APRIL 24, 2025 | SPORTS | By Beau Toepfer (Staff Writer)
When you think about Las Vegas, Nev., you might envision the colorful strip with world-class casinos, the Sphere and even the Eiffel Tower.
What might not come immediately to mind, however, is that not far from the bright lights and gambling is one of the most challenging rock climbs in the world.
Less than an hour’s drive from downtown Las Vegas sits the Sleepwalker boulder, the location of “Return of the Sleepwalker,” a V17 boulder that Colorado College senior Noah Wheeler recently climbed.
V17 is currently the hardest established bouldering grade, meaning level of difficulty. Only a couple of boulders have been given this proposed difficulty and a similarly small number of climbers have been able to climb that hard.
A significant reason Wheeler could climb Return of the Sleepwalker was CC’s Block Plan. Other CC climbers share the sentiments, including Noah’s brother, Benn ‘27, who finished 18th in the world for collegiate boulderers in a competition in September.
“The structure of the block plan is such that it facilitates communities, progression, or it enables us to have a lot of time to go outside or train on the board,” Noah Wheeler said.
Return of the Sleepwalker was established by climber Daniel Woods in 2021 and became the second boulder graded V17. According to a Climbing Magazine article on the climb, Woods gave up alcohol, smoking, and caffeine and spent a month alone attempting the boulder. Woods had an “obsession” for the boulder, an attitude that Noah shared.
Noah Wheeler took a block off and lived in Vegas, repeatedly trying the climb. Finally, on Jan. 1, he sent it.
“It was pretty much just being in isolation in Vegas, doing nothing but thinking about the climb and trying the climb, and I dedicated myself fully to it,” Noah Wheeler said.
Because he could take one block off instead of needing to take a semester or several long weekends, Wheeler says he could commit a similar level of dedication to his project as Woods did, and he joined the small number of climbers who can climb V17.
Sonia Gutierrez ‘27 is from outside Chicago, Ill. Although she grew up in a large metropolis, she struggled to maintain a strong climbing community. For a young female comp climber like Gutierrez, finding enough challenge at competitions to grow as a climber was difficult.
“The most important thing for progressing is climbing with other strong people or people who are [at] your level,” Benn Wheeler said.
There were very few female climbers that could keep up with Gutierrez in her home competition circuit. That all changed when she got to CC.
“It was usually like, if I wanted to climb with people stronger than me, I’d be climbing with guys. I think for me, climbing with guys, if they do a move, I’m like, ‘Oh, well, they’re a guy,’” Gutierrez said.
Once she arrived at CC, her climbing environment had changed completely. According to Benn Wheeler, Colorado is a mecca for climbing, and with that comes more strong climbers at Colorado universities and colleges.
“If I’m climbing with a girl and they do a move, I’m like, ‘okay, I can do that,’ you know?” Gutierrez said. “So it’s a little bit more real motivation, almost, because I know it’s possible and not just something I can blame on testosterone.”
The CC climbing team gives climbers the opportunity to tailor their training plans to match what they want to get out of the sport, all while getting the support and community the team offers. It also lets climbers like Gutierrez train for high-level competitions, like the collegiate world’s competition in September, where she took home 17th in the world in collegiate speed climbing.
“The climbing team is kind of cool, because everyone has different goals, and so we’re all at the gym at the same time, but not necessarily training in the same way or for the same thing,” said Gutierrez. “So I can have my own training schedule and train for my own competitions, but still be around everyone.”
One thing that some CC climbers say they have struggled with is staying motivated, both because of the pressures of college and the conditions of Colorado weather. According to the Wheelers, staying strong and progressing means climbing often, even when the weather is bad.
“Having grit is […] one of the most important things; going outside in 30 degrees and pulling on disgusting, sharp holds, even when it’s not what you want to do.” Wheeler said.
Staying consistent amidst the social and academic pressures of school is a struggle college climbers have to contend with, especially at CC, where the climbing team gets less support than CC’s varsity sports.
“If you want to get better at climbing, you have to do all of it yourself,” said Benn Wheeler. “It all has to come from you.”
For some climbing team members, climbing is their priority, but balancing that with college — and everything college entails — is still something they have to remind themselves to do. Another aspect climbers have to consider is the damage potential that illicit substances, burnout, and a lack of self-care pose.
“Making sure that your priorities are where you want them to be is what I just have to remind myself, maybe I want to do this right now, but, like, I really care about getting better at climbing, and climbing is more fun for me than almost everything else,” said Benn Wheeler.
However, according to Gutierrez, the CC community generally tends to be focused on progression and supporting other climbers. The climbing team in particular, according to Gutierrez, welcomes and encourages climbers of all levels.
“I think specifically at Colorado College, it’s just a very psyched group of people,” Gutierrez said. “It’s cool that there’s people of all different levels, and everyone kind of just crushes together.”
Climbing for CC at high-level competitions has also given Gutierrez something to bring home to her local climbing community. Besides coaching a youth climbing team for one of the local gyms, Springs Climbing Center, Gutierrez also coaches at home in the Midwest.
“Coaching at home, I really liked being able to kind of show my athletes that you can make it as just a kid from the Midwest that started climbing kind of late, and you don’t need to be living in Colorado, and have all these fancy coaches and everything,” Gutierrez said.
According to Benn Wheeler, CC has one more vital resource for not only climbers but any athlete on campus.
“Rastalls [Dining Hall] is just the best fuel you can get,” Benn Wheeler said. “Are you writing this down? Rastalls is the best fuel.