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Sam McManis, Chronicle Staff Writer
He was a such a physical baby that
his parents called him Bam-Bam. As a toddler, he
would smack golf balls around the house and practice
karate. By first grade, he held the elementary
school record in Brentwood for most push-ups: 71.
Scott Cory, 8- year-old athletic prodigy, has a new
interest now. He climbs.
Trees. Poles. Playground equipment. Walls. Steep
cliffs in Yosemite and Lake Tahoe. You name it, and
Cory will hoist himself up and climb his way to the
top.
``He really seemed to take to it right away,''
Cory's father, Jim, said.
This is more than just a phase, though. Scott is the
nation's top- seeded rock climber in the 11-and-
under age group of the Junior Competition Climbing
Association. He and his mother, Jennifer, leave
today to train with the national team in preparation
for July's national championships in Virginia.
ELEVATION SENSATION
Cory is the youngest climber ever to be asked to
train with the national team. It is an honor that
impresses many older climbers at Scott's gym,
Mission Cliffs in San Francisco, but it really
doesn't faze him. All Cory knows is that he just
loves to climb, to get a grip on a handhold or
jutting boulder and pull himself higher. The higher
the better.
``He's just got this strength and determination,''
Jennifer Cory said. ``He just gets up there and
goes, goes, goes. Last year, before Scott started
competing, people at the gym would tell me, `He's
gonna be the best; he can do anything.' But I said,
`Yeah, yeah, you just want my money.' It just seemed
unrealistic he could be number one back then.''
Cory's interest in climbing came on a whim. His
parents have a second home in Lake Tahoe, and on a
trip to an ice skating rink there one afternoon, the
family happened upon an indoor ``bouldering wall.''
``The kids wanted to try it,'' Jim Cory said. ``We
did, and we're hooked.''
The whole family started climbing walls. Scott's
older brother, Jason, 12, and younger sister Katie,
7, just dabbled in the sport. Scott, however, was a
natural.
``He had no fear of heights at all,'' Jennifer said.
``And he has this tremendous determination.''
ROCK SOLID
Scott is so determined that he does 400 push-ups
before going to bed each night. He can do 10 single-
finger pull-ups and often fastens a 25-pound weight
to his 62-pound frame and performs 20 push-ups. He
convinced his father to erect a bouldering wall on
the sloping play- room wall above the family's
garage. ``It didn't take me that long to build,''
Jim Cory said. ``All the kids used to do in this
room was sit in front of the TV set and do Sony
PlayStation.''
TV and video games hold little allure to Scott now.
Climbing is his passion. After draining a soda can
in one long swig, Scott bounced over to the bag the
chalk dust and clapped his hands, then bounded over
thick foam pads on the floor and leaped to the first
hand and foot hold.
Moments later, he was halfway up the wall, sloping
at a 60-degree angle. He held on gamely, living up
to his nicknames ``Spiderboy'' and ``Human Fly.''
When gravity finally took over and Scott fell to the
pads with a thud, he was right back on the wall for
another try.
``For a long time,'' Jim Cory said, ``people at
Mission Cliffs would see him and say, `His parents
must be crazy to push him like that.' But now they
know that it's Scott, not us, pushing. We have to
yell at him to leave the gym. His favorite
expression is `One more time.' ''
A NATURAL CLIMBER
What makes Scott so good at climbing, his
coaches say, is his strength-to-weight ratio. Plus,
he instinctively has what climbing people call good
pattern recognition, meaning he knows how to
position his body for the next hold.
Scott's long-term goal is be a world champion. To
that end, he has already decided to forgo youth
baseball and football so that he won't hurt his
hands for climbing. Scott already has endorsement
deals with several outdoors companies, including the
North Face clothing company and Boreal shoes.
But Scott, who excels at math and struggles with
spelling at school, comes off as just another kid.
He doesn't seem at all affected by his top ranking
among youth climbers.
A boy of few words, Scott says he climbs simply
because ``It's fun.''
What's so fun about it?
``Everything,'' he said, smiling broadly.
Does his ranking make him a celebrity in his
third-grade class?
``No.''
What's the best part of climbing?
``Doing whippers,'' he said, referring to the
practice of ``climbing to the top of the wall,
clipping the anchors and just let go and fly until
you bounce.''
Cory has only been injured once in a year and half
of climbing. It was a sprained ankle suffered while
climbing at Yosemite.
``It's tougher to climb outside,'' Scott said.
``More scarier. I like it.''
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