Climb Yukon held their annual bouldering competition Sunday on the climbing walls at Porter Creek Secondary School gym.

The first group on the walls was aged six to nine.

The Star spoke with Tyler Kuhn, whose daughter Inara Church, 7, was climbing up a storm. Kuhn said Inara has been climbing for a while, but this was her first competition.

“She’s determined. She’s quite into rec climbing. They run a bouldering thing on Monday for kids and she’s been in that all winter. We’ve got a climbing wall in our garage she climbs on.”

His wife, Amber, added it’s “really awesome” to see her daughter climbing.

Stanley Hubert’s mom, Marie LaForme, was keeping track of her son’s climbs.

She said it was his first day climbing.

Hubert, 7, said he’s been climbing “one year at his house, on his tree.”

“I climb to the very top.”

When asked what he likes about climbing, Hubert replied, “That you can hang. And you can jump.”

Madilyne Dooley, 6, was being watched by her father and coach, Shane.

“We coach this age group on Mondays,” related Shane. “They seem to find it fun. They get to swing around and try and follow some order of direction but mostly we just let them – we want to introduce them to climbing and hope that they just want to continue. Especially with the new gym opening in a year or two. We’re trying to build a base of early climbers.”

Shane said he’s looking forward to the new gym.

“Very much so. Much bigger than this venue.”

Charlie Gunness, 6, also took a turn on the walls. His father, Ray, also a coach, said they have a bouldering gym in their basement.

“We climb every day. They love climbing. I can’t get them off the wall.”

Miya Nishikawa, 4, was clambering around on the walls in an impressive fashion for such a young girl.

“We do climbing a fair bit with her but this is the first time she’s done an event. She likes to climb,” related her mother Madeleine.

Her famous father, Graham was also there.

The next youth group, slightly older than the first, took to the walls.

Sam Miller, 9, was having a good time while being watched by his mom Becky.

“It’s fun to get to do routes and challenge yourself,” said Sam. “You get to push yourself. If you go over your limit, you kind of know it.”

Adelaide Hubert, was part of the older group.

Issac Rainey, 10, was also up on the wall.

“I find it really fun,” he said. “I enjoy trying the hard climbs.”

Carl Embacher, 9, part of a climbing family, has been climbing since he was three years old.

“We do climb with him outside. He’s quite comfortable with it. He does lead climb a little bit,” related his mom, Sarah Johnson.

Last summer the family was climbing down in Lander, Wyoming at a place called Wild Iris.

“All three of the boys got really into climbing,” said Johnson.

Carl’s brothers Peter and Eric were also at the bouldering event, along with their father Kevin Embacher.

“We’re both teachers, so we have the summers off, so that’s what we did last summer, is we were down climbing down south most of the summer and then we’ll head down this summer and climb in the states the whole summer,” added Johnson.

Eiger Allen, 10, was climbing up a storm on the walls.

“This is the first year he’s gotten serious,” said his mom Evie.

She was asked what it means to have her son climbing in the competition.

“It’s pretty cool. Our family’s climbed for a long time and it’s nice to see him really into it. “

Climb Yukon President Sara Bradley said, “This is really an event about bringing our community together and giving primarily the youth some exposure to this whole environment.”

Bradley figured between 50 and 60 climbers took part in the competition.

“Most of them are youth under 16.

“It’s a great turnout,” she added.

Bradley said the new climbing centre is expected to open in Fall 2025.

“I’m super excited.”

Complete competition results can be found at https://www.climbyukon.com/competition-information.html