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...

Making the jump to electric rental cars!

 

Well, I have to say, this post was unexpected. I had no intention of renting an electic car, but when I got on the Budget site, the only thing available were Teslas! So I bit the bullet and reserved one. I spent countless minutes on YouTube researching how 'to Tesla' and just when I thought I was totally ready, I opened my Budget app and it says I have a Ford Mustang Mach EV!!

You can imagine my disappointment, but it was late, and I thought: let's go check out the car and see if I can figure it out. Fortunately, Ford decided to make their EV systems more like a regular conventional gas car. It was easy to figure it out. But I still had to sit in the parking garage and learn the car quickly.

I have to say, I was all set not to like the Mustang EV, but I really do like it. If you do rent a Tesla, there are a lot of videos on YouTube that teach you how to understand the Tesla. The Ford really is a breeze. The only thing I don't like is that I got a 2023 model Mach E, and the videos all say it has CCS charging. This means I don't get to go to the Tesla superchargers, which I was really looking forward to.The next version of this car is getting upgraded to be able to use the Tesla system, but alas, that is not the car Budget gave me.

I already had the Plugshare app on my phone and put it in the vehicle I have. The app is supposed to find you compatible chargers. Haven't done this yet, so I will update when I do!

UPDATE: Well, I have to say, the charging experience was super smooth. Hey, if I can figure it out, anybody can! I chose to go with the Electrify America app and network. The app works well for notifications; ie. it tells you when charging starts/stops so you don't get charged idle fees for not moving your car in time. (Yes, they mean business!)

Some initial thoughts about the EV driving experience...well, when the car comes to a stop, you can take your foot off the brake since the car won't move again until you touch the accelerator. This is interesting. This car has a button to push to open the doors - no handle on the doors. Other than that, everything is in basically the same place. The car has a surprising amount of pickup and go. Looks great too!

I watched a TON of EV videos in my spare time (I have a lot of that on climbing trips.) I learned about 1-pedal driving and figured out how to turn it on. I loved it! Never having to touch the brake pedal (except for a couple of times), I’m totally down with this idea. One more plus for EVs: never having to replace the brakes! 👍🏽

UPDATE: Now that I am back, I miss the heavy weight of the EV compared to my gas car. I know it's the battery that makes it heavy, but it sure feels nice. I feel like it would be pretty good on the ice up here with all that extra weight on the road.

All in all, I may be convinced to start renting only electric cars. Buying one, especially in Alaska, not sold on that idea yet, but getting really close!

                    CLIMB ON!

My Day of SPEED!

 

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                                                                                  Photo credit: Dan Gadja

I decided to help out by volunteering since Brendan and I have been at Nationals for a while. I was looking for a low-stress job and finally found one I THOUGHT was going to be the least among of stress: being a Speed Clipper. I have to say, once I got the hang of it, it was pretty easy and the least amount of stress I have ever experienced volunteering at a climbing event.

But who would have thought how complicated it would be???!!! So, for my orientation, I was given a crazy amount of information by a very experienced parent in the discipline of speed climbing. Here is everything I learned in case you want a 'relatively' stress-free volunteering experience!

• First, DON'T FORGET YOUR HARNESS...like me...I had it at the hotel, just forgot to bring it.🙄
• Then, you have to learn how to tie the safety rope to your harness. This is the clip/rope that you need to attach to the auto-belay rope, so in case it gets dropped, it won't go all the way up to the top of the tower. This gets attached to your belay loop on your harness.
• Next, you have to learn how to open the Carabiner one-handed to attach to each climber.
• After a climber descends, you attach the safety rope and unclip them, either holding the auto-belay rope or clipping it to yourself.
• THEN, in between each climber, you look up and make sure the auto-belay rope isn't twisted. If it is, untwist until it is straight. A twisted rope could cause the auto-belay to fail...and we don't want that!
• Now, for the cameras, the two clippers must work in unison, unclipping both climbers at the same time. This looks professional and synchronized on the video and has the least amount of commotion in the view.

That's it! There are a few nuances that you will learn, but the time really flies by fast! And it was a lot of fun seeing the fastest climbers in the country do their thing. I think this will be my new favorite volunteer job...🤔 .

                    CLIMB ON!

2025 USA Climbing Youth National Championship - Beaverton, Portland, Oregon

 

Photo Credit: @Permafrostpictures.photography

We are having a great time at the newly added onto Portland Rock Gym in Beaverton, Portland, Oregon.  We first came to this gym last year in 2024 for Divisionals, and they had only completed the Bouldering side. Now, the Ropes building is complete and is amazing. I just wish that when these gyms are built, more thought is put into where to put spectators. There has got to be a better way! 

UPDATE: OK, so my previous comment was about the rope area. The boulder area is amazing! Now, why couldn't there be seating for ropes?? There were a huge number of seats set out in front of the boulders. Bravo! 

The walls are amazing, and the warmup area is spectacular for competing athletes. They really thought about all aspects of the climbing experience for athletes, especially during competitions.

The only downside to this gym is that it is in an area that has terrible cell phone coverage. Inside the gym, the only way to check the results page is to consult a computer that the gym puts out for the crowd to access... not fun. On the plus side, there are lots of shops in the surrounding buildings of the shopping strip where the gym is located: Starbucks, a Barber shop, and a Gyro shop, among others. This is a welcome change from going to the Portland Rock Gym location downtown. It is really nice to be out of downtown and in the suburbs with more options and accessible amenities.

When it comes to planning for your climber's time in Isolation or ISO, here are some things to keep in mind: when competing in ropes, there is such a thing as a rolling clock. This means that if a climber on the wall falls before their allotted 6 minutes are up, the next climber is brought out to start. This can really mess with an athlete's warmup, because you never really know how much time you have to get ready. Brendan's time in ISO is getting shorter and shorter in ropes because of this, so plan to send in things like protein bars instead of perishable foods. 

Now, it’s different with Bouldering. Everyone has 4 minutes on the wall, so folks in ISO HAVE to wait. Their time could be hours, so in this case, it is a good idea to send in lots of food!

Well, Brendan delved into the world of Finals this year in Ropes and made it onto the USA Climbing Development Team! As in my previous post about the Youth Circuit, the top 5 places in each category are on the USA Climbing team. The next 5 spots will become members of the Development team. Pro tip:  If you make finals, be sure to head back to ISO for the awards ceremony! You will be presented as a group!

We are super excited about this, and when I know more, I will write a post about it! But it was interesting to find out that spots 4 - 10 in Finals get medals as Finalists. See below!

One of the most important things you can do as a parent to prepare for nationals is to read the Info sheet on the event in its entirity. Sometimes this is hard to find, as the current one gets taken down after an event. I have saved this year's HERE so you can get an idea of what to expect, even though the details will change.

Brendan is going to sit out Bouldering due to a shoulder injury, but the 2025 Youth Climbing Nationals have been a blast!

                    CLIMB ON!

Photo Credit: @Permafrostpictures.photography

The guys!

Photo credit: Pam Keskula

Wondering if you should use a hotel or Airbnb? See my post HERE

Wondering more about Elite events like the North American Cup Series and how to compete? See my post HERE

Wondering what colleges have climbing teams? See my post HERE

Want to know more about Open Nationals or the Yeti Elite National Championship? Click HERE

NACS Edmonton, Canada 2025

 

Well, this is our first time doing an International North American Cup Series (NACS).  We find ourselves in Edmonton, Canada, at the Climb YEG outdoor climbing facility.

I have to say, so far, my stay in Edmonton has been great. Only one small thing...when we got off the plane, I had NO INTERNET at the airport. And I wasn't alone. I heard other people talking about getting on the airport wifi, so I did the same. Since I didn't have internet, we decided to jump in a taxi...I haven't been in a cab in years...🙄. After some guy yelled at our cab driver, while taking his picture, hitting a curb on our trip, and trying to explain that I needed air in the back, the driver informed me how much our trip would be while we were driving. And then guess what? LTE showed up on my phone! 🙄🫩 Oh well, we will Lyft back to the airport.

UPDATE: No rideshares can be hailed at the airport, and all taxis have to charge the same flat rate of $62 CAD at the time of this writing. Our Lyft back to the airport will be $40 CAD...😒. You can meet your rideshare at Paid Arrivals outside Door 10.

Other than that, customs was a breeze. Be sure to get the ArriveCan app on your phone. It makes the border process super smooth and quick. I was glad, as I was worried about that...

I had to book an Airbnb for one night since the competition schedule was changed. We found a really nice 2-bedroom apartment that I will definitely come back to if we return to Edmonton! There are a lot of high-rise apartment buildings in Edmonton. I'm not sure I would live in an apartment on the 11th floor, but it was comfortable. This is a big city for sure, with lots of noise...reminds me of big cities back home. And for me, that is New York State, yes, including the Big Apple. We are at the Westin for the remainder of our stay, as that is right across from the climbing venue. Can't wait!

Oh, Brendan always laughs at me that I have plastic covers for our suitcases, but it is POURING in Edmonton today. They will come in handy, keeping our luggage dry! I hate bringing an umbrella, but in this case, maybe I should have...

We moved over to our hotel, the Westin. Good hotel with amenities. The room had a fridge but not a microwave. That is a bummer to me, but it is close to the venue and shopping options, including restaurants.

Edmonton has some amazing and unique restaurants, but I will say that walking around town can be an interesting experience. I can't say I felt 100% safe with the characters on the streets, but I'm glad I didn't have a car. We took a lot of Lyft rides and stayed in well-lit areas with people around.

Well, we found the venue. Holy cow! Right on the Saskatchewan River, and you have to climb down a lot of stairs to get there. (Smart tip: take the escalators in the Edmonton Convention Center!!! Big leg saver.) What a view and outside venue...see below.

The comp was held at ClimbYEG, and boy, do these people know how to please. They thought of everything, right down to VIP seating. I jumped at this and had a comfy, covered seat all three days, with snacks and 2 free drinks! I even came for the free showing of Reel Rock 19 in the pouring rain, and they set up my own tent! (Which I shared with other people who showed up...)

When it comes to planning for your climber's time in Isolation or ISO, here are some things to keep in mind: when competing in ropes, there is such a thing as a rolling clock. This means that if a climber on the wall falls before their allotted 6 minutes are up, the next climber is brought out to start. This can really mess with an athlete's warmup, because you never really know how much time you have to get ready. Brendan's time in ISO is getting shorter and shorter in ropes because of this, so plan to send in things like protein bars instead of perishable foods. 

We also had a brush with fame as Kai Lightner was there at the event competing! Boy, was it cool to see him climb in person. The last time we saw him was at the 2017 Youth Nationals. He is amazing to watch! What he can do is truly inspiring, and so is his story. Had to get the obligatory picture...

Well, before this trip ended, I decided to try my hand at the ClimbYEG walls myself and entered the community competition. Needless to say, I have a newfound respect for Brendan and what he does. Those walls kicked my you-know-what (notice no video here of me...👀). However, going through the entire experience gave me a new understanding of competition climbing and the rush you get when your name is announced over the speakers and the crowd cheers for you. I was struggling on my 2nd climb, and I actually thought I heard a guy telling me what to do! 😂 I couldn't do it, of course, but I felt like folks were with me as I tried to get up the wall. That is a definite high that I can see being addictive!

Youth Nationals next! Stay tuned!

        CLIMB ON!

Photo Credit: @Westlake.Photo

Collegiate Nationals - Salt Lake City, UT 2025

The road to collegiate nationals is gearing up! This new circuit is quite a bit different but loosely based on the Youth circuit. It has some interesting twists, which I will explain.

As I said in previous posts, there are Qualifier (QE) events followed by the equivalent of Divisionals (CNQE). If a competitor makes their way through these, then Nationals is the culminating event.

There are two registration periods for Collegiate Nationals: one for climbers who have qualified and one for first-come, first-serve, which allows ranked competitors to register for the event if there is room. Registration is going fast, so you want to sign up early for this event. Boulder and Lead disciplines for the Advanced category have a capacity of 144 and 90 for the Intermediate category.

Collegiate Nationals will have two rounds:

    Qualifiers - top 20 advance from each category to Finals

    Finals - top 5 from each category will be selected for the National Team

This year, Collegiate Nationals is May 2-5. There was quite a bit of controversy this year with dates from USA Climbing. These dates are right before finals for most college kids and the same weekend as the Montréal NACS. USAC has offered to write letters for any student wanting it for their College. My advice to all climbing moms trying to schedule things: wait until all dates are published, OR get everything refundable. TRUST ME...you will be glad you waited. 

        CLIMB ON!

photo credit: @permafrostpictures.photography

NACS Greenville, South Carolina 2025

 

Photo Credits: Brady @Blochaven

NACS Greenville 2025

I have to say, this 2^nd year around doing the NACS circuit is getting easier; for both Brendan and me. He made semifinals for the first time and finished 20^th overall. 

Take aways from this trip are I much prefer being in a shopping area where all conveniences are close by. We had a hotel that was literally around the corner from Whole Foods and REI. For a climbing trip, you couldn’t ask for a better location. And with the comp on Saturday and Sunday, there was no traffic to interfere with us getting to isolation on time.

As for the comp itself, BlocHaven is a beautiful gym in Greenville, SC. They really put some thought into the building of it, considering spectators. I anticipate there will be more Elite comps there in the future. It’s always a good idea to bring earplugs for finals…the music was great but REALLY loud. But there isn’t a bad seat in the house. They have a workout island that is elevated that doubles as spectator viewing for a great back bouldering wall.

As for as advancement, here are the requirements in a NACS setting:

• Top 24 climbers from the Quals go on to Semis
• Top 8 climbers from Semis move on to Finals

For those of you who fly a lot, I had a pretty good experience on American to get to South Carolina, BUT…. I have to say I like Alaska better. For starters, I am on a 6-hour flight from Dallas to Anchorage and the only thing they had for food was cheese and crackers…for $11! Come on! Alaska has hot food for sale. And I have to say the seats are a lot closer than Alaska planes, but these Airbuses have a bathroom in the middle of the plane. Very cool. But WIFI $21? On Alaska, it’s $8. Not a fan…but as I said, it’s a good means to an end.

The big thing for all you Alaska mileage members that I learned is that since American is part of the One World Alliance with Alaska, I can put in my Alaska mileage number in the American site when I purchase the tickets and get the miles deposited to my Alaskan account. PLUS, my status carries over. As a MVP Gold, I get two free checked bags and Brendan as a MVP gets one free bag. That really helps because I end up bringing a lot of stuff on climbing trips, especially if we have an Airbnb.

So, if you need to get to the other side of the country and Alaska doesn’t necessarily go there, American is a pretty good choice. And you don’t lose any miles making the switch. American has a major hub in Dallas/Fort Worth, which I just learned has major thunderstorms in the spring. We got lucky and dodged them.

There are two stops on the Elite circuit that seem to happen every year: Vail, Go Pro Games, and the USA Climbing Training Center. But for these varying stops, Greenville was a good choice. They have a beautiful airport with the essential amenities. I even spent some time in their Escape Lounge. Small, but did the job. Greenville has every restaurant you could want. We have an Alaskan tradition of visiting the Cheesecake Factory in whatever city we end up in and making sure we get our Cheese Cake fix. No, we don’t have that one….

Great climbing trip and Brendan and his teammate from Alaska Rock Gym represented Alaska well! ONWARD to the next one!

 

                        CLIMB ON!

Jermey @cmsninjagoat

Collegiate National Qualifying Event - CNQE

 

Well, there is much to learn about the Collegiate National Qualifying Event, or CNQEs, otherwise called Collegiate Divisionals. The event is nothing like youth divisionals in the strictest sense, but it is the penultimate event before Collegiate Nationals, so one can think of them as related.

But there are two very big differences: the first is that a collegiate climber, who has qualified by competing in a Qualifying Event (QE), can attend any CNQE in the country, but only ONCE. If the climber is not among the top 8 climbers, they will not advance to nationals.

The second difference is the real kicker: If a climber makes it into the top 8 in one category, then they make it into both in the Nationals event. So strategy comes into play here: If one makes the top 8 in the morning session, then they do not have to climb the afternoon session. In Brendan's case, Bouldering was in the morning and Lead was in the afternoon.

There are two ways to strategize here as a team. If a climber makes the top 8 and does not climb in the afternoon session, that leaves room for the team to have another climber try to make it in. The opposite of this strategy is that if the top 8 people climb in both categories, they essentially could take up 2 available spots for nationals by making it into the top 8 in both disciplines.

The next thing we noticed was that some climbers were coming from very far away because either their CNQE was full or they wanted to have a better chance of qualifying by coming to a less populated part of the country. It really pays to register early for the event you want because they tend to fill up quickly.

We continue to support Brendan on his journey and learn more about the world of competitive climbing. You heard it here first!

                CLIMB ON!

Team Trials

 

I have to say that I am enjoying watching the USA Climbing team trials. Of course with the hopes that one day we will see Brendan there! So just watching to try to figure things out because, hey, you never know!

The only way to get invited to the Team Trials is by placing in the top 40 climbers in your category at the Yeti Climbing National Championship, otherwise known as Open Nationals. Team Trials are going on right now from March 12 - 16, 2025, so they tend to land predictably in March. 

How does it all work? Well, watching the lead competition, the men started out with 31 competitors and reduced it to the top 24 climbers for the Semis. Finals took the top 8. There are apparently points accumulated by climbers so the podium doesn't necessarily determine who makes the team. 

The manual in section 2 states that points are awarded from the National Championship PLUS the National Team Trial competition. The total number of points determines who makes the team. With Colin Duffy and Jesse Grupper already preselected for the lead team, that left three spots on the team for the top three ranked climbers. Sergay Lakno, Decland Osgood, and interestingly Cruz Padilla who came in 9th at the Trials but had more points than the 3rd place finisher, Dillon Countryman, because he came in 1st at the National Championship.

I can't say I understand the reasoning behind this system, but it does seem that it provides validity to the number and challenge level of the total amount of competitions that a climber competes in. The way to ensure you get on the team is that you must do well at BOTH events. That does make sense in that the team is looking for the most well-rounded and experienced climbers, but it is hard to understand when looking at the Team Trials itself without knowing this.

Well, we will see what happens tomorrow for Bouldering!

Update: Bouldering was amazing! And we have connections to two of the climbers who came from our Division, Vail Everett and Melina Constanza. Brendan grew up with Vail at many youth competitions and I have to say we all saw this coming watching his immense talent over the years. Congrats Vail! Melina is older than Brendan but comes from our Division as well. He met her at a training camp in Philadelphia where she gave him expert advice. Big thanks and congrats to Melina! She is amazing!  You both have done amazing things for the sport of climbing!

                CLIMB ON!

Photo Credit: Orea Media

Surviving all THREE Circuits AT THE SAME TIME.

 

Now some of you climbing parents may not be dealing with this, but I wanted to make a post for those who might end up in this position like we are.

The last year of the youth series, at this time, coincides with the first year of college. And most serious climbers who are 16 have already started the Elite series. So, it is possible to be in all three circuits at once for a year.

MY ADVICE TO ALL: Do not buy anything that is non-refundable until USA Climbing puts out the last set of dates for the terminal championships. What I mean is wait to find out when the Collegiate Nationals is going to be. Around this time, the CNQE dates will also come out.

The problem right now is that some of the Elite NACS dates conflict with the Collegiate dates. Brendan almost needed to miss Collegiate nationals to stay in the Elite circuit until another CNQE opened up which made the whole jigsaw puzzle work.

To be safe, be sure to get travel insurance and make every reservation refundable or pay when you get there! Ugh!

            CLIMB ON!

Heart and Soul 2025

Photo Credit: Andrew Hanson

Internet snooping: How to get good at it!

 

I find myself more and more perfecting what I am calling the art of internet snooping. And the above website is really an incredible tool.  The USA Climbing Competition Data Base lists just about everything, although I am finding that it has a ways to go in the Collegiate world, but I guess that will come in time.

The database lists every known climber in the USA Climbing circuits. That is the ultimate snooping ability. Keep seeing a hotshot climber who shows up at comps? Look up his record! Hey, this is all free information that everyone has access to. This website just collects it and stores it as an archive.

Other areas of internet snooping involve stalking a gym's website and for any informational updates related to their competitions. This really gets me: sometimes you have to wait FIVE days after a comp to find out what the results are. Oh, they post the top five finishers right away, but everyone else is left to wait to see what they got.

Keeping an eye on USA Climbing's website is also a must. I stalk it a couple times a week to see how some comps are filling up and see if there is any news coming out about upcoming locations or event sign-ups. Some competitions fill up fast and you have to jump on registrations. And of course, that is where you find the information sheets to comps for the results pages. The best internet snooping tool! You can continuously check it before the event to see who is registering in your climbers’s category, see scores in real time,  as well as download scores after a competition. The guides put out by USA Climbing for each type of event are extremely helpful for understanding rules and policies.

And I can't forget to mention Instagram! The main tool in my snooping tool kit. Gyms will post updates on their storylines. That is the ultimate place for internet snooping! I will sometimes get a glimpse of Brendan just by watching the gym's promotional videos! 🤣🤣🤣🤣 I know, I'm such a mom!

                CLIMB ON!

Mom's First Climbing Competition: Frigid Flash!

 

Well, I can honestly say that went better than I thought!

The whole competition experience was truly eye-opening. Have you ever tried the sport your child is passionate about? I did and I not only learned a lot but feel great with such a whole-body workout.

The entire process, from training weeks leading up to the comp to planning for the day of was a learning curve. I know what I did right: having a big breakfast the morning of and then eating AGAIN right before leaving for the gym was a good idea. I spent 10 hours in the gym yesterday!

Next time, I'm going to bring snacks! Now, why didn't I think of that??? I did for Brendan! AND I'm going to bring my camping chair because watching finals still hurts my back.

But overall, mission accomplished. I had a secret goal of sending at least one climb. (Thank you setters for that easier one!) And I didn't want to come in last, which I wasn't! Tied for 14th out of 23 people! (But if I had, that would have been fine too.)

Watching the wiz kids in finals took on a whole new meaning...oh, that's what I need to do with my feet...

Well, this is one sport I never thought I would have anything to do with, being a New Yorker in Alaska. But hey, it's kind of 😎  cool!

            CLIMB ON!

Teenage conversation starter: mom is learning to climb!

 

Well, this empty nester thing isn't so bad. I have come up with an ingenious way to talk to our son more:

LEARN TO CLIMB. Honestly, I don't know why I didn't do this before.

It really has been eye-opening trying to do the things Brendan has to do to train for climbing. Now...I'm not going crazy here...but I am trying to get to the gym 4 times a week (!), eat right, get good sleep, drink collagen, and recover from my sessions. It has really been interesting to combine working with climbing, which is not easy!

I have set some goals for myself. The biggest one is to be lead certified by the time Brendan graduates from College...we'll see! 😂😁😆😅

I do see new things about climbing that I didn't before: the social side of it, the thrill of pushing yourself to new heights (pun intended), working on my footwork (🙄 why can't I match feet???) and just having fun with your friends. I'm even toying with the idea of doing a competition...(UPDATE: yep, I'm doing it!) The teacher inside of me loves to experience what my students do, or, in this case, my son does. I'm getting a great workout and as you saw in my previous post about all women's climbing travel tour groups, I HAVE BIG PLANS! 

    CLIMB ON!

Mom in the Chair!

 

As Brendan gets busier and busier with College, it is increasingly hard for one person to manage all of the fees, registration dates, and deadlines for climbing. Maybe I am a mom who doesn't want to let go of being in her son's life, which is probably true. But my son does see value in having me be the keeper of the calendar and registrations.

As you can imagine, there are a lot of competitions in the State of Colorado, plus the Youth, Elite, and Collegiate circuits. I print out 12 months from my Apple calendar and keep a running tab on all of them. Plus, I am making sure Brendan gets his waivers done now that he is 18.

I also use the app Tripit to keep tabs on all of the travel arrangements when he has to travel and remind him which comps he needs rides to. Without a team that would oversee all of this, I still help. Other college parents can shame me, but for a new Freshman trying to figure things out, I don't want to hang my kid out to dry and leave him to the winds on his own!

Not to mention scholarship management! If you have a kid in college and have tried to navigate the scholarship world, you know what a daunting task that is! Navigating health insurance and deductibles, dealing with the government (for us in Alaska, filling out your Permanent Fund Dividend for the first time!), it's a lot.

I say there are some young adults who still need some management help when navigating a new life direction. And there is nothing wrong with that! I just stay out of his other business unless asked. 😉

    CLIMB ON!

Traveling Solo as an Eighteen Year Old

 

Yet again, I have run into something that I hope no other parent has to go through...

Now that Brendan is traveling solo for various Competitions around the State of Colorado, he has discovered that turning 18 is less cool than he thought. 

I called a hotel to ask if he could check in alone as an 18-year-old and I was assured he could. Then they directed me to their reservations line, and I asked the same question. Again, I was assured this would be no problem.

Well, guess what? It was...this hotel actually turned him away. He called me. I told them that since they took our money without telling us that each hotel is independently operated and can make their own policies regarding 18-year-old solo travelers, they needed to help my son. I demanded a full refund and their assistance in finding my son a place to stay since I am 3,000 miles away. Next time, I will be getting the name of every person I talk to as well as asking to speak to a manager to verify.

Ultimately, they did find him a place.  But I can't help but be disappointed. I will never use this Hotel chain again and promptly sent a letter to their corporate customer service. The possibility of influencing his preparation for the next day cannot be understated, not to mention that he might not have had a place to stay for the night is something no parent wants to think about.

The advice I can give is to check, check again, and triple-check when making reservations for your solo traveling 18-year-old. Now Brendan knows, as an 18-year-old, he can vote, and die for his country, but cannot check into a hotel of his choosing or rent a car. Moving on...

SOLUTION FOUND! AirBnBs! Don't know why I hadn't thought of this sooner! It is super easy: all the app requires is one adult older than 13.  I am still going to check each property though.

2nd SOLUTION FOUND! Zipcars. Most universities have Zipcars on their campus. It is the only rental car an 18-year-old is able to rent on their own. A year's membership was about $35. Find it at www.zipcar.com

    CLIMB ON!

Sponsorships and how get them...

 

Photo Credit: @qb.photo.ak

I hesitated to write this post since Brendan is not yet stacked with sponsorships. But hey, I figure inquiring minds want to know...

Despite all of the expenses that come with climbing, it could be worse. It’s not like hockey or skiing…But even so, I got tired of paying for the litany of things he needed. So I said to Brendan, “you need to find someone to help pay for all this.” Well, Brendan and I were in full scholarship-seeking mode and started to do the same thing for finding sponsorships. Basically, all one has to do is ask.

Brendan started finding companies with a 'Become An Ambassador' page or a 'Our Athletes' page. Some of them had a link to apply to be considered. Since Brendan really liked his Gomi Butora shoes, that was the first one he applied to. It just so happened that his coach is also a Butora athlete, so a good recommendation always helps. 

The main thing, as with any endeavor, is to network. It's all about who you know. Brendan has started meeting a lot of people as we have been traveling around the country. So encourage your climber to climb hard, get people's attention, and ask to be sponsored. 

Hey, you never know. 🤷

    CLIMB ON!

Instagram: brendan______w

Spectating from afar

 

I have to say, a tough part of the parent's adjustment to the Collegiate Climbing Circuit is not being able to see my kid climb anymore. I prided myself on never missing Brendan climb. But now with him in Colorado, that just isn't possible anymore. Plus, he has a competition almost every Saturday now! He is thriving, but my husband and I are left to mull about the house thirsty for information.

I have gotten really good at finding internet sources to tell me what is going on. The first question is: Did he make it to the comp? Colorado is having a huge snowstorm right now, with road closures all over the state (Really? I guess I am just a jaded Alaskan...). Okay, so I have Find Your iPhone for that answer. Yes, he made it to the gym. Pro Tip: if your climber is flying and you want to track their flight, Flight Aware is a great app. Or, if you have an iPhone, text the flight number to yourself. It will appear underlined; long press the flight number and a flight preview with a map of where the plane's flight time/arrival in real-time will appear.

The next question is: How comp savvy is the gym he is at? Some local comps will periodically (maybe) post updates to their Instagram stories, video clips, or still photos. I scour the posts to see if I see Brendan. ("There he is!" and a celebration ensues while running to tell hubby.) 

The third question is: What is his score??? Well if it is a USA Climbing event, there is a results page that is updated in real time. So I get out the official manuals to understand the scoring and imagine the rest. This is as close as I can get to being there! We were super lucky to have one gym livestream the Qualification round and the Finals round. We didn't have good camera luck but did get to see Brendan a couple of times on the wall. But we were so grateful to have that!

Sometimes we get lucky and a friend from home visits Brendan. Here he is (below) with a fellow Alaskans at the Battle for the Fort 2024 at Ascent Studios in Fort Collins. This is a massive comp with Olympians showing up every year. What a great experience to be there for! But still, some gyms take days to post the results from a competition (Hey! Don't forget about us little people far away, please!)

Well, here I sit passing the time with this post waiting for scores to come in at his first Collegiate Qualifying Event combined with a local competition called Longtucky Showdown. Stay strong Climbing moms and

    CLIMB ON!

Battle for the Fort at Ascent Climbing Studio. 

Back to today: The wait was long but worth it!

And he came in 3rd in the Finals round overall at Longtucky!!

The Youth Series

I just realized that I really haven't documented the entire Youth Series and all of the steps one has to go through as one competes. I think back to the photo above when Brendan came in 6th at his Divisional comp when he was 10 years old. He comes over to me and says, 'Mom, I'm going to Nationals!!" and I said "What?? We have to go where??" He took This photo with Megan Martin in 2017 at the Youth National Competition in Salt Lake City, 8-time American Ninja Warrior, and many other shows. Below, see Brendan with Ashima Shiraishi, an unbelievably gifted female climber. We were also fortunate to see Kai Lightner climb that year. It was truly an inspirational experience.

But how does one make it all the way there? As a resident of Alaska (or Hawaii), Brendan never had to compete in Qualifying Competitions. This was not an advantage as some would think, but it did save us on extra trips out of the State of Alaska. What he did not get was all of that competition training that is really valuable. But at $1000 a trip (and now it's almost double that) to get out of our state, the Bye to Regionals for Alaska residents is a lifesaver.

But now that Brendan is going to college in the State of Colorado, he is competing there in Region 42. So, for the first time, he has to do a Qualifying Event (QE). So for those of you not in the 49th or 50th States or for my Alaskan moms who what to know more about QEs, here is what I am learning...

First things first: GET THE WAIVERS DONE! Every gym requires a waiver for your climber and any adult who will be spectating. I can't tell you how many comps I've arrived at with the line out the door because people forgot to plan ahead and do a waiver for their climber and everyone else in their party watching.

Each Region, except Alaska and Hawaii, will hold between 4 and 8 QEs for the Boulder Season and the same for Rope season.   Be sure to register your competitor for the correct year. USA Climbing has put out new age groups to better match the International Climbing organizations.  For the most current information, check USA Climbing's Youth Page HERE for Youth Series resources. A competitor earns points according to what place finish they earn at the QE. Here is the table used for the first 60 spots of a category:

As you can see, if a competitor does more than one QE, their top two scores are added together for a final value. Regional rankings come out about a week after a QE or sometimes sooner. They are also changing from one QE to the next depending on how many QEs a climber participates in. So, in theory, if you do more than one QE, you can improve your ranking by adding more points. This reminds me of the NACS rankings...

Here is a helpful page on How to read Boulder scores.

Now, for the part I always forget. The progression in the Youth Series is as follows:

• QUALIFICATION EVENT: The top 26 competitors from each Region category QE rankings go on to Regionals.
• REGIONALS: The top 13 competitors from each category of each Regional Championship advance to Divisionals(1 day, single-round competition).
• DIVISIONALS: The top 13 from Qualifications advance to the Divisional Finals (2 Days, Qualification and Finals on two separate days)
• The top 6 competitors from each Divisional Championship category Final advance to Nationals
• NATIONALS:  The top 5 competitors from each category at Nationals advance to Youth Worlds. (3 rounds of competition: Qualification, Semi-Finals, and Finals, Semis and Finals often on the same day.)
• National Qualifications - top 20 advance to Semis
• Semis - top 10 advance to Finals
• Finals - top 5 advance to Worlds
• YOUTH WORLDS:  (That's a whole other ball of wax - Brendan has aged out so I won't be much help on this one.)

*One interesting note: The top 6 climbers in the Bouldering categories (male/female) and the top 3 climbers in Lead (male/female) are automatically qualified for the Elite Yetli National Championships.

If your climber is turning 18 during this competitive year, they must complete the SafeSport training on the USA Climbing Sport 80 account. They will not be able to register for a competition during that year if the training is not completed. Don't miss this!!

If you haven't seen my first post on prepping for comps, read it next HERE.

BONUS HEALTH TIP: ALWAYS wear a mask in the airport/on the plane after a comp. Brendan got sick every time because he would have a compromised immune system and pick something up from the plane on the way back. When he started masking up after comps to travel home, NO PROBLEMS!

BONUS: After the comp, there is a handy way to download all scores. In the upper right-hand corner of the results page, click the three dots and download the file.

EVEN BETTER!!! CHECK OUT THIS WEBSITE:

The USAC Climbing Competition Data Project stores everything so you don't have to! For a mom who should have been paying attention to gathering data 7 years ago, this helps a lot! Find it HERE.

HAVE A GREAT COMP YEAR EVERYONE!

    AND CLIMB ON!