What to do when injury strikes - The Climb Clinic!

We have been very fortunate throughout Brendan's climbing that he has had little to no major injuries. Which is why it was so hard when he had his first injury from falling off a scooter at college. He nearly broke his shoulder! 😩 Then he went one-armed climbing and injured the other shoulder!😞 So it has taken months to even get to no pain.

But all through this experience, being in Colorado has given him the opportunity to work with the best clinic for climbing injuries: The Climb Clinic in Golden, Colorado. We just do not have anything like this in Alaska.

The Climb Clinic is made up of 4 doctors of physical therapy, among other specialities. Brendan got to work with Dr. Christine Neal, and she has been invaluable in Brendan's recovery. We cannot recommend them enough! They have a number of tools at their disposal to help get climbers back on track and have climbing boards right there in the clinic to help guide movement on the wall. It is amazing!

If your climber finds themself injured and you can get to the State of Colorado, it would be well worth your time to get to The Climb Clinic. They also do telehealth! Very handy when you live in the State of Alaska! Find them at theclimbclinic.com

            CLIMB ON! The shoulders are on the mend!

What IS the development team?

 

You know, once your climber makes it onto the Development team of USA Climbing, there really isn't much information on the web to understand what that means.

So far, it has meant that an athlete gets a year of access to the USA Climbing training center. The National Training Center, or the TC for short, has four different admission tiers: Platinum for National Team Athletes, Gold for Elite Top-20 National Rank / Paraclimbing Development Team / Youth (B/A/JR) & Collegiate National Teams, Silver for Elite Top-40 National Rank / Youth (B/A/JR) & Collegiate Development Teams, and Bronze for everyone else by application only.

Once you are granted access, there are a few steps you have to take to gain access for your visit. First, you must sign up for a Covered Volunteer membership (free) on the Sport 80 site and request a background check. Once that is complete, you are sent instructions on how to access the building. There is a TC group chat that keeps all climbers in the know about hours and closures of the TC.

There are National Team coaches who may or may not be available for group sessions, but for the most part, the goal is to expose Development Team members to like-minded athletes working toward the same goals. The TC protocol states:

The USA Climbing National Team Training Center is designed and intended for elite and developing athletes to train for international competition. The High Performance Staff strive to provide these athletes a training space with appropriate developmental and training tools/terrain for these high competitive goals. The High Performance Staff also aims to provide an environment in the Training Center that allows athletes who are actively training for elite level competition to have the challenge and comfort of training with athletes who share similar goals and training needs.

Well, that's it for now. Brendan had a good session with some very impressive climbers. Making plans to come back...more motivation!

            CLIMB ON! Can't wait to see the new TC...see below...