When the new Texas A&M Rec Center climbing wall opens, students will line up to test their strength on its towering faces and sleek new bouldering spaces. Few will realize one of their own helped build it this summer.

Route setter Sean McKeon ’27 spent the summer working with Entre-Prises, the company that designed and constructed Rec Sports’ new climbing wall. Through an internship recommended by his supervisors at Outdoor Adventures, McKeon joined the company in traveling across the country to help build climbing structures in Denver, Philadelphia, and College Station.

“Michael Gonzalez, the climbing coordinator at Texas A&M Rec Center, knows I’ve been interested in joining somewhere in the climbing community, and that’s one of the reasons I became a setter,” McKeon said. “He was able to get in contact with Entre-Prises, and I was able to get an internship with them where I got to go all over the country this summer building different rock walls.”

His first assignment took him to Denver, where he helped assemble a world cup speed wall. 

“That competition was very interesting because the wall itself was outdoors, and it was more of a modular wall, something that was designed to be built and taken down within a week,” he said. “Whereas going to Philadelphia, I got to build my first real climbing wall at a climbing gym for Movement Kensington. I got to help with two of the zones there, building bouldering walls.”

But the final stop, Texas A&M, was personal. 

“Here was my first real tower and my first island,” McKeon said. “That was its own challenge, due to how all the panels have to come together and the requirements with A&M making it perfect.”

Before his internship, McKeon joined the Rec Sports climbing team a year and a half ago, setting the routes for climbers at ​all ​three ​climbing ​facilities. 

“My job as route setter is to strip and reset all of the rock wall,” he said. “We’ll do it in sections and empty and reset the routes on it so that people can try something new and different every few weeks.”

That on-campus experience gave him the foundation and confidence to take on a hands-on construction role with Entre-Prises. 

“Day to day, I was just one of five people building the rock wall,” he said. “Most of the time I was either behind the wall or in front of it, putting panels in or prepping panels with rafters and stuff like that, basically making it as easy as possible for them to put the wall together.”

Through the internship, McKeon found that his mechanical manufacturing engineering technology coursework fit naturally with the job. 

“I surprised myself by the engineering knowledge I’ve learned being applicable for this,” he said. “Specifically with tension, putting these walls together, these panels are under a lot of stress, and being able to understand how that works and how I can mitigate that is surprisingly useful.”

Michael Gonzalez, the climbing program coordinator, said McKeon’s drive and curiosity made him a natural fit for the opportunity.

“Sean, from the very beginning, you’ll notice that he’s extremely passionate about rock climbing,” Gonzales said. “He just lives and breathes it. All his spare time is spent climbing with friends and community members, and he really delves into every nook and cranny of what is climbing.”

Gonzalez first connected McKeon with Entre-Prises after meeting representatives at an industry conference. 

“I immediately thought of Sean,” he said. “I talked to them and it was like, ‘I have a student who’s super passionate about climbing. How can I get him involved in this industry?’ And he made it happen.”

That support from staff, McKeon said, has been a defining part of his entire Rec Sports experience, not just for the summer internship.

“Todd’s one of the people who hired me, and he’s been amazing, helping foster me as a climber and as a setter, and giving me the resources I need to grow,” McKeon said. “With Michael, he was able to pave the way for me and other setters to become very good at that, and to be able to find crazy opportunities like this.”

For Todd Grier, program director for Outdoor Adventures, McKeon’s story represents the best of what Rec Sports can offer students.

“The best of what Rec Sports offers students is a launchpad for real-world experience,” Grier said. “What may start as a fun campus job often grows into something much more. Student staff have the opportunity to apply their coursework in hands-on settings, navigating team dynamics and real challenges. Thanks to mentors like Michael, Rec Sports helped Sean discover an industry where his passion and training aligned, and it’s pretty special that the new tower had an Aggie undergrad on the team putting it together.”

Grier described McKeon’s energy as “infectious.”

“If you’re around Sean and he’s talking about climbing, you’re going to get excited too, even if you’re not a climber,” he said. “For a climber in College Station, he is one of our strongest  climbers, but he is just as stoked for a novice climber to get on the wall and explore climbing.”

That now drives McKeon in his new role as head route setter — a position he recently earned following his internship. Gonzalez said the promotion is a logical next step.

“He’ll actually be leading our route setting group during his time here,” Gonzalez said. “There’s a lot of detail that goes into being a head setter. He’s going to learn a lot about the administration work, so him stepping into the role, he’s already taken that next step, and I’m excited to see where he takes the program.”

McKeon said the new wall represents not just a physical upgrade, but the next stage of Texas A&M’s climbing culture.

“This new wall is more modern,” he said. “It’s better for all of us. It’s better for the climbers, better for the setters. It’s just going to provide a better culture around climbing at A&M, something that’s a big culture elsewhere that we’re trying to bring here.”

And with that brand new wall opening soon, McKeon is already looking ahead — whether that’s continuing to set routes, working with Entre-Prises again, or one day helping design climbing walls himself. But for now, he’s proud to see his work standing tall in the heart of campus.

“I care a lot about climbing at the Rec Center and at A&M,” he said. “I think there’s a lot of growth possible here, and I’m glad to be part of making that happen.”

Written by: Claire Frazier