Qualifying to compete among the best youth rock climbers in the country was not on Molly Hayden’s mind several months ago, especially after the gym where she trained closed down.

“I definitely would not have believed it if anyone told me that I made it,” says Hayden, who just graduated from DeForest Area High School. “Especially because I’m from such a small gym and we’ve had quite the past year.”

But, she adds, “I’m really excited to represent that and everything that we’ve been through.”

Hayden, along with Tasman Peters, who just graduated from Madison West High School, and 13-year-old Jasper Bingham, will compete later this month at the USA Climbing Youth National Championship in Salt Lake City. They represent Boulders Climbing Gym, which in December closed its east-side location, which had been home to the competitive sport climbing program.

To reach nationals, climbers must advance through a series of qualifying events, competing against athletes in their same age and gender categories. After placing in local competitions and regionals, the top six athletes in each age and gender group at the divisional championship earn a spot at nationals.

Boulders athletes compete in two disciplines: bouldering, which involves climbing shorter walls with no ropes, and lead, or “ropes,” where climbers try to climb as high as possible on a 15-meter wall, clipping into bolts along the way. Hayden and Bingham qualified for nationals in bouldering and Peters qualified in lead. A fourth athlete from Boulders, Juniper Kauer, also qualified for ropes, but will be unable to attend.

At each competition, athletes wait in isolation with coaches and competitors — away from their phones and families — so they can’t view the climbing wall and plan their moves and routes before they begin climbing. Once called, climbers have only a few minutes to execute the unfamiliar route as efficiently as possible.

Athletes describe competition environments as loud and often crowded.

 ”It’s really stressful leading up to it since you just have no idea what you're gonna get,” says Bingham. “The warm-up is stressful because who knows what you actually need to warm up for?”

“You never really know what you’re gonna have thrown at you,” adds Hayden.

Beyond the normal stress of preparing for competitions, Boulders athletes faced a unique challenge this season when their east-side gym closed. The downtown location quickly became busier, Hayden says, and the team lost ropes training space. According to the athletes and their coaches, the bigger loss was losing a space that shaped their climbing community.

“ That was also just a space where we could meet as a team kind of away from everyone else,” says Hayden.

“Many of them started climbing in that gym when they were in elementary school, so they were saying goodbye to a place they have known and loved for half their lives,” says Boulders coach Erin Hutchison. Despite this, she adds, “the way the team has bounced back from this loss is so powerful, our climbers stayed motivated and willing to give their best in training through all of these big emotions.”

Unlike many competitive sports, Boulders parents and athletes say, climbing relies on and benefits from community and encouragement.

“Everybody is rooting for these kids and there’s no negative feelings or hoping that someone doesn’t do well — it’s just a ton of positive energy,” says Matt Hayden, Molly Hayden’s dad. “It doesn’t matter if they’re on your team or not.”

“It is a super inclusive, supportive and welcoming sport,” says Peters’ mother, Karen Faller. “The coaches, parents and athletes do such an amazing job of creating community.”

As the youngest Boulders athlete to qualify for nationals this year, Bingham says practicing alongside older athletes has strongly contributed to his success and sense of community on the team. 

“I think it’s because of allowing younger kids to climb with older kids,” he says. “You can be young and make the competitive team, and then you’re practicing with these 18-year-old seniors and you get to learn from them.” 

For Hayden, who started climbing at Boulders as a middle schooler and now coaches younger climbers, the gym’s integration of all age groups feels “kind of full circle.”

“Some of the kids on my team now I coached when they were younger, and now we’re on the same team and we practice together and see each other at competitions which is really cool," she says.

Peters also coaches younger climbers, and plans to continue working at the gym. He hopes that more people in Madison can find community at Boulders, too.

“ If you're curious about climbing, just go try it. It's super fun, and everybody there is awesome, and we will be super supportive of you even if you don't think you're gonna do great.”

Hayden, Peters and Bingham will head to Salt Lake City on June 26. To prepare for the big competition, Boulders coaches have devised training plans that are specific to each athlete. Whether they advance to the World Championships, or finish their season in Salt Lake City, coach Hutchison says that the skills the athletes have developed through climbing will continue to serve them on and off the wall.

“These kids work and work, and fall and fall again. Climbing teaches great resilience and I can see it in the whole team.”