host to several popular physical activities, some of the more popular ones being volleyball, cross country, and basketball. One physical activity many don’t immediately think of when it comes to Carnegie is climbing. However, there is now a new addition to the physical movement scene at CVHS. The new CVHS Climbing Club teaches interested students the basics of climbing activities.

“Sometimes people think of climbing…as a random activity, but it is a genuine sport…it’s just not super well known, and it’s really cool that we have the opportunity to bring it to Carnegie,” said Carnegie senior Klaridy Miller, one of the co-leaders of the CVHS Climbing Club.

The club primarily focuses on learning about the climbing activity bouldering, which involves climbing on relatively short walls on a specific route up a wall. “During [our second and third meetings], we talked about mapping routes [up the wall], practicing climber’s etiquette, and how to safely fall,” Miller explained.

While the club was first introduced at the beginning of this school year, the idea for the club is far from novel. “I used to climb a lot in middle school,” Miller stated. “During my freshman year [of high school], for a period of time, I actually had the idea of starting the club, but I never got around to it.” This year, with more time on Miller’s hands, she, along with Carnegie junior Luna Kim, decided to make this idea a reality.

Co-leader of the club junior Luna Kim at the CVHS Climbing Club table at club fair. (Photo: Klaridy Miller)

After going through the approval process with school administration and piquing the interest of other students at the Carnegie club fair in September, the club officially became part of the Carnegie club ranks. During club meetings, Miller says that the goal is for “every meeting to feel meaningful…every time we try to make it engaging and make it something that people want to come back [to] and will learn something new.”

Apart from having meetings at school, some of the club members come together separately to participate in climbing activities with each other outside of school. These outside climbing activities are not facilitated by the club itself or associated with Carnegie, but the club brings people who have an interest in climbing together and provides ways for them to connect over their shared interest.

Though Miller is currently a senior and will be graduating at the end of the 2025-2026 school year, she still hopes to see the CVHS Climbing Club continue in future years. “If there was a hypothetical legacy that we want [the club] to leave…it’s the idea that [climbing] is for everyone.”