Latisnos has been bouldering for over half a year now and the fit is obvious after learning of his background in parkour and gymnastics.

He stumbled across the climbing sport earlier this year and hasn’t looked back.

“I’ve always loved climbing and being a little monkey and then I discovered this sport existed on a fluke and instantly [I thought] this is exactly what I like in a sport. This is what I should do,” Latisnos said.

Latsinos will be one of, roughly, 17 members from Freestyle Bouldering Gym to compete in Saturday’s NSW State Bouldering Titles.

The group have been training for the past three months with Sasha Gerzha which has seen immense improvement by all involved.

“My hardest climb would have been a v4 when I started with him [Gerzha] three months ago and now I’m up to v7s, v8s. So it’s doubled,” Latisnos said.

“I understand what’s going on now. I look at the climbs and I can make sense out of it.

“I’ve been out climbing on real rock with him. The more experiences you have, the faster you learn.

“Having someone like Sasha to introduce me to those experiences has been incredible.”

The training amounts to roughly eight hours a week for the group but Freestyle’s Chris Eather said they weren’t going into the titles with high expectations.

“Everyone’s enjoying it and that’s what it comes back to. A bit of fun, enjoying the process and enjoying the ride,” Eather said.

“The key thing for us is enjoyment. Plus we’ve got a coach [Gerzha] who is a freak talent and off the back of that a body of people have learnt so much.”

Gerzha will also compete held at the titles at the Sydney Indoor Climbing Gym.

The Tamworth group includes juniors right through to opens competitors.