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National Public Radio Interview
December 2003
(Text Version)

ANCHOR:
There’s a new star on the horizon in the rock climbing world… and he’s thirteen years old.   Scott Cory of Brentwood, California, could become the Tiger Woods, the prodigy superstar of this quickly-growing sport.  Cory is one of the most-accomplished rock climbers in his age bracket.  Now he’s about to tackle a challenge that most adult climbers would never attempt.  Jason Margolis, from member station KQED, files this report.

MARGOLIS: Scott Cory has already conquered two of the most revered pillars of the rock climbing world: he was the youngest person ever to climb Yosemite’s two renowned granite peaks El Capitan and Half Dome.  Together, they offer nearly five thousand feet of vertical rock.  Now, he’s trying to scale the two rocks again… in one day. Only 14 people in the world have completed the double Yosemite climb. Young Cory is trying to do it now, because, as he casually says, it sounds like fun.

CORY: "It’s pretty cool, you know, you’re all out by yourself, you’re seeing all those trees out there looking like bushes. And there’s no one around you telling you what to do. And you’re just there enjoying yourself."

At a rock climbing gym in the small town of Concord, near San Francisco, kids and adults are climbing all over the walls, trying to navigate up to the 35-foot pinnacles.  As a sport, rock climbing has exploded - 12 years ago there were 10 gyms like this in the country, now there are 400. 

In between attempts, some climbers stop to admire Cory, who looks like Spiderman, effortlessly scaling the walls, even hanging on nearly upside down, clinging with two fingers on some overhanging slopes.  Twenty-seven-year-old Peter Roldan is one the biggest, most-athletic looking men in the gym.

ROLDAN: “And there are whole sections of the wall I don’t get near. And this kid, I’ve watched him climb, and he looks like he’s doing it, he could do it in his sleep.”

On this day, Cory is working out with Steve Schneider, one of the world’s elite outdoor climbers.  Schneider says that while Cory has excelled in competition, winning his indoor regional championships five-years in a row, what truly sets Cory apart is his abilities beyond the gym.

SCHNEIDER: “Kids that climb hard are, truthfully, a dime a dozen these days. But these guys or gals are mostly climbing inside. You don’t see anyone doing El Capitan his age, at all.”

Cory started climbing at the age of seven on a family vacation to Lake Tahoe.  He picked a dangerous sport with high stakes.  There are an average of two to three fatalities each year on the rocks of Yosemite, according the Park Service.  His mother, Jennifer, says she believes her son is safe because he’s climbing with the world’s best.  Still, she worries like a mom.

JENNIFER CORY: “I’ve always been afraid of heights, so whenever the kids climbed anything, I was always telling them to get down. If they tried to climb on the outside of the slide at the playground, instead of going up the stairs, I’d always make them get down. So, he’s a good climber, despite me.” 

What makes Cory so special isn’t necessarily his physical prowess, but his fearlessness.  Most older climbers, like veteran Steve Schneider, live with fear.

SCHNEIDER: "It’s pretty freakin’ scary the first time. Man, there’s time where I’ve just been so scared, I was like, if I get out of this, I’ll never climb again. Please, you know let me get through this."

Cory has a decidedly different outlook, even when he’s hanging two-thousand feet above the ground

MARGOLIS: "You scared during that?"

CORY: "No, well sometimes on like on The Nose of El Capitan, there’s some places where you’re way out there in the open, and all the wind is coming against you, and you’re blowing all over the place. So, I don’t know, it can be scary, but not really."

In Yosemite, Cory will pair with Hans Florine, a huge name in the rock climbing world.  For now, the two are training in the gym, hoping and waiting for a dry weather window of a few days. When that happens, it will be time to take the climb outside to the rocks of Yosemite. For NPR News, I’m Jason Margolis.