Young athletes from Squamish’s Ground Up climbing team and the Squamish Athletic Club made an impressive showing at the boulder and difficulty, or lead climbing, provincials held April 8 to 10.
Later, Ground Up put on another impressive show at the bouldering regionals on the weekend of April 21 to 22 at Hive Surrey.
The first event, which was at the Richmond Olympic Oval, showcased the local climbers’ talents.
Iaian Hendry, chair of the Ground Up team’s parent committee, said that the athletes were able to grow, develop and overcome emotional setbacks.
Hendry noted that performing in practice is one thing, but doing so in front of a large audience is another. It can be a real emotional rollercoaster.
“At competitions, there's a lot of people looking at you. Judges, the other athletes looking at you on occasion, there's parents looking at you on occasion,” said Hendry.
“And the kids always hold themselves to such a high standard. So quite often, you can see them. Emotions … get away from them temporarily, but to watch them be able to pull themselves back and continue the fight and continue and get back on that wall. That's the thing that always impresses me so much. These kids are just so resilient.”
And that resiliency shows in the final outcomes.
The Ground Up team also posted the following results in the Richmond competition:
Provincials Difficulty (Lead Climbing) Results:
- Nico Loveless: 3rd, Male Youth D
- Kauri Brown: 2nd, Female Youth C
- Jasper Selda: 1st, Male Youth C
- Kai Hendry: 8th Male Youth C
- Jackson Hodgetts: 5th Male Youth C
- Nicole Mcleod: 26th Female Youth A
- Noah Langdale: 23rd Male Youth A
- Ben Pallotta: 19th Male Youth A
- Ben MacGillivray: 26th Male Youth A
Provincials Bouldering Results:
- Nico Loveless: 2nd, Male Youth D
- Mylene Goulet: 13th, Female Youth C
- Kauri Brown: 15th, Female Youth C
- Jasper Selda: 3rd, Male Youth C
- Kai Hendry: 5th Male Youth C
- Jackson Hodgetts: 7th Male Youth C
- Alexandre Maheu: 11th Male Youth C
- Nicole Mcleod: 24th Female Youth A
- Noah Langdale: 10th Male Youth A
- Ben Pallotta: 17th Male Youth A
- Ben MacGillivray: 18th Male Youth A
Provincial Rankings Boulder:
- Mylene Goulet: 10th, Female Youth C
- Kauri Brown: 22nd, Female Youth C
- Jasper Selda: 1st, Male Youth C
- Kai Hendry: 6th Male Youth C
- Jackson Hodgetts: 7th Male Youth C
- Nicole Mcleod: 19th Female Youth A
- Noah Langdale: 10th Male Youth A
- Ben Pallotta: 14th Male Youth A
- Ben MacGillivray: 29th Male Youth A
Provincial Rankings Difficulty (Lead Climbing):
- Kauri Brown: 1st, Female Youth C
- Jasper Selda: 3rd, Male Youth C
- Kai Hendry: 6th Male Youth C
- Jackson Hodgetts: 4th Male Youth C
- Nicole Mcleod: 15th Female Youth A
- Noah Langdale: 12th Male Youth A
- Ben Pallotta: 11th Male Youth A
- Ben MacGillivray: 15th Male Youth A
— Squamish Athletic Club results —
Separate from the Ground Up team, another Squamish athlete shone brightly at the Richmond competition.
Cedar Pidgeon of the Squamish Athletic Club placed first in the Youth A difficulty event and second in the Youth A bouldering competition that weekend.
She has attained second place in bouldering in the provincial rankings for the Youth A division, and first in difficulty.
Pidgeon's stellar performance has earned her a 'bye' in the regionals, and she has earned an invitation to go straight to the nationals.
— Regional event in Surrey —
The results at the provincials allowed several from the Ground Up team to qualify for the regional competitions for Western Canada.
However, just because some didn’t make the regionals doesn’t mean they didn’t perform well, said Hendry. Some divisions host younger athletes and therefore don’t have regional events.
Those from Ground Up who made the regional bouldering competition at Surrey Hive on April 21 to 22 were: Jackson Hodgetts, Kai Hendry, Mylène Goulet, Jasper Selda, Nicole McLeod, Noah Langdale and Ben Pallota.
Regional Bouldering Rankings:
- Jasper Selda: 3rd, Male Youth C
- Kai Hendry: 13th, Male Youth C
- Jackson Hodgetts: 2nd, Male Youth C
- Mylène Goulet: 19th, Female Youth C
- Nicole Mcleod: 29th, Female Youth A
- Noah Langdale: 16th, Male Youth A
- Ben Pallotta: 18th, Male Youth A
Ground Up coach Jake Scharfman said that the Surrey competition was an excellent way for athletes to show their skills.
“It was a really wonderful opportunity for our athletes to continue to grow and show their skills in a competition format,” said Scharfman. “Because it’s such a unique skill. Just like any other skill in climbing, it's one competition climbing is one that needs to be trained and improved upon.”
He gave kudos to all the athletes who performed.
Scharfman noted Hodgetts and Selda placed silver and bronze for this event, which is the highest level for the Youth C division, as there are no national competitions for climbers in that age range.
“From a coach's perspective, we try to put a lot of focus on longevity in sport and instilling a growth mindset,” he said. “So that our athletes can really learn from the competition and take that forward to their future climbing endeavors.”
Preparations include strength training and mock competitions have been ways to get the athletes ready.
Scharfman added that during training, the idea is to treat each upcoming competition as business as usual, instead of hyping individual events up.
Hyping up an event doesn’t produce the best results.
“They get far more jittery, far more nervous, and can lead to decrease performance for sure,” said Scharfman. “So we try to kind of just normalize it as much as possible and try to get them to focus on the fun aspect of it and treat it like any other session, because that's when they're going to claim the best.”
He said this year, there are no lead regionals occurring. As a result, two Ground Up Athletes, Ben Pallotta and Noah Langdale were invited to lead nationals based on their provincial placements.
Big name support
However, good competition results aren’t the only thing that’s happening with Ground Up’s team.
They’ve recently partnered with Arc’teryx.
According to a spokesperson for the company, the brand will offer the team several forms of support.
This will include a uniform for competition events and a bursary for regional or national-qualifying athletes who need financial assistance.
“The idea is to remove the financial barrier for these youth to compete, as in the past, team members who have qualified have often been unable to attend the competition due to the high cost of associated expenses,” reads a statement from Maddy Reston.
“This partnership aligned closely with Arc'teryx's aim to support the future of climbing and removing barriers to partake in this sport.”
She also noted the company has committed to connecting the team with local climb ambassadors and athletes to support them in arranging events that give back to the local community.
One example includes working with regional Athlete Paul McSorley to arrange a day with the Squamish Access Society to clean and maintain a local crag, Reston said.
**Please note: this story was updated significantly after it was first posted in order to include regional results once they happened.
