Divisional Championships

It's championship season for the Bend Climbing Team with Regional Championships last month, Divisional Championships this past weekend in Salt Lake City, and National Championships coming up in Atlanta in July.

Tristan getting in the zone.

Big climbing competitions can be stressful on the climber, coach, and the parents as all the training and hard work comes down to a couple routes and where a misplaced foot or bad sequencing can spell disaster and advancing on to the next round or competition is decided by one hold or one clip.

Jack on his finals route

This years Division 1 Championship was held in Salt Lake City at Momentum Climbing Gym.  Division 1 is made up from teams from Alaska to Northern California and East to Montana.  The top 20 climbers in each category were there to compete over two days on three routes and gunning for a coveted invite to the Youth National Championships.

Jack high on qualifier #2

Tristan Helmich, Jack Groh, and Lukas Strauss-Wise from the Bend Climbing Team all climbed well on their two qualifier routes against a very talented and strong field.  At the end of day one all three team members were in the top 10 and moving on to finals with Tristan in 7th, Jack in 6th, and Lukas tied for 1st.

Lukas latching the finish on qualifier #2

Finals day was just one route which leaves no room for error as the route setters need to separate the finals field and avoid having super finals.  This all translates to very hard climbs!  Everyone climbed well under the pressure of everything riding on one route and when it was all done Tristan was sitting in 8th just missing a invite to Nationals by one, Jack in 5th earning a invite to Nationals, and Lukas in 1st with an invite to Nationals.

Tristan on qualifier #2