Paraclimbing World Championship 2019 France
Donation protected
Hi, my name is Trevor Smith. I’m currently a senior at Niwot High School in Colorado. I recently qualified for the 2019 Paraclimbing World Championships in Briançon, France on the 16th and 17th of July. I currently do not have the money to attend and am looking for help from you! Anything would be appreciated and hopefully a brief summary of my story below will at least bring a smile to your face.
To start, I haven’t had it easy from the beginning. When I was born, I didn’t have a right hand. Now of course this didn’t bother me since I didn’t know any better, but my parents were struggling with how I will handle my situation in life.
Many people in my life have tried to shut down my pursuits. This negative attitude, as a direct result of my nub, has shaped how I want to live my life. When people tell you that you can’t achieve your goals or that you will never do anything because you’re missing a hand, the only thing you can do is prove them wrong.
I started climbing about 3 years ago in the winter of 2016. It took a mentor for me to get started as not many people wanted to work with a kid who had one hand. His name was Ben Walburn and he is what I needed to revolutionize my life. After the first time climbing indoors and many more times outdoors, I quickly fell in love with the sport. Climbing gives me and many others the freedom to not only seperate ourselves from the world around us, but it also put the world into perspective.
After meeting others in the adaptive climbing community and climbing for another two years, I found myself signing up for the 2018 Paraclimbing Nationals. I had never competed before so I had no expectations going in. I trained hard for about 5 months and managed to place 4th in my category and 3rd in the US!
This blew me away! I was now offered the opportunity to go to Austria in September for the 2018 World Championships! I managed to pull together the money for the trip through a separate GoFundMe. When I arrived in Austria, I knew I was about to have the time of my life.
Somehow after almost topping both my qualifiers, I made it to finals! Standing there in the arena, I was the most focused I had ever been in my life. I got onto the wall and just climbed. And let me say, I enjoyed every last second of it! After falling on the last move due to a misread, I had placed second in the world!
This exact moment showed me and the world that, no matter what your circumstances are, you can achieve anything you put your mind to. I have been forever changed by my experience in Austria and I’m very grateful for everyone who has supported me.
I again qualified for the Worlds at this years Nationals. I’m more psyched than ever to be competing in France! The only thing holding me back from defending my title is money. That is why I’m asking you for your support. Anything helps and I promise you, it will NOT go to waste!
Thank you for reading this and please consider donating!
To start, I haven’t had it easy from the beginning. When I was born, I didn’t have a right hand. Now of course this didn’t bother me since I didn’t know any better, but my parents were struggling with how I will handle my situation in life.
Many people in my life have tried to shut down my pursuits. This negative attitude, as a direct result of my nub, has shaped how I want to live my life. When people tell you that you can’t achieve your goals or that you will never do anything because you’re missing a hand, the only thing you can do is prove them wrong.
I started climbing about 3 years ago in the winter of 2016. It took a mentor for me to get started as not many people wanted to work with a kid who had one hand. His name was Ben Walburn and he is what I needed to revolutionize my life. After the first time climbing indoors and many more times outdoors, I quickly fell in love with the sport. Climbing gives me and many others the freedom to not only seperate ourselves from the world around us, but it also put the world into perspective.
After meeting others in the adaptive climbing community and climbing for another two years, I found myself signing up for the 2018 Paraclimbing Nationals. I had never competed before so I had no expectations going in. I trained hard for about 5 months and managed to place 4th in my category and 3rd in the US!
This blew me away! I was now offered the opportunity to go to Austria in September for the 2018 World Championships! I managed to pull together the money for the trip through a separate GoFundMe. When I arrived in Austria, I knew I was about to have the time of my life.
Somehow after almost topping both my qualifiers, I made it to finals! Standing there in the arena, I was the most focused I had ever been in my life. I got onto the wall and just climbed. And let me say, I enjoyed every last second of it! After falling on the last move due to a misread, I had placed second in the world!
This exact moment showed me and the world that, no matter what your circumstances are, you can achieve anything you put your mind to. I have been forever changed by my experience in Austria and I’m very grateful for everyone who has supported me.
I again qualified for the Worlds at this years Nationals. I’m more psyched than ever to be competing in France! The only thing holding me back from defending my title is money. That is why I’m asking you for your support. Anything helps and I promise you, it will NOT go to waste!
Thank you for reading this and please consider donating!
Organizer and beneficiary
Trevor Smith
Organizer
Erie, CO
Donna Joseph Smith
Beneficiary
