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!

The Collegiate Circuit

 

I have to say, the Collegiate Division is getting clearer for me. After reading the rules for the Collegiate season, I can boil things down to this for you.  

All Collegiate climbers must get a Collegiate membership. This will be in addition to your Youth/Elite membership. I have them both on auto-renew as they expire at different times. Now, with the Collegiate one, your climber has to show proof of enrollment at a college. The way you do that is to submit an accepted document. Brendan used his schedule which shows his name, his school, his schedule, AND his student ID. All of these items must be on the accepted document.

The season starts with Qualification Events (QE) from roughly October to March. Each athlete must compete in one of them. From there, that qualifies them to register for a Collegiate Nationals Qualification Event (CNQE) anywhere in the country.  If successful, meaning they score in the top 8 in their category, they would move on to Collegiate Nationals and then Collegiate Worlds.

The document on QEs states that the bulk of the setting will be for climbers at the average level. There should be one climb that everyone can top. However, there will also be one boulder that challenges the national-level climber. This climb will feature "moves that require good timing, precision, coordination, or complex movement, rather than using traditional 'hard' rock climbing problems on an overhang, and 'easy' problems on vertical terrain."

The Collegiate Nationals Qualification Event (CNQE) is held in various locations around the country, roughly in April. There are two scheduled weekends for these to occur in the 24-25 season. The total capacity at CNQEs is 160 with each category having up to 50 competitors. A competitor may only compete at one CNQE and they can compete in both boulder and lead if they wish. The category that is chosen will be the same if the climber makes it to nationals.  As previously stated, only the top 8 in each category will advance to Collegiate Nationals.

At the Collegiate Nationals, here is what I have found so far: There are two rounds; Qualifications and Finals. 

• The top 20 climbers advance to Finals in each discipline.
• The top 5 climbers advance to the Collegiate World Championship
• Only the advanced category will receive invitations to the Worlds which happens every other year. The next is in 2026.
• And if you are in the top 3 in your category or represent the US at Collegiate Worlds, you are pre-qualified for next year’s CNQE. 

On the off chance Brendan or anyone makes it to Collegiate Worlds, here is the breakdown of the progression:

• BOULDER: There are 3 Rounds - Qualifications, Semi-Finals, and Finals
• The top 20 moves on to the Semi-Final round
• The top 6 moves to the Final round
• LEAD: There are 2 Rounds - Qualifications, and Finals
• The top 8 moves on to the Finals

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

So for Brendan's first year in college, he is participating in three circuits: Youth (last year M20), Elite, and Collegiate!

*At the time of this writing, no official information has been posted on CNQE or the National Championship. I will update this post when they become available and tell you what our experience is!

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!

Don't forget to check out your climber's stats at the Competition Database HERE.

CLIMB ON!

Photo Credit: @Gajdaphotography, @USAClimbing

And if you are curious, here are the team rankings for 2024:

Yeti Elite Nationals Championship

As I stated in my Elite Series post, the culminating event formerly called 'Open Nationals' now is called Yeti Climbing National Championships. This year, as of this writing, it was held in Salt Lake City.

You can see from my previous post, looking at the National Eligibility Lists, that there are many ways to qualify for the National Championships. Brendan took the route of the NACS circuit. What was interesting was that there were five North American Cup Series events (NACS). What is not easy to figure out is that a climber really needs to compete in more than one of them if they do not score insanely high at their first event. Brendan's first event was at the Training Center in Salt Lake. As a first experience, he was just figuring things out. His second event was at the GO PRO games as we were already in Colorado for Orientation at Colorado State in Fort Collins. He decided to add a third event in New Jersey at the GOAT Gym in Hackensack. The combination of his three scores got him placed 87th in the nation. Since he was in the top 100 ranked competitors, he qualified to go. Now the interesting twist was that there was still one more NACS to go that could change the rankings. But USA Climbing decided that they would allow anyone who qualified after the 2nd to the last event AND the last event because Nationals was only five days away from the last event. Brendan got bumped down to 102 because he didn't compete in the last event in Canada (way too far and too much time off from College to get there) but it didn't matter, he was already in.

After all is said and done, his 2025 USA Team ranking right now as of this writing is 57th. I'll take that as a proud Climbing Mom!

• OPEN NATIONALS:  The top 40 competitors from each category at YETI Elite Nationals advance to Team Trials. (3 rounds of competition: Qualification, Semi-Finals, and Finals, with Semis and Finals often on the same day.)
• National Qualifications - top 20 advance to Semis
• Semis - top 6 advance to Finals
• Podium is the top 3, but overall top 40 go on to Team Trials in March.

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!

CLIMB ON!

Photo Credit: @Gajdaphotography, @USAClimbing

Photo Credit: @Gajdaphotography, @USAClimbing

Brendan's first year on the Elite circuit, he ranks 57th. This list stops at 74. Not bad for a kid from Alaska!

Can't wait for next year!

Colleges with Climbing Teams

 

When Brendan started looking at colleges, we knew one of his criteria was that the college has a high-performing Climbing Team. But how do you know what schools have them? Climbing is not a NCAA-sanctioned sport. So that means there won't be any scholarships (for the most part) for climbing athletes. The school also needed to be a WUE school (Western Undergraduate Exchange). Click HERE if you live in a West Coast State and want to save on out-of-state Tuition if your student wants to leave their state for school.

Well, my first thought was to call the people who would know: USA Climbing. I was glad I did. They sent me a list of Colleges that are USA Collegiate Climbing circuit members. (More on that in a later post). This way we could cross-reference the climbing teams with WUE and German majors.

At Colorado State University, the climbing team is considered a sports club. It is entirely run by the students and each athlete has to pay yearly dues. This year it was around $285. That includes the uniforms and travel to the comps as I understand it. There are fall and spring tryouts open to all.

Most Collegiate Climbing Teams do not practice on campus and must travel to a local gym. Just be ready to have a solution for your climber. Most Freshmen do not have a car on campus so that means either pubic transportation, car pooling, or  ride shares. Brendan sometimes gets rides with team members but because he goes so much earlier to train, he often grabs a Lyft. For anyone who flys Alaska, if you hook up your Lyft account with your Alaska mileage plan, you get miles every time you ride! So make sure you sure your climber has that hooked up!

I am sure this list will change but click HERE for the list I received from USA Climbing on which colleges have Climbing teams. It will be a good starting point but you could also contact USA Climbing for a current list when you are ready to College shop.

If you are able, try to keep tabs on the climbing teams your climber is eyeing. What I mean is, go on to Instagram and see if you can find the team's page. Sometimes they will post a roster of climbers. Then, go to USA Climbing's site, go to Compete, and then Collegiate. Look up the division of the team you are interested in and check out how they are doing at competitions. This will give you an idea of the level of the team. Your climber may have some revelations later on after arriving and starting school, but at least this way you will get an idea of how serious each prosective team is.

Good luck! And CLIMB ON!

Elite Championship Eligibility

 

When I started this blog, I had no idea how much there was to write about. But I keep running into parts of the climbing sport that are a mystery to us parents.

Take this whole eligibility thing and earning points. To be eligible to compete in the North American Cup Series, a climber must now be 17 (as of 2025). See here:

As I have discovered,  the point system is used to determine a climber's eligibility for Open Nationals, which is now officially called Elite Nationals. Now, there are many ways to qualify, but the route Brendan is taking is through the North American Cup series.

According to the USA Climbing 2023 - 2024 Rule Book, the following chart will be used to award points for eligible events, including World Cups, North American Cup Series, and other pathways. (More on other pathways in a moment.)

If your climber does an eligible event, check THIS page and select the following to find out their rankings and points:

It will bring you to a Google document that is updated after every eligible event:

The other pathways to Elite Nationals include spots in several Youth categories. They haven't been determined at the time of this writing since Youth Nationals has not happened yet. See below...

Once your climber has qualified either in the top 100 eligible ranked spots or through the other pathways of qualification, they are invited to the YETI Elite National event in mid-October. 

Well, that's it so far. I will write another post on Open Nationals if we reach the next level. For now...                    

Don't forget to check out your climber's stats at the Competition Database HERE.

                        CLIMB ON!

BIPOC and other specialty climbing groups

Instagram is an amazing thing. Just when I think I'm all alone in my ideas, I find someone else on social media doing the same things I am. Climbing can be intimidating and it is well known to lack diversity of all kinds. That, thankfully, is changing, but not as fast as I would like. 

But why is this? Again, my ignorance as to why the sport looks the way it does made me want to know more. The reason stems back to our national history. Here is an article if you are interested in the history of climbing and how it had limited access for BIPOC people and other groups.

Amazingly, you can find just about any type of climbing group on Instagram. It can be really intimidating when you are the only person of color/orientation/disability in a gym and you don't know anyone to ask for help. Many groups have meet-ups specifically to help new climbers access and learn the knowledge of climbing. I can't wait to meet up with the folks in Fort Collins when I visit Brendan at CSU!

                        CLIMB ON!

Check out these groups on Instagram!

Climbers of color

Cruxing in Color

Climbing 4 Change - Kai Lightner

Bipoc Mountain Collective

Bipoc Beta

Ladies climbing coalition 

Kinship Climbing Collective

Co Black Packers

Trail Mixed Collective

Melanin Basecamp

Brown Girls Climb

Brown Girl Outdoor World

Color The Trails

Black girls trekking 

Black_people_hike

Outdoor Asian

Asian vibes in Denver

Outdoor Asian Colorado

Latin Outdoors Colorado

Front Range Queer Climbers

Queer Climbers Network

Every BD climbs

NACS - Go Pro Games: Vail, Colorado

 

Since we found ourselves in Colorado for orientation at Colorado State University, Brendan and a friend decided to head over to Vail and compete in the NACS - Go Pro Games competition in Bouldering. 

This competition was in the red point format. There were eight problems and all competitors had to stand in a line for the chance at each. Two competition rounds lasted three hours. Session one was more popular with 125 competitors. Round two had about 80. Brendan chose the first session, but it was cooler during the second session. However, there was less chalk on the holds during the first session. All athletes get a goodie bag and entrance to the Athlete lounge with two tickets they are provided, so be sure your climber doesn't lose them. The goodie bag is pretty 'sick' as any climber would say.

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

Spectating for the audience was brutal but with pictures of the event, I had a feeling it would be. The stage is set up at 8,200 feet at the base of a mountain right next to Gondola One. There is no cover and the sun is brutal. And there are occasional rain showers that come out of nowhere with the sun returning shortly afterwards. So be sure to bring sunscreen, a big umbrella if you can, a lawn chair, and a jacket. I brought lunches in an insulated lunch box that lasted all day. Water bottles can be refilled in the restroom building directly behind the lawn. UPDATE: if you watch finals or plan to be in town after the sun sets, dress warmly! I was so cold, that I had to watch finals on YouTube. (*Smacks forehead*) The mountain can have wildly fluctuating weather (finals got pushed back two hours due to thunderstorms). Next time I'm going to have 2 outfits in the car; hot and cold/rainy!

Parking is interesting... All parking structures are free during the Games but getting a spot takes some effort. A good game plan is to come early in the morning and stay all day. The Vail Parking Structure is the closest to all the events but fills up quickly. There is an additional garage on the other side of the resort called the Lions Head Parking Structure. How to find them? Put ‘Vail Parking Structure’ into your Apple Maps and it will take you right there! Love Apple Maps…sorry Google.

Now for accommodations...We stayed in a cute little town called Minturn, but I think next time, I am going to look for something in Avon. There are way more amenities there. But Minturn was very artsy and picturesque. It is at the base of a couple small peaks next to the Eagle River...very scenic.

Lastly, the elevation is a killer. Sitting at the venue next to Gondola One is exactly 8,200 feet. I started to get a headache while in Fort Collins but it only intensified when I got to Vail. After a couple of days, it subsided but the altitude will get your attention. Drink lots of water and take it easy. There are plenty of people selling remedies and oxygen but it will get better on its own with some Tylenol and if you pace yourself. Brendan did feel its effects while competing, but he will be moving here soon for college, so looking forward to next year!

                CLIMB ON!