Waukesha South sophomore climbing whatever he gets his hands on

High School Hot Shot - Ty Schmitt

We've all heard the phrase "he's driving me up a wall." This Waukesha South sophomore has an inclination for climbing up walls at home. Here's this week's FOX6 High School Hot Shot.

WAUKESHA, Wis. - We've all heard the phrase "he's driving me up a wall." This Waukesha South sophomore has an inclination for climbing up walls at home.

That's what makes Ty Schmitt this week's FOX6 High School Hot Shot.

"As a kid, I was always like climbing things like trees, the doorframes," said Schmitt. "So my parents signed me up for this. So then, two years ago, I joined the competitive team, and I just started competing."

There are plenty of climbing events to compete in.

Schmitt said there is top rope, speed climbing, and bouldering.

"As I climb, it's mostly thinking about like the next hold and like, how I'm going to get there," Schmitt said. "Whether it's like pulling, pushing, like a jump, maybe. So you can't just like touch the hold and then get the points. You have to like, actually make upward movement."

While he's on his own during the climb, Schmitt said it's also about the team.

"We have our individual scores, but then our team gets a score based on how well all of us do, and we just compete against all the other high schools," he said.

Schmitt says he can tell the difference now that he's a regular climber.

"I am like a bit stronger and I have a pretty good solid upper body," said Schmitt. "So for some climbs, you might have to rely more on like my arms and like more pulling. I can do that, and I'm somewhat flexible, so I can get my feet pretty high."