In May, I took a trip to Atlanta for a weekend speed climbing camp. The camp was held at Stone Summit Kennesaw, a world-class climbing gym. The lead instructor was Olexiy Shul’ga. Olexiy is a former Ukranian national speed champion, has a Ph.D in sports physiology, and is the national youth speed coach for Team Stone Summit and Team USA. Obviously, Olexiy is highly qualified to teach speed climbing.
The camp improved my times and refined my speed climbing sequence. Sequence is also known as “beta” to climbers. My personal record (PR) improved from 8.95 seconds to 8.82 seconds.
The camp lasted for two days. The first day was focused on training, which included changing part of my beta, endurance work on the speed wall, and a strength workout. The second day was further training in the morning and then an IFSC-style competition in the afternoon.
The competition was very exciting, because if you made one mistake or slipped you would be eliminated. In the qualification stage of the competition I got fourth. In the qualification stage you get two runs and your times are compared to the other competitors to give your seeding for the finals. In the finals, I ended up getting third in the competition out of 16. The two competitors in front of me were both older and much more experienced speed climbers.
I was excited about getting third place but was even more excited about getting a personal record of 8.82 seconds during the final rounds. Amazingly, I got 8.83 seconds on the next run, which showed that the previous run of 8.82 seconds was not a fluke.
I learned many things during the two days at the mini-camp, not only about getting quicker, but also about IFSC-style competitions, warm-ups, and techniques for practicing beta on the speed climbing route. I made many friends from all over the United States, who share a common interest in speed climbing.
After the camp, my dad and I celebrated my new 8.82-second PR, by going to a popular local restaurant called Flip Burger. Their tagline is “A Modern Burger Boutique”. I had the Flip Stack burger which was very delicious. If you go by Atlanta sometime, you should try Flip Burger. The burger was a splurge for me because I am usually careful about my diet. As the old saying from Oscar Wilde goes “Everything in moderation, including moderation”.