Sarah Kate Ashton wins first place at the USA Climbing Bouldering Youth National Championship

Sarah Kate Ashton, a Form I student, recently won first place in her age category at the USA Climbing Bouldering Youth National Championship in Salt Lake City, Utah. During the competition, Sarah Kate competed against the top rock climbers in her age category from all around the country. In order to qualify to climb at Nationals each of these outstanding climbers must compete successfully in bouldering competitions at the local, regional and divisional level.

 

Sarah Kate’s win makes her the 2018 USA Climbing Bouldering National Champion for her age category and earns her a spot on the USA Youth Climbing Team. As a member of the USA Climbing team, Sarah Kate will compete for the United States at the IFSC (International Federation of Sport Climbing) World Championship in Europe this summer. Sarah Kate has been rock climbing since age 8 and has been competing at the national level for the past 5 years. Sarah Kate’s climbing team, Lone Star Climbing, is based in Frisco, and she trains 5 or 6 days a week year-round.

 

There are three disciplines in the sport of rock climbing:

 

Sport and Speed season is from February to July. Sarah Kate will compete in both Sport and Speed competitions in the coming months and hopes to qualify for Sport and Speed Youth Nationals in Atlanta in July. She will be hard at work training all three of these disciplines before she heads overseas to represent the US at Worlds in August.

 

Of note, competitive rock climbing will be included in the Japan 2020 Summer Olympics as a brand new Olympic sport.