Kostyantyn “Kostya” Viktorov
Princeton, New Jersey
Viktorov is a nationally ranked competitive rock climber.
He started climbing in the third grade, began competing his sophomore year in high school, and has since attended more than three dozen rock climbing competitions. Now nationally ranked, he does most of his climbing locally in the tri-state area, but has also done outdoor climbing in West Virginia, Kentucky, and Ukraine.
Viktorov competed twice in the U.S Sport Climbing Series National Championship and once in the American Bouldering Series National Championship, and he hopes to qualify again this year. He says he enjoys the new and creative settings of competitions, the rush and struggle against the routes, and spending time with many enthusiastic and friendly people in the rock climbing community.
“The great thing about the sport and competitions is that there's very little negativity,” Viktorov says. “When you're climbing, you're not really going against all the others. It's you and the wall. You can't rely on your teammates; you can't count on the wall giving in. You have to give yourself completely to succeed.”