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Outside After The Olympics
AFTER AN INTENSE TWO YEARS OF TRAINING FOR THE TOKYO OLYMPICS, THE BIGGEST MOMENT OF HER COMPETITIVE CLIMBING CAREER, KYRA TRAVELED WITH JOSH LARSON, THE USA CLIMBING NATIONAL TEAM HEAD COACH, TO GET BACK IN TOUCH WITH THE CLIMBING THAT AWARDS NO MEDALS.
Credit: Charlotte Durif (Cold House Media)
Location: Puerto Rico
Location: Puerto Rico
KYRA
ROCK CLIMBER (SHE/HER)
CONDIE
Training Time
KYRA IS KNOWN FOR HER REGIMENTED TRAINING ROUTINE, BUT A LESSER KNOWN FACT ABOUT HER IS THAT SHE’S LIKELY LISTENING TO REGGAETON MUSIC WHILE AT THE GYM.
Credit: Daniel Gajda
Location: Salt Lake City, Utah
Location: Salt Lake City, Utah
Kyra Condie is a competitive climber, who was one of 4 athletes from the U.S. to compete in Sport Climbing’s debut at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. She’s motivated by goals in both national and international competitions as well as outdoor climbing. She’s known for her regimented training routine and explosive style on the wall.
She has an aggressive and quick climbing style that has been described by commentators as having "reckless abandon" on the wall. She attributes this style to the 45-60-degree overhanging bouldering wall she first started training on at her original home gym, Vertical Endeavors in St. Paul, Minnesota.
She lives and trains in Salt Lake City, Utah, where also serves on the Athlete Advisory Committee for USA Climbing, an Athlete Director on the Board of Directors of USA Climbing, and a member of both the Athletes Commission of the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) and Team USA Athletes' Commission (Team USA AC).
She has an aggressive and quick climbing style that has been described by commentators as having "reckless abandon" on the wall. She attributes this style to the 45-60-degree overhanging bouldering wall she first started training on at her original home gym, Vertical Endeavors in St. Paul, Minnesota.
She lives and trains in Salt Lake City, Utah, where also serves on the Athlete Advisory Committee for USA Climbing, an Athlete Director on the Board of Directors of USA Climbing, and a member of both the Athletes Commission of the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) and Team USA Athletes' Commission (Team USA AC).
Shoutout To Mom & Dad
KYRA SAYS SHE HAD DAYDREAMS OF MAKING IT TO THE OLYMPICS. SHE REMEMBERS HEARING HER MOM’S CHEERS AS SHE FINISHED THE LEAD CLIMB THAT EARNED HER QUALIFICATION, WATCHING IT ALL BACK, CRYING, AND HER PARENTS GETTING A PHOTO. IT WAS ALMOST EXACTLY WHAT SHE PICTURED IT WOULD BE - IT ALL CAME TO LIFE.
Credit: Kyra Condie
BACKBONE OF A CHAMPION
Introduced to climbing at the age of 11, Kyra was diagnosed with severe idiopathic scoliosis just two years later, after she had completely fallen in love with climbing. In 2010, she had spinal fusion surgery to permanently join together 10 vertebrae to correct her 72-degree curvature, sidelining her from climbing for four months. Re-learning to climb with a large section of her back that has no arch or twist available was one of the pathways for Kyra developing the mindset of resilience she prides herself on today.
WHY DO YOU CLIMB?
I’ve been climbing things all my life: from the side of my crib as a one-year-old to trees as an elementary schooler and even random structures in my house through the years. When I fully realized that I was a “climber” was when I started prioritizing climbing over most other things in my life. Instead of going to the park to play with friends, I was going to the gym to climb with the team. Being a “climber,” to me, means that I associate myself with equally crazy individuals who strive to spend their life committed to the outdoors pursuing the hardest ways to arbitrarily get on top of rocks, loving every minute of it.
Beast Mode On Big Volumes
DESPITE HAVING SOME LIMITATIONS TO HER MOBILITY FROM HER SPINAL FUSION, KYRA GETS CREATIVE WITH HER CLIMBING, FINDS HER BETA, AND IS SIMPLY REALLY, REALLY, REALLY STRONG.
Credit: Daniel Gajda
Location: Salt Lake City, Utah
Location: Salt Lake City, Utah
WHAT’S YOUR PERSONAL MANTRA?
“You suck try harder” is a group motto we have spray painted across The A, the gym that I helped build. I don't actually say it to myself that much. I'm usually telling myself just the second part of it, but the whole thing itself reminds me of these gyms that I feel a big personal connection to and that taught me how to try really hard. It also represents this attitude of staying humble, which is I think very Minnesotan.
HOW DO YOU FIND YOUR FOCUS?
Music is a huge part of my training. I really like music that you can move to. I tend to listen to anything upbeat when I'm training. I love it because it's dancey and keeps my training session really positive and fun. I train alone a lot, so to have this background of fun is really important. But in competitions, I started listening to opera music. It’s what I listen to to calm down and get in the zone. It’s the right combination of epic and disengaging and helps me mellow out from a 10/10 to a 6/10.
ACHIEVEMENTS
- COMPETED IN SPORT CLIMBING’S DEBUT AT THE TOKYO OLYMPICS
- 2021 LEAD CLIMBING TEAM TRIALS NATIONAL CHAMPION
- 2021 BOULDERING TEAM TRIALS BOULDERING VICE CHAMPION
- 2 TIME WORLD CUP FINALIST
- CURRENT US TEAM MEMBER
WHERE DOES YOUR MOTIVATION COME FROM?
I started on a climbing team, and those coaches are the ones I give credit to for initially sparking my love of climbing. But when they stopped working at that gym, I stopped being on the team. I still trained myself with some other people who were no longer on the team, but that was really when I started not having a coach. Occasionally I'd go to training camps, and I worked with a trainer at one point, but I didn’t have anyone who was consistently in my corner, which I think is very different from a lot of climbers who compete. Almost all of them have somebody who was their coach from when they were eight to when they were 18. I think the biggest advantage from it was that I learned how to be really internally motivated. I didn’t have somebody there telling me what to do—I've had to do that for myself the entire time.
I definitely started losing a little bit of motivation to climb when I was in middle school and wanting to hang out with friends and not go to practice. But then, when I got diagnosed with scoliosis and got my back surgery, having climbing get taken away from me and not being able to do it, it made me realize how much I loved it. Ever since then, I've never waned in motivation at all.
I definitely started losing a little bit of motivation to climb when I was in middle school and wanting to hang out with friends and not go to practice. But then, when I got diagnosed with scoliosis and got my back surgery, having climbing get taken away from me and not being able to do it, it made me realize how much I loved it. Ever since then, I've never waned in motivation at all.
KYRA’S FAVORITE
PRODUCTS
PRODUCTS
Women’s Rockrydge™ Pant
Women’s Microchill™ Snap Neck Pullover
Women’s Dynama™ Ankle Pant
Women’s Microchill™ Snap Neck Pullover
Fontainbleau Finesse
KYRA TRYING HARD WITH THE NUANCED TECHNIQUE THAT FONTAINEBLEAU BOULDERING DEMANDS.
Credit: Kyra Condie
Location: Fontainebleau, France
Location: Fontainebleau, France
HOW DO YOU WANT TO BE REMEMBERED AFTER
YOU’VE RETIRED FROM CLIMBING?
YOU’VE RETIRED FROM CLIMBING?
“
Having worked really hard to get to where I am is definitely what I’m most proud of in my climbing, and I want people to feel like their hard work pays off. Being involved in U.S.A. Climbing, trying to speak up for underrepresented communities, being on the athlete commission for the IFSC, making sure that the countries who don't have as much resources are getting a voice to the IFSC: those are all really important to me and are things I want to get more involved with as my career grows.
”
CIRCLE UP
PODCAST
PODCAST
Circle Up with Kyra and her co-host Allison Vest, where they dig
into their experiences and pro-grade perspectives on climbing,
motivation, mindset, body image, and more— the perfect way to get
psyched on your way to the gym or during a 30 minute workout.
Available wherever you get your podcasts!
into their experiences and pro-grade perspectives on climbing,
motivation, mindset, body image, and more— the perfect way to get
psyched on your way to the gym or during a 30 minute workout.
Available wherever you get your podcasts!