The case
In the summer of 2021, on a wall in Tokyo, climbing became an Olympic sport. For the millions of Americans who had discovered it in a gym, on a crag, or through a screen, it was a long-overdue arrival. Climbing is now one of the fastest-growing sports in the country, and the United States sends some of the most talented athletes in the world to compete.
And yet, in a defining way, American climbers compete at a structural disadvantage. The United States is one of the only major climbing nations without a dedicated national training center. France, Japan, and Korea have invested in purpose-built infrastructure for their national teams. American athletes, by contrast, have made do: training in commercial gyms built for everyday traffic, traveling constantly, and assembling support piece by piece.
Climbing’s Olympic debut, Tokyo
Youth competitors in 2024
U.S. national training centers — until now
This gap is not a reflection of American talent. It is a reflection of American investment. The countries that build the infrastructure tend to win the medals — and, more importantly, tend to grow the sport at home.
The USA Climbing Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization, exists to close that gap. We power USA Climbing’s mission and long-term success: elevating athlete development, growing national programs, and pursuing bold initiatives that move the sport forward — funding the athletes carrying the flag, the training center the sport has never had, and the youth and education pipeline that feeds all of it.
Four convictions
What we believe, and why it guides every dollar.
Climbing changes lives
At USA Climbing, we believe climbing is more than a sport. It is a lifelong journey that fosters personal growth, community connection, and athletic excellence. Few activities ask so much of a person and give back even more.
A climber learns to read a problem, commit to a sequence, fall, and try again. That loop — attempt, failure, adjustment, success — builds a kind of resilience that follows kids off the wall and into the rest of their lives.
It is also profoundly communal. Climbers belay one another, share beta, and celebrate a send as if it were their own. The Foundation exists to put that experience within reach of more people, in more places, than ever before.
An Olympic sport demands Olympic infrastructure
Climbing made its Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020 and will return, expanded, at the LA28 Games. Yet the United States — one of the deepest talent pools in the world — has never had a dedicated national training center.
A commercial gym is built for maximum density and everyday traffic. National-team preparation requires the opposite: lower-density, higher-grade, competition-style setting, plus dedicated recovery, nutrition, and team spaces.
With $15 million committed by the Utah Legislature, the National Training Center will give Team USA and the Para Climbing National Team the purpose-built home the sport has lacked. Infrastructure is not a luxury at this level. It is the price of competing.
The pipeline starts at age six, not eighteen
Champions are not discovered at the Olympics. They are built over a decade of small gyms, regional meets, and coaches who show up on weekends. The talent that reaches the podium was on the wall as a child.
In 2024, more than 10,000 youth competitors took part in over 350 USA Climbing sanctioned events. Donor support lets us extend education and resources to the coaches, parents, and gyms who guide athletes from their first moment on the wall through their next competition.
Investing early is how a sport compounds. Every young climber we support today is a future national-team hopeful, a future coach, or a lifelong part of the community.
Climbing must be accessible to everyone
Accessibility is not an afterthought to be retrofitted. It is a conviction we intend to build into the walls themselves. ADA compliance does not equate to full accessibility, and we are aiming higher.
The National Training Center aspires to be the world’s first fully accessible climbing facility — with accessible terrain, exam rooms for category classification, and even pet relief areas for guide dogs.
With para climbing under consideration for inclusion at LA2028 or beyond, this matters now. A sport that opened the Olympic stage to climbing should open every door it can.
A letter from the Chair
When climbing made its Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020, I watched with a particular kind of joy. I had lived in Tokyo decades earlier as a Luce Scholar, and I had spent years helping to steward this sport. To see American climbers walk onto that stage was to watch a movement arrive.
I came to this work as a parent first. All three of my children have competed in climbing, and I have seen what the sport asks of young people and what it gives them in return. I served on the Board of USA Climbing from 2013 to 2020, including as Board President from 2017 to 2020, and on the Governance and Ethics Commissions of the International Federation of Sport Climbing. My training as a lawyer, including at Harvard Law School, taught me to care about how institutions are built. My time as a parent taught me why it matters.
The Foundation is how we build something durable: a national training center, a funded path to the podium, and a pipeline that begins with a six-year-old’s first time on the wall. We are not just funding climbers. We are funding a movement. I hope you will join us.
Transparency
We hold ourselves accountable to our donors.
The USA Climbing Foundation is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. We exist for a single purpose: to power the mission and long-term success of USA Climbing, the National Governing Body for competition climbing recognized by the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee and the International Federation of Sport Climbing.
We are committed to stewarding every gift responsibly and to making our financials available for review. Our books are maintained to support independent audit, and our most recent filings are available to donors and partners on request.
The USA Climbing Foundation operates with zero direct staff overhead. Every gift flows through the Foundation directly into athlete, facility, and education programs, with all administrative costs absorbed by USA Climbing as the National Governing Body.