Bryce Markle-Amaral’s heart pounded as he faced the crowd, his back inches away from the rock wall at the 2016 Bouldering Youth Regional Championships in Portland, Oregon. Cheers for the previous competitor, who had done well, still echoed in the arena. Markle-Amaral tuned out the noise and focused on his goal: to climb farthest up the wall in the allotted time, win the competition and become regional champion.
At bouldering tournaments, contenders must ascend six different 20-foot free climbs. They have only four minutes to scope out the rock wall for the first time, map their route and reach the top.
The starting buzzer boomed through the speakers, and, as Markle-Amaral recalled, “everything went silent.”
The high school junior turned and surveyed the grey rock wall in front of him and the route became as clear as a road map. He visualized his hands reaching for each textured handhold. The bumps and fissures formed a puzzle to solve against the ticking clock.
“My brain began sequencing how my body was going to move on the wall,” he said. Without ropes or carabiners, Markle-Amaral zig-zagged to the top on his first try.
He hung onto the grey rock on the top for an extra second, signaling to the judges that he had made it, savoring the moment. As the 17-year-old climbed down, he let the cheers fill his ears, and mentally prepared for the next five ascents.
Within a few hours, Markle-Amaral had won first place and magnified his passion for climbing. In nine years, he’s competed in 75 competitions and trained to become a professional climber. He lost at Nationals in 2018, but regrouped, stepped up his training, and now has his sights on the 2024 Olympics. It’s a journey that began when he stepped into a climbing gym in Portland for the first time at age 11, thanks to a Groupon.
“It was like a jungle gym,” Markle-Amaral recalled. He remembered the sound of the ropes smacking off the wall and grunts from other climbers tackling toe-holds and handholds at the Stoneworks Climbing Gym. Soon after that first visit, Markle-Amaral quit his other sports; baseball, soccer and basketball, and began training with the Stoneworks Climbing Team.
“The other sports I played were team sports where your success was dependent on how well everyone works together. Climbing is an individual sport so your success is dependent on how hard you train,” he said.
Markle-Amaral knew he was getting a late start and had to catch up to his teammates to have a shot at winning tournaments. In his first few climbing seasons, he ranked last on the team. At his first competition, he barely won a ribbon. “I was bummed,” Markle-Amaral said with a sigh. “But it showed me where I was and where I needed to go.” His competitive spirit pushed him to practice harder.
He stepped up his training to four times a week and began seeing results. “When I climb, my mind goes blank, and any stresses, worries or any other tough things in life disappear while I’m on the wall,” he said.
Competitor ribbons turned into fifth place trophies. Markle-Amaral started to become a regular on the winner’s podium at local competitions, which led to medals at Regionals and Divisionals.
“The first thing I noticed was how humble he was,” said Josh Dinsdale, Markle-Amaral’s former coach. He described Markle-Amaral as someone with a well-earned swagger, who was always friendly, always a leader and always ready to offer advice and encouragement.
These qualities were tested in 2018 when Markle-Amaral enrolled at the University of Oregon. While he was doing well as a climber, he was now a college freshman, 100 miles away from home and his climbing gym. The move meant he had to coach himself, and he climbed at Elevation Gym in Eugene and the UO Rec Center six to seven days a week.
After placing in the top 10 at Regionals, and in the top six at Divisionals that year, he was invited to Nationals, a competition limited to the top 50 climbers in state. “When I found I made it to Nationals, I was so emotional. And what’s funny is, this was the first time that I was on my own for training, and I had to create my own schedule. And then that was the year that I made it. So, then I was super hyped,” Markle-Amaral said.
The achievement left his father, Joland Amaral, moved as well. “That was probably the proudest I’ve ever been,” he said, his brown eyes lighting up. After a long pause, he said, “I love sports, and I’ve never been at that level to be nationally ranked, so I was able to live that through him.”
The elation was short lived. Markle-Amaral estimates he placed near last place at Nationals, which wouldn’t get him even close to being one of the best climbers in the world.
“I was crushed after Nationals. It’s tough. I was super psyched just making it to Nationals. But, since I did so poorly, I was super hard on myself. I stopped climbing for a little bit,” he said. “It was just a transition period. It was a realization that I am so much less strong than where I need to be in order to hit my big goals of being a pro climber. That was the period where I was like, dang, I don’t even know if I can do it. All those doubts come in.”
On New Year’s 2020, Markle-Amaral challenged himself to make a choice: continue to dwell on the setback, or work harder than ever to become the best climber he could. “I was like, ‘nah, I don’t give up’. I have a goal and I know that if I work hard enough, I can get it. You have to believe in the vision that you have for yourself,” he said. He decided to begin training for the 2024 Olympics.
This time, he set smaller goals and developed a practical plan. Chasing Olympic gold requires an expertise in rope climbing (competitors are strapped to ropes and the walls are higher) and speed climbing along with bouldering. He also plans to go to Nationals again in an open competition, now, competing as an adult.
In preparation, Markle-Amaral spends five to six hours six days a week climbing. On Mondays, he focuses on chest and shoulder exercises, Wednesdays are reserved for heel and toe hooks and Saturdays are power endurance ascents where he climbs the same route over and over until he perfects it.
“He began training like an athlete,” Dinsdale said.
This training schedule is on top of his academic responsibilities and his job as route designer at The Rec’s bouldering wall.
“There are so many things that people don’t see,” Markle-Amaral said. “There are so many nights where even though I’m tired because I finished my homework at midnight, I still do my ab routine.” His work ethic and dedication to the sport pushes him to improve constantly, not only making him a stronger athlete, but also a stronger person overall.
Markle-Amaral and Dinsdale recently met up to climb in Portland, and Dinsdale witnessed his improvements. “When I started coaching him, I was better than him, but now I can’t even keep up with the guy,” he said. “If he got to the Olympics, I would be buying a plane ticket 100%.”
And even though Markle-Amaral is aware of the demands that come with training for the Olympics, he is up for the challenge.
“I love the aspect of an underdog story. My parents never knew about climbing. I didn’t know about climbing — I started from a Groupon!” Markle-Amaral said, sitting in his bedroom in front of a shelf covered in glistening medals and ribbons from climbing competitions. “I want to reach big goals in climbing to inspire others and show them that I made it.”
Sabrina Baker is a senior at UO studying journalism.