A Hout Bay teen is looking forward to climbing with the world’s best at an international championship to be held in China later this year.

Nicholas Allan, 17, has been selected to compete in the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) Youth World Championships taking place in Guiyang, China, in August.

Nicholas, who lives in Hout Bay and attends SACS, will join a national squad of 18 climbers who qualified in March. He will compete in the lead and boulder categories, while his father, Chris, will be part of the management team.

"I started climbing for fun at age 6 and started taking part in competitions when I was 8 years old,“ said Nicholas. ”I really enjoy the physical and mental challenges that come with completing a climb.“

He spends his weekends tackling the Rocklands area in the Cederberg or climbing around Cape Town.

Chris said he was looking forward to helping the athletes achieve their personal best at the championships.

According to South African National Climbing Federation (SANCF) spokeswoman Bridgette Erdey, the competition is arguably the toughest event of the year for young climbers.

“Each year it attracts climbers from across the globe and offers an unparalleled opportunity to gain experience and break onto the climbing circuit,” she said.

“This is not Nicholas’s first world championship. He competed in 2022 in Dallas, Texas, and in 2023 in Seoul, South Korea. In both events, Nicholas made history as the first South African to reach a boulder semi-final in Texas, and the first to make a lead semi-final in Seoul. He is currently training with the Western Cape climbing high performance programme.”

Nicholas said he was excited to be part of the team and to have a chance to experience a new culture.

“I am training really hard and am looking forward to getting to climb on world-class routes and boulders again.”

Each athlete has to pay their own way to attend the competition, covering everything from flights and accommodation to sports kit. The South African National Climbing Federation has started a back-a-buddy fund-raising campaign to support them. Prospective sponsors can also email YWCH@sancf.org

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Hout Bay teen climber to compete in China