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The sport of climbing may be new to some, but Natick’s Davis Howland, who’s only a 14-year old eighth-grader, already has experience competing in national competitions.
During the weekend of Feb. 5-7, Howland was in Madison, Wis., for the USA Climbing’s Bouldering Youth Championships, a national competition that featured 50 top-notch climbers in the 13-14 age group.
To be eligible for the nationals, Howland had to finish in the top seven in both the New England Regionals and the Divisional competition. At Newburyport, he was third at the regionals and at Glastonbury, Conn., he took first in the qualifying round and fifth in the finals during the divisional eliminations.
“My goal this year was to get to the nationals,’’ he said. “I trained very hard and made conditioning a high priority. I achieved my goal to get to the nationals, but I’m disappointed at the results.’’
Howland entered the qualifying round suffering from a right-hand injury that included pain in his knuckles. He was unable to finish his four climbs in the four-minute time frame allotted for each climb. Unable to advance to the semifinals on day two of the event, Howland expressed his disappointment this way:
“I’m disappointed because I didn’t get to show how well I could have done with all the training I did,’’ he said. “This was my first experience in national competition, and although I wasn’t sure what to expect, it’s still tough when you don’t finish a climb. I’ve climbed tougher walls before, but I may have been too aggressive earlier with overusing my hand.’’
Indoor climbing involves two types of competition—top roping and bouldering. Top roping deals with climbing a 70-foot wall with a harness and rope attached. Bouldering utilizes a 20-foot wall, but there are no harnesses or ropes attached. Both types feature holds, which look like rocks, and they’re bolted to the wall. Competitors scale the wall by gripping onto the holds and climbing as high as they can in a four-minute period. They’re judged by the distance (height) they achieve and the number of holds they’re able to grab. Each hold has an assigned number of points.
“Holds can be narrow or thin and their surface is rock-like,’’ said Brian Howland, Davis’ father who has become a big fan of climbing. “Holds can be jagged or rounded and some are an inch or two while others are a foot wide. The climbers wear no gloves and sometimes have to use two fingers to grip the hold. A climber needs strong hands, good balance, endurance and lots of mental toughness.’’
Sharpening his skills in the sport since he was introduced to it seven years ago, the 5-foot-7, 125-pound Davis trains and competes at the Rockspot Climbing Gym in Dedham. Other climbing teams and gyms in the area include Watertown, South Boston, and Somerville. New Hampshire also has a variety of climbing facilities. Climbing is similar to wrestling, track and gymnastics because competitions are scored for both individuals and teams.
As Davis says, “If you lose, you can only blame yourself.’’ Training sufficiently is a must.
“I train at least eight hours a week,’’ Davis said. “And, the sessions include lots of conditioning, like sit-ups and push-ups. The major attribute needed for success is mental toughness. It’s easy to get frustrated, especially if you fall. You have to stay calm and focus on height. Developing a strategy while you’re competing is important. For example, how to breathe effectively and efficiently is very important.’’
Davis attends the Charles River School in Dover and plans on enrolling next year at either Beaver Country Day in Brookline or the Cambridge School in Weston. An outstanding student in math and science, he wants to pursue a career in either mechanical or structural engineering. When he’s not involved in climbing routines, he enjoys tennis and basketball. “I enjoy trying to build or fix things,’’ he said. “I guess you’d call that my hobby.’’
Davis discovered climbing when he and a friend were taking gymnastic lessons in Brookline. “There was a wall for climbing, I tried it and liked it so much I started taking lessons,’’ he said. “That’s when I joined Rockspot in Dedham.
Davis rates Daniel Woods, a professional climber from Boulder, Colo., as his favorite athlete. Davis met him in Watertown, one of the training camps for the nationals.
“His advice was basically to stay calm on the wall, breathe effectively and prevent injury,’’ Davis noted. “He told us not to do weighted exercises while we’re still growing. He emphasized that weighted exercises put a strain on joints and tendons, which are still developing in young kids.’’
Howland wishes he could have fared better at the nationals, but being there helped bring some notice of the sport to Natick. As he said, “I’m pleased I qualified and there’s no doubt that I got to that level by practicing hard.’’
Ranked No. 5 in the Northeast Division by USA Climbing, Davis Howland will bounce back and he will no doubt return to the national stage again.