A tiny smile formed on his lips as he watched two of his young proteges scamper 42 feet up the side of a faux cliff inside the Boulders’ complex in Harker Heights.
Ten seconds later, the two young men, neither of whom are old enough to drive, touched a marker at the base of the ceiling.
“Is that as fast as you can go, Ninja? What is your best time?” Oliver called up to 14-year-old Nicholas Kwan, as he rappelled quickly back down to the soft surface.
“Ten seconds,” Nic said.
“I want you to do it in less than 10,” Oliver said as he strapped on his climbing harness and took his place at the base of the bouldering wall inside the Boulder’s rock climbing complex in Harker Heights.
For the past four years, Boulders has hosted the regional rock climbing competition for the state of Texas.
But this year it’s different.
Boulders is hosting the Southwest Divisional Rock Climbing Competition on June 13-14.
“It’s the largest rock climbing competition ever held in Texas and it’s the largest rock climbing competition ever held in the United States,” Boulders’ business manager Richard Kahabka said. “It’s actually bigger (participation) than nationals. This is a very big deal in the world of rock climbing and it’s coming to Harker Heights.”
Nearly 600 rock climbers and their supporters from all over the United States are expected to converge on Boulders for the competition; thus, Oliver is making sure his team of 22 talented rock climbers will be ready.
Oliver, who has been a rock climbing enthusiast since he was 10, began coaching in Dallas in 2001.
He coached there, in Fort Worth and in Houston before coming to Boulders, where he has been for nearly two years.
Oliver, who is accustomed to coaching as many as 40 climbers at a time, said getting and keeping a cohesive team in this area for any length of time is a pretty tough job.
“I have not gotten my team above 23 or 24. The military kills me,” he said. “We recruit these kids, and we start training them and then the Army PCS’s (permanent change of station) them. It seems like I constantly have new kids.”
Oliver’s team ranges in age from 8 to nearly 16, all very competitive.
“This entire team is challenged by choice,” Oliver said. “We don’t make them compete, we don’t make them go to the top of the wall. We don’t make them do anything. We encourage them.”
Savannah “Twiggy” Drew, 11, loves to talk, but she loves to rock climb a lot more than that, especially if she is competing against her older brother, Stephen “Mighty Mouse” Drew.
“It’s very challenging and I like challenges,” she said as she prepared to climb the 42-foot wall one more time.
Nearby, Megan “Dingaling” Yingling, 13, had already spent 45 minutes on the bouldering wall and was trying her hand at the speed wall.
Megan, who has been rock climbing for nearly four years, said there are many reasons to love doing it.
“I love sweating. I love exercising and it’s a good way to get your anger out,” she said.
Megan has competed on a national level before, but said she is still nervous about the upcoming regionals.
“It’s anxiety now, but you know you are going to have to try hard and do your best and that is all you can do,” she said.
