Part of the USA Climbing’s National Team selection process, climbers were eager to earn their spots on the 2026 roster with the Olympic Games Los Angeles 2028 a driving motivation.

LEAD

Brooke Raboutou was one of three climbers to get past the women’s Lead final sticking point of hold 18 and powered on to claim gold ahead of Analise Van Hoang who took silver and Alexandra Inghilterra who took bronze.

Somewhat surprisingly, it was Raboutou’s first time winning a National Championship, despite her countless international successes, and after she said: “I tried to take the same mentality that I take into international competitions into this one.

“We’re here to push ourselves, but we’re also here to have fun and bring the community together. I’m proud to be a part of it, and it was a really great event.”

The Men’s/Open category saw two Olympians climb themselves onto the podium with Colin Duffy taking the gold and Jesse Grupper a bronze.

The two were split by Dylan Countryman who claimed the silver medal.

Just like Raboutou, the win was Duffy’s first to be named Lead National Champion: “It feels so good. (It was) a huge break since my last Nationals, I climbed better than I could’ve imagined this weekend, and the atmosphere was really great.”

SPEED

Ben Jennings took the Men’s/Open win to join the list of first-time winners.

Jennings beat Noah Bratschi in the gold medal race meaning Bratschi had to settle for silver. Bratchi was showing consistent form but slipped mid-run in the final race and Jennings holding his nerve.

In the bronze medal race, William Eaton beat Jaden Chin by just five milliseconds to claim the bronze medal.

Jennings said: “I’m over the moon… kind of speechless. I’m not sure it’s fully processed yet.

“A domestic win under my belt feels really good especially after the last World Cup season.”

Fierce competition in the Women’s Finals with races separated by fractions of a second.

In the Semi-Final, Piper Kelly set the round’s fastest time at 7.20 seconds. That was matched by Sophia Curcio, pitting the two against each other in the gold medal race.

In the final race, Curcio delivered the fastest time of the night, stopping the clock at 6.95 seconds, a personal best in competition. The performance earned her the gold medal and her first National Championship title, while Kelly secured silver.

In the bronze medal race, Kayleigh Borek defeated Madi Walsh by just 10 milliseconds to take her place on the podium.

Curcio said: “I was always a really consistent athlete but it was hard to balance getting faster and consistent at the same time. Times just keep dropping so you really have to compete with great people out there.”

BOULDER

The women’s podium had three well-known names, but with three different stories off the back of 2025.

Natalia Grossman sat out most of 2025 with an injury but returned to claim the National title ahead of Brooke Raboutou who also sat out most of last year, but for another reason – a break from competition after an intense Olympic period.

Raboutou took silver to add to her Lead gold at the National Championships. She and Grossman were joined on the podium by bronze medallist Melina Costanza who took her first ever medal at an international competition by winning bronze at the 2025 World Championship.

In the Men’s/Open competition Hugo Hoyer came out on top to win gold and the national title. Hoyer took the top spot ahead of Cozmo Rothfork who took silver and Sergey Lakhno who took bronze.

Like many at the 2026 event, it was Hoyer’s first National title.

Full results from the 2026 YETI National Championships can be found here. You can rewatch the Semi-Final and Final rounds on Outside TV.