The path to the world youth climbing championships leads through Canmore and judging by the make-up of Canada’s national team, that path is well-worn.
Thirty-five of Canada’s top youth climbers, including Becca and Sara Frangos, Simon Yamamoto, Hunter McLaughlin and Alex Fricker of Canmore, pushed their limits as part of a five-day training camp at Elevation Place in Canmore, last week.
Training for either the Pan-Am Games in September or world youth championships in New Caledonia, the team worked on technique, overall fitness and team unity. As they scaled the walls at Elevation Place as well as the crag at Grassi Lakes under the watchful eye of Banff’s Chris Neve and former Canmorite Dung Nguyen, they were able to support and challenge their new teammates from across Canada.
“The kids were super motivated. When you’ve got the cream of the crop in the room, they really feed off each other, so the energy has been super high. Everyone is tired after a week, but even on the last session, they’re working their butts off,” said assistant national team coach Neve. “It’s so nice to work with this level of athlete because they are super motivated to begin with.”
Inside, the team sent wave after wave of young athletes onto one of only three speed walls in Canada at Elevation Place, while outside, they took over Grassi Lakes, worked on more fundamentals and bonded as a team. Coaches took note of the strengths and weaknesses of each athlete to gain a better understanding of the different styles across the country.
“We had a great day climbing Grassi on Friday (July 4). Some of the kids don’t climb outside a whole lot, so it was a good experience for them,” Neve said. “A lot of the training outside is fun, but it’s not specific. Inside, we control the moves and the grades and since they’ll be competing on artificial walls, Elevation Place is where we had the most training,” Neve said.
Supporting and pushing one another, Neve said the camp was an important team-building opportunity, which is tough when the team is spread out from Victoria to Quebec City and all points in between.
“A lot of this camp is technical training and physical training to keep the fitness high, but a lot is also based on getting the coaches and athletes together so when we go to worlds, we have that relationship beforehand,” Neve said. “We also incorporated a lot of team building. We went to a movie in Calgary, the sports hall of fame, and we stayed at the Hostel Bear as a team.”
