FORT WORTH, Texas — At 15 years old, Annie Sanders is climbing to newfound heights.
Sanders attends an online schooling program within the Grapevine-Colleyville school district. Her father, Jack Sanders, calls her the “LeBron James of the climbing world.”
The high praise isn’t kind words from a father to a daughter. Annie Sanders, in her first year in the adult circuit, placed first in the 2022 Climbing National Championships in both bouldering, free climbing without a harness, and lead, climbing with a harness and a belayer to protect them in case of a fall.
“They keep calling her a youth athlete,” Jack Sanders said. “She’s not a youth athlete any longer.”
Annie Sanders is a rookie in the adult circuit, but she is outclimbing the vast majority of the veterans. She is currently ninth in the International Federation of Sport Climbing World Cup rankings.
“I wouldn’t really call myself the best,” Annie Sanders said. “I … want to become the best one day.”
At the USA Climbing National Team Trials, Sanders stole the show and secured a first-place finish in bouldering and lead. With the elite performance, Sanders earned a spot on the USA Climbing Boulder and Lead National Team, the USA Climbing Boulder National Team and the USA Climbing Lead National Team.
Sanders, the youngest ever to win the USA National Team trials in bouldering and lead, said it is “special” to represent the USA among the top athletes in the sport.
Although Jack Sanders said it’s a “longshot” for Annie Sanders to qualify for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, it’s a possibility. In the 2020 Olympics, only two female athletes from the USA qualified.
Sanders placing first at the USA team trials is a good sign, right? It is, but two of Team USA’s top athletes were pre-selected for the team: Brooke Rabotou and Natalia Grossman. Both are seven years older than the 15-year old Sanders and are in the top three of the IFSC World Cup rankings.
Matt Dendy, an assistant coach for Team Texas and one of Sanders’ coaches since she was eight, said she has a chance to make the Olympics.
“It’s hard to say because it’s very unpredictable when it comes to route setting,” Dendy said. “This isn’t a sport where everything is fixed. … If she can climb the way she is capable of climbing, she has the potential to make it for sure.”
The mentality
Jack Sanders and his wife, Olya Sanders, are climbers. Before Annie Sanders could walk, they would bring her to climbing gyms. She would play with toys while her parents climbed.
When she was 10 months old, she left her toys and made her way over to the climbing wall.
“Olya put a harness on her and then hooked her to the harness and just started letting her climb up the wall,” Jack Sanders said. “That was the first time.”
That started a long climbing journey for Sanders, who now spends upwards of 25 hours a week training in a climbing gym and also swims twice a week.
Jack Sanders said he had “no idea” Annie Sanders would reach an elite level in the climbing world at such a young age. He did say, however, that he knew Annie isn’t the type of person to give up when trying to conquer a route.
“She’s definitely a very focused person,” Jack Sanders said. “… When she gets something in her head, she’s going to do it. That’s just her personality. Whatever it takes.”
Annie Sanders said the biggest challenge of climbing is the mental game. She mentioned her favorite aspect of climbing is trying new things in different situations.
“The problem-solving aspect of it,” Sanders said.
Jack Sanders said she likes the challenge of looking at the wall and finding a solution to the problem, even if it seems impossible.
“She gets extremely frustrated when she can’t figure it out,” Jack Sanders said. “A lot of people will walk away from the wall. She’ll just sit there and just keep trying.”
Dendy said Sanders’ drive to succeed is incredibly rare for an athlete in high school.
“Annie is a bit of an anomaly when it comes to climbing,” Dendy said. “She started at a very young age. I think it shows the level of commitment and determination. … She has the talent and she also has the work ethic. It’s pretty incredible what she has done. It’s unheard of.”
Dendy said Sanders is a quiet person, but added there’s layers to her personality.
“She is a bit shy,” Dendy said. “But when you get to know her you’ll find she has a great personality. She’s funny. She’s a bit dry in her humor.”
The problem
Sanders is at the top, but there’s one obstacle she can’t overcome with her climbing ability.
“We didn’t have any idea how costly this would be for us,” Jack Sanders said. “Because she made the USA team, because she won nationals and team trials and is as decorated as she is, we thought, for sure, the sponsors would jump on board.”
The sponsors, however, haven’t funded Annie Sanders’ training. Jack Sanders said the lack of funding for young climbers is a serious burden and puts them at a competitive disadvantage.
“She had to live out of the country for four months this year, and we had to fit the bill,” Jack Sanders said. “We just blew through the money. Hotels, travel. We probably spent close to 40 grand this year. I don’t know how many people have an extra 40 grand, but we don’t.”
Europe has more access to world cup style routes, and athletes who live there can practice in environments similar to competition. Jack Sanders said Annie should live in Innsbruck, Austria, for a couple months a year in order to get the best possible training.
Jack Sanders said most of the other top athletes are well familiar with all the holds in world cup routes. Annie Sanders, however, has had to work with holds during competition that are new and unfamiliar.
Annie Sanders’ parents set up a GoFundMe with the goal of raising money to provide the best training possible and get her to the 2024 Olympic Games. Regardless of if she makes the grandest stage in sports, Annie Sanders is making climbing history while competing with the best the world has to offer.
As an underclassman in high school, Annie Sanders is representing Fort Worth and the United States as one of the top climbing athletes in the world.
