Serena Ketcham picks her route to the top of competitive climbing

Hartland — Serena Ketcham tilts her head back and looks toward the top of a punishing 5.13, tilting at a steep angle as it soars to the ceiling.

With her feet firmly planted on the floor, Ketcham scans the pink tape indicating the route and moves her small hands in pantomime from one small crimp to the next.

“The planning is important,” she says. “You look at the holds and figure out how they work together.”

Ketcham positions herself on the starting holds and begins to climb. With her father Mike on belay, she practically dances her way through the first moves. On this route, Ketcham has broken the route down into three portions that she’s been practicing individually for the past weeks. Today, she wants to complete all three in sequence before the wall is stripped and a new route is put up.

The first pitch is moderate but manageable, requiring some technical feet placement and an offset gaston move with her elbow out and her thumb pointed down, but the real crux of the route is at the end of the second pitch. With a left foot positioned on a wafer-thin piece of plastic, she extends her right above her hip, hooking her heel on the end of a two-foot long rail. Then she tries to pull herself up.

Her foot slips on the first two attempts and for a moment, it looks like this one might have to wait until next time (she’s just returned from a trip visiting her grandparents in the Midwest and has been resting). But she shakes the lactic acid out of her small arms and hands, repositions herself and gives the move a final, intense attack. This time, the move is clean and from the floor 50 feet under her, looks effortless. The handful of other climbers in the gym hoot and holler in encouragement as the youngest climber in the room slams a crushing grip on the finishing holds.

She zips back down the floor with her smile wide in a toothy and tired grin and rests on a crash pad. The rest look on, impressed; no one wants to try to match her.

Minutes later, Ketcham sips a Gatorade and discusses her passion for climbing. School starts in just a few days and while she’s looking forward to classes again, she’s even more excited for the coming climbing season.

Ketcham lives and goes to school in Hanover, N.H., but climbs on both sides of the border at the gym in Hartland, Vt. and at another in Concord, N.H. She also competes on two teams; one at the Green Mountain Rock Climbing Club gym, and, even though she’s going into sixth grade this fall, another at a middle school level.

She is 66 pounds and four feet, six inches tall, but the team’s youngest climber is quickly establishing herself among the best.

After joining her school’s team, Ketcham was tapped by Matt Conroy, a guide and coach at GMRCC, to join their advanced climbing team (name: “Sendstorm”). After training with Conroy, Ketcham’s journey started with local competitions in Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. After placing well in her age group, she advanced to competitions at the regional and then divisional levels.

In her first year of competitive climbing, Ketcham advanced to the USA Sport Climbing Series National Competition in Atlanta this past July where she was one of more than 300 of the top climbers from around the country to compete.

For a young climber used to her home gyms in northern New England, Ketcham says the experience was unforgettable.

“You have all these climbers from all over the country coming to one place to climb,” she recalls. “And they’re all incredible.”

The competition was held over four days. On the first day, each of the five age divisions had a climb of a certain grade every climber attempted to complete. The next day, those who qualified climbed the previous day’s route intended for the division ahead of them. Serena advanced through the first day’s events. The second day’s route was over-hung, stepped with roofs and fitted with sloper-style holds that demand fine control of balance, friction and open-hand grip strength. Ketcham had to bow out after Day 2, but left the event placing 23rd in the SCS National Competition.

Ketcham comes from a family of climbers. Both of her parents are avid climbers who “met on a rock bouldering in Boulder, Co.,” as her father says. Serena and her brother, Noah, were born in Bozeman, Mt., moving most recently from Portland, Ore., to Hanover, where they now live.

“It was difficult to get out and climb when the kids were very young,” her father, Mike, says. “But we were thrilled when they took an interest in the sport. That way we could rekindle our own climbing passions and introduce them to the sport.”

And the young Serena learned quickly, surpassing both of her parents as young as ten. Ketcham also climbs outdoors with her family at popular spots in New Hampshire such as Rumney, the southern edge of the White Mountain National Forest, and North Conway. She’s also climbed at Joshua Tree National Park in California; Moab, Utah; Acadia National Park, Me.; Smith Rocks, Oregon; and El Chorro, Spain.

For her, outdoor climbing is her opportunity to take it easy.

“When I climb outdoors, I don’t have to push myself as hard because my mom and dad can’t climb 5.12s or 13s,” she says. “So I get to do fun stuff like 5.10s or 11s. When I climb indoors, that’s when I push myself harder and try the 12s or 13s.”

Her daily practices start with bouldering laps around the lower portions of the gym. If someone’s not able to make it, they’re forced to complete 50 push-ups. Then she warms up with an easy 5.10. Lately, she’s been working on developing her endurance, a skill she calls “mileage.” She does this by climbing up and down the same problem for 15 to 20 minutes. Resting by hanging on the rope or touching the ground is met with penalty burpees.

In terms of a personal climbing style, Ketcham’s description is short: “Crimps, overhangs and a positive attitude,” she says.

“She’s small,” her father says. “For now, she’s working on finding a way to make the smallness work for her.”

As she grows, the technique will change, but she says she’s keeping up her strength to go along with it. This fall, she’s working on her technique with those sloper holds as well as lead climbing, an area that she’ll have to start using more in competition as she gets older.

“Each time I try a new route it’s like a new puzzle,” she says. “And I like finding funky moves to make up for being short. But what I mostly enjoy is when I finally get to the top of a project that I’ve been working on for a very long time. I feel good that I have put all of my effort into this climb and it has paid off.”

This fall, she’ll compete in the American Bouldering Series at gyms around the Northeast, a middle school competition series and the regional competitions her team at the Green Mountain Rock Climbing Center participates in. She’s also got her crosshairs set firmly on the nationals again and this time she plans on placing better than last year. She’s confident she can pull it off with the right amount of focus and practice.

“One of my goals is to make it to the top five in the Nationals SCS competitions so I will be able to join the USA Climbing Team,” she says. “Also to compete internationally — that would be awesome.”

Hartland — Serena Ketcham tilts her head back and looks toward the top of a punishing 5.13, tilting at a steep angle as it soars to the ceiling.

With her feet firmly planted on the floor, Ketcham scans the pink tape indicating the route and moves her small hands in pantomime from one small crimp to the next.

“The planning is important,” she says. “You look at the holds and figure out how they work together.”

Ketcham positions herself on the starting holds and begins to climb. With her father Mike on belay, she practically dances her way through the first moves. On this route, Ketcham has broken the route down into three portions that she’s been practicing individually for the past weeks. Today, she wants to complete all three in sequence before the wall is stripped and a new route is put up.

The first pitch is moderate but manageable, requiring some technical feet placement and an offset gaston move with her elbow out and her thumb pointed down, but the real crux of the route is at the end of the second pitch. With a left foot positioned on a wafer-thin piece of plastic, she extends her right above her hip, hooking her heel on the end of a two-foot long rail. Then she tries to pull herself up.

Her foot slips on the first two attempts and for a moment, it looks like this one might have to wait until next time (she’s just returned from a trip visiting her grandparents in the Midwest and has been resting). But she shakes the lactic acid out of her small arms and hands, repositions herself and gives the move a final, intense attack. This time, the move is clean and from the floor 50 feet under her, looks effortless. The handful of other climbers in the gym hoot and holler in encouragement as the youngest climber in the room slams a crushing grip on the finishing holds.

She zips back down the floor with her smile wide in a toothy and tired grin and rests on a crash pad. The rest look on, impressed; no one wants to try to match her.

Minutes later, Ketcham sips a Gatorade and discusses her passion for climbing. School starts in just a few days and while she’s looking forward to classes again, she’s even more excited for the coming climbing season.

Ketcham lives and goes to school in Hanover, N.H., but climbs on both sides of the border at the gym in Hartland, Vt. and at another in Concord, N.H. She also competes on two teams; one at the Green Mountain Rock Climbing Club gym, and, even though she’s going into sixth grade this fall, another at a middle school level.

She is 66 pounds and four feet, six inches tall, but the team’s youngest climber is quickly establishing herself among the best.

After joining her school’s team, Ketcham was tapped by Matt Conroy, a guide and coach at GMRCC, to join their advanced climbing team (name: “Sendstorm”). After training with Conroy, Ketcham’s journey started with local competitions in Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. After placing well in her age group, she advanced to competitions at the regional and then divisional levels.

In her first year of competitive climbing, Ketcham advanced to the USA Sport Climbing Series National Competition in Atlanta this past July where she was one of more than 300 of the top climbers from around the country to compete.

For a young climber used to her home gyms in northern New England, Ketcham says the experience was unforgettable.

“You have all these climbers from all over the country coming to one place to climb,” she recalls. “And they’re all incredible.”

The competition was held over four days. On the first day, each of the five age divisions had a climb of a certain grade every climber attempted to complete. The next day, those who qualified climbed the previous day’s route intended for the division ahead of them. Serena advanced through the first day’s events. The second day’s route was over-hung, stepped with roofs and fitted with sloper-style holds that demand fine control of balance, friction and open-hand grip strength. Ketcham had to bow out after Day 2, but left the event placing 23rd in the SCS National Competition.

Ketcham comes from a family of climbers. Both of her parents are avid climbers who “met on a rock bouldering in Boulder, Co.,” as her father says. Serena and her brother, Noah, were born in Bozeman, Mt., moving most recently from Portland, Ore., to Hanover, where they now live.

“It was difficult to get out and climb when the kids were very young,” her father, Mike, says. “But we were thrilled when they took an interest in the sport. That way we could rekindle our own climbing passions and introduce them to the sport.”

And the young Serena learned quickly, surpassing both of her parents as young as ten. Ketcham also climbs outdoors with her family at popular spots in New Hampshire such as Rumney, the southern edge of the White Mountain National Forest, and North Conway. She’s also climbed at Joshua Tree National Park in California; Moab, Utah; Acadia National Park, Me.; Smith Rocks, Oregon; and El Chorro, Spain.

For her, outdoor climbing is her opportunity to take it easy.

“When I climb outdoors, I don’t have to push myself as hard because my mom and dad can’t climb 5.12s or 13s,” she says. “So I get to do fun stuff like 5.10s or 11s. When I climb indoors, that’s when I push myself harder and try the 12s or 13s.”

Her daily practices start with bouldering laps around the lower portions of the gym. If someone’s not able to make it, they’re forced to complete 50 push-ups. Then she warms up with an easy 5.10. Lately, she’s been working on developing her endurance, a skill she calls “mileage.” She does this by climbing up and down the same problem for 15 to 20 minutes. Resting by hanging on the rope or touching the ground is met with penalty burpees.

In terms of a personal climbing style, Ketcham’s description is short: “Crimps, overhangs and a positive attitude,” she says.

“She’s small,” her father says. “For now, she’s working on finding a way to make the smallness work for her.”

As she grows, the technique will change, but she says she’s keeping up her strength to go along with it. This fall, she’s working on her technique with those sloper holds as well as lead climbing, an area that she’ll have to start using more in competition as she gets older.

“Each time I try a new route it’s like a new puzzle,” she says. “And I like finding funky moves to make up for being short. But what I mostly enjoy is when I finally get to the top of a project that I’ve been working on for a very long time. I feel good that I have put all of my effort into this climb and it has paid off.”

This fall, she’ll compete in the American Bouldering Series at gyms around the Northeast, a middle school competition series and the regional competitions her team at the Green Mountain Rock Climbing Center participates in. She’s also got her crosshairs set firmly on the nationals again and this time she plans on placing better than last year. She’s confident she can pull it off with the right amount of focus and practice.

“One of my goals is to make it to the top five in the Nationals SCS competitions so I will be able to join the USA Climbing Team,” she says. “Also to compete internationally — that would be awesome.”