Zero Gravity, the international known youth climbing team has been led by Scot Jenerik at the Touchstone climbing gyms for the past decade. Jenerik’s excellent coaching has been augmented by a number of great team members and assistant coaches. Currently, Zero Gravity had three assistant coaches.
Josh Levin, a climber for the past 13 years, helps coaching the Zero Gravity kids in the South Bay Area. Levin offered some great advice about climbing. “One of the biggest things I’ve learned that helps me with sending hard both indoors and out, but most of all with competitions, is being able to mentally prepare myself before I get on the wall. If I can block out all other distractions before I start climbing, close my eyes, focus on my breathing, and visualize getting to the top, I have a much better chance of succeeding than if I had just rushed straight to the wall.” Levin has climbed Espirit Rebeld 5.13d in Rodellar, Spain, bouldered Beefy Gecko in Bishop’s Sad Boulders, and been a national champion for multiple years in Sport, Speed and Bouldering.
Josh Levin at finals of the 2011 Open National Championships, Boulder, Colorado. Photo: Dane Cronin
For the past two years, Scot Cory has worked for Zero Gravity as an assistant coach. Cory began climbing with the team when he was 12 but became more serious about it when he was 16. Cory has climbed El Capitan’s Nose in a single day, redpointed 5.14 sport routes and bouldered V10. In between his classes at Los Medanos and Diablo Valley College, the 21 year old coaches three days a week. “The training is fantastic,” Cory said. “For me I generally knew what I had to do in order to get stronger, but it was all of the encouragement that Scot offers that makes and made it easier to really dig in and get the best out of the workouts.”
Scot Cory bouldering in Tahoe
Cicada Jenerik has climbed her age twice, sending V10 at the age of 10 and V11 at 11. The 17 year old San Francisco native has been climbing seriously since the age of 6, when her father, Scot Jenerik began Zero Gravity. The Gateway High School student now helps with the coaching of Zero gravity, providing serious inspiration to the female climbers on the team. “I think girls need to put in the work and they will be up there with the guys. Girls, don’t be afraid to push it to the limit. Believe you can do it and the rest will follow. “
Cicada Jenerik
All of the coaches assist the kids with proper warm-ups techniques, setting and maintaining training schedules and keeping psyche high at competitions and in the daily grind of the work outs. These great climbers are a vital part of keeping Touchstone’s youth climbing team strong. Great work guys!
