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Help us build a climbing wall for Hannah
Hannah Delkeskamp is a 14-year old competitive rock climber from Thousand Oaks, California. She began rock climbing at age nine and has attended National competitions five times. At her last National competition, Hannah placed fifth! Her goal is now to attend the World competition, which she can do by placing fourth in the next National competition.
Hannah and her rock-climbing teammates have been prevented from practicing regularly since the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Hannah’s dream is to have a climbing wall at home so she can regularly practice. This would help her focus on certain types of holds and a variety of wall slopes to help her advance.
Hannah is a freshman at Thousand Oaks High School. She is the youngest of three children – the only daughter of two pastors, Tim and Chamie Delkeskamp. In addition to climbing, Hannah is actively involved at Ascension Lutheran Church in Thousand Oaks and cross country at Thousand Oaks High School.
Greg Hillman, a local general contractor and member of Ascension Lutheran Church, is spearheading the effort to build a climbing wall for Hannah in the Delkeskamp’s backyard. The family backyard is often used as a gathering place for church and community activities, and Hannah’s climbing team and coach will have access to the climbing wall.
We want to help Hannah get to the USA Climbing Youth Sport Championships and need your help! The cost to build the climbing wall is approximately $7,000 for building materials and safety mats (Greg's labor is donated) plus the cost of holds and volumes (the “rocks” to be attached to the wall). Hannah and her family made an initial purchase of 50 pounds of holds (approximately 150-170 holds) for the wall. The remaining number of holds and volumes to be purchased will be determined soon.
Local businesses, including Roadside Lumber in Agoura Hills (Ascension member Owen Nostrant is the general manager), American Warehouse Equipment (a metal frame company) in Simi Valley and a metal shop in Oxnard have provided generous discounts on needed materials. For example, the hardware needed to secure holds and volumes to the climbing wall averages more than $2.50 per piece, and Roadside Lumber secured the pieces for $0.53 and $0.41 each!
We are humbly asking for donations to offset these costs and help get Hannah to the USA Climbing Youth Sport Championships.
Thank you for taking the time to hear Hannah’s story. Feel free to share this campaign with your friends and family. Prayers, social media shares, kind words and donations are greatly appreciated.
For a deeper look into Hannah’s passion for climbing, please read the following article, “Fully Alive,” written by Hannah’s mother, Rev. Chamie Delkeskamp.
Fully Alive
By Chamie Delkeskamp
My daughter climbed before she walked – out of the crib, over the couch, up to her brothers’ top bunk. When she was in preschool, she followed her big brothers up a ladder in an attempt to get on the roof of our garden shed. However, she fell in her attempt, breaking her wrist when she landed. This did not slow her down. She continued to climb – the kitchen counter to get items out of reach, the roof of the house to gaze at the stars, and countless trees just for fun.
In third grade, a climb did not go so well. Hannah was seriously injured. It was a quiet Sunday afternoon at our church where my husband serves as senior pastor. No one was on the church campus except for my husband, our youngest son, and Hannah. Tim and Jude were playing basketball in the church gym while Hannah decided to climb a peg board in the gym’s corner. She was reaching for the very last hold on the peg board when she fell backwards, landing on her head and neck.
Tim called me from the gym. “Hannah had a fall,” he said. “She landed on her neck. She couldn’t feel her arms and legs when she first fell, but seems to have some sense now. The ambulance is on the way.” I took off instantly, headed for the hospital. On the way there, I called a dear friend who was also a nurse, asking her to meet us at ER. As the ambulance pulled up, I was there and Tim and I walked beside Hannah’s gurney into the emergency room. She was talking, responding to us, but she said her vision was blurry. I remember my constant internal prayer to stay calm. We prayed aloud over her. We sang worship songs and camp songs and lullabies. When Hannah vomited, my nurse friend gently and with good humor cleaned her up. We made light of it. I had my hand constantly on Hannah, in prayer and in love.
Within an hour, Hannah could feel her arms and legs and her vision was clear. She was calm and in good spirits when they came for the MRI. The scan revealed only a very minor concussion. The doctor said no school for a few days. We visited her pediatrician the next day who was happy to see how well Hannah was doing. We were scheduled to return to the pediatrician in two weeks. It seemed to take only two days until Hannah wanted to climb again and be back to normal. I was trying to keep her down by entertaining her with quiet activities. She begged to a climb a tree. I adamantly said “no.”
When we returned for her check-up, I told the doctor that Hannah seemed to be doing well, but that the crazy girl was asking to climb trees. I assumed the doctor would chuckle and say, “no tree climbing.” Instead, she said, “Let her go. She looks great. If she feels good and wants to climb, let her go.” For a brief moment, I wanted to say something unkind to the doctor, but deep down I trusted her and knew that she was right.
Within minutes of being home, Hannah ran out to our backyard and shimmied up one of the mulberry trees, perching herself on the branch where the horse swing was tied. Her smile was radiant and she shouted down to me, “I feel so alive.” As I gazed up at her, my fear subsided. I smiled back. I could hear the ancient echo of St. Irenaus who said, “The glory of God is the human being fully alive.” I knew I needed to let Hannah be Hannah.
A little over a year later, Hannah was invited to a party at the local climbing gym. She loved it. When her uncle, who happens to be a rock climber, drew her name for Christmas, he got her a gift certificate to the climbing gym. I took Hannah a couple times a week for a month. I noticed some eyes watching her climb. A young man asked me if she had been climbing long. I replied, “Like out of her crib and on kitchen counters or like at a gym?” He laughed and said, “Like at a gym.” I replied, “No, she just started coming to the gym.” He asked if she played a sport. I told him that she played soccer. He then said that he was the coach of the climbing team and wanted her to try out. “Climbing team?” I asked. I didn’t even know there was such a thing.
Of course, Hannah’s ears perked at “climbing team.” I guess it came as no surprise that they snatched her up on the team. It wasn’t long until she had quit soccer so that she could dedicate more time to climbing. She began competing and from the get-go was placing high at local competitions and was moving on to regionals and divisionals and then all the way to nationals. It wasn’t until her third trip to nationals, however, that she made it past the first day of competing.
In Summer 2019, her dad took her to Philadelphia for U.S.A. Youth Sport Nationals. I was eagerly awaiting scores from home where I was staying with our son who was doing a summer school program. Hannah kept moving up in the ranks and qualified for finals. When I saw the scores pop up on that last day with her coming in at 5th place – in the nation – I cried. My tears held the memory of her very scary fall and the countless times I had called her our “prayer miracle.” My tears held the memory of the doctor saying, “Let her go,” and then me seeing my daughter fully alive in a tree. My tears held the conviction that we can’t let fear hold us back, that when we are free to be who God made us to be, we will, indeed, be fully alive.
People often ask me if I’m scared to have her be a climber or watch her climb. I honestly answer “no.” In part, it is because I know that those involved in the sport of climbing taking safety very seriously. But the bigger part of my “no” is that I have learned that it would be scarier to not let her be who she was made to be. God longs for us to be fully alive – and I get to witness that every time I watch my daughter climb.
Hannah Delkeskamp is a 14-year old competitive rock climber from Thousand Oaks, California. She began rock climbing at age nine and has attended National competitions five times. At her last National competition, Hannah placed fifth! Her goal is now to attend the World competition, which she can do by placing fourth in the next National competition.
Hannah and her rock-climbing teammates have been prevented from practicing regularly since the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Hannah’s dream is to have a climbing wall at home so she can regularly practice. This would help her focus on certain types of holds and a variety of wall slopes to help her advance.
Hannah is a freshman at Thousand Oaks High School. She is the youngest of three children – the only daughter of two pastors, Tim and Chamie Delkeskamp. In addition to climbing, Hannah is actively involved at Ascension Lutheran Church in Thousand Oaks and cross country at Thousand Oaks High School.
Greg Hillman, a local general contractor and member of Ascension Lutheran Church, is spearheading the effort to build a climbing wall for Hannah in the Delkeskamp’s backyard. The family backyard is often used as a gathering place for church and community activities, and Hannah’s climbing team and coach will have access to the climbing wall.
We want to help Hannah get to the USA Climbing Youth Sport Championships and need your help! The cost to build the climbing wall is approximately $7,000 for building materials and safety mats (Greg's labor is donated) plus the cost of holds and volumes (the “rocks” to be attached to the wall). Hannah and her family made an initial purchase of 50 pounds of holds (approximately 150-170 holds) for the wall. The remaining number of holds and volumes to be purchased will be determined soon.
Local businesses, including Roadside Lumber in Agoura Hills (Ascension member Owen Nostrant is the general manager), American Warehouse Equipment (a metal frame company) in Simi Valley and a metal shop in Oxnard have provided generous discounts on needed materials. For example, the hardware needed to secure holds and volumes to the climbing wall averages more than $2.50 per piece, and Roadside Lumber secured the pieces for $0.53 and $0.41 each!
We are humbly asking for donations to offset these costs and help get Hannah to the USA Climbing Youth Sport Championships.
Thank you for taking the time to hear Hannah’s story. Feel free to share this campaign with your friends and family. Prayers, social media shares, kind words and donations are greatly appreciated.
For a deeper look into Hannah’s passion for climbing, please read the following article, “Fully Alive,” written by Hannah’s mother, Rev. Chamie Delkeskamp.
Fully Alive
By Chamie Delkeskamp
My daughter climbed before she walked – out of the crib, over the couch, up to her brothers’ top bunk. When she was in preschool, she followed her big brothers up a ladder in an attempt to get on the roof of our garden shed. However, she fell in her attempt, breaking her wrist when she landed. This did not slow her down. She continued to climb – the kitchen counter to get items out of reach, the roof of the house to gaze at the stars, and countless trees just for fun.
In third grade, a climb did not go so well. Hannah was seriously injured. It was a quiet Sunday afternoon at our church where my husband serves as senior pastor. No one was on the church campus except for my husband, our youngest son, and Hannah. Tim and Jude were playing basketball in the church gym while Hannah decided to climb a peg board in the gym’s corner. She was reaching for the very last hold on the peg board when she fell backwards, landing on her head and neck.
Tim called me from the gym. “Hannah had a fall,” he said. “She landed on her neck. She couldn’t feel her arms and legs when she first fell, but seems to have some sense now. The ambulance is on the way.” I took off instantly, headed for the hospital. On the way there, I called a dear friend who was also a nurse, asking her to meet us at ER. As the ambulance pulled up, I was there and Tim and I walked beside Hannah’s gurney into the emergency room. She was talking, responding to us, but she said her vision was blurry. I remember my constant internal prayer to stay calm. We prayed aloud over her. We sang worship songs and camp songs and lullabies. When Hannah vomited, my nurse friend gently and with good humor cleaned her up. We made light of it. I had my hand constantly on Hannah, in prayer and in love.
Within an hour, Hannah could feel her arms and legs and her vision was clear. She was calm and in good spirits when they came for the MRI. The scan revealed only a very minor concussion. The doctor said no school for a few days. We visited her pediatrician the next day who was happy to see how well Hannah was doing. We were scheduled to return to the pediatrician in two weeks. It seemed to take only two days until Hannah wanted to climb again and be back to normal. I was trying to keep her down by entertaining her with quiet activities. She begged to a climb a tree. I adamantly said “no.”
When we returned for her check-up, I told the doctor that Hannah seemed to be doing well, but that the crazy girl was asking to climb trees. I assumed the doctor would chuckle and say, “no tree climbing.” Instead, she said, “Let her go. She looks great. If she feels good and wants to climb, let her go.” For a brief moment, I wanted to say something unkind to the doctor, but deep down I trusted her and knew that she was right.
Within minutes of being home, Hannah ran out to our backyard and shimmied up one of the mulberry trees, perching herself on the branch where the horse swing was tied. Her smile was radiant and she shouted down to me, “I feel so alive.” As I gazed up at her, my fear subsided. I smiled back. I could hear the ancient echo of St. Irenaus who said, “The glory of God is the human being fully alive.” I knew I needed to let Hannah be Hannah.
A little over a year later, Hannah was invited to a party at the local climbing gym. She loved it. When her uncle, who happens to be a rock climber, drew her name for Christmas, he got her a gift certificate to the climbing gym. I took Hannah a couple times a week for a month. I noticed some eyes watching her climb. A young man asked me if she had been climbing long. I replied, “Like out of her crib and on kitchen counters or like at a gym?” He laughed and said, “Like at a gym.” I replied, “No, she just started coming to the gym.” He asked if she played a sport. I told him that she played soccer. He then said that he was the coach of the climbing team and wanted her to try out. “Climbing team?” I asked. I didn’t even know there was such a thing.
Of course, Hannah’s ears perked at “climbing team.” I guess it came as no surprise that they snatched her up on the team. It wasn’t long until she had quit soccer so that she could dedicate more time to climbing. She began competing and from the get-go was placing high at local competitions and was moving on to regionals and divisionals and then all the way to nationals. It wasn’t until her third trip to nationals, however, that she made it past the first day of competing.
In Summer 2019, her dad took her to Philadelphia for U.S.A. Youth Sport Nationals. I was eagerly awaiting scores from home where I was staying with our son who was doing a summer school program. Hannah kept moving up in the ranks and qualified for finals. When I saw the scores pop up on that last day with her coming in at 5th place – in the nation – I cried. My tears held the memory of her very scary fall and the countless times I had called her our “prayer miracle.” My tears held the memory of the doctor saying, “Let her go,” and then me seeing my daughter fully alive in a tree. My tears held the conviction that we can’t let fear hold us back, that when we are free to be who God made us to be, we will, indeed, be fully alive.
People often ask me if I’m scared to have her be a climber or watch her climb. I honestly answer “no.” In part, it is because I know that those involved in the sport of climbing taking safety very seriously. But the bigger part of my “no” is that I have learned that it would be scarier to not let her be who she was made to be. God longs for us to be fully alive – and I get to witness that every time I watch my daughter climb.