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The Bulletin • B SECTION • FRIDAY, MARCH 26,2021
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BEND ENDURANCE
ACADEMY
Youth
climbers
explore
their
limits
BY CRISTINA PETERSON
For The Bulletin
Heather Whittle walks
through a cutting in the
rocks along the Willow
Creek Canyon Trail.
Take the trai ess travded
at Willow Creek Canyon
A
BYMAKENZIE WHITTLE • The Bulletin
Nothing beats hitting
a Central Oregon trail
in springtime.
Hikers can enjoy great views
and interesting geological fea­
tures, bikers can find an easy
path along a creek and even
climbers can spend an after­
noon hugging a rock face.
No, this isn’t the ever-popu-
lar, and usually overcrowded,
Smith Rock State Park; this is
Willow Creek Canyon, located
on the outskirts of Madras.
While the canyon may not
its way from Central
be as breathtaking as
Oregon to the Colum­
its southern counter­
bia River.
part — or as meticu­
The tracks may be
lously maintained — it
gone, but the rock
still offers an easy trail
TRAILS cutouts for steam lo­
for hikers and bikers
comotives that once
along with surpris­
chugged along and the fairly
ingly good vistas to gander at
level path remain, now making
along the way.
a worthwhile High Desert hike.
The 6.4-mile, one-way trail
starts just east of the BNSF
Spring hike, bike, climb
train trestle as it passes SW
Canyon Road and follows Wil­
On Central Oregon’s recent
low Creek until it enters Lake
60-plus-degree day, my sister
Simtustus. The path is what
Heather and I ventured north
to Willow Creek, knowing little
remains of an old train grade
built in the early 1900s for the
about what the trail had to offer.
Deschutes Railroad as it made
See Willow Creek/ B9
1
It happens to me all the time,
in the gym and at the crag —
even more as I get older and
more youth get into climb­
ing. A kid, half my size, easily
climbs a route that I struggled
up or am still figuring out.
Climbers in youth programs
are strong! But they are also,
more often than not, polite and
encouraging. They know the
etiquette of indoor and out­
door climbing.
This is no coincidence. Mike
Rougeux, executive director of
the Bend Endurance Academy
and a climbing coach of 16 years,
says youth climbing programs
are important for the same rea­
sons that all youth sports benefit
kids. But also much more than
that They aim to instill lessons
in the next generation of climb­
ers about how to be good am­
bassadors for the sport and to
value natural spaces.
Climbing, like the other
programs within the BEA, is
a outdoor sport that people
can participate in at varying
levels through all stages of
life. Teaching climbers from
a young age about respecting
the places they climb can cre­
ate lifelong advocates for public
lands. Learning to handle the
pressure of a hard climb can
also make youth more resilient.
The BEA climbing program
focuses on both indoor com­
petition climbing and outdoor
climbing.
“These two types of climb­
ing are worlds apart and yet
complement each other well,”
Rougeux said. In competition,
climbers don’t choose the style
of climb. The routes are set by
the organization hosting the
event. In competition climb­
ing, there is little time to study
the route before attempting it,
and competitors can’t watch
how others climb the route.
“When a competitor begins,
they have to be physically pre­
pared for any style of climbing
and they need to have a tactical
approach, which might include
determining when to rest and
when to execute,” Rougeux
pointed out. They have to stay
calm and focused to succeed
in one attempt. This better
prepares youth for climbing
outdoors. Being able to make
moves on a variety of holds
and to read sequences while
on-route, skills gained through
competition, can make a
climber more successful on
many more routes.
See Climbers/ BIO
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