Skylar Smith has an exciting month ahead of him: He will be starting college at Willamette University in Oregon, and was invited to represent the United States in the 2017 International Federation of Sport Climbing Youth Climbing World Championships in Austria.

Smith, 18, is a longtime rock climber from Calabasas, California.

“My dad introduced me to climbing when I was about three, in Southern California at a place called Point Dume,” Smith said. “I joined my first climbing team when I was seven at a gym called Boulderdash.”

Smith and his family moved to Durango when he was 9 to escape the busyness of city life.

“I joined The Rock Lounge after we moved, and that’s when I met Marcus and his climbing team. I got into competitive climbing after that,” he said.

Smith joined Team Durango, a competitive youth climbing team lead by Marcus Garcia, owner of The Rock Lounge.

The Rock Lounge is an indoor climbing gym previously located at 1111 Camino del Rio before it was displaced to make way for a proposed 86-room hotel.

Garcia has been Smith’s climbing coach since he was 11 years old.

“It is amazing to watch him grow as a climber and as a person. It is more than a coaching relationship; it helps you form a bond and trust with one another,” Garcia said. “As a climber, he has grown exponentially over the years. Climbing helps define him as person.”

Smith said he is attracted to the solo aspect of climbing.

“I’m drawn to the community, but climbing is more of a solo sport even though there is a team component,” he said. “The hard work and drive comes from yourself. I am on my own journey. Competitive climbing has made me super dedicated and driven to work hard.”

For years, Smith has competed at the national level and has been able to place consistently in the top 10 in the country, he said.

But this is the first time he has been invited to compete at the international level.

“This has always been a dream of mine. I’ve always wanted this opportunity,” Smith said. “This last season, I was able to really improve my performance through Marcus and my old coach, Adam Markert.”

He said practicing for the competition has been challenging because he doesn’t have his usual gym.

“It has been difficult because The Rock Lounge closed. Marcus has been working hard to get a new location, but I am probably the only competitor in the world to not have a climbing gym,” Smith said. “I’m making it work. Marcus built a climbing wall at my house, so I’ve been training a lot there and weight training.”

Smith will travel to Innsbruck, Austria, to represent the United States at the competition. He qualified to compete in bouldering in the male junior category.

“In order to qualify, you have to place in the top six in the nation, and I was fifth,” he said.

Bouldering is a form of rock climbing that is performed without ropes or harnesses. The challenge is to climb short but difficult routes.

Garcia said that Smith’s ability to problem-solve is what makes him so successful.

“Skylar can see a route and understand the movement and what needs to be done to execute the climb. He has a vision of the climb when he starts,” he said.

The competition will take place Aug. 30 through Sept. 10. Smith said that he will miss the first week of classes at Willamette, but his professors don’t mind.

His educational goal is to obtain a master’s degree in business administration, but he won’t give up climbing.

“I’ve always wanted to go to college in the Pacific Northwest for the outdoor opportunities,” Smith said. “Smith Rock State Park is a popular climbing area, and I want to train there for upcoming competitions. I plan to compete in the collegiate series.”

mrupani@durangoherald.com