Rock climbing is making its debut in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and the U.S. national team is training in Salt Lake City. For the eight elite athletes who make up the team, the games will represent a high point in their career.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a really exciting prospect,鈥� says 23-year-old climber Kyra Condie. 鈥淚鈥檝e always been a really big fan of the Olympics. The idea of being there is just crazy to me.鈥�
But getting there is an uphill climb. Only a handful of the team members will win spots in the games 鈥� right now Condie is preparing for a qualifier in France. She leaps onto a wall and climbs like a cat 鈥� controlled and easy.
Most commercial climbing facilities are multi-million dollar complexes. But the U.S. team鈥檚 training facility is housed in a cold, dark warehouse near downtown Salt Lake City. The only thing that lets you know it鈥檚 special is a team flag hanging from the ceiling.
鈥淭he space is a little dingy,鈥� says assistant coach Meg Coyne. 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 ours and we love it. It鈥檚 great for the training we鈥檙e doing.鈥�
Coyne is tasked with getting a climbing team into shape. This is the first year the U.S. national team has funded athletes and travelled internationally as a team. They havet less than a year before the Olympics and Coyne says they lag behind other countries who have been building their teams for years.
鈥淚t feels like an incredible race,鈥� she says.
Japan especially is a powerhouse, according to Coyne. So if the U.S. wants a shot at winning gold, they need to practice hard 鈥� this includes 鈥渟pending skin on the wall.鈥�
鈥淪pending skin means you quite literally wipe off your skin when you鈥檙e training a lot,鈥� Coyne explains. 鈥淧articularly your fingertips.鈥�
But with only a handful of days before the qualifying event in France, Condi is taking it pretty easy. Her expertise is in a style called bouldering. It鈥檚 like the crossfit of climbing 鈥� combining power, balance and technique. The wall is only about 20 feet tall and soft mats are used for safety instead of ropes and harnesses.
Condie is also adept at speed climbing. For that style, the wall is higher and climbers have a harness and rope for safety. Athletes race each other up identical routes.
Then, there鈥檚 lead climbing. This is probably what most people picture when they think of rock climbing. There are ropes and harnesses and the routes are often steep and 50 feet or taller. Whoever gets highest up on the wall without falling wins.
Normally, these three styles are separated into different competitive sporting events. But next year鈥檚 Olympics are combining them all into a single event. Senm McColl, president of the International Federation of Sport Climbing鈥檚 Athletes鈥� Commission, told National Geographic it was to get climbing into the games.
鈥淚t鈥檚 really hard as a new sport that鈥檚 never been seen much on TV, or by anyone very far outside of climbing, to come and say, 鈥楬ey, we鈥檝e got this great sport, we want four medals per gender, and 160 athlete spots.鈥� There are constraints in the Olympics,鈥� he said.
Condie says the combined event is like competing in a triathlon.
鈥淚鈥檓 definitely mega stressed out,鈥� she says. 鈥淏ut I鈥檝e also been talking to a sports psych and that鈥檚 been really helpful, actually.鈥�
A sports psychologist is someone who helps an athlete reduce stress and focus at the task at hand.
鈥淟ike, you don鈥檛 want to be competing and thinking, 鈥極h my God, am I going to make the Olympics?鈥� she says.
But despite Condie鈥檚 enthusiasm, climbing in the Olympics isn鈥檛 for everyone. Alex Honnold, star of the Oscar-winning documentary 鈥淔ree Solo,鈥� told one news outlet that for the Olympics because it tests a different skill set than his 鈥� he is known for 1,000-foot climbing giant cliff sides, outside, without ropes. But this is an indoor, competitive version of the sport. Not everyone likes it. Patagonia founder Yvon Choinard says this kind of climbing has stripped the sport of its essence as a purist outdoor endeavor.
鈥淪port climbing is indoor climbing,鈥� he told the podcast . 鈥淚t鈥檚 climbing with no risk involved.鈥�
Choinard would know. Before founding his outdoor apparel company, he was a .
Condie acknowledges this tension between climbing camps.
鈥淭here鈥檚 always been this trash talk between climbing,鈥� she says. 鈥淏ut I don鈥檛 personally like it when people hate on one aspect versus another because we all love the same thing. We all love climbing.鈥�
Now Condie will act as a new kind of pioneer in the sport by becoming one of the first climbers to compete in the Olympic games.
Update: On November 30, Kyra Condie earned a spot in the Olympics after reaching the finals of a qualifier in Toulouse, France.
Correction: An earlier version of this story misspelled Kyra Condie's last name. It is Condie, not Condi.
This story was produced by the Mountain West 暗黑爆料 Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUER in Salt Lake City, KUNR in Nevada, the O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West in Montana, and KRCC and KUNC in Colorado.
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