On a recent late summer afternoon, Nathaniel Perullo, 17, feels right at home at his home away from home, the climbing wall inside the Bend Endurance Academy. The Academy anchors a retail horseshoe of businesses within honking distance of one of Bend’s busiest intersections at Reed Market Road and Third Street.
This day, Perullo is climbing and hanging out with three other climbers who are installing new hand and foot holds, establishing new climbing routes and then trying them out. It’s quiet and informal, very laid back, a far cry from the world championships in Helsinki, Finland, where Perullo competed earlier this summer.
He works on two disciplines — bouldering or free climbing, and lead climbing with a rope. Between the two, he says, all the training adds up to “a lot of mileage.”
Last year in Salt Lake City, Perullo qualified for the U.S. youth development team. This year at the nationals in Portland, he finished fourth in lead climbing and won the top spot in bouldering, going up against 50-60 competitors in each discipline. The first and fourth place finishes made him the nationals’ overall top climber, and qualified him for “the worlds” in Helsinki.
He says he’s always wanted to make it to the worlds. “I’ve been working toward that goal for years and years.” He made it to the semi-finals and finished in the top 24 in the world. Perullo competed two days in a row but was eliminated before the third day. He says he was pleased to make the semi-finals in his first visit to the worlds.
“I was a little disappointed with my semis performance, but it was definitely a good experience. I’m glad I made semis; that was my main goal.” Also, Perullo was the first one up so he didn’t get to watch any other climbers. In climbing, there is no practice. The climber looks at the wall, decides a route and goes for it.
He said he knew his two other American teammates, from California and New York, from previous competitions. Other climbers represented all of Europe, most of Asia, South America and Canada. He said that France and Japan were dominant in the competitions.
Perullo had to endure the 11-hour flight from Seattle to Helsinki. “The jet lag was hard, plus I got sore from sleeping on the plane.” He and dad Yon flew over ahead of time to allow three days to recover from the journey. There’s not much darkness in Finland this time of year, so it took him a little time to get on the right sleep schedule.
Mom Nicole came over later, while twin brother Wyatt (who also used to climb and made nationals a couple of times) and sister Eily offered moral support from home.
There was no language barrier as English was ubiquitous. He took five U.S. team jerseys to trade and returned home with jerseys from France, Canada, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands.
Mom Nicole felt happy and proud. “I feel Nathaniel is really lucky to have a passion that he intrinsically feels the drive to pursue and that it feeds his soul. It is so inspiring and wonderful to witness.”
The family has home videos of him climbing on a play wall at age 3. He started real climbing at age 7 and decided he wanted to compete at 8. He attended his first nationals at 9 and earned his first podium finish, second in bouldering, at 10.
As he returns for his senior year at Cascades Academy, Perullo will resume his serious after-school training routine of four to five hours a day, five days a week, then home for dinner, studies and bed. Training includes climbing laps on the wall and doing forearm curls and other specialized muscle exercises to build up strength everywhere from his toes to his fingers. Of all the training, he says 70 percent of it is on the wall.
For climbing, Perullo says he is not trying to develop huge muscles, so it’s “activities that make you super strong but not super big.”
Upon his return from Finland, he took a two-week break from serious training and got to do some hiking and hanging out with friends, normal teenage activities that he has to eschew during training season. He says he misses those things but accepts that it’s part of the sacrifice he has to make to be successful. Perullo also has a part-time job that he has to cut back on while training.
As he heads into the coming season, Perullo says he wants to cut down on sugar. “This year I’m going to try to focus more on my diet.” This means three meals a day, with healthful snacks in between. He points out that training for the two disciplines burns a lot of calories.
“If I have a cheeseburger from time to time, it’s not the end of the world.” He said he also will not cut out pizza entirely, but adds, “I’m not going into the Doritos bag.”
The goal remains the same, to qualify for the worlds next summer in Italy.
Next up is the 16-over elite nationals in February and team trials in March, then the nationals, all leading up to the worlds. Since winning this year’s nationals in bouldering, he says he really wants to win the national championship in lead climbing next year. “I would love that, too.”
He welcomes any sponsors who can help him cover expenses for all the regional, national and international competitions.
Meanwhile, through a deal with the U.S. team, he gets to pay in-state tuition to attend the University of Utah and plans to study to become a paramedic firefighter, and down the road, train for the 2028 Olympics, if that plays out.
This article appears in the Source September 11, 2025.
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