As PK Merchant puts on his harness, he’s focused on improving his time. With chalk on both hands, he steps up to the wall, clips in and prepares to speed climb.
“You good?” he asks.
With the green light, he begins to ascend. Merchant is moving as fast as he can from one rock to the next. He’s been climbing walls like this for about two years.
“I kept seeing some progress, and I was like ‘Oh, I’ll just stick with it because it’s fun, and I’m getting better,’ ” Merchant said.
For Merchant and many others, one of the reasons they fell in love with this sport is the community that comes with it.
What You Need To Know
- Climbing is one of the new sports featured for the first time at this summer’s Olympics
- In the inaugural competition, each climber will have to compete in three disciplines — speed, bouldering, and lead
- The gym manager expects new climbers to try it out now that the sport is getting the world’s attention
Climbing is one of the new sports that debuted in Tokyo at this summer’s Olympic Games. That fact is creating some excitement at local indoor climbing facilities like The Edge in Halfmoon.
“It’s a sport that everyone can continue in at their own level for a lifetime,” said Adam Catalano, gym manager at The Edge.
He says he was a little apprehensive at first on how rock climbing would be portrayed or change the sport. Since the competitions got underway, Catalano calls it a unique opportunity.
“I was pretty happy with the results, seeing some of the speed climbers who usually don’t do so well in bouldering or lead did do pretty well,” said Catalano, speaking about watching the qualification rounds.
In the inaugural competition, each climber has to compete in all three disciplines — speed, bouldering and lead.
The medal winners are determined by multiplying the placement in each element.
“It’s also just a whole body, a whole mind experience,” said Molly Fillion, a local climber. “So you’re not just working your arms, just working your legs.”
She says it’s been neat to see so much talent from around the world come together.
Catalano expects new climbers to come in now that the sport is capturing the world’s attention.
This wasn’t one of Merchant's best climbs. But as he descended from the top, he was already contemplating on how to get better and looking forward to his next climb.
“Everyone’s trying to get better and help other people get better,” Merchant said. “So if you’re new at this sport, there will always be people to help you.”