Ashley and Sam Compete in the Paraclimbing World Cup

I joined an adaptive climbing team in the Summer of 2023. I went to my first paraclimbing competition in November., By March 2024 I took home the silver medal in the Women’s B1, totally blind, category at the Paraclimbing National Championships. This secured my position on the United States team for the 2024 World Cup season.

Paraclimbing is a sport that is still emerging and growing in its popularity. It is not yet recognized as a Paralympic event. Thus, it does not receive the same kind of financial support as other parasports. Due to financial limitations, only the top athlete in each category from the United States can receive any financial support for up-coming World Cup competitions. I am the second-highest ranking athlete in my category for 2024. Therefore, I have no access to this financial support from the U.S. team unless the top athlete is unable to compete. Currently, there is no reported funding for any athlete of any ranking at the 3rd and final World Cup which will take place in Arco Italy at the end of September 2024.

For personal and scheduling reasons, Arco is the only World Cup of 2024 in which I would be able to compete. Attending this competition will mean personally financing international travel, lodging, food, and potentially various pieces of climbing gear if the need arises. Additionally, all these costs will be doubled. A blind climber requires a talented teammate known as a caller to compete. My wonderful caller/friend Sam is my set of eyes on the ground who helps guide my ascent up a route. Her verbal guidance saves me precious time and energy on a wall and is crucial to my success as a competitive climber.

Sam and I are absolutely itching to bring our competition experience up to the next level. Competing in Arco for the final World Cup would be our greatest climbing accomplishment yet. We do not yet know the exact pricing for this event, so we are asking for any support people may be able to give. Competing in Arco will most-certainly not be our last climbing adventure. Any potentially excess funding from this campaign would be put towards future competitions. We are both training hard and honing our skills. We will both be working to make the U.S. team, and our funders, proud as we tackle this year’s final World Cup!

If you would like to watch the climb that earned us our silver medal you can head to this link. Fast forward the video to about 13 minutes and 45 seconds to skip any commercials and announcements.

https://watch.outsideonline.com/live-events/usaclimbing/I7CKYHyc