Rock climbing is all about the mental game. It’s about overcoming mind blocks and taking risks. It’s about planning out which course of action to take, and being brave enough to take it.
That is the very thing that continues to draw Dawson Bauer (12) to the sport he has competed in for 12 years.
Climbing has been in his blood from the beginning.
“My dad got my brother into climbing because he used to climb,” Bauer said. “Then I started going with them, and I decided to start it, as well.”
So he did just that. Bauer joined a team through ABC Climbing in Boulder, beginning his journey in indoor climbing, and he quickly improved. Solving problems and moving up the ranks, rock climbing became Bauer’s “thing.” Throughout the years, his teammates who understand the challenges and unique aspects of the sport have witnessed his growth and improvement.
“Every climb is different,” former teammate Thomas Cole (10) said. “You have to take your strength and technique and apply it to different things.”
Like Bauer, Cole loves the unknowns of rock climbing. Being a climber means taking on new challenges all the time.
“It’s really cool to solve a problem and to just try and get to the top of totally different things that you’ve never seen before,” Cole said.
After eight years competing in youth circuits, Bauer made the decision to break off and train on his own—and this time his focus was aimed at bouldering and rope climbing outdoors.
“There’s bouldering, which is 15 feet high with mats, and there’s spark climbing, which is on a rope,” Bauer said. “And now I only do bouldering and rope climbing.”
Climbing on outside terrain brings a whole new set of challenges and risks. Bauer has taken on those challenges with determination—and at the highest level.
“I recently climbed V 14, which is the grading scale. It’s pretty hard, so I was very excited about that,” Bauer said. “And you know, placing in like the top 30 at Nationals.”
Bauer is just being humble.
In fact, V 14 is considered to be a level that only the most elite climbers can reach, and he was able to earn that title. At the rate he is improving, this is only the beginning of all Bauer will accomplish in his rock climbing career.
