SALT LAKE CITY — If you are into climbing, whether you’re a participant or just a spectator, the Salt Lake area is a place to be this week.
Close to 200 participants came out to Momentum Climbing in Midvale. "The very first para climbing World Cup of the season, so we are really excited to kick it off right here in Salt Lake City," stated Patrick Bodnar of USA Climbing.
Rosario Cornell is a climber, but during this event, she also assists other climbers who are sight-challenged. “I’m a line caller for my partner, and I basically describe to them how they get up the wall, using these recording devices and microphones. It’s just amazing, I just describe how to get up the wall," she explained.
During the event, Rosario is assisting Linn Poston, who is sight-challenged, "I love climbing, and I do love all the adrenaline." Linn explained that she got into climbing after a family friend suggested it to her parents. "I was adopted from China when I was two and I was a bit stunted in my growth. So one of my dad‘s friends, who was a physical therapist, said climbing would be helpful, it helps develop your core muscles."
For Linn, the wall was too exciting. "So, climbing on stairs at first, but then that transferred to a wall we built in the garage, and then when I was four or five, we went into the gym for the first time, and my parents could never get me out,” she remembered.
Daliya Hansen is another U.S. Para Climber who says the sport changed the trajectory of her life after she lost a leg due to illness. "I lost my leg about a year and a half ago and started climbing three weeks post-op," Daliya stated.
Hansen says that it was the community aspect of climbing that helped her. "I needed to be surrounded by something and people who knew what I was going through, to be able to ask questions, to be able to force myself out of the bed rot you experience when you first undergo something so traumatic," Daliya explained. "I have fallen in love with climbing, I love the community, I love the people, and it’s a way to feel like I’m on top of the world while being so close to land."
Later this week, other climbing events will move to downtown Salt Lake City. That includes the Boulder World Cup happening Friday through Sunday.
