A couple months back, Squamish climber Cedar Pidgeon discovered a note she wrote when she was all of maybe eight years old.
“It said, ‘One day, when I’m older, I want to go to the world championships.’ So, I’m really excited. That was my big goal for this year,” she recalled.
It’s a box the now-16-year-old can check off her list, after qualifying last month for the International Federation of Sport Climbing Youth World Championships, to be held this August in South Korea.
“It’s a dream” she said.
Pidgeon earned her spot thanks to a podium finish at the Canadian Youth National Championships, held from May 18 to the 23 in Calgary, Alta., claiming third place in the lead climbing Youth A event.
One of Pidgeon’s fortes, lead refers to when the climbing rope starts at the bottom of the route, with the lead climber clipping in as they go, as opposed to, say, top-roping, when the rope is already hung at the top of the wall or cliff.
Pidgeon was in top form early on, dominating the qualifiers and semi-finals, which put her in first place heading into the finals.
“The routes were fun and I felt good mentally and physically. Then finals came and everything was going well. But I think I was a little bit off and wasn’t as focused as I could have been,” she relayed.
The local teen also competed in the bouldering event, finishing eighth.
“It went pretty good. I made a couple big mistakes in semis, and there was one problem, where I fell at the end,” she explained. “If I hadn’t done that, I would have gotten into the finals, I messed up, but that’s how that goes.”
For such a demanding sport physically, it’s the mental aspect of climbing that tends to separate the wheat from the chaff. For all of her 16 years, Pidgeon seems to possess an almost preternatural calm, a quality that has served her well as she’s continued to rise through the ranks of the sport.
“You can have all the physical abilities you could ever want, but if you don’t put that together with the mental, then you can only achieve so much,” she said. “You can only do as good as your weaknesses, so if you don’t have the mental toughness or the confidence, then you’re held back by your thoughts.”
Exposed to climbing from a young age, Pidgeon counts her mom, Thomasina, an accomplished climber in her own right, as her coach.
“She makes my programs and helps with that sort of thing. During the competitions, it’s really great, because she knows me better than anyone and can tell how I’m feeling and knows what to say,” Pidgeon said. “If I’m having a bad day or a good day, she’ll know how to encourage me and give me the right tips.”
Climbing has been a close connection point for the mother and daughter for years now, and Thomasina said she gains from their shared love just as much as Cedar does.
“Climbing can be really emotional and challenging, so it can bring out the good parts and also the bad parts,” she added. “I think we help each other through those things, and Cedar is a bit lighter than I am in her personality. I’m a bit more of a serious type of person. She’s younger obviously and she always helps put things into perspective. That’s helpful for me.”
