An Inspired Ascent: One-Handed Cal Poly Math Teacher Debuts in Paraclimbing at USA National Championships
By Nick Wilson
Longtime Cal Poly mathematics professor Dylan Retsek was born without a left hand, which has never slowed down his passion for sports. Nor has it stopped him from reaching impressive new heights as a newly minted competitive paraclimber.
Retsek, 50, in his 20th year of teaching math at Cal Poly, recently participated in his first competitive event — the USA Paraclimbing National Championships in Washington D.C. held March 9-10.
Paraclimbing competitions, which involve scaling indoor walls with artificial holds, include athletes with missing limbs, visual impairment, and other neurological and physical disabilities. Paraclimbers compete in designated categories based on the specific physical disabilities.
In his first-ever official paraclimbing event, Retsek finished fourth in his category at the indoor Washington D.C. climbing facility Sportrock.
Now he has his sights set on representing the USA at three separate World Cup events to be held this summer in Salt Lake City; Innsbruck, Austria; and Arco, Italy. Retsek is raising funds in advance to support his competitive journey.
“It’s an honor and privilege to represent our country against the strongest paraclimbers from around the world,” said Retsek, who earned a bachelor’s degree in math from Cal Poly in 1996 and the University Distinguished Teaching Award in 2012-13.
His entry into competitive paraclimbing came later in life than most when he found inspiration and encouragement from renowned one-handed paraclimber Maureen “Mo” Beck. Beck spoke at the Performing Arts Center on the Cal Poly campus in May 2023, detailing the story of her climb of the remote Lotus Flower Tower, a 2200-foot peak in Canada.
“Mo has won national championships, made some incredible outdoor ascents, and she is super famous in the sport,” Retsek said. “I was dead set on going to her talk at the PAC. On a whim, I decided to reach out to her through social media and kind of expected nothing.”
To his surprise, Beck replied almost immediately and “was super nice and generous with her time.”
“We went for a climb at The Pad climbing gym in SLO, and that's where it all started,” Retsek said. “She was very encouraging and adamant that I should maybe step into this world of competitive, adaptive climbing. I started to gain a different idea about where this could go.”
With use of his full right arm and partial left arm that extends just past the elbow, Retsek has enjoyed playing sports throughout his life, including basketball, tennis and soccer.
“In retrospect, I think my parents must have been really amazing and intuitive,” Retsek said. “I never had any kind of weirdness or awkwardness growing up playing a lot of different sports. They just threw me in there. I never thought twice about sort of the difference between me and everyone else.”
After a serious knee injury ended his pickup basketball playing days in his early 40s, Retsek started climbing recreationally about a decade ago. On a camping trip, he discovered that his two children and their friends loved to play on rocks: “The other dad and I kind of looked at each other like ‘Ah, seems like a good activity.’”
Taking the kids to the SLO-Op climbing gym, now called The Pad, Retsek himself became an avid recreational climber, balancing life as a husband, father and math professor.
“After the knee injury, my orthopedic doctor said climbing would be much better than playing basketball again,” Retsek said. “It has nice, controlled movements versus the lateral movements and cutting in basketball that are hard on the knee.”
His 16-year-old son Finn is also a competitive climber on the USA Youth Climbing circuit. Retsek also has a 13-year-old daughter, Sloan, who plays competitive soccer and climbs for fun.
Retsek currently climbs four days per week and conditions most other days, including “before or after work, weekends, sometimes after the kids are in bed,” he said. “It’s the same juggling act that all working parents go through. I joke that I am trying to go `semi-pro’ in climbing.”
After his first taste of competitive climbing at the indoor facility in Washington D.C., Retsek is fully committed to this summer’s World Championships and has his eye on a podium spot (Top 3) at the National Championships in 2025.
Wherever the road leads, Retsek has his friends and family to thank: “I’m a relative no-name, but I think I had the biggest cheering section in D.C.!”
To learn more about Retsek’s journey or to support his efforts (USA Climbing has very limited financial support for paraclimbing athletes) visit @510climb on Instagram or his World Cup GoFundMe at https://gofund.me/ca532682.
