Ice climbing has been a passion for Noah Rowley ever since he started climbing with his dad at age 8. Rowley, who graduated from Corner Canyon High School in 2018, is the only member of the USA Ice Climbing team from Utah. He is heading to Chile next month for the Portillo Ice Festival in the Andes and hopes to represent the U.S. at the next winter Olympics.

"Climbing challenges you mentally and physically," Rowley said. "I think about it all the time. It requires a large amount of concentration and dedication which affects every facet of my life."

J. R. Rowley, Noah’s dad, is proud of his son’s accomplishments. “Noah’s been climbing his entire life,” he said. “By age 11 he was leading ice climbs.” J. R. is an accomplished mountaineer and caver himself. “I’ve been a climber my entire adult life, over 30 years,” he said. “All the routes I wasn’t skilled enough to do, Noah has taken them all down.”

Noah attended Crescent View Middle School where he incorporated his love of climbing into a science project and talent show performance. J. R. spoke of how Noah took repetitive falls lead-climbing on a rope at a local climbing gym for a science project in which he studied the percentage of elongation on a rope. A large dynamic elongation on a climbing rope increases the risk of a climber falling to the ground. At the same time, “It was a great way to get him used to falling,” J. R. said. “Climbers need to learn how to fall without getting injured.”

As a member of the USA Ice Climbing team, which is under the auspices of the American Alpine Club, Noah participated in his first UIAA Ice Climbing World Cup last January in Europe. "It was so cool, so much fun!" he said. "America has never taken first place in a World Cup. Just placing in the top 10 is really good. Our best climber took sixth place in Switzerland. Obviously, our goal is to be the first Americans to win the World Cup."

At the World Cup competition in Champagny-en-Vanoise, France, Noah progressed to the speed-climbing semifinals placing 14th out of a field of 37 male athletes.

Noah and his teammates do what is called mixed climbing. They scale both ice and rock using ropes, ice axes and crampons. He participates in competitions all over the world and continues to train even during the summer months. "This year I was in France, Switzerland and Quebec," he said. "I'll be in Chile for a couple of weeks in August."

“2023 was the first year I made the USA Ice Climbing Team as an adult,” Noah said. Tryouts for the team occur in Ouray, Colorado and Fenton, Michigan. “To make the team you have to outperform all the applicants, there were about 50,” he said. “They take the top seven climbers.”

“Hopefully, Noah will represent the U.S. in the next winter Olympics,” J. R. said. At the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, ice climbing was an exhibition sport but the competition was not included in the medal count. In 2020, the IOC confirmed that sport climbing will be part of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. Ice climbing may be included at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy.

Utah has a number of places for climbers to learn and practice their sport. Noah trains in Little Cottonwood but “Provo Canyon is my go-to for ice climbing when Bridal Veil Falls freezes over. It’s the most accessible ice to climb in Utah,” he said.

J.R. explained in an email, “Last winter, Noah climbed many of the hardest mixed lines in Utah, stamping his name as an elite climber. He also spent many hours bolting and developing new routes here in Utah. This takes time, money, passion and expertise.” Noah focused his energy most recently on  developing new routes in Spanish Fork.

He also trains indoors, especially during the summer months. Noah specifically mentioned The Quarry Indoor Climbing Center in Provo and The Scratch Pad, a climbing gym in Orem. Noah sets the climbing routes at The Scratch Pad.

Noah has personal goals he would like to achieve as a climber. “I want to climb the Ogre II in Pakistan,” he said. In the Americas, he would like to climb, “the hardest routes ranging from Yosemite to El Chaltén in Patagonia.”

Most of all, however, he has his heart set on an even larger goal. Noah explained that other countries have many more resources for climbers and offer government sponsorship and world-class training facilities. “My biggest plan is to grow the sport in Utah,” he said. “The more people who join, the more resources we’ll have.” λ