Indoor Weekly: Words With Youth Champ Indiana Chapman

Indiana Chapman is one of Canada’s rising climbing stars, with a number of impressive wins and podium finishes.

Last summer, she was the only Canadian to head to a Finals round at the Youth World Championships.

We caught up Chapman at the start of the 2017/18 Canadian competition season. She had just won the first Ontario competition of the season at Coyote Rock.

She went on to win Youth B at Youth Bouldering Nationals in Montreal and many more big comps. Full results here.

How long have you been climbing and where did you start? I was a monkey-bar kid since I was little, so I was always climbing something.

I’ve been indoor rock climbing since I was seven and started at True North Climbing in Toronto. My dad has always climbed and was really the one who introduced me to the sport.

Et viola! The Canadian Youth Bouldering Nationals is over ?? and I couldn’t be happier with how it went – I won gold! I am just over the moon to be able to compete at another Youth World Championships again this summer?????! Congrats to all the athletes, and thank you to all the setters, volunteers, parents, and coaches who put on this comp, and supported all the athletes, and @delireescalade for hosting! And I especially want to thank my sponsors for making these trips possible and supporting me – Game Hive and Muskoka Woods! Now it’s time to get pumped for lead season!! ?⛰ • ?: @matt.chapman.17

A post shared by Indiana Chapman ⛰ (@indiana.chapman) on Feb 22, 2018 at 11:39am PST

What was the first competition that you won? It’s actually hard to remember the first, but I’m sure it was just a local comp.

The first year I started, I was so happy just to get a participation ribbon. I do know the first big comp was when they still had the Youth D category at Youth Difficulty Nationals and I won that the day after I turned 10.

Last summer you were one of only a few Canadians to make Semis at the World Youth Championships, what was that like? Honestly, I went to Worlds with no expectations at all, determined to do my very best and try my hardest.

Making it to Semis was amazing. Making it to Finals and placing fourth was almost too much to wrap my mind around. What made it even sweeter was sharing the experience with my Team Canada teammates who were there cheering me on and so supportive.

Did any round or problem rise above the others as your favourite? I really loved the first slab problem in Finals.

Knowing that Finals would be extremely hard, I felt so encouraged that I was able to top that one to start things off.

The youth world championships have come to an end for me. After a solid qualifying round I made it to semis, but didn't have the best climb. I came down with a cold the night prior, I was tired, my head hurt, I couldn't focus, and one, two, many mistakes cost me an early fall. My goal coming into this competition was to climb the best I could, and it was disappointing that I couldn't do that in the semi-finals. But I learned so much through this whole experience, from surprising myself in bouldering, to climbing on some amazing routes! Overall I am so grateful to be here and this being my first world championships, I am super proud with my performance!! Thank you so much to my coaches, team Canada, my family, and my sponsors!! • And a big congrats to @victorvxb for crushing finals!! Thank you @murdochshane for the photo! #gamehive #muskokawoods #muskokawoodsathleteambassador #ontherocksclimbing #YWCH2017 #leadclimbing

A post shared by Indiana Chapman ⛰ (@indiana.chapman) on Sep 8, 2017 at 12:33am PDT

What was the experience like overall? To rub shoulders with so many amazing climbers from all over the world, it was really inspiring to say the least.

I learned so much from watching other climbers, and getting to try some pretty challenging problems and routes. It also made me feel encouraged that all the hard training is so worth it.

Who are some of your climbing heroes? There are so many strong climbers out there, but my heroes tend to be the athletes who have the best attitude.

They are hard-working, humble, and they don’t take their success too seriously – like Anna Stohr, Alex Honnald, Sasha DiGiulian and Chris Sharma.

What’s your dream in the world of climbing? I would love to be a professional climber and get to do this full time.

And like everyone else in our competitive climbing scene, maybe one day get a chance to represent Canada at the Olympics.

Still riding that USA finals high! Excited to see friends and try hard at Canadian Nationals – the last bouldering comp of the season!! Quebec City ??? #usacnationals #canadiannationals #bouldering #teamcanada??

A post shared by Indiana Chapman ⛰ (@indiana.chapman) on Feb 15, 2018 at 4:37pm PST

Do you have any outdoor projects and what’s your favourite place to climb? I wish! Because of my training schedule, I’m a self-admitted gym rat.

I have a dream of moving closer to mountains to make it easier one day and definitely look forward to the time when I will make outdoor projecting my priority.

At the moment, my favourite place is Kletterzentrum gym in Innsbruck, Austria. It’s the most incredible climbing facility I have ever seen.

Having the time of my life at the Red River Gorge! It’s been so nice to get out of the gym and climb on fantastic routes like pure imagination 5.14c✨ It’s gonna be a fun week! •?: @matt.chapman.17 #redrivergorge #chocolatefactory #pureimagination #climbing_pictures_of_instagram

A post shared by Indiana Chapman ⛰ (@indiana.chapman) on Mar 11, 2018 at 6:38pm PDT