Dakota Nidalmia, junior, and now almost six-year rock climbing veteran, recently competed in the American Bouldering Series National Competition, which took place on February 13-15, 2015 in Madison, Wisconsin.
Nidalmia has competed and placed in many local and regional competitions; but this time, he took it to a whole new level. Nidalmia qualified for the National Competition as one of the competitors in his division (age 17-18) from Oregon. This competition, which accepts only seven competitors from each division, is a three day test of your climbing skill. Each day is a new challenge and a fight to make it to the next round of the competition. Before he traveled to Madison, Rogue News asked Nidalmia what he was expecting of the competition. Many will be swept away on the first day Nidalmia explained, and making it to the second day, finals, is what he’s going to fight for. “If I make it to finals, I will consider myself a gigantic success.”
Each day, the competitors are given four routes, and four minutes to get as far as they can on each one. The routes will be completely new to the competitors, and they are scored on how far they can get on each route before time runs out. Falls don’t take away points, but it drains your time and are used as tiebreakers, Nidalmia explained to Rogue News.
Nidalmia is at the Rogue Rock Gym in Medford, OR at least five times per week, tackling challenging routes, designing some of his own, and creating on-site challenges for avid climbers and staff to try. Gym-goers are now used to seeing him often and have become some of his best climbing buddies. “I always like climbing with other people better. It’s one of the best parts of climbing,” Nidalmia says. In addition to his independent dedication to this unique sport, Nidalmia recently joined the AHS Rock Climbing Club and often climbs with members of the club.
Though Nidalmia did not make it to the second round of competition, he enjoyed staying throughout the weekend to watch and support other competitors. As a result of his performance in the qualifying competitions and at the National Competition, he is now ranked as the number one rock climber in Oregon for his division. So, Rogue News asked, what’s next? Nidalmia is now beginning training for the first competition of next season, The Portland Boulder Rally, which will take place in October, 2015. Rogue News wishes Nidalmia the best of luck. Climb on!