“As I get more and more into it ... I tend to look at things differently,” said Carter, 16, and a rising senior at Cary High School. “I look at things and say, ‘Hey, I could probably climb that.’”

He and some rock-climbing friends went looking for a huge boulder in Umstead Park recently. They walked about two miles into the woods before they finally found it, “just because it was something we hadn’t done,” Carter said.

More regularly though, Carter can be found at the Triangle Rock Club in Morrisville.

His indoor rock-climbing team, the V3, practices there.

Carter and two other team members recently competed in the USA Climbing Youth National Championships in Sunnyvale, Calif. July 11-13.

All three members — the other two are Meg Milan, 12, of Raleigh and Morgan Burke, 11, of Cary — made the trip with at least one parent to compete.

Their reactions to making nationals were similar after surviving both regional and divisional competitions.

“I was ecstatic!” Morgan said via e-mail, as she had already left for the trip. “My parents said at the beginning of the year that we would go to nationals if we get invited.”

Indoor rock climbing gyms started springing up in the 1980s, giving more people exposure to the sport in a safe and controlled environment, according to abc-of-rockclimbing.com.

Plus, the indoor venues allow for year-round training and easy access for people who don’t have outdoor climbing areas nearby.

Locally there’s also a gym in Durham.

All three of the V3 climbers said they were introduced to climbing through indoor gyms. Morgan’s brother went to a birthday party at Verticle Edge Climbing Center in Durham and immediately joined a team.

Morgan followed shortly after. Meg also was introduced to the rock wall at a birthday party. Carter said his dad talked him into checking out a gym. The son took to the sport immediately.

“You just have that immense satisfaction,” Carter said. “You push yourself to your personal boundary, and when you make it, there’s a sense of accomplishment.”

The sport is deemed fairly safe. Several indoor rock-climbing Web sites say injuries rarely occur from falls or accidents. Most come from fatigue or overtraining. A lot of the strains are on fingers, elbows and shoulders.

The national competition falls under the umbrella of USA Climbing, a national governing body that promotes bouldering, sport and speed climbing. Competition is held in boys’ and girls’ divisions according to age.

Of the three V3 competitors, Morgan made it to the semifinals in the recent national sport-climbing competition.

One slight disadvantage the local competitors had in California was the height of the wall. They’re used to a 30-foot wall; the one at nationals was 60 feet. The routes — or paths up the wall — vary in difficulty.

More difficult routes can help competitors earn higher scores.

“Working with the endurance helps you prepare for going,” Meg said, adding, “I don’t think you can really compare nationals to any competition that I’ve ever done [locally].”

The skills needed to be good at the sport, the young climbers say, range from endurance to strength, flexibility and technical prowess.

V3 trains twice a week and more when competitions draw near.

Carter said if people are looking for him, they usually know where to find him: at the wall.

“I can’t get away from it,” he said.

Carter said he thinks in general the boys may surpass the girls in strength, but the girls make up for it in their technique.

Looking at her own abilities, Meg agrees with that assessment: “I’m strongest around technique,” she said.

Morgan said the strength moves are the most challenging for her, but there are other challenges too.

“To climb, you have to be flexible and strong but you also have to be willing to keep climbing a route you can’t yet complete,” Morgan said.

From her mother Meredith Burke’s perspective, “Morgan has gained physical strength and mental tenacity through rock climbing. It’s like being on any other type of team that is still basically an individual sport — like swimming. Healthy competition inspires the kids to work harder,” Burke said. “They also work together, Burke said. “When two kids of similar climbing ability get stuck on a route, they will talk it out, trade knowledge and technique and figure it out.”

All the way to the top.

Cost of rock climbing:
“Vertical Edge has given us a good deal on memberships and Triangle Rock Club has also given us a deal until they get their team off the ground. We end up paying around $100 per month in gym fees and coaching. The competitions range from $30 to $105. Shoes run anywhere from about $70 to $145 and last less than a year. Harnesses run around $50 to $125 and last many years (check REI’s Web site). All in all, it has been a very reasonable sport. Since there are not many climbing gyms, we do end up traveling a good bit. There will also be a few hotel stays per season.”
— Meredith Burke, parent