Reaching New Heights

Getty Images

Tokyo 2020 presents a new challenge for itself: Sport Climbing. The event takes place on an indoor wall because the route must be 100% new. It will be kept secret until just before the competition. Athletes use indoor and outdoor venues to prepare. Outdoor climbing can be more mentally challenging. The outdoor routes are quite long, so athletes can work on endurance. The “fear factor” outdoors is also real.

Indoor competition assesses how climbers perform on a brand new route. Climbing a large variety of rock is important. Outside the Olympic Games the goals are to conquer the famous “classics” outdoor lines and routes, with some of the hardest grades that exist in nature. The ultimate goal is to see what can be achieved on real rock. Yangshuo, China, enables Sport climbers to achieve these goals. The world class climbing routes and spectacular scenery are amazing.

Getty Images

Getty Images

The images captured in Yangshuo illustrate the hard training of the athletes against a spectacular backdrop. They show the beautiful natural environment as well. When you combine elements such as lighting, composition, graphics, scenery and athletic ability in one image you have great sport photography. That is what this project aimed to achieve.