Paraclimbing

Week Deux: Fontainebleau

I've never been a believer in love at first sight. Even as a kid I knew that sort of wishful l thinking only existed in fairytales and bad romantic comedies. However, love at first sight is the only way I can describe my experience climbing in Fontainebleau. Climbing the sloping sandstone of Font has always been a dream of mine, and I couldn't shake the feeling that the stone wouldn’t live up to the high expectations I had unintentionally built up in my head. Instead, the boulder strewn forest was everything I could have wanted and then some. It was as if it was created just for me. The only thing more I could have asked for was more time there with all my new friends because four days was definitely not enough to explore all Fontainebleau has to offer. 

Thank you to the US Adaptive Team for taking me and welcoming me to the family, René-Paul Eustache for being the most amazing host and guide, Pierre Boisson for putting a beautiful roof over our many heads, Ronnie, Mo, and Brian for all the rides, and everyone for making the trip as fun and unforgettable as possible! Au Revior! 


(I have more photos of everyone, but do to the amount of editing for each picture I couldn't post process them all!  I'm off to Yosemite for the weekend, but I'll share a link to all the photos when I get back!)

Week 1: IFSC Climbing World Championships

Sean Bailey high up on R2 during Men's Lead Qualifiers

It's currently 1:00 in the morning here in Paris, making it my official last full day here. My two week trip is coming to an end and as happy as I am to see all of your smiling faces again,  I wish I could stay here forever. This trip has been a whirlwind of competition and climbing while trying to squeeze in a little photo editing and as many macarons as possible.

This particular post is a short one about the first week of my trip which was spent "coaching" (according to my badge), photographing, and cheering on my friends Jillian, Sean, Sierra, and a bunch of new friends from paraclimbing who were all competing for the US Team in the IFSC Climbing World Championships in Paris, France.

Our story begins with Jill coming back from Paraclimbing Nationals with a first place medal and an invitation to Worlds. I had previous plans to use my vacation days for a road trip through Colorado with my dog, but as all of us who are friends with Jillian know, her excitement is contagious and she soon convinced me to join her in France instead. Flights were low and Airbnbs were plenty, so with my passport in hand and crème brûlée on my mind I said au revoir to my loved ones and email inbox. After a small miscommunication with Amtrak and a hasty rescue from the ever amazing Alexis Diller, Jillian and I found ourselves at LAX ready and eager for the rest of the adventures that lay ahead. One long nap and new friend later (I hope Portugal is treating you well Leah!) we were walking down a crowded street trying to find our hostel. The hostel ended up being quirky and cute with a short walk to Notre Dame and my favorite gelato stand. We spent our first two days walking around the city and visiting the gardens of Versailles while adjusting to the time zone. 


Jillian's first round of qualifiers for Paraclimbing was on Wednesday, where she fought hard and climbed her way into fourth place. On Thursday I ran around the stadium nonstop in order to catch Jillian's second round of qualifiers as well as Sean's qualifiers in Lead and Sierra's qualifiers in Bouldering. Jillian scored high enough to land a spot in finals the following day where she secured the fourth place spot in the Women's RP3 category. Ronnie Dickson also placed fourth in the AL2 category in his final World Cup competition. Maureen Beck took home gold with a first place victory in AU2 and Connor King finished with a sweet third place finish in RP1. Climbing competitions here in Europe are way bigger than anything I've ever witnessed in the US and it was a PSYCHED crowed that packed the AccorHotels Arena for finals on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. 

Since Jill will be writing her own extensive blog about competing I'll leave the post here for now. To see more photos from behind the scenes of the first day of the paraclimbing you can click here. Stay tuned for another blog about week deux in Fontainebleau to be followed by a post full of film from around the city.

It's now 2:30 am and I need to get to bed. Good Night!