Sport

No Redpointing "Supertweak" Until You Finish Your Brussels Sprouts
By Theodore Spencer

With climbing gyms offering after-school hours, the nation's top climbing ranks are being overtaken by a pack of nimble teens who'd rather scale 5.14s than primp for the junior prom. Next month, when Sand City, California, kicks off a string of regional competitions leading up to the national championships in Boulder later this spring, the spotlight will shine on eight young phenoms. Our advice: Get outta their way.

Katie Brown, 18, Rock Springs, Georgia

Chris Sharma, 18, Santa Cruz, California

Let's start with the ones you know. Brown, a three-time X Games champ and two-time Master's winner, is quite simply the finest competitive rock climber in the world. And Sharma boasts perhaps the single most impressive American sport climbing feat to date: seven 5.14s in three weeks in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming in 1996. But what's up with cutting his own hair?

Beth Rodden, 18, Davis, California

An overachiever with a 4.0 GPA and a Web site offering flattering video clips of her climbs, Rodden has been ranked first in her age group for three years running. Loves: Murder Burger's berry shakes. Hates: overhangs. ("They give me grief.")

Aaron Shamy, 17, Salt Lake City, Utah

Nicknamed "Barrel" because of his burly chest and his chickenlike legs, the former wrestler takes his high school singing ensemble as seriously as his climbing. He's won two world speed-climbing titles and prefers to tackle anything easier than a 5.13b in sandals.

Shena Sturman, 17, Cottage Grove, Oregon

A former gymnast, Sturman is stronger than many of her peers, which explains her flair for solving thorny problems that demand raw power. Ranked sixth among women, she draws snickers by insisting, for reasons that escape us, on climbing in Levi's 501s.

Eric Scully, 15, Tucson, Arizona

A consummate slacker who floats through school doing the bare minimum, Scully (now ranked first in difficulty in his age group) was pulling off 5.14s at age 13 — a full year earlier than Sharma. He's now able to redpoint six of these routes, including the notorious "Supertweak" at Logan Canyon, Utah.

Heather Collins, 17, Nevada City, California

Collins specializes in sticking swift ascents (she won the speed-climbing title at last spring's nationals) and jamming severe overhangs. Her peers find it curious that she was introduced to climbing through the unlikely vehicle of a church group.

Ethan Pringle, 12, San Francisco, California

Besides winning several national and international competitions in his age bracket, Pringle has nailed a half-dozen routes rated 5.13a. He's known for passing along excellent beta — jargon for information on routes — in a squeaky prepubescent voice that, he hopes, will transform into a robust baritone any minute now.

Illustration by Gordon Studer