Sacramento State’s rock climbing club, which is open to students of all skill levels, has been voted as the best sports or recreational club on campus in The State Hornet’s “Best of Sac State” category.

Garrett Werner — the rock climbing club’s coach as of this semester — described the group as consisting of beginner and expert climbers, and having a focus on individual style and development.

Werner said that although climbing competitions are scored based on individual performance, the members of the group always support and guide each other in training.

The club’s president, Ashlyn Palmero, said that the rock climbing team appeals to students in part because members can work on what they want to and tackle challenges in their own way.

“There is really no ‘good,’ it all depends on who you are and what your idea of that is,” Palmero said. “Everyone’s always encouraging each other.”

Werner said that different “problems,” or the paths that a climber takes to complete a climb, are rated so that club members can pick different walls and take paths based on their skill level.  

Even inexperienced climbers can contribute to competitions because they can earn points on lower-ranked walls, Werner said.

“The great thing about climbing is that there are separate categories, so you can still place first in the beginner category, let’s say, and it’s your first year climbing,” Werner said. “Even if you’re a totally beginner climber, we work with you and get you climbing better and focusing on what skills you need in order to improve.”

Jace Nunes, who has been a member since fall 2017, said that he has improved since he started climbing with the club.

“Everybody that’s in the club, we’re always pushing each other trying to better one another,” Nunes said. “I think that type of environment is good for progression.”

Palmero said that even though Sac State’s rock climbing club is not the biggest and it doesn’t fundraise as much as some other clubs, what makes it unique is its sense of camaraderie.

“We all really just have the same goals,” Palmero said. “Like, we just want to go outside and be better climbers.

“I don’t think that other clubs have that kind of close-knit community … I don’t see that in the other sport clubs as much.”