Meet…Davis Stewart

By Tara Ziegler

Odds are if you have climbed at Aiguille before, at one point or another you have stopped for a moment to watch this kid climb. He'll be sitting quiet as a mouse one second, and then sending the sickest move the next.

Davis was introduced to Aiguille from a birthday party he attended when he was 12 and was immediately hooked. After playing baseball for 7 years, Davis was excited to try something new and very different, and now considers himself better with solo activities than at team sports. "Climbing is my favorite because it’s different from everything else. I used to climb trees a lot when I was little so I guess that just transferred."

Davis is now at Aiguille at least 5 days a week, with 3 of those dedicated to the climbing team. A typical training regiment consists of warming up, stretching, running, hangboard, 4x4's and an ever changing concoction involving the system wall. However even with all of this he says he would prefer there to be more practices and longer sessions. "It's good motivation. Some days I don't want to climb and it's good to have the coaches there pushing me."

Another great source of motivation for him is the climbers that he surrounds himself with. "What I think helps me is to climb with people who are at my skill level or stronger than me. They challenge me and push me toward harder climbs."


Aside from the people who help keep him motivated, Davis also derives his inspiration from the climbers who look up to him. And, if you have ever seen him climb, you are probably one of those climbers. “It makes me feel good for sure. It makes me want to try harder and harder to do crazy moves or hard routes. And when younger kids look up to me it makes me want to be the best climber I can, so they can learn how to read routes or complicated sequences. I think its super cool.”

All of this training helps prepare Davis for the competitive aspect of climbing, which is extra motivation to work even harder. He has competed in over 30 different competitions including ABS, SCS and a few others just for fun. He is currently training for the upcoming ABS Regional competition, held next Saturday at On the Edge.

When I asked if he preferred indoor climbing to outdoor, without any hesitation he said indoor. "You can make your own moves up. You can duplicate and change them." Still he is building up a pretty decent climbing resume with Stone Fort, HP40, Rocklands and Little Cottonwood Canyon already under his belt and Hueco Tanks in his sights.