High Drama by John Burgman

Author:John Burgman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Triumph Books
Published: 2020-01-22T20:59:27+00:00

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14. The men’s Difficulty discipline at X Games III was won by France’s Francois LeGrand. Hans Florine won a separate men’s speed climbing discipline; Elena Ovchinnikova won a separate women’s speed climbing discipline.

13. The Kids Are Alright

Amid climbing’s youth movement, which had been most visible from a marketing perspective by the Extreme Games and fueled most consistently by annual ASCF Junior National Championships, came increased interest and influence by the parents of the many young competitors. At first a rather unconnected group, these parents of the climbers steadily became more familiar with one another given the frequency of youth competitions and the consistency with which the same kids seemed to be taking part in many of them. Soon a camaraderie developed, and with that arose a collective parental interest in just how the ASCF’s youth competitions were being run—and whether any improvements could be made.

This shared curiosity materialized first as a nondescript meeting in one of Portland, Oregon’s most popular pubs, the Blue Moon. There, among the swirl of subdued rock music and strong drinks from the bar one afternoon, a group of parents gathered around a well-worn table to analyze in earnest the ASCF’s methodology as it regarded the kids’ competitions being held in the mid-1990s.

Among this group at the pub was Jeanne Niemer, whose six-year-old daughter, Kate, had recently expressed an interest in competition climbing. Niemer already had significant organizational experience and was able to evaluate the pros and cons of any organization’s processes with laser precision. In fact, she had previously founded her own climbing-centric organization, Sheclimbs, with a goal of connecting and supporting women around the country who were interested in getting involved in the sport. One of her goals with this meeting at the Blue Moon had similar objectives to those of starting Sheclimbs, but with a slant toward kids rather than adult women; essentially, Niemer wanted to figure out a way that parents could better connect and support each other as competition climbing evolved and gained prominence.

Also seated at the table was Matt Stevens, the climbing coach of Niemer’s daughter and an important keystone between the young competitors and their concerned parents. Stevens knew Hans Florine. Florine had cemented himself as a competition climbing legend by winning the speed climbing discipline at the UIAA’s first World Championships in Frankfurt, Germany, in 1991. He was also still in a leadership role at the ASCF. In fact, it was Florine who had helped an organizer from Pennsylvania, Randy Hart, put together the ASCF’s first Junior National Championships nearly five years prior. Florine had consistently given funding to the ASCF’s juniors’ tier over the years and helped with ASCF’s junior competition logistics. The thinking now was that perhaps Stevens could relay pertinent details of any discussion—and any decisions made—at the Blue Moon to Florine, who could then use the ideas to improve the ASCF’s youth ventures.

Scott Rider, an employee at Vertical World in Seattle, Washington, was also present at the meeting at the Blue Moon.

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