BOISE, Idaho — Sport climbing is one of the newer sports to be featured in the Paris Olympics. It made its debut in Tokyo in 2021, and back then, all the climbing disciplines were combined into one event.
This year, things are going to be broken up – bouldering and lead climbing are one medal, speed climbing is another.
Bouldering is extremely popular here in the Treasure Valley, not only does it require great strength and endurance, but creativity can be just as important.
There’s a new problem at Asana Climbing Gym, and that’s a good thing, because the thrill of bouldering is all about solving the problem.
A sport that is equally reliant on the body and the mind. Brannon Frank, the director of Asana Climbing Gym said, “a lot of high level bouldering is about who can learn the fastest."
For the setting team, the grades and slopes of the wall are the canvas. New design ideas can come from anywhere.
“We’ll think of ideas at home or see stuff on social media that we want to copy or do something similar with," said Paul Brouard, Boise Climbing Team coach and route setter.
Hours of designing, building and testing, result in a mosaic of sorts. A design that’s completely unique, but not random, everything is intentional.
“If you’re doing big moves, you want big holds, shorter moves maybe the holds can be a little worse,” Brouard said.
The best courses puzzle the mind and require a variety of techniques.
“Maybe you haven’t got your foot in the right place, or maybe you haven’t got your body in the right position to complete the move,” Frank said.
Hours of work takes the setters into the evening, until they are finally ready to debut their work to the climbers.
“Sometimes they're like vultures, hanging out outside the barricade, especially if it's been a while. School's out or work's out and they're chilling waiting for it to open," Brouard said.
In an actual competitive setting, problems are brand new.
“They're pretty much turning around, seeing the climb for the first time, and then having four minutes to learn and execute that climb," Frank said.
So, the climbers go to work on solving the problem, finding their footing and negotiating each obstacle.
“It’s a straight rush to the new set, everyone's getting after it and supporting each other and it's super fun,“ climber Andrew Dobbs said.
In the Olympics, climbers will score points by reaching the top “scoring” hold in four boulders, trying to navigate them as quickly and smoothly as possible.
Although the highest level of competition is extremely difficult, there's opportunities for every skill level.
“You have your really good climbers and climbers who just got into it, and we're all going after it supporting each other," Dobbs said.
The individual sport prides itself on its sense of community – climbers working together to solve the problem and sharing their experience with beginners.
“We were trying to figure something out and this really experienced guy came over and showed us how to do it, and we're like, 'oh, it's super interesting and helpful and you learn so much,'" climber Owen Hennequin said.
That peer mentorship is one of the reasons bouldering is climbing in popularity, both here in the Gem State and worldwide.
“I think it screams to how much climbing is growing and where it's going to go in the future," Frank said. "As somebody in the industry and somebody who’s devoted most of their life to climbing, it's very exciting to see it in the Olympics again," Frank said.
Bouldering will be combined with lead climbing. The athletes with the top scores in both events will be the ones to advance and take home gold. That gets going Monday, Aug. 5, and you can watch all the games here on KTVB Channel 7.
