In June 2025, Paraclimbing was officially added to the 2028 LA Paralympic Games—an announcement that made big waves in the adaptive community, bringing new faces to the competition scene and challenging how the words disability and competitor go together. The Front’s Paraclimbing Team has been part of that growth: starting with just two athletes in 2022, the team has expanded to 16 with seven different classification categories represented. This summer, we’re highlighting The Front’s adaptive team with fundraising and educational events, preparing our athletes to take on National and World Cup events, furthering each of their respective climbing careers.
If you frequent our downtown Front location, you’ve probably climbed, lifted, or taken a yoga class alongside one of our world-class athletes. Over the years, The Front has worked to ensure our facilities support adaptive athletes. Between developing adaptive specialty routes, expanding accessible parking during team practices, and building partnerships with local nonprofits like the National Ability Center and Ogden Valley Adaptive Sports, adaptive athletes are without a doubt a pillar of The Front community.
This summer, we’re putting a spotlight on our Paraclimbing Team by hosting a season-long fundraiser. Our main goal? To help our athletes travel and compete at National level and World Cup events in the 2027 season. As the qualification year prior to the inaugural Paralympic Games, this competition cycle will arguably be the most important season of their lives thus far. Our athletes have the opportunity to be in the first group of Paraclimbers taking on the Olympic stage.
Some team athletes joined us with years of competition experience and prestige. Names like Tanner Cislaw in the AL1 (seated) category alongside Ben Mayforth and Brayden Butler, both competing against each other in the RP2 category, came to us with years of competition behind them. Most athletes on our team, however, came to us with little climbing experience and little to no competition experience. It’s been a privilege watching these folks grow over the years. People like Gordon Fralick in the B2 category, who swore to me when I first met him that he wasn’t looking to join an adaptive climbing community, have become national competitors and champions of this program.
From June 1st to August 31st, The Front will host a wide range of engagement opportunities welcome to ALL! We’ll also have a schedule of specialty adaptive programs happening over the summer intended for specialized populations as well as volunteer belayers looking to grow our adaptive program.
Don’t know what our team is about? Don’t worry! We’ll have adaptive staff and team athletes repping at each event. Come chat with us and learn more about individual stories and journeys through the climbing space.
Event Series Schedule
Come by special events like Summer Music Series to help fundraise while you eat and drink, volunteer to belay and learn about adaptive climbing at meet ups, attend yoga workshops to meet the community and make a donation impact, or climb with us to see what this sport is all about as an athlete. Click any title below to register for your event, or to learn more.
June 3, 6:00p – 9:00p // Adaptive Summer Music Night
June 6, 10:00a -12:00p // Ogden Valley Adaptive Sports Meet Up
June 20, 5:30p – 6:30p // Adaptive Yoga Workshop with Kelleigh
July 11, 10:00a – 12:00p // Adaptive Monthly Meet Up with the National Ability Center
August 1, 10:00a – 12:00p // Adaptive Monthly Meet Up with Wasatch Adaptive Sports
August 8, 7:00p – 8:00p // Grief Processing Workshop with Susannah
August 13, 6:30p – 8:30p // Collaborative Community Meet Up with SLAQC, Color the Wasatch, Escala, Ladies Climbing Coalition, and Open Spaces
Every Tuesday, 6:30p – 8:30p // Paraclimbing Team Practice
Bi-Monthly, 12:00p – 1:30p // Upending Parkinsons Meet Ups
Every Friday, 11:00a – 1:00p // Veteran Climbing Club SLC
Rotating Weeknights // NAC Rock On! Programming
Tuesdays and Thursdays, 3:30p – 5:00p // OVAS Summer Programming
We can’t wait to see you at these events, all summer long. You can learn more about these opportunities and register on our website. Please reach out with any questions—mckenna.mandsager@thefrontclimbingclub.com
For those ready to donate to the team today, visit the link below. Select the drop down tab to select your desired donation. If there is a specialty donation amount, you can also donate in person with one of our gym staff. A paraclimbing fundraiser impact report will be sent out after the fundraiser concludes to show how your donation impacted our team.
