MISSOULA — Four Missoula teens are headed to climb against the country’s best at the USA Climbing Nationals this week in Salt Lake City.
They’ll compete in bouldering and sport climbing for a chance to take home the crown and potentially represent the U.S. at the World Climbing Youth Championships in Italy.
(WATCH: Four Missoula climbers qualify for USA Climbing Youth Nationals)
"All right, I know I'm strong enough. I know if I really put in the effort, I can probably podium," 15-year-old Louie Levaux said.
That was Levaux’s mindset heading into regionals. He won that lead climbing competition and is hoping for a similar result at nationals.
“There's so many strong people. I think it's going to be a really good experience," Levaux told MTN.
While Levaux will be roped up and clipping bolts, like fellow teammates Estella Molloy and Connor Macholz, 18-year-old Mykal Dunn qualified for bouldering.
“I just try to play my own strengths,” Dunn said.
Dunn says to get strong, she’s spent hours upon hours training with her team at Freestone and also on her own.
"I have lifting days, like interval training, where I do lifting and climbing, a lot of power endurance, a lot of focus on just power," Dunn said, noting she sat down with coach Caroline Psaltis to make a training plan.
Psaltis is proud of her climbers, saying they make really hard routes look easy.
“Estella has this fluidity to her that's really enjoyable. She is incredibly beautiful to watch on the wall," Psaltis said about Molloy. “Connor, he is probably endless psych. Really technical. I think he's going to explore all aspects of climbing indoors and out," Psaltis added about Macholz.
Psaltis says she knows her team will represent Missoula well and keep Montana in the spotlight on the national climbing stage.
"They're just going to keep getting stronger. It's going to be hard to keep up," Psaltis said.
Live streaming from the competition will begin at 7:30 a.m. on June 26 and run through July 3.
