For Noah Wheeler, climbing has always been intuitive.
Noah’s first interaction with climbing was when he was 6 years old. It was during a birthday party in Pennsylvania, and even then, he says it just felt like a natural fit. Joining a climbing summer camp the next year, then a youth team the year after, Noah grew with the sport and climbed competitively until he was 18.
Then COVID happened.
Competitions stopped, gyms closed, and the world pressed Pause on just about everything. It might have been fate: his interest in comp climbing was beginning to wane, but the psych was still there. Noah wanted to climb. It just needed to be different. There was probably no better time than COVID to start training on a board and test his strength outside. So that’s what he did.
Noah got hooked. And he got good. Really good.
Today, Noah is a rising force in the next generation of boulderers. His intuition, mixed with modern comp movement, obsession with board-style climbing, and fierce outdoor grit makes Noah one of the most creative climbers in the world. As a strong, analytical and style-driven climber, Noah represents the evolution of modern climbing.
Whether Noah is climbing in the gym, outside, or on a board with his brother, Benn, for their Youtube channel Wheel Rock, it’s still intuitive.
We met Noah during a remarkable year as he was completing some huge outdoor projects: Return of the Sleepwalker (V17), Shaolin (V17), and Insomniac (V17), just to name a few. As a member of #TeamEvolv, Noah has been instrumental in testing our gear and validating the performance we design for.
Interview with Noah
While Noah was nursing a pulley rupture in his A2, we took a moment to catch up, learn a bit about his start in climbing, and hear his perspective on how board climbing helped shape his technique for outdoor bouldering.
EVOLV: Why climbing? What was your first interaction with the sport?
NOAH: It was at a birthday party when I was six. Then I went to a summer camp when I was 7, and joined a youth team when I was 8. I competed for the first time that year, eventually went to Nationals… I just gravitated to it for some intuitive reason.
EVOLV: You had a pretty big background in competitive climbing. Was outside climbing just more enjoyable?
NOAH: Well for the span of 7 years, I did a lot of competitions, and I kind of lost the spark for climbing in general because it was always in a competitive setting. Like, you train for a whole year, maybe not do as well, and then it just goes down the drain. So I lost interest in climbing for most middle school and some of high school. But when I went outside, I got it right back. When I tried boards, it came right back, and those two disciplines just stuck with me.
EVOLV: It seems like your outdoor climbing really took off around COVID. What changed?
NOAH: Yeah. COVID was the year where I hunkered down, barely had school. So I was just going to Reach (Climbing Gym), and board climbing like everyday. It was an ubiquitous experience: just hunkering down and training for one specific thing. I didn’t see board climbing as a means to an end, it was just something to do, and it just stuck. I was always hesitant to go outside when I was a comp climber, but I didn’t have a choice really.
EVOLV: It seems like board climbing and outdoor bouldering just comes so naturally to you. Do you think things would be the same if it wasn’t for COVID?
NOAH: I think I would have gone down this path regardless. Board climbing has grown immensely, and I would have hopped on a board eventually and have gotten psyched.
EVOLV: What do you think it is about boards that gets you psyched?
NOAH: I just found board climbing more fun, you know? It was just a very obvious and measurable way to improve, and in a way it just gamified climbing in a way that made it more similar to other sports for me. Just easy to track; that aspect really stuck with me.
EVOLV: Do you think your board climbing is elevating your outdoor climbing style? How do you see board climbing personally?
NOAH: It began as a training tool, but it’s something much bigger now. Board culture is more approximate to boulders, in a way. Like, when I was talking about outdoor climbing being an end of itself, I think board climbing is an end of itself for climbers, in that people board climb just to board climb. Just from a media perspective, board climbing is something else entirely. It’s easy to consume, and it’s immensely accessible for everyone. All those aspects make the culture grow and more satisfied with itself. I think its really cool. I hope and I think that me and [my brother] Benn (Wheel Rock) can become a big part of this community and help it grow.
EVOLV: Alright, a little product placement here. What do you look for in a climbing shoe when it comes to board climbing?
NOAH: I think you need really good pull strength, so you need a shoe to be quite aggressive, have a good point at the end, and something that’s really good edging as well. It needs to be robust on small foot holds, especially for something like the Tension Board 2. You need all those aspects, but you need that sensitivity too. It feels weird and unnatural to have a clunky, non-sensitive shoe, and on wood holds that have no friction, you really need some softness, but something that lets you crank pretty damn hard.
Shaman Pro is one of the best outdoor edging shoes, but Shaman 2S is my favorite shoe for the Tension Board because it has that good mix of everything.
EVOLV: Have any advice for people who are looking to get more serious about board climbing?
NOAH: Just let the psych carry you. But don’t get too psyched; like, don’t climb if you feel your fingers get too achy. I’ve had chronic inflammation issues from too much board climbing, so a good thing to have in mind is, 1 hour of board climbing is equivalent to like 2 hours of gym climbing. Just don’t overdo it.
