Meet the Exec Board
PRESIDENT - Finnley Ryan
Hi everyone, I’m Finnley and I am the current president! I’m a senior studying mechanical engineering and am from Gaithersburg, Maryland. I love doing anything outdoors (climbing, running, backpacking, SUPing, cooking…) and started really getting into climbing when I joined the club freshman year. Since then, I’ve met so many great people, gone on awesome trips, and developed a lot as a climber. I am super excited to expand opportunities for learning skills, getting outside, and growing as a community! Please reach out if you want to learn more about the club, skills, or just want to climb – I look forward to meeting you all!

VICE PRESIDENT - Jake Blackburn
Hi, I’m Jacob and I’m serving as vice president this year. I’m a senior from Central Illinois studying environmental science, and I’ve been climbing for a little over two years. I’m passionate about making climbing as accessible as possible and sharing skills to make a community of confident, safe, and strong climbers. If you ever have any questions, concerns, or need a belay partner feel free to reach out to me!

SECRETARY - Aditya Viswanathan
Hi, I’m Aditya and I’m the current Secretary. I’m an Economics major and a sophomore, and I’ve been in the climbing club since I joined the university last year. Until I joined the club I had never rock climbed before, so it was quite daunting to get into the sport. However, the club was a very welcoming and helpful environment, and the mentorship of my upperclassmen and the competition from my new friends helped push me to new heights. I am quite passionate about climbing, and you might see me on the kilter board or the ARC wall during off hours. I hope to be a welcoming face to incoming freshmen, and that many of you stay with the club long term just like me and my friends did.

TREASURER - Zane Coulter
Hello, My name is Zane and I am the current Treasurer for the Climbing Club at UIUC. I am a Junior studying Kinesiology and planning to go into Physical Therapy. I’ve grown up in Champaign – Urbana and have been rock climbing for around nine years and setting for two and a half years. I really enjoy climbing since it provides the climber with an interesting and physically engaging puzzle to solve, you’ll see me climbing at UB, the ARC wall, Kilter, and any other places with rocks. If you ever want to chat about rocks, climbing, setting, or anything else just let me know, I can’t wait to talk to everyone at Club Hours and our other events!

SOCIAL CHAIRS - Aidan Lorenz and Charlotte Sveen
Hi! We’re Aidan and Charlotte and we are the clubs social chairs. Charlotte is a junior and Aidan is a senior and we’ve both been part of the club for the past 2 years. We are both from Illinois and love live music, especially the local Chambana bands. Aidan is majoring in chemical engineering, and Charlotte is double majoring in English and Linguistics. While we study completely different things, we both want to make being a part of this club as fun as possible. We plan all the club events (like the upcoming Grill n Chill and the Climbing Club house shows!) Reach out if you have any suggestions, we’re excited for this upcoming year with you all!

OUTREACH DIRECTORS - Carlos and Stelios
(Left) What’s up y’all. I’m Carlos, the other Outreach Co-Chair, and I’m a senior majoring in Information Systems. I started climbing in the fall of my sophomore year with Aidan (Social Co-Chair) and have been fending off injuries ever since. I’m super interested in creating a more diverse climbing community and showing everybody what a fun, supportive, and inclusive environment we have here.
(Right) Hey everyone, I’m Stelios and I’m one of the outreach co-chairs along with Carlos this year. I’m a senior studying middle grades education and I’m from Illinois. I’ve been climbing for a lil over 2 years now and fell in love with it once I joined the club! I’m passionate about building the climbing community and have spent my summer at a summer camp taking kids on climbing trips. I’m super excited to meet all of you and get climbing!!!

TECH CHAIR - Ben Norris
Hello, I’m Ben. I’m a 19 year old from Arlington Heights Illinois, and I’m a sophomore studying special education. I’ve bounced around a lot of sports, but nothing has ever stuck with me like climbing has. I randomly found their booth at quad day and it quickly grew to be my favorite pastime. I am very excited to further my climbing skills as well mentor new climbers. This club has given so much to me, and I will try my absolute hardest to give back by doing super cool and awesome tech chair things. Don’t be afraid to ask me for a belay or advice, hope to see you all on the wall.

CLUB COACHES- Andrew Shusterman and Matthew Krauss
Hey everyone. We are Andrew (right) and Matthew (left), the coaches for the Illini Climbing Team. We started the team two years ago with hopes of bringing competitive climbing to UIUC, and we cannot believe how much it has grown since then! Climbing consumes both of our lives and you will most likely see us at Jackson or the Red every weekend, or doing some other climbing related activity. I (Matthew) am a senior studying environmental engineering and competed in climbing competitions throughout high school and college. I (Andrew) am a masters student studying CS graduating in December 🙁 and can’t wait to meet you all this semester! Excited for our strongest year yet!
