COLORADO SPRINGS — Shelby Holmes will be sporting the nation’s colors after being selected to the USA Ice Climbing team. Her travel to the competition site will be much shorter than most as the World Youth Championships are set to take place in the U.S. for the first time, and they will be here in Colorado at the Ouray Ice Park.
Holmes started climbing before she could even walk. Her parents put her in a harness and had her crawling up a rock-climbing wall. Her interest in climbing grew, and four years ago, she gave ice climbing a try, which she now describes as a “blissful feeling.”
For the last few years, she had been competing as an independent at the Ouray Ice Fest amongst other competitions. Her performances put her on Team USA’s radar and eventually they came calling.
Holmes received an email from Team USA in October extending an invite for her to join the team.
“I feel very proud of one, my abilities and two, the journey of what I’ve done to get here," said Holmes. "And just how far I’ve progressed in my skills and getting to know the people on my team and in the community.”
Her recognition by the national team is a testament to how hard she works outside of competitions. Her workouts consist of a 45-minute cardio workout every day, lifting weights every other day, and climbing mountains every weekend.
Holmes says she totals nearly 15 hours of training per week. She also started her own business to fund her climbing expeditions. She sells covers for climbing equipment under the name “Ice Candy Designs.”
“The first year I started doing the business was the year that I got into ice climbing," said Holmes. "I saw that we had no way to protect the axes and all of our gear, so I pulled up a cap program and I decided why not try to do something to help.”
The World Youth Championships will take place from February 7-9.
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Union workers at King Soopers stores in Pueblo are set to go on strike on Friday
The announcement came from Local 7 President Kim Kordova on Thursday during a news conference, according to Scripps News Denver.
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