Annie Sanders Makes Her Debut on the Adult Climbing Circuit at 15 years old!

Annie Makes Her Debut on the Adult Climbing Circuit at 15 years old!

Annie Sanders doesn’t believe in ceilings. She’d already racked up a litany of climbing accomplishments before her 16th birthday this summer. As one of the most decorated climbers in the youth circuit, Sanders holds four World Youth Championship wins and six National Youth Championship wins. Those are enough to fill the trophy case of a lifetime on their own. 

But for Sanders, that was just a precursor. She rode that runway all the way to the big leagues this year. Transitioning to the Open Sport Class Category turned the ceiling of her youth circuit days into the floor of her elite level potential. Sanders found herself brushing shoulders with the same women that she’d looked up to since her first climbing competition at age seven. Now, she only had to look side to side. 

Despite her rookie status, Sanders kept up with the best of them all season long. She could have spent her introductory year just checking out the scene. But Sanders opted to make a statement from the get-go. She kicked off this new tier of her climbing career with gold medals at the 2022 Yeti Climbing National Championships in both the Bouldering and Lead competitions.

Sanders followed that up with four top-ten finishes at World Cup Events and fourth place at the Pan American Games in late October as the youngest member of Team USA. And if jet-setting around the globe for nearly six months straight wasn’t enough, she’s headed to the Red River Gorge over Thanksgiving in pursuit of a redpoint on her long-standing project, Lucifer (5.14c). 

The Balancing Act

Let’s keep in mind that Sanders is also a junior in high school. She balances a schedule packed full of AP classes and college prep with enough training, traveling, and competing to constitute a full-time job. “I don’t have a lot of free time,” Sanders laughs. Her training days start with early mornings spent chipping away at schoolwork in time to head to the gym for an afternoon of training. Tack on the commute, rest and recovery routines, and a few cross-training sessions in the weightroom and the pool and there goes her week. 

Sanders’ split focus between her student and athlete lives only seems to power her potential even further, though. She’s had to learn how to advance her training without eating away more time. 

“My sessions now look pretty similar to how they were when I was competing as a youth,” she explains. “The major difference is that they’re more intense. When I was in the youth circuit, I was more focused on having fun. Now I have to be a bit more serious about my training. I still try to enjoy every session and I’m in the gym for about the same amount of time but I’m working a lot harder while I’m there.” 

Sanders also finds plenty of fulfillment within the climbing community itself. Close connections form quickly when you’re on the road with the same people who share your same dreams and routines. She’s tight with her coach and teammates and savored her time in the athlete village during the Pan American Games. Sanders might not get the typical teenage experience via the path she’s chosen, but that’s not the same as missing out. 

Lessons from the Elite Circuit

Sander's shows so much promise as an athlete in part because she doesn’t let herself get complacent. After such a massively successful intro to the elite ranks, anyone in her position could easily take the opportunity to rest on their laurels a bit. She’s clearly doing something right with that kind of debut.

If it ain’t broke…don't fix it.

But Sanders loves to fine-tune. That’s what keeps her constantly edging ahead. She has a knack for turning good into great by intentionally finding and fortifying the weakest links. It’s excitement for the future, not regret for the past, that motivates her to hunt for potential improvements. 

This time, Sanders stumbled upon a few vulnerabilities in her mental game. All her accolades aside, Sanders knows that she didn’t show up at her full potential for some of the comps on the World Cup circuit. She explains how “it was hard to battle out the negative thoughts during competition” and that she’s still learning how to accept that “one comp doesn’t define who you are” because that energy’s better spent refocusing on the next.

That’s one key discrepancy between the youth and elite systems that Sanders has realized. “When I was competing in youth there was only one chance because there weren’t that many comps in a season,” says Sanders. “Competing in the Open circuit offers so many more chances. If I didn’t do well in one comp, I could come back and try again at the next. That’s helping me learn to overcome any negativity.”

Sanders also wants to improve her reaction times on the wall. After making it to the head wall during the Lead Finals of the Pan American Games, something she’d fallen short of in each World Cup competition, she noticed that the difference came down to moving with confidence and certainty. “I think all the experience in the World Cups helped with that,” Sanders reflects. “I’ve been a little too slow and hesitant on routes before, and this time I felt more relaxed and flowy. It was really cool making it that far, so I’m going to keep working on being more care-free and going for things.”

She’ll spend the winter infusing more assuredness into her climbing in time for the next round of National Team Trials next March. She’s already pre-qualified for bouldering, so Sanders will focus primarily on lead until then to see if she can secure dual qualification. Her trip to the Red will help initiate that training cycle with an emphasis on building endurance and finding flow. Sanders’ open-minded attitude suggests that this season, no matter how fruitful, has nothing on what’s coming next. 

Annie Sanders uses SendureX, especially during her endurance training blocks, and bookends every climbing session with Supercharged Collagen and Weapons-Grade Whey.