We are excited to welcome climbers to our youth climbing team program! We believe in cultivating a positive climbing experience for both recreational and competitive climbers. Our program is specially designed to create a unique climbing experience for all ages and all climbing abilities. Whether you are a beginner or you are a seasoned competitive climber, there is always more to explore, learn and improve on in the world of climbing. Rock climbing is an exciting sport for anyone willing to push their limits to new heights and we believe that climbing is a great opportunity to help foster new skills, sense of community, self-confidence and personal growth.
As team members, participants will work towards achieving their personal best, while climbing and training in a team environment.
Join our team to experience a supportive, confidence-building and inspirational group of peers working towards a common goal in an incredible indoor setting.
Through these programs, we believe we have the opportunity to positively influence youth by starting to build the foundation for a healthy lifestyle and create lifelong climbers.
(Find the FAQ at the bottom of the page!)
Enrollment Periods: Athletes interested in joining the competitive climbing team must enroll during one of the enrollment periods below and submit an application.
Competitive Team:
Enrolment Period: August 15th-24th
Team meet & greet: Friday Sept 1st
First Practice: Wednesday September 7th
Please reach out to head coach banner@valleyrockgym.com if you cannot find an answer to your question.
General ages to join VRG climbing team is between 8 and 19 years old.
For those who are part of the competitive climbing team, USAC separates climbing competitors into 5 age groups; Youth A, B, C, D and Junior divisions. Placement for these groupings will be determined by birth year for each gender. For September 2021 – August 2022, the birth year distinctions are as follows:
Youth D: Born 2011 or later
Youth C: Born 2009 – 2010
Youth B: Born 2007 – 2008
Youth A: Born 2005 – 2006
Junior: Born 2003 – 2004
While there is no lower age limit to join Youth D, we recommend participants to be 8 years old or older. We are open to having younger competitors on our team, but it is important to bear in mind that they will be competing and practicing alongside athletes up to 11 years old.
Athletes joining the competitive climbing team at Valley Rock Gym must have a regular climbing practice of their own (of more than 6 months) or have participated in one of our general youth programs and have shown an interest in pursuing climbing as a long-term sport.
The Valley Rock Gym's climbing team will first and foremost work to foster a love of climbing and a deeply supportive and positive athletic community.
After that, the main pursuit of the climbing team will be to prepare for, and compete in, qualifying, regional, divisional, and national competitions in the 4 recognized disciplines of indoor rock climbing. At each practice we will focus on; movement drills on the wall, training adaptations that to keep athletes strong and healthy while climbing, mental strategies to promote confidence and high self-esteem, and learning the rules and safety protocols associated with competition climbing.
Expert from USA Climbing 2020/2021 rule book, section 1.5.1;
a) Lead/Top Rope, in which competitors are ranked based on their progression on one or more routes, where competitors may be secured by clipping into protection points or by a ‘top rope’, subject to the specific competition rules.
b) Bouldering, in which competitors are ranked based on the number of boulders completed and their progression on boulders not completed.
c) Speed, in which competitors are ranked based on the time needed to climb a standard route, with the exception of Youth-C competitors who climb on a non-standard route.
d) Combined, in which competitors are ranked based on a combination of their performances in multiple Disciplines, for example:
1. i) All-around Combined using Lead/Top Rope, Speed, and Bouldering; and
2. ii) Lead+Boulder Combined, using Lead/Top Rope and Bouldering.
Valley Rock Gym is best suited to practice for bouldering competitions, as most of our wall space is dedicated to bouldering. However, we plan to put equal emphasis on the lead/top rope discipline as well both at our facility, and with the possibility of practicing at other facilities. For each season we will switch our focus based on the most current competitions series and the interests of our youth competitors.
In our region, we do not have immediate, nor easy access to a competitive speed wall, but will do our best to find ways to engage interested competitors in this avenue of competition.
To compete in USAC events, and earn points towards regional, divisional, and national qualification, each competitor must have an active competitor with USA Climbing.
This is an annual fee paid to USAC for $105.
Yes! Thanks to donations received to our youth programs scholarship fund, we are able to offer a limited number of scholarships each year. On our website, follow the ‘More’ tab to our Youth Programs section. There you will find our scholarship application form, that can be submitted via email to youth@valleyrockgym.com or dropped off in person to our front desk.
To Apply: Please fill out this PDF Form and include it in an email to banner@valleyrockgym.com We look forward to hearing from you!
Valley Rock Gym
401 Southwest Jefferson Avenue, Corvallis, Oregon 97333
Copyright © 2021 Valley Rock Gym - All Rights Reserved.
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