Eagle gym hosts USA Climbing sport competition
Daniel Davis | Special to the Daily
USA Climbing 2019 Sport & Speed Local
Eagle Climbing + Fitness, Saturday, April 20
Complete results
Female Junior
1. Dara Procell – 4300
2. Izabela Nowak – 1700
3. Madison Larson – 500
Male Junior
1. Owen Dehmler-Buckley – 7300
2. Quinn Adams – 6700
3. Nickolaie Rivadeneira – 6500
Female Youth A
1. Ashley Fisher – 9300
2. Amalia Manning – 8700
3. Melissa Caid – 8200
4. Ryenn Nolan – 6000
5. Allison Oviatt – 5600
6. Isabel Curry – 5100
7. Saskia Bauman – 4900
8. Atlanta Taylor-Campagna – 4800
Male Youth A
1. Cayden Abshear – 9300
2. Zach Arenberg – 9300
3. Brody Nielsen – 8100
4. Gage Bowling – 6600
5. Nicholas Olson – 6600
5. Vincent Bowen – 6600
7. Cole Drozdek – 5800
8. Michael Nold – 5300
9. Ethan Fraker – 4900
9. Evan Lahay – 4900
11. Sam Morales – 4800
12. Cross Hessler – 4800
13. Sullivan Barnett – 3500
14. Luke Harmston – 1900
Female Youth B
1. Aiden Manning – 7000
2. Megan Burns – 5800
3. Clara Denham – 5800
4. Maleigha Leckey – 5400
4. Micah Frazho – 5400
4. Monique Streetman – 5400
4. Sage Eaton – 5400
8. Nora Bruxvoort – 5300
9. Megan Weaver – 5200
10. Alice Canonico – 4900
11. Sofia Trujillo – 4800
12. Emily Heppelmann - 3600
Male Youth B
1. Carson Abshear – 9300
2. Benjamin Dantas – 9100
3. Lukas Bergsten – 9000
4. Nate Blehm – 7200
5. Hayden Krueger – 6500
6. Paolo Rivadeneira – 6300
7. Caden East – 6000
8. Colton Source – 5500
9. Parker Virden – 5400
10. Blake Bowers – 5200
11. Andrei Yermakov – 5100
12. Jake Washburn – 5000
13. Peter Falk – 4700
14. Gabriel Compos – 3400
Female Youth C
1. Abby Blehm – 7100
2. Cassie Kellen – 6500
3. Sarah Mathwig – 6300
4. Emma Bergsten – 6000
5. Keira Schreiner – 5700
6. Kaia Fair – 5700
7. Freya Kay – 5200
8. Abigail Domeracki – 5100
9. Reese Manley – 5100
10. Chloe Wilson – 4600
11. Lisa Overy – 4600
12. Sarah Ogilvie – 4100
13. Ava Bergsten – 4000
14. Reese Davis – 3600
14. Sophie Wilson – 3600
Male Youth C
1. Cameron Abshear – 8100
2. Leif Sundem – 7300
3. Andreas Rivadeneira – 6900
4. Jack Wall – 6500
5. Alex Current – 5700
5. Michael Beaman – 5700
7. Cooper East – 5100
8. Wyatt Graves – 4800
9. Ben Kronholm – 4600
10. Ryan Hughes – 2200
11. Malcolm Osborn– 2200
12. Davin Hurst – 1000
Female Youth D
1. Kestrel Pikiewicz – 8100
2. Zeme Braunholtz – 5100
3. Annabelle Carolson – 4800
4. Lilly Beaman – 3600
5. Adeline Sorce – 2900
6. Ella Regjo – 2200
7. Winter Tyrrell – 1000
7. Erin Johnson – 1000
9. Nora Pyle – 1000
10. Mackenzie Tyrrell – 300
Male Youth D
1. Mason Goulding – 3600
2. Ethan Current – 2300
The Eagle Talons local climbing team hosted a USA Climbing sport competition over the weekend, a milestone event for the new gym in Eagle.
With the bouldering season now over, the local team has turned its attention to sport climbing, using ropes. Saturday’s sport climbing event was the first-ever USA Climbing sanctioned ropes climbing event to take place at Eagle Climbing + Fitness, which just opened in November of 2018.
Teams visited from as far as Salt Lake City to compete in the event, called the 2019 Sport & Speed Local.
Cody Abshear from Team Grand Valley Climbing in Grand Junction said the new gym has brought his team to Eagle several times in recent months.
“We came for a bouldering comp in the fall, and we came here a couple weeks ago just to train,” Abshear said. “To get more variety, also they have a regulation speed wall which we don’t have, and their routes are really good, so we really appreciate being able to come up here and train and enjoy this gym.”
Support Local Journalism
Abshear has been attending USA Climbing events for the last five years, and said he has witnessed tremendous growth in the sport. He said with the number of gyms that have popped on the Front Range in recent years, and the fact that a 10,500 square foot climbing gym now exists in Eagle, speak to the popularity of the sport. He also said the fact that Eagle was attracting teams from the Front Range on Saturday was a testament to the fact that it has already become a popular venue.
“It’s honestly pretty amazing they’re pulling from the Front Range with all the gyms that they have over there,” Abshear said on Saturday.
CLIMBING OPPORTUNITIES
The Eagle Talons team is led by coach Larry Moore, who also manages Eagle Climbing + Fitness.
Moore said the team has benefited considerably from the new space.
Local youth climbers Benjamin Dantas and Ethan Pitcher made it to their respective national competitions — Dantas competed at the USA Climbing youth bouldering national championships while Pitcher competed at the Canadian youth national championships.
Pitcher’s parents were born in Nova Scotia and moved to Eagle County in 2004. Pitcher, who is now a senior at Red Canyon High School, started competing on Moore’s team when he was in fourth grade.
“Climbing has opened up a lot of opportunities for Ethan,” Pitcher’s mother, Kim Flynn, said on Sunday. “He’s traveled the country, it’s kept him on track in school and it’s given him a focus on what he wants to do in life.”
At the bouldering youth national championships, Pitcher’s focus was to get an invite to the open division, which is the national championships for all athletes, not just youth competitors. He did, and competed in adult nationals, as well.
“He got to go to two national championships in two months, which gave him some great experience,” Moore said.
Pitcher hopes to make the Canadian National Team in May and compete at the world championships. But first, he’ll have the Canadian speed nationals, also in May. In preparing for that event, Pitcher has been traveling the state hitting different 15-meter walls. He skipped the Eagle competition on Saturday to hit Earth Treks in Englewood, where he clocked a time of 7 seconds.
“That’s his new personal best,” Flynn said. “So he’s really doing well in all of the disciplines.”
