SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – Since its time as a high-altitude training site for Olympic athletes in 1968, South Lake Tahoe has attracted those who believe in the principle “live low, train high.” That mindset has drawn international, world-ranked athletes to Athletex, where co-owner Rob Pyfer is hosting a high-altitude boot camp to train for the World International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (WIBJJF) No-Gi Championship on December 11 to December 14.

Just last year, Athletex affiliated its Brazilian jiu-jitsu team with Atos, a well-established jiu-jitsu academy with several international locations. “Atos is arguably the number one team in the world,” said Pyfer. In order to affiliate, Pyfer had to compete, interview, and complete a full review with the organization. But now, athletes have come from Brazil, Argentina, Canada, and the United Kingdom to train.

Pyfer co-owns Athletex with his wife, Ali Schirra. Pyfer was an Olympic alternate for wrestling when he was younger and from his experiences training at altitude, had “always envisioned a training camp” like the one he’s established for the Atos team. High-altitude training pushes athletes harder because of the elevation, having less oxygen, and the dry weather—when they compete at sea level, they’re often at an advantage.

Schirra and Pyfer both felt that there was a “major void in the community” for gyms and sought to have a locally owned place, especially because their location was previously owned by entities outside of Tahoe. “It took four years to build because we were building a community base. For a little bit, it felt like trying to build a house on quicksand, but we’ve really established a lot of community support,” said Pyfer.

It’s that community support that sponsored athletes like Gabriel Joenk and Luke Beavis to come train in South Lake Tahoe. Joenk and Beavis are both brown belt competitors, which are one belt away from black belts. Joenk hails from Brazil, while Beavis comes from Canada.

Beavis reached out to Pyfer six months ago to train at Athletex, knowing that team members came up from San Diego (Atos’ original location) to do elevation training in Tahoe. Beavis has competed in the WIBJJF Championships before and is excited to start the boot camp—which begins on Black Friday. “I’ve been winning in International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation competitions, I’ve been staying active and competing, and I’ve been covering the mental side as well. I’m definitely stronger than before, so I feel really good about the World Championships,” he said.

For Joenk, it’s his first experience in the United States at all. He received his visa in May and was similarly interested in the high-altitude training that is offered here. “It’s really different than in Brazil, which doesn’t offer wrestling. It’s not exactly part of jiu-jitsu, but it’s a style that can be mixed in and can improve what you do. And the support and structure here is really great,” he said. Joenk added that while he’s still feeling the negative effects of being 7000 feet above sea level, he’s looking forward to seeing the results once he’s competing. Joenk said, “I feel really confident, I feel like I’m one of the best in my division. I want to prove what I can do, and prove it to myself, more than anything.”

Christiano Troisi, one of the black belt professors, also originally comes from Brazil—but he travelled from the UK eleven months ago to train and teach. “Jiu-jitsu is my life. I love living here, and I’m so happy to teach in a beautiful place like Tahoe,” said Troisi. Along with Pyfer and the rest of the team, Troisi trains for four to five hours a day. He spent his first nine months training before beginning to teach two months ago.

Troisi stated, “We come here to be challenged and to compete in the U.S., which is the biggest stage when it comes to jiu-jitsu competitions. What I really hope for is to put Lake Tahoe on the jiu-jitsu map.”

As the ten-day training camp draws near, almost 30 athletes will participate in, with almost 20 of them being world-ranked athletes. Pyfer hopes that it’ll help bring even more attention to the team and will help them to place in the upcoming competition.

While locals might not be competing in the WIBJJF championships, Athletex is offering free classes to locals next week in what they’re calling their Friendsgiving Week promotion. Community members can get a one-week free membership and try the offerings that Athletex has beginning on Monday.

Eli Ramos is a reporter for Tahoe Daily Tribune. They are part of the 2024–26 cohort of California Local News Fellows through UC Berkeley.