Climbing prodigy Doran Smith is set to finish his first year of climbing by competing at the Canadian National Championship in Calgary.
The 14-year-old Bracebridge native only started climbing in Feb. 2022 after his cousin prompted him to join him at Climb Muskoka, a rock-climbing gym in Bracebridge. Smith says three hours later he was hooked. “My hands were destroyed by the end,” he adds but says as soon as he got home he wanted to go back.
After a handful of trips over the next couple of months, Smith got a membership to the gym. “I found the improvement was so fast,” he says.
In Sept. 2022, he realized this was something he was good enough to do at a higher level. Smith says he plays hockey in the winter but decided he wanted to focus solely on climbing. “I guess it worked out for the better,” he says.
Kevin French, who owns Climb Muskoka, says he noticed Smith’s enthusiasm immediately.
Initially, he says a climbing team wasn’t on the table. The gym only opened in late 2021. “The goal was to create a space where kids feel safe and are having fun,” he explains. However, because of kids like Smith who took to climbing so quickly, a team was born. “We didn’t think we would do as well as we have,” adds French.
He says the majority of the team has qualified for provincials in their categories.
At regionals, which was held last weekend in Ottawa, Smith was just happy to be there. He explains he had no expectations going into the event but ended up placing well enough to qualify for the national competition during the May long weekend in Calgary. He says he proved to himself that he deserved to be in that spot.
With the competition only a few weeks away, Smith says he’s working on power endurance training. He explains that entails climbing nonstop and doing sprints. The sprints involve Smith going up and down the wall multiple times.
French says while he’s proud of Smith and the rest of the team, he doesn’t put high expectations on their shoulders. “We want them to enjoy the sport and have fun,” he says. French believes if that’s happening, good results will come. What he pushes the team to do is to always be supportive of one another.
“There are a bit of nerves, but I’m super pumped for nationals,” he says. When he shows up to competitions, Smith says he sees others who have been climbing for years. “I can’t believe I’ve come this far,” he says. “It’s insane.”
