Young competitive climber Kelsey Pool is stronger than you.
For the last three months, she’s been training at Durango’s Rock Lounge indoor climbing gym for the USA Climbing Series Divisional Championships on June 12-14 in Salt Lake City, where she’ll compete against some of the best young climbers in the country.
The USA Climbing entity is sanctioned and recognized by the International Federation for Sport Climbing, the International Olympic Committee and the U.S. Olympic Committee. Age categories will include 35 competitors each, from California, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado and Utah. In all, there’s about 300 kids competing, and Durango’s Skylar Smith, 15; Ben Wilbur, 17; Charlie Malone, 16; Soma Smith, 16; Georgia Witchel, 12; Nainoa Umbhau, 13; and 17-year-old Pool will be there.
“It’s a pretty big deal,” said Marcus Garcia, owner of the Rock Lounge and youth climbing coach.
Quietly climbing an overhanging 30-foot route in the gym, clipping her rope through carabiners on the wall should she fall, Pool got to the crux, holding on to a small rounded edge with her left hand, making a long reach with her right. Her left foot swung out, and she diligently placed it on another edge almost as high as her shoulder, then she made the move and clipped her rope again.
“I love it,” she said. “It’s really peaceful.”
This, coming from a girl who describes herself as anxious and high energy. Many people would find no solace in hanging by their fingertips trying not to fall.
“This has allowed me to step back and just go with the flow,” she said.
That flow may see her through to competing for a national title if she advances to the National Championships in Kennesaw, Georgia, in July. For now, she’s just enjoying the sport.
“It’s not just a physical challenge,” she said. “It’s something you have to really think about. How you can use your body. You go until you fail, and you fail a lot.”
Pool, who will head to the University of Colorado-Boulder and begin an honors engineering program next fall, said climbing has helped her outside of the gym.
“It’s made me more positive,” she said.
Garcia said in several cases, he’s seen his kids mature from adolescence and young adulthood.
“It’s been great,” he said. “Some of these kids I’ve had since they were 7 or 8, and now they’re 13. I get to see how they grow, I get to see that confidence they get that carries them though life.”
In between warming up and training sessions one afternoon, Garcia said the kids are incredibly dedicated to the sport and to each other. He described competitive climbing as an individual competition with a strong sense of fellowship.
“Everybody is helping each other, and we all work together,” he said. “Training is to help each other get to those personal goals.”
It all seems like much more than an after-school program.
“These kids train quite a bit,” he said. “Two hours a day, Tuesdays and Thursdays, and sometimes Saturdays, and a lot of the kids do stuff on their own. They are some of the best climbers in Colorado at their age.”
Nainoa Umbhau, 13, started climbing at age 10, and said he now trains every day of the week; the competitions give him something to work for.
He also said climbing is an escape.
“You have to train to get better,” he said. “You can’t just sit around and start climbing. We do a lot of pullups and pushups. You have to take off days. Without a rest, you’d never build back up.”
Umbhau said when he’s climbing, he’s in the moment.
“It gives me time to think,” he said. “You just tune everything out. You don’t even hear the people talking around you.”
And like many who pursue the sport, for competition or for fun, Umbhau said he takes what he learns on the ropes and applies it elsewhere in his life.
“It really gives a drive,” he said. “It lifts you up. It’s taught me to go through anything. When it comes to school, if I’m overwhelmed, I just think about climbing and how I would handle it on the route. Push forward and focus.”
bmathis@durangoherald.com
