Spectator tickets are now on sale for National Team Trials Presented by YETI and Paraclimbing National Championships! You don’t want to miss either of these high-stakes events, hosted by Sportrock Rio in Gaithersburg, MD, March 5-10.

Elite Boulder and Lead athletes spent last week in the USA Climbing Training Center, participating in a mock competition, which followed the format of national-and-international-level events with isolation zones, timed rounds, and competition movement from experienced routesetters. In fact, the event was led by Team Trials Boulder Chief Routesetter Jeremy Ho to help athletes find their flow in preparation for the event.

Of course, multiple athletes also spoke to how important community is at these training events. “It’s really cool to have everyone together in the Training Center, trying hard and pushing each other,” said Jesse Grupper, who recently qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Meanwhile, Paraclimbing athletes recently spent a weekend at Touchstone Climbing’s Berkeley Ironworks location for a training camp co-hosted by ParaCliffHangers. Paraclimbers from 5 different states and every classification came together to learn from Coach Emmett Cookson, the USAC Paraclimbing Team Head Coach, and Coach Ben Mayforth (2x IFSC World Cup Gold Medalist and paraclimbing trainer), including a mock competition, a Q&A with past competitors and coaches, and discussions of competition mindset.

Many paraclimbers enter the sport of rock climbing as adults, both because rock climbing has grown immensely over the past decade and because many people with disabilities lack access to adaptive sports as children or become disabled as adults. This makes training camps such as this one essential in preparing paraclimbers for the competitive world and setting them up for success.

Stay tuned for more training updates, as well as livestream information for National Team Trials Presented by YETI and Paraclimbing National Championships.