A climber maneuvers on a climbing wall at Evo Rock + Fitness in Portland. Photo courtesy of Evo Rock + Fitness

PORTLAND — Climbing is considered a new sport at the Summer Olympics. But at Evo Rock + Fitness, sport climbing, as the competition is officially called, is already firmly established.

Nevertheless, the climbing community in the state of Maine hopes that the Games in Paris can help the sport reach new heights.

Since opening in 2015, the Portland gym has offered sport climbing classes and hosted local competitions, but in recent years the sport has seen a whole new level of engagement.

“With the 2021 Olympics and after the pandemic, we’ve seen a huge influx of people interested in (sport climbing),” said Trevor Bostic, general manager of Evo. “I would say climbing as a sport has traditionally been kind of an alternative sport, less mainstream. But now that it’s getting more and more attention, you’re seeing more and more traditionally athletic people excelling in the sport.”

Sport climbing consists of three different disciplines: bouldering, lead climbing and speed climbing.

Bouldering involves a climber attempting to move from point A to point B on a 15-foot wall without ropes. This may involve hanging upside down or jumping between holds. They have three minutes to earn points as they move through designated zones on their way to completing each route, also known as problems. The competition features four problems of varying difficulty, each worth 25 points, for a total of 100 points.

Lead climbing, or rope climbing, is the other half of the Olympics’ combined discipline. Climbers have a six-minute attempt to scale a 15-meter-high wall with 40 holds. As they pass each hold, they pass their rope through a carabiner to mark where they have been. The more holds a climber reaches (which become increasingly difficult as the climb progresses), the more points they can score, up to a total of 100.

Speed ​​climbing is a little easier to understand: get to the top as quickly as possible. While strapped into an automatic belay system, climbers race up a 15-meter-high, five-degree-angled wall. Each climber runs on the left and right sides of the wall, standardized by the International Sports Climbing Federation, trying to get the fastest time to secure a spot. From there, a knockout system is formed, with the fastest climber paired with the slowest climber (and so on) for a head-to-head race, with the fastest time moving forward.

At first glance, sport climbing may seem similar to indoor climbing at Evo or a good simulation of what awaits outdoor climbers, but according to Bostic, sport climbing is more of a spectacle.

“A big problem with climbing that we have right now, or that we’re trying to solve as the sport evolves, is how do we make it accessible to spectators. Particularly spectators who don’t climb,” Bostic said. “The reality is that a lot of the more intense outdoor climbing isn’t that exciting to watch. You’ve got a guy grabbing a tiny little hold and pulling so hard until he grabs the next tiny hold and moves his foot up. That doesn’t generally excite the inexperienced spectator. But some of these more parkour-like movements, where you’re running and jumping and coordinating multiple movements with different limbs, people can see that and think, ‘Wow, that’s exciting.'”

It’s certainly exciting enough for live viewers in Paris, as Le Bourget was packed with fans during the world record speed climbing events of Sam Watson of the USA (4.75 seconds for the men’s record) and first gold medalist Aleksandra Miroslaw of Poland (6.10 seconds). It’s still entertaining enough for fans in Maine to enjoy on a delayed basis.

“It’s really crazy to watch some of these people climb,” said Wiley Kemp of Westbrook, a climber at Evo. “They’re just incredibly strong.”

Kate Bergmann of Windham and Will Covert of Portland are members of Evo and have been climbing for seven years, but neither had any real experience with speed climbing until the Tokyo Olympics.

“It brings a lot more people into the sport,” Covert said. “It makes it more viable. The Olympics completely legitimize it.”

“Compared to ten years ago, people actually know what climbing is,” said Bergmann.

There aren’t many cases where people walk through the gym doors and say they want to start climbing because of the Olympics. Kemp says he started climbing again around the time of the Tokyo Olympics, which suggests it may have been a subconscious attraction.

Bostic said overall membership at Evo has steadily increased since the gym reopened in 2021 after being closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. That includes the youth competition climbing team. Team Evo, which was founded in 2015, is now a group of 20 to 30 kids ages 8 to 18 who meet three times a week to practice bouldering and lead climbing skills and prepare for competitions in New England.

It’s not just children who can take part. Every spring, Evo hosts a hall-wide sport climbing competition called “Struggle Bus” for 100-120 adult climbers.

Although these are competitions, the idea is to showcase outstanding talent in a fun way while welcoming others into the climbing community.

“Most climbers are just excited to be here and they’re happy that we’re in the Olympics,” Bostic said. “The only time I would say that’s not true is that some people think it might have been a little nicer when it was less popular and there were fewer people in our wilderness areas or even in the gym. If you come on a busy night, it could be pretty difficult to get on the wall.”

Despite the larger crowds and longer wait times, climbers agree that the increased attention is generally positive, especially as Evo and other climbing gyms and communities try to make the sport more accessible and diverse. Olympic coverage is just another opportunity to reach more potential climbers; a welcoming community is what keeps them coming back.

“Over the years, it’s become a little more accessible, and when I say ‘somewhat,’ I mean ‘somewhat,'” Bostic said. “But people understand that it’s not just for wealthy, adventurous people, it’s also for people from the city or people who are looking for an outlet and aren’t necessarily into team sports. We’ve seen a lot of growth there.”

“We have a variety of different affiliated Meetup groups that cater to underserved populations, particularly in the climbing or outdoor space, so we have to put in a little more work, but we find it really rewarding to help make climbing more accessible and diverse.”

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