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Clinging to the wall with calloused fingers, 10-year-old Veronica Aimee Chik stretches to grab a jagged piece of stone. Nearly 50 metres separate her from the ground, where her coach watches her every movement. Carefully, she eases her rope – her lifeline – into a metal clip on the rough stone surface and continues climbing. Her success hinges on every shift of a limb until she reaches the top.
Veronica took her first climbing lesson at a gym in Hong Kong at the age of five. She instantly fell in love with the sport.
“It can help you use your mind,” she said. She added that climbing requires creativity to help decide the best techniques for each climb.
She won her first local climbing competition at the age of six. Her mother, Vivian Wan, remembered feeling surprised by Veronica’s abilities.
“When [Veronica] was around seven, she said she wanted to be an Olympian. And I was like, ‘Are you serious?’ Because in our family, we never had an athlete before. So we didn’t know what to do,” Wan said.
Veronica is too young to compete in the Olympics. Still, she has already broken a world record by becoming the youngest person to finish an 8c climb. This grade is very difficult, even for experienced climbers.
New challenges
When Veronica was seven, a coach from Beijing recognised her potential and took her in as a student. He was part of the Chinese national team.
Her skills developed quickly in the first few weeks of training, but she was under constant pressure. Making friends with other team members gave her a sense of belonging.
Veronica’s first outdoor climbing session was in January 2024, when she went to a climbing festival in Yangshuo.
“It was only my first time going for a national competition,” she said.
She was up against other athletes aged eight to 10 who had been climbing outdoors for years. But to everyone’s surprise, she placed second among her peers.
Need for rest
For the next four months, Veronica and her father travelled four hours to Yangshuo every weekend to continue her training.
Her coach wanted her to complete an 8b+ climb. This level is highly demanding even for seasoned climbers.
Veronica struggled with this challenge for months, and her parents decided that she needed a break. They took her to the 2024 Paris Olympics. There, she met her climbing hero, Slovenian Olympic medallist Janja Garnbret.
Veronica returned to training in September 2024. She completed the climb and set China’s record for the youngest climber of an 8b+ route.
She soon set her sights on her next big goal, this time in Europe. After meeting a coach in Spain, they decided she would tackle the 8c Fish Eye route at Oliana. Only 21 ascents have been recorded on this route.
In July 2025, after two weeks of intense effort, she became the youngest person in history to complete an 8c climb.
Veronica’s approach to conquering difficult routes is simple: “Just keep going ... make things enjoyable,” she said.
Veronica trains five days a week, and up to eight hours a day on weekends. She also studies at ESF Renaissance College. Despite her busy schedule, she hasn’t lost her passion for the sport.
Veronica advised other young climbers to stay focused on their goals. “Follow your dreams ... Never give up,” she said.
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