Early ascents
Young Bend climbers are headed to the bouldering national championships
http://www.bendbulletin.com/
By Mark Morical
/ The Bulletin
Her back parallel to the ground, Abby Black crawls on the overhanging wall like an oversized spider.
A thick blue mat is her only protection some 15 feet below at the Bend Rock Gym.
She lunges for the next hold, then PLOP! The 14-year-old lands hard on the mat — but on her feet — then gets back up and tries it again.
Kids and climbing seem to go hand in hand — my 2-year-old son makes a beeline for the rock wall every time I take him to the park in our Bend neighborhood.
“It seems like they're naturally drawn toward it,” says Mike Rougeux, coach of the Bend Climbing Team. “Kids are just natural at climbing and want to climb things.”
Four youngsters from the team will represent Central Oregon at the American Bouldering Series (ABS) National Championships, Feb. 18-20 in Boulder, Colo.
Bouldering is a style of rock climbing limited to short climbs without the use of a rope. The sport is typically practiced outdoors on large boulders, or indoors on an overhanging wall with man-made handholds and footholds.
Bend's Tristan Helmich, 13; Walker Davis, 12; Lukas Strauss-Wise, 11; and Black plan to make the trip to Boulder next month. They qualified for the nationals based on their performances at the ABS Regional Championships in Tacoma, Wash., this past weekend.
In ABS events, competitors climb pre-established routes in rock gyms and earn points for each hold that they reach.
“I like the way you have to figure out the problem and how to get through the route,” Black says. “There's a lot of mentally preparing for competitions. There's a huge mental side of it, with whether you can actually hang on to the hold or not when you're at the point of exhaustion.”
Rougeux, who works for Timberline Mountain Guides in Bend, has coached the Bend Climbing Team for five years. He says that the proliferation of indoor climbing gyms throughout the country has exposed an increasing number of youths to rock climbing.
“Before climbing gyms were such a staple, there was almost a need to have parents who climbed,” Rougeux explains.
The Bend Climbing Team is made up of 13 climbers who have worked their way through other climbing programs at the Bend Rock Gym in southeast Bend.
While climbing is an individual sport, the youngsters get the extra benefit of training and practicing as a team.
Rougeux recognizes that these young climbers probably will not be lifelong competitors — but more likely lifelong rock climbers. Most of them enjoy climbing at Smith Rock State Park near Terrebonne, and some have even taken their parents rock climbing.
“Outdoors is way better (for climbing),” Helmich admits.
“I like outdoor bouldering better than indoor, but I can't get outside all the time,” Strauss-Wise says. “I can do it (indoors) when it's cold and snowing.”
In helping the kids make the transition from the controlled environment of an indoor rock gym to the great outdoors of Smith Rock, Rougeux must teach them risk management.
“The desire is there, and I've been working with them to make sure they have a solid foundation so they can (climb outside),” Rougeux says.
But bouldering indoors is where many of climbing's current biggest names got their start, including Chris Sharma, Tommy Caldwell and Daniel Woods.
“All the climbers in the magazines, they all started as youth competitors through ABS,” Rougeux says. “They're kind of that first generation that has grown up with climbing gyms being a mainstay in metropolitan areas. Now it's just getting bigger and bigger.”
Rougeux sees a wealth of potential in Helmich, who is seeking sponsorship and would like to perhaps make a career out of climbing — and maybe become one of those climbers who appears in popular climbing magazines.
“I think I can be,” Helmich says. “I just have to keep climbing and working hard.”
At nationals, according to Rougeux, a spotlight is trained on the competing climber as hundreds of spectators look on.
Route-setters create the moves for each climb before the competitions. The higher a climber gets, the more points he or she receives. In case of a tie, the winner is the climber with the fewest falls.
Rougeux says bouldering is a powerful, intense form of rock climbing.
“They're either getting it in three attempts or they're not getting it at all,” he says of climbers. “It's pretty impressive how tired they get after two moves.”
Mastering the mental challenges of the sport is what separates the best climbers, Rougeux explains.
“Instead of letting go when it gets hard, just keep pushing,” he says.
At the Bend Rock Gym, Black attempts a particularly challenging bouldering route. She pushes up from one handhold, flying up and backward into the air.
Her hands slip off the next hold, and SMACK!
She is back on the blue mat, a wry smile across her face.
