Athlete Recap

A Year In Review Of Tenaya Athletes

The Tenaya athlete team had a stellar year. In between training, the team climbed in the Olympics, established hard boulders, bolted and sent difficult sport climbs, explored intense deep water solo routes, and climbed across the world. We want to take a moment to highlight some of the achievements of the phenomenal roster of the Tenaya Team.

Winter
The winter temps provided a start for bouldering. With Jimmy Webb starting off the season an impressive first ascent climbing La Guerra (8B+) in Yosemite. The prow of the riverside boulder proved to be incredibly technically challenging. “The beta we sussed out was to literally crawl out the prow by clamping your knees together on both sides. Safe to say I couldn’t breathe the entire time,” Webb says in his Instagram post.

At the same time, Drew Ruana used the temps to work on his latest project. With over 100 V14 and harder boulder problems done, Ruana spent much of his season working on Megatron (V17) in El Dorado Canyon State Park in Colorado. He made impressive links, closing in on the project.

Drew Ruana climbing in the Buttermilks with Chris Sharma


Ainhize Belar had a strong start to the year with an ascent of Coma Sant Pere (8c+) in Margalef. She had been working through a finger injury. “It was not the main objective of the trip, but I saw that my finger allowed me to climb and although the discomfort is still there, I was able to redpoint this Margalef route,” Belar says.

Early in the year, Ana Belen Argudo visited Oliana for the first and tried the 50m Joe Blau (8c+). Instead of going to the death on the route every time, she worked it in sections after climbing a day at Margalef. One day when Finestra at Margalef was too windy, she headed to Oliana and tried her resistance project. She climbed calmy through all the sections until the last bolt. “There I felt nervous, but I was confident and able to toughen up until I reached the chains,” Argudo says in her Instagram post.

Tanguy Merard putting the power he’s gained from hard bouldering to work on routes.


Tanguy Merard also had a solid start to the season with hard sport sends in St Leger including L’enfumette (8c+) and Cadafist (9a/a+).

The early sends of the year helped push the athletes into their spring seasons.

Spring
The spring season saw athletes travelling across the world to establish first ascents, work on projects, and to change their climbing styles.


Angie-Scarth Johnson and Felipe Carmargo headed to Bariloche, Argentina. They both climbed Reacción Indirecta (8c) in Vallen Encanta. Carmargo then made the second ascent of Marcanazo (9a) and the first ascent of Tupa Tupa, a route he describes as “a short and powerful 8c+ on pockets.”

Angie Scarth-Johnson climbing in Margalef

Scarth-Johnson went on to bolt new routes in Raja Ampat, Indonesia. “Bolted her in the blistering sun at the start of the trip,” Scarth-Johnson said of equipping Boss Jellyfish. “So worth it. I feel like I always feel so happy sitting on that rope, slowly unraveling a line. It’s when I feel most connected with myself as a climber. It feels like art because it is art.”


Ana Belen-Argudo continued climbing at different crags, changing her routine. She stopped at the Santa Linya Cave where between sessions at other areas she climbed Novena Puerta (8c+) and Open Your Mind (8c+). She also headed to Rodellar where she climbed Black Leg (8c) and El Hijo Libre (8c). The variety of climbing and crags helped her have an exceptional year.


Sharma spent much of the early season working on two of his hardest projects: Le Blond (proj.) in Oliana and Perfecto Mundo (9b+) in Margalef. He pushed through making solid progress on the routes for 4 months. “The daily grind on something so hard for me can be mentally really challenging and one thing that was really cool to explore was working to celebrate the small progressions (no matter how small they might be),” Sharma says on his Instagram post. “I’m very happy to have built a strong base in this climb and I plan use that to keep the focus for the coming seasons.”


Meanwhile, Jimmy Webb made a trip to Ticino where he chased tiny weather windows. In the first week he was there, right before 10 days of rain, he repeated Eye in the Sky (8C) in a cluster of boulders above Bavona. “Comfy rock, fun moves, powerful yet technical,” Webb says of the climb. “Hands down one of the best out there!” The next day with weather coming in, he climbed Solar Plexus (8c), finishing off two days of good scaling.

Also on that trip, Webb pulled on his harness and sent Vallemangia (8b+), a route that he found last season. “It’s well known at this point that the potential for new boulders in Bavona is endless but not many people realize that there’s an equal amount of potential for incredible new routes.”

Summer
The Olympics marked the summer season with climbing entering its second year in the games.


Alex Megos spent a significant portion of the spring preparing for the competition. “The past couple of months I barely touched rock and mostly went indoor training to prepare for the upcoming comp season,” he said of his plans as he prepared for Olympic qualifiers. At the Climbing Works International Federation in Sheffield, Megos earned bronze. The momentum helped him compete in Shanghai’s qualifiers and then moved on to earn his ticket to Paris in Budapest. “It felt so good and it was such a relief after a lot of ups and downs the past few weeks.”

Alex Megos competing in Innsbruck

Megos performed well at the Olympics, placing 13th, and after he felt like he needed a break. He went to Flatanger, Norway where he climbed well, barely resting after his intense competition season. “I guess I’m not the guy for big vacations,” he says on his Instagram post. Megos took a new approach to climbing in Norway, opting to use kneepads for the first time. Learning a new skill set in knee-barring allowed him to send Change (9b), Little Badder (9a), Move (9b), and Illusionist (9a).


While climbers competed in the Olympics and kneebarred through the Flatanger Cave, Jimmy Webb headed to the Colorado alpine where he repeated Ego Death (8C). “Possibly best hard block in the Colorado alpine? I think so!” Webb says of the problem.


At the same time, Ainhize Belar took a summer trip to Ceuse Céüse where she climbed Hard Limits (8c), Monnaie de Singe (8a+), Dolce Vita (8a+), and Ratman (8a+). The variety of climbing there helped her when she headed back to La Leze. where she onsighted Txirrin Txirran 8b+. “The truth is that I never thought I could make such a high grade onsight but it seems that little by little we are improving in this modality,” said Belar.

Ainhize Belar climbing in Siurana


The hard onsight helped her with her hardest redpoint. She sent Iñi Ameriketan (9a+) at Cueva De Baltzola. “Without a doubt, a process that has helped me learn many things,” Belar says of her ascent. Shortly after she also sent Celedon (9a) in Cueva de Baltzola.

Tanguy Merard did some strong work on the boulders in the summer where he climbed in Rocklands, sending Book Club (8B+) Saturn Return (8B) and Power of One (8B). The power he gained from the trip allowed him to climb even harder climbing Nova (8C) in the Czech Republic. “First 8C boulder for me, really happy to push myself in bouldering these last few month,” Merard said of the problem.

Fall
The fall season saw Tenaya athletes putting in the work on their various projects, often prepping them for future ascents.

Felipe Carmargo preparing for his projects.


Felipe Carmargo’s big goals for the year were to try Grand Illusion (V16) in Salt Lake City and Full Journey (9b) in Margalef. He felt strong on both objectives but conditions didn’t align. Still he learned from the process. “Climbing teaches me once again to have patience,” he says on his Instagram, “trust, and dedication to the things I love.”


Alex Megos headed to the Red River Gorge where he onsighted Zootopia (5.14a/b). He also worked hard on his project there though he didn’t quite send it. “I made progress and I learned a lot though,” Megos says.

Chris Sharma deep water soloing in Mallorca


Chris Sharma also spent the fall projecting. Chris Sharma started heading to Mallorca in June to explore more of the deep water soloing there. He’d already established a new 8c route in January and repeated Pol Roca’s Animalistic (8c). Then in June, he started to work a new, hard-line which proved exciting.


“I’ve had the full spectrum of experiences; super complex recon, massive waves, backslapping falls and multiple weather windows opening and closing and getting super close to actually sending,” Sharma says on Instagram about his project. Sharma stayed psyched on deep water soloing, climbing hard above the Mediterranean on his project until December. On the 19th, he put together his project, sending Vision Quest (9a). “I had to dig deep and work my ass off for this one,” he said of spending 30+ days over 6 months on the route. “No doubt the late December freshness added to the intensity.”