‘It’s a mountain thing’

On Thursday, Aspen High School finished construction of a new 15-foot tall LED climbing wall, known as a Kilter Board, for use by their Outdoor Leadership Career and Technical Education (CTE) pathway. 

The wall was funded by a Perkins Grant, the same type of funding as the one that funded the roped climbing wall at Aspen Middle School. Brent Maiolo, an outdoor education teacher at AHS who teaches the Outdoor Leadership CTE classes, hopes that this board can help students learn climbing movement and progress their climbing skills as they move toward receiving their American Mountain Guide Association (AMGA) Climbing Wall Instructor (CWI) certification. 

A CWI is the basic certification needed by employees to work at artificial climbing walls, whether that be at a college, summer camp, or elsewhere. Maiolo, with help from IB Business and Management instructor Sheri Smith, wrote and proposed the gran,, receiving $75,000 for the outdoor leadership program, according to Maiolo.

“Part of that certification is teaching not only route climbing, but also the fundamentals of bouldering and climbing moves and different styles,” Maiolo said. “So with this board, we’ll be able to use it in our certifications through the AMGA … so students can practice teaching on this board, working on climbing movements, the necessary things they need for further certs.”

According to Maiolo, the board cost around $68,000, all of which came from the Perkins Grant. The leftover money went toward ski-fabricating equipment, which completed the requirement for a full outdoor leadership CTE program. According to Smith, Aspen High School is now the only high school with an accredited outdoor leadership CTE program, which allows them to qualify for more state-level federal funding for their program.

“The funding is 100% Perkins, and the school district does not pay anything for it,” Smith said.

Not only will the wall benefit the students in Maiolo’s Aspen Mountain Guide School, but both Maiolo and AHS Principal Sarah Strassburger hope that the climbing team and PE classes in the district can use the wall.

“When something’s visible, it shows that it’s something important,” Strassburger said. “It’s in the Skier Dome, which is kind of this venerated space … I just think kids are gonna be so excited, let’s have climbing PE classes, let’s have more kids in the climbing club, let’s have other schools come here and see what we have.” 

The plan is for students to have access with an adult on hand, which Maiolo hopes can happen during climbing team practices, during PE classes, and possibly during some lunch breaks. The model and design of the wall makes it accessible to any level of climber, from beginner to highly advanced. The holds on the wall are illuminated by an app on the climbers phone, allowing them to choose climbs of almost any difficulty. The board’s angle is adjustable, ranging from two degrees overhanging all the way to 70 degrees, and the model of board is considered by many climbers to be beginner friendly, with easier to use holds than many of the companies competitors. 

“It’s a mountain thing,” Maiolo said. “It’s another avenue for kids to be able to learn about climbing, which might lead to further exploration. It has to start somewhere, and a training board like this, I feel like, can be that inspiration.”

Zala Smalls, an Aspen Mountain Guide School and Aspen Climbing Team alumnus, hopes that the wall will strengthen the school’s climbing community and help set students up for college. 

“It’s a great place for personal growth, and also a good confidence booster … just in your everyday life,” Smalls said. “(Climbing is) probably the most valuable thing that I take from my high school experience here that translated very easily into my college climbing club and friends. It was a place that I felt I could insert myself and find community.”