Adaptive climbing with Paradox Sports

Paradox Sports envisions a world where people of all backgrounds and abilities can pursue a life of excellence through human-powered outdoor sports, regardless of physical disability. Paradox Sports provides inspiration, opportunities, and adaptive equipment to the disabled community, enabling their pursuit of a life of excellence through human-powered outdoor sports.

SEPTEMBER 2014

In 2013 Paradox Sports hosted eleven successful events offering recreational sport experiences to several hundred participants in different environments: ice, water, wilderness, and rock. Paradox Sports also sponsored eight indoor rock climbing events at an adaptive climbing club they co-founded in Boulder, Colorado, USA.

Paradox Sports is in the final phase of completing a comprehensive adaptive climbing curriculum, which underscores the importance of inclusiveness and the communal well-being that adaptive sports provide. 

To supplement their existing adaptive climbing training clinics, the Petzl Foundation brings financial assistance for the creation of a printed instructional manual. This how-to guide for adaptive climbing is designed to be used by anyone involved with adaptive sports from individuals to climbing gyms. This informative manual also includes simple instructions on creating and operating a local adaptive climbing club program.

The manual is comprised of six main chapters, written by Dougald MacDonald, current editor for the American Alpine Club’s publications, along with Paradox Sports’ Curriculum Director, Pete Davis. 

Information in this instructional guide also draws from the experience of leading adaptive climbing athletes, adaptive outdoor educators, and adaptive sports agencies. The manual is scheduled for completion in early 2014, and will be available on Paradox Sports website.

Christa Brelsford, climber with a below-the-knee amputation, says:

"After I lost my foot, I was climbing before I could walk, and I think that I actually figured out walking a lot quicker than I would have, had I not been climbing at the time. Top-roping in a climbing harness allowed me to figure out how to progressively weight and unweight the prosthetic, and to learn how it behaved, without the fear of falling."

Photo : Claudia Lopez

Uploaded in september 2014

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