(Dinosaur)

We are 4 members of the 2022 Australian Paraclimbing Team from Melbourne, and we’re all trying to get overseas this year to compete on the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) Paraclimbing World Cup circuit!

Being disabled athletes in an emerging sport (i.e. a sport that no one knows is a sport!), we have no funding and very little support to compete, especially internationally. Having trained our way through 2 years of lockdowns, we’re all ready to put our hard work to the ultimate test, and having the chance to compete at the highest level in our sport is an opportunity that none of us want to pass up.

The IFSC Paraclimbing World Cup circuit this year will take us to the USA in late May, Austria in late June, and Switzerland in early July, equalling about 4 weeks total travel time minimum. We are all also expected to attend an Australian Paraclimbing Team training camp in Sydney in late April, with each athlete expected to fully fund their own travel, accommodation, and training costs for all trips.

As a close knit community here in Melbourne, we all also work hard together to make climbing accessible for other people with disabilities through our group, Adaptive Climbing Victoria (ACV). It would mean so much to us to be able to show the growing adaptive climbing community in Melbourne just what could be possible for them, while contributing to some much needed representation for disabled people in the climbing community. With more representation at this level of climbing, we may be able to attract more sponsors in the future, creating more opportunities for disabled climbers at all levels and making it easier for future paraclimbers to follow in our footsteps.