North America Cup climbers enjoy a break from the gym at GoPro Mountain Games
Chris Dillmann/Vail Daily
The GoPro Mountain Games also doubles as some of the best competition in the climbing world as North America Cup events in speed climbing and bouldering take place over the course of the four-day event.
Bouldering winner Helen Gillett of Cambridge, Massachusetts, said the Mountain Games is her favorite event on the competition calendar each season, and not just because the $2,000 payday for the winners is “unusually high for a North America Cup,” she said
“There’s not much money in climbing, so that helps,” she said.
Bouldering men’s winner Joshua Gerhardt said even though the North America Cup is a step below the World Cup, the Mountain Games has the feel of World Cup-level event.
“To me, that’s really cool, because there are a lot of people who have never made a national team or gotten to do a World Cup,” he said. “And this is a way to feel like you’re competing in a World Cup.”
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Speed climbing is the newer of the two disciplines to the Mountain Games, debuting last year, with many of the competitors coming over from bouldering to try speed climbing.
Among them was women’s winner Piper Kelly, who said she enjoys the GoPro Mountain Games for the large crowds it draws.
“A lot of comps in the gym, you get your parents and family, but there aren’t that many people who haven’t watched climbing before,” she said. At the Mountain Games, “There are a lot of people who are here for other things and to enjoy the music, and then they get to see the show.”
Kelly participated in the bouldering competition in 2019 before coming over to speed last year. She placed second at last year’s event, as well.
And while many athletes are like her, coming from bouldering, men’s winner Logan Miner said it’s not likely to stay that way for long as younger athletes choose to focus solely on speed.
“I was never that competitive in bouldering,” he said. “And then I found speed and just enjoyed it a lot more, that base nature of just wanted to compete in a race.”
Speed climbing, with its head-to-head, first-to-the-top format, is also a good event for this day and age, Miner said, with the entire competition taking place in a span of fewer than 10 seconds at the highest levels of competition.
“That’s part of the reason why I think speed climbing is going to propel the sport of climbing in general, because if you’re scrolling, and you come upon speed climbing and watch it for 5 seconds, you see what’s happening and immediately enjoy it,” he said.
