At just nine years old, Veronica Chik from China made climbing history: in Oliana, she climbed the 50-meter-long route Fish Eye (8c), becoming the youngest person in the world to do so at this level of difficulty.
From climbing frame to professional training
Veronica seems to have climbing in her blood. At two and a half years old, she kept her grandparents on their toes at the playground, swinging endlessly along the climbing frame. At five, her parents enrolled her in her godfather's bouldering gym. She was already competing at six, and at eight, she began professional training. This is where the passionate boulderer also learned to climb.
China Climb (8b+): The first milestone
The nine-year-old's first major project was China Climb (8b+) in Yangshou. The project spanned several months of intensive training. However, after three months on the rope, Veronica developed a fear of falling. A visit to the Olympic Games in Paris 2024, where she met her idol Janja Garnbret could watch the climbing live.
My dream is to be an Olympian myself one day.
Veronica Chik
With newfound motivation, the 135 cm tall climber managed to cross the 30-meter-long, overhanging route China Climb off her list in just a few weeks.
Project start in Oliana
Veronica quickly had a new goal in mind, reports her father Alan: an 8c. And the Chiks wanted to go to Spain to achieve it. With the help of climbing coaches Toni Arbones and David Gambus, father and daughter spent the first week finding a route that was at least feasible for Veronica, given her height and wingspan.
They found what they were looking for in the well-known climbing area Oliana and so the project began Fish Eye (8c). The 50-meter-long tour, drilled in 2009 by Chris Sharma, has a gradient of 35 degrees and is known for its challenging endurance passages.
When I heard that the route was 50 meters long and had such an overhang, I got scared and wanted to ban it.
Vivian Chik
This is what her mother, Vivian, says, who wasn't there herself. But Veronica and her coaches ultimately convinced her of her goal. Although Veronica trains four to five times a week, Fish Eye presented her with new challenges – both technical and mental. It's the longest route Veronica has climbed so far, and time management was also extremely important.
She had to get really creative and find her own way through the route. I watched her movements—she had to develop new beta to complete the route. Tiny holes right next to the regular holds. When she climbs, she's in another world.
Cesar Garcia
"I can do it, I believe in myself," Veronica encourages herself repeatedly on the 50 meters to the anchor. During training, the nine-year-old and her coaches have repeatedly used positive affirmations, which have clearly paid off. As she clips into the anchor, she claps on the way down, a broad grin on her face.
Competitive sports and childhood in balance
Is it possible to balance professional training with being a child? "Yes," say Veronica and her parents. For her, climbing isn't just a competitive sport; it's also her passion. And the climber has other hobbies as well. She loves Disney movies, preferably watching them with her friends in the cinema, and enjoys painting and swimming.
Her parents want to support their daughter's passion as long as she wants it. It was her wish to start, and if she wants to stop, that's fine with them too.
What's next?
A break, perhaps? No. Veronica excitedly tells us that she's leaving for the USA in a week to start her next project. In Kentucky, she Southern Smoke (8c+). The youngest climber of the route is Bayes Wilder, who climbed the Tour in 2021 at the age of ten.
Long-term, she tells us, she wants to make it as a professional climber. And to the Olympics, like Janja. And maybe a Twix. Because when asked whether she'd rather have a giant ice cream or a tough boulder problem, she answers bluntly:
A bouldering problem. Ice cream is too sweet. Twix is better.
Veronika Chik
I feel sorry for the little girl. From a medical perspective and otherwise. The parents seem to have misunderstood something. Like many parents who come to the doctor's office to have their child given an IQ test. And when we tell them their child has normal intelligence, they refuse to believe it.