While Raleigh, North Carolina is not the ideal place to climb mountains, it is home to one of the top ten most progressive training facilities in the nation—the Triangle Rock Club.
The club features 9,000 square feet of climbing walls. It also includes a 14-foot freestanding boulder, hundreds of climbing routes, hundreds of bouldering problems and a cross-training fitness area.
This training facility serves multiple purposes—to provide entertainment for those wishing to casually engage in the activity of climbing, to continue the training of groundbreaking climbers and to host a team of powerful athletes, Team TRC . Team members compete in both the American Bouldering Series and the Sport Climbing Series.
Devin Doyle, a junior in psychology, is one of the few qualified instructors to turn prepubescent little kids into climbing machines. As a tall, thin young man, Doyle does not look like the type to coach a nationally competitive team or gain sponsorships, but he is the perfect candidate.
Doyle has been climbing since the age of 15 and quickly gained mastery of the sport in seven years.
“[With climbing] being the coolest thing on the planet, [this] isn’t quite like anything else,” Doyle said.
The dynamic sport demands both physical and mental prowess to complete climbing routes. While some climbing routes are simple to understand when seen, moves can be difficult to execute.
Doyle earned a sponsorship by Evolv , a climbing outfitter. Doyle said he does not consider himself a professional climber, because he doesn’t “get a paycheck or flown around the world to climb.”
Though he doesn’t receive complete financial support, Evolv gives Doyle a set amount of complimentary climbing gear and apparel in exchange for his representation of their company.
Doyle said he climbs because he feels “compelled to do so.”
Doyle uses his skill to not only benefit a possible career, but those in the local climbing community. Climbers group together and tend to become close friends, share climbing experiences and often even live together. Doyle gives back to his community by coaching Team TRC with his friend Alex Neighbors.
“I am psyched on coaching,” Doyle said. “When you get down to the essence of it, I am teaching people to do something that I am very passionate about. And I’m getting paid to do it. And it’s the coolest job title in the world, I coach a competitive climbing team. I can’t complain.”
Doyle breaks down the sport into two physical components—strength and technique. Small rock obtrusions require strength, but climbers must understand and use the proper climbing technique to ensure efficiency. Doyle said it comes down to having the forearm strength to hold onto the rock holds.
“[You must be] utilizing the proper technique to make it as easy as possible to hold rock holds,” Doyle said. “This is why many of climbers, including myself, have this scrawny lean build rather than the bulging muscles you might expect most rock climbers to have.”
Comparing climbing to other sports, Doyle said climbing is all about movement.
“You have a few basic body positions, grip types, foot placements, but when you combine those with the almost unending amount of climbable rock on the planet… then you truly have an activity with a limitless potential for variety,” Doyle said.
Although the sport and the sponsorship keep him motivated, Doyle said he always gets excited about teaching. According to Doyle, TRC is open to both experienced and new climbers alike.
“Coaching is something that I would be psyched to continue,” Doyle said. “Creating little climbing beasts with the power to weight ratio of chimpanzees is very rewarding.”
