Upcoming Youth World Championships just the start for Wynnewood rock climber Benn Wheeler

A few years ago, Noah Wheeler shouted from the base of a climbing wall, “You need to throw that left hand,” to his younger brother Benn, who was contemplating his next move. The two brothers were at the gym, where they spent most of their time, feeding each other advice on the best way to finish climbs.

Benn, now 17, was introduced to climbing at the age of 4, watching Noah, who was a couple of years older, and the rest of his family at the Doylestown Rock Gym.

“It was just part of my life, even before I cared about it,” the younger brother said. “With it being there so naturally, I started to like [climbing] and do it a lot more.”

Benn later began competing in rock climbing events, alongside Noah, and advanced to nationals several times. However, he repeatedly failed to place. Last month, Wheeler accomplished that feat at the USA Climbing Youth National Championship and qualified for the International Federation of Sport Climbing Youth World Championships for bouldering.

More than 400 climbers are expected to compete at the Youth World Championships which will be held at Movement The Hill in Dallas from Monday to Aug. 31. Each climber will be evaluated in the three climbing disciplines: bouldering, leading, and speed.

“It feels pretty different in a good way,” said Wheeler, who competes for Reach Climbing Philly. “It’s my first time doing this. I’m guessing that the level of competition is going to be a lot higher and it will be a lot harder, but at the same time, it’s a lot less stressful. … There are so many kids who are amazing, and almost professional climbers.”

Wheeler doesn’t have any set goals for himself ahead of the competition. He’s primarily looking forward to connecting with climbers from other countries, especially watching the way they go about navigating a climb.

But before the Harriton High School senior competed in climbing competitions, his family surrounded him with a foundation to learn the sport. They first discovered climbing at a friend of Noah’s birthday party, and the Wheelers were quickly hooked.

“We went to this party, and we were like, ‘What is this sport?’” said Vikki Sloviter, their mother. “This is crazy. It’s so much fun, so then as a family, we started going, and at that time, Benn was maybe 4 and he would tag along with us.”

Climbing became a family event in which the Wheelers would participate on weekends. As Noah and Benn got older, the two boys enjoyed it so much that they joined the Philadelphia Rock Gyms’ competitive climbing team at the ages of 7 and 9, respectively.

But of course, like anything in life, it took time to master climbing. Wheeler realized early the strength and endurance needed to get up the wall, which led him and his older brother to go to the gym four to five times a week.

Prior to Noah leaving for college last year, the two would spend most of their time together at the gym, focusing on finger and upper-body strength, and giving each other directions on attacking a climb. Even while watching YouTube videos of other climbers, Noah and Benn would go back and forth about different routes they could have taken or ways to perfect a certain move.

“Being kind of competitive with someone just allows you to push yourself,” Benn said. “If I go to the gym alone, and I just climb there, I don’t know how well I’m climbing. I don’t know if I’m doing impressive things. Having someone else there, they can show you new ways to do a climb. They can come up with new things to try.”

Benn was 9 the first time he made it to nationals, placing in the top 10 for local, regional, and divisional competitions. He became particularly good at bouldering, a form of free climbing without the use of a rope or harness.

“It’s a big part of climbing competitions,” he said. “Especially problem solving, because you see all the holes on the wall and that’s all you get, like you don’t know how or which order to grab them in or how to do the moves and which moves to do.”

Wheeler has made 15 appearances at nationals. However, until this year, each time he’d made it to the event, he’d failed to win the final of three rounds, something he attributed to the mental stress prior to climbing.

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During Wheeler’s performance at nationals this past July, he was feeling more stressed and anxious about his climb than normal because he had finished fourth in the semifinals. However, he still had one more shot in the final round to bounce back.

Most of the climbers who went before Wheeler struggled in the final round. Wheeler first approached the climb as the others did, taking the same route. He realized it wasn’t going to work and decided to try a different way up.

After mantling himself up, the biggest challenge came in the last move, where Wheeler needed to demonstrate control. He was balancing his feet on a tiny ledge and used his pinky fingers to grasp the sides. The crowd was awed by the maneuver that ultimately got Wheeler to the top, and earned him a second-place finish at the event.

“Mental state is a very important thing,” Wheeler said. “If you get too nervous or you get tunnel vision on a certain way of doing the climb, you’re just not going to do well. There’s too much that can go wrong. Everything has to be pretty perfect for you to do well.”

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, Wheeler found a new passion that changed his relationship with climbing. With gyms shut down, he couldn’t go to indoor climbing walls anymore, so he was forced to learn outdoor climbing.

He enjoyed the opportunity to see a new mountain and the leisure time he had to climb compared to a timed competition. Wheeler hopes to attend college in an area that is popular for outdoor climbing, like Colorado.

“I’m pretty into outdoor bouldering as well,” he said. “I have a lot of goals for my life that are based around that. There’s a grading scale for climbing, called the V scale. Basically, the higher the V number is, the harder the climb is. A big goal for me through college is that I’d want to climb a V15. … There’s not that many of them, but there’s a lot [of them] in Colorado.”