A love for climbing
CCS students share in a couple’s experience
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Concord Climbing Club member Mia Young practices at River Sports Outfitters’ climbing wall during a recent club meeting. - Photos submitted
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Cari and Rick Walsh are pictured during a family visit to Red Rock Canyon in Colorado Springs, Colorado, which Cari describes as “an open space where people can hike, lead climb and set ropes.” - Photos submitted
Thanks to a family’s love of climbing, Concord Christian School students are experiencing a whole new world.
CCS teacher Cari Welsh and her husband, Rick, founded Concord Climbing Club two years ago — an effort the outdoor-loving couple first discovered at Paideia Academy, where Cari previously taught.
“Because [Paideia] was small, there were limited competitive athletics,” Cari explained of the origins of that club, which was founded by David Leach.
“We started participating as soon as it was offered when our oldest, Lilly, was in sixth grade,” she said. “Rick helped coach while our daughters climbed there.
“We were really excited when they offered it as a co-ed extracurricular activity because of our previous experience with climbing.”
Based on that previous experience, Cari said the couple wanted to start the club at Concord “because [ultimately] climbing encourages camaraderie and school spirit.”
Lilly has since graduated, and now, younger daughter, Piper, a CCS sophomore, is a member of Concord Climbing Club, making it a true family affair.
Cari, a native of Kingsport, said she began climbing at River Sports in her “early 20s, and loved it. It was just a great way to challenge myself and have fun.”
For his part, Rick said his brothers and sisters live in Colorado, where he learned to climb, and where the entire Welsh family enjoys the sport today when they can.
“As our daughters got older, we taught them [the sport],” he added. “It is fun being outdoors and doing things as a family, and it is something we all enjoy.”
“I like being able to climb and also enjoy the full-body workout it provides,” Piper recently noted.
Last year, three fellow students took part in the club (alongside Piper), and this year, Cari said six signed up early, and she “expected three to four more” with the upcoming conclusion of fall extracurriculars, such as soccer and marching band.
The club, open to students in seventh to 12th grades, meets twice a week at River Sports Outfitters on Sutherland Avenue, taking part its High School Climbing League, which competes annually October through February.
According to the River Sports website, the League was the first in the nation and was a natural offshoot of River Sports’ Climbing Center, which opened in 1997.
Climbing programs have grown through the years and today, the League hosts 15 to 20 high schools and more than 250 participants who compete locally, regionally and even nationally.
Cari said last year, CCS’s club came in third in the girls’ high school division, with Mia Young placing fifth overall and Piper finishing 8th.
Mia has enjoyed and mastered the sport so well she now competes nationally.
“I do like competing,” she said, noting her contests have included bouldering and ropes course categories. “I had joined the club for fun but really got into climbing.
“This is a fun little club and it has been great,” she added. “We all have a lot of fun together, and I love coming [to River Sports]”
“We just meet twice a week, so it is not a huge time commitment, although club members are welcome to practice outside of those times,” Cari said. “One of our goals, too, is to make sure the club is affordable. We don’t want the cost to prohibit anyone from participating.”
Cari stresses climbing is a sport that sees its participants as competitive, but only “against themselves.
“While we’ve been doing this for years, I’d love to emphasize the sport as an opportunity for students to challenge themselves and just be part of a community that is willing to try different, sometimes
intimidating, things,” she added.
The character building initially seen in their daughters also is evident among fellow club members.
“The confidence that [the students] build from actually tackling a wall that was out of reach the week before is priceless,” Cari said. “That’s what we wanted to instill in our daughters when we started taking them when they were little.”
Additionally, “The grit and tenacity that comes with trying again and again really gives them a foundation that stands up to fears and obstacles that will inevitably come their way.”
Rick said he has noticed how climbing also “teaches [participants] how to figure out problems. When you are up high and have to scout your route and figure out your next move.”
Ultimately, Cari said broadening the horizons of her students is key.
“When Rick and I met, we figured out that we both liked to be outdoors and find little adventures,” she said. “My hope is that the climbing club opens up that sense of
adventure for some of the students.”
For more information, e-mail cwelsh@concordcs.org.
