By Emma Gonosey
Sports Editor
Costa junior Chloe Milstein latches on to an extreme passion for competitive rock climbing.
Milstein began rock climbing in fifth grade when she fell in love with it after taking a beginners class with a friend. Since then, she has become very competitive and serious about rock climbing, as she competes in two local competitions per six-month season and she typically trains year-round.
“During competitions, I’m usually very nervous but I have to stay focused and pre- pared for the climbs,” Milstein said. “I have to balance doing my best route reading [and] climbing with the time limit, staying energized for the other climb and strategizing my attempts for the most points.”
Since she began climbing six years ago, it has become a large part of her life. After nearly seven years of training, Milstien is confident enough to participate in around four or five competitions per year.
“I started rock climbing when I was [about] 11,” Milstein said. “But I didn’t start competing [or] taking it seriously until seventh grade. I guess I just needed somewhere to put my energy and focus, and I just really liked it.”
For her weekly training, Milstein works out by doing conditioning to strengthen her endurance, muscles and agility and by practicing climbing on training walls. In a typical week, Milstien trains with her team around three or four times a week at the Long Beach Rising Rock climbing gym.
“Training is like normal conditioning that most athletes do, like core, legs and upper body, but for climbing there’s also finger strength that you need to train,” Milstein says. “Part of conditioning is also climbing itself, like endurance and working on techniques and different styles of moves.”
Because of the COVID-19 outbreak, Milstien and her team have had to make many adjustments to the way they train and compete. According to Milstein, the greatest change has been competitions because teams have had to social distance, which makes it difficult to meet as a team.
“Lots of outdoor places are closed or harder to climb at,” Milstein said. “Competitions are now virtual, which means regions where gyms haven’t been closed due to COVID host competitions, but you choose all your own climbs regardless of the category and record your attempts. You submit your videos of completed climbs virtually, and the way they score it has [also] changed, as well.”
According to Milstein, during a competition, a rock climber must be completely focused in order to maintain strength. She believes that a large part of climbing is the mental toughness a climber must have.
“I think my favorite part [of a climbing competition] is when you get into the ‘flow state’ where everything sort of comes together while you are climbing and it feels pretty perfect,” Milstein said. “The most challenging part is the mental game, like dealing with getting pumped, or fighting through pain, or having to trust moves [and] yourself and dealing with fear.”
According to Milstein, rock climbing competitions are typically extremely intense and require a lot of time and effort put in by the rock climber.
“In pre-COVID competitions, judges watched you climb and sign off in person, and any attempts before completion would be marked and affect your score,” Milstein said. “The way climbs are assigned points and overall climbers are given a scoring/ placing is also on a different system. These are only for local competitions, because they extended the bouldering season, so regionals and the following competitions have not happened yet.”
Milstein has big plans for the future and hopes to continue rock climbing after high school and possibly after college.
“I am [planning on continuing] rock climbing after high school,” Milstein says. “Right now I’m planning to go to college, so I’m looking at schools with teams that I could join. It’s something I could probably keep doing for most of my adult life, and I think that’s something I want.”
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