VISTA, Calif. — A climbing coach for Team USA is redefining the fastest way to scale a wall.
In this Zevely Zone, I met a climbing visionary at 'The Wall' Climbing Gym in Vista.
When the Olympics roll around the most popular sports are usually swimming, gymnastics and track, but things are also looking up for Team USA Climbing.
"We will go here and here," said Coach Al Rangel as he instructed an athlete at the wall. The 34-year-old coach loved playing soccer as a child, but at the age of 20 when he climbed a wall for the very first time he fell in love with the sport.
"Well, I would say it changed the whole trajectory of my life. I think at that point I was a bio student maybe thinking about going to med school," said Coach Rangel.
Instead, Al started taking weekly road trips to Bishop, California to rock climb and see how far he could push himself.
At The Wall Climbing Gym in Vista, Coach Al is taking his sport to new heights.
"You fall in love I think, you fall in love with a sport that is just challenging you constantly," said Coach Al.
His passion for the sport and unique mastery of movement landed him the assistant coaching job for Team USA at the Olympics.
In front of a raucous crowd, Al watched American Sam Watson fly up the gigantic wall and win a bronze medal in speed climbing. "He is the fastest climber in the world so I think the reaction was a bit of a mind-blowing experience," said Coach Al.
After Watson set an Olympic record, the next American to medal was Brooke Raboutou. She grabbed a silver medal in what's called sport climbing.
Ross Fulkerson climbs for Team USA and moved to San Diego County to learn from one of the best. Ross dreams about winning a gold medal someday.
"Yes, absolutely," said Ross.
I asked him what words come to mind when describing Coach Al.
"Genius or visionary, like mad scientist kind of," said Ross.
"He thinks very differently from almost anyone else in the climbing world, like very out of the box. I think he is thinking years ahead as far as climbing movement."
Al's wife Shannon watched some of those creative strategies pay off in Paris.
"Obsessive is a good word in like what I am using, but he's going to go all in right?" said Shannon. What did she say when her husband told her they needed to take a work trip to Paris?
"I said when are we going and how long are we going to gone for?" said Shannon.
She and Al are the owners of an elite climbing club called Class 5. The climbing team has won several national competitions.
Coach Al hopes the success at the Olympics will attract more athletes to The Wall in Vista. "I think it is just an expression of self that I really enjoy," said Coach Al. The love of climbing grabbed ahold of Al and he's been hanging on for dear life ever since. "I think just that more people should get to experience it," said Coach Al.
Over the past two years, the Class Five youth team has won national team banners for performing as one of the top 3 teams in the nation. For more information about the climbing team, click here. For more information about The Wall, click here.