Senior · Performance
Biography
I was born in London, ON, and have called British Columbia home for the past decade. My climbing journey began in college, where I joined the school’s club and quickly fell in love with the sport. Six months later, I attended the Reel Rock Film Festival and was flabbergasted by Mo Beck’s “Stumped”. Until then, I hadn’t realized there were other climbers like me—born missing a hand—pursuing the sport at such a high level. Motivated by her story, I reached out for training advice. While there were no technical tips exchanged, I was encouraged to compete at the U.S. Nationals, where I earned a 2nd place finish. Since then, I’ve achieved two World Cup podiums and continue to compete at the elite level. These experiences fuel my dedication to adaptive climbing and to advancing visibility, inclusion, and opportunity within the sport.
Achievements
- I currently hold two bronze World Cup medals and 1 silver US National medal and 1 bronze national medal.
In their words
How did you get into climbing?
I’ve loved scrambling and climbing anything from boulders to trees since I was little. In college, I discovered indoor climbing gyms—and that climbing was, in fact, a sport—which completely thrilled me. I had no idea there was a whole community of paraclimbers until I saw Mo Beck’s film Stumped at Reel Rock. While she didn’t share training advice, she was instrumental in encouraging me to join the competition scene. I’ve only managed to outperform her once, but it remains one of my proudest achievements.
What do you enjoy doing outside of training?
Outside of training I love adventuring and training my mutt Milo. Hiking, climbing real rocks, biking, and paddling are some of my favorite ways to engage with nature. My nerdy side comes out when I'm found foraging, crafting miniature models and playing music or video games. I play the cello, piano, guitar, ukulele and melodic harp.
What drives you to compete and excel in climbing?
What drives me to continue competing and training hard is the fact that I thought I was the only climber with a disability out there. Visibility is what brought me into this world of sport/competition and I continue to push harder and train so that the next gen of paraclimbers never grow up thinking they're the only ones.
More athletes
Meet the full team 
Senior · Performance (Boulder) / Development (Lead)
Guy McNamee
Senior · Performance
Hugo Dorval
Senior · Development