This week’s sports profile centers on the prolific climber and head of the Whitman Indoor Climbing Commitee. Charlotte Hill is a junior English major from Seattle, Wash.

Pio: So when did you really get into climbing?

Charlotte: I think when I moved to Seattle in seventh grade. That is when I really started hooking in. There was a big climbing center close to my house called Vertical World and my dad started taking me. I joined the climbing team and competed in middle school and high school.

What was it like to compete on climbing team? We didn’t have any of those where I’m from…

It was pretty hard, but it wasn’t like an insane amount of work. There were three practices a week you had to go to. The competitions themselves were based on different things. I competed nationally, and they judge based on the difficulty of the route you take up the wall.

Wow, so you competed nationally? You must have gone all over the place!

Yeah I went from California to Maryland. My last year as a youth competitor I got to go to worlds, which was held in the south of France.

That must have been a great experience.

Well, I just did the qualifiers, but it was really cool to watch some of the climbers. The set up is different too. They have you climb until you fall, which is definitely a tough change. It makes it really intense!

So how does that intensity compare to the climbing you are doing at Whitman?

[The people here] definitely aren’t as intimidating, and it’s a nice change. I do miss the intense competition, but it’s certainly nice not to have to worry so much.

Yeah that must be nice. So what’s going on in the climbing world here at Whitman?

Well, we are trying to get some competitions going [through the club]. People’s interest in competing started around my freshman year, but it has really taken off this past year. I’m hoping it will be more successful than in past years, and I’m hoping we can get more participation.