'The fear never goes away':  Meet the women scaling new heights 

I always thought rock climbing wasn’t for me. I assumed it required lots of upper body strength, which wouldn’t be my strong point. It seemed risky and a bit lonely, out there on a wall or cliff face all by yourself.

Yet more and more women are taking up climbing and excelling at it. What is it about this sport that they love so much?

When I speak to some seasoned climbers, I quickly learn that my assumptions were wrong.

“It’s a myth that you need great upper body strength. There’s much more to it than people think,” says Nora Frederich, who lives near Kinsale.

“It’s about balance, and you have to use your legs too.”

Nora got into climbing about seven years ago when the indoor climbing centre Awesome Walls opened on Model Farm Road.

She saw an ad for the new climbing wall and decided to give it a go.

Since then, she has become a regular visitor to the venue, and has climbed in locations such as Greece, Spain, and .

Nora tells me about the difference between indoor and outdoor climbing.

In Ireland, the unreliable weather means indoor climbing is very popular.

It’s a great way to gain experience, meet people, and challenge yourself.

Nora loves the feeling of climbing outside when she gets the chance.

“There’s a simplicity to it,” she says. “It’s real connection with nature.”

On easier climbs, Nora says “you notice everything around you and how it feels.”

With harder climbs, “you’re so focused you don’t notice anything, and then you get to the top and see the view”.

Far from being a lonely sport, Nora’s favourite thing about climbing is the community.

“The more you go to the climbing wall, the more people you meet,” she says. “I can just pop into Awesome Walls and meet 10 people I know without arranging it.”

She says climbers and encourage each other at the climbing wall, and sometimes “everyone stops and watches this one climber, cheering them on”.

As well as being a social activity, Nora says climbing is brilliant as a form of exercise.

“I like that it’s a really diverse type of body movement,” she says.

“It’s playful movement and a mental puzzle. There’s a sense of achieve-ment in figuring it out.”

Nora its that although climbing is “addictive” and she goes multiple times a week, she still feels scared “all the time”.

“I curse my way up sometimes. Fear is still a thing I’m trying to learn to deal with,” she says.

“You can work on your strength, but the mental aspect can be much harder.”

Climbing can be a great way to make friends if you’re new to an area.

Natasha Dale started climbing when she moved to Cork from the U.S five and a half years ago to study for her Masters. She ed the UCC Mountaineering Club as a way to meet people, and ended up meeting her partner there.

“All my friends are climbers, and my partner is a climber,” she says.

It became a ion for her, and she went on to work in Awesome Walls.

Natasha loves that climbing gives her the opportunity to travel to amazing places that she wouldn’t otherwise see. She says it has been “a great way to see Europe and visit places not on the radar”.

She has been on climbing trips to Wales, , Mallorca, Sardinia and Greece.

Of course, it’s not without its risks.

About a year ago, Natasha took a bad fall at the climbing wall. She fell from quite high up, flipped upside down on her climbing rope, and slammed into the wall. She was badly bruised, but thankfully didn’t sustain any serious injuries.

She knows she was lucky, and is a “big advocate” for wearing helmets while climbing. She is slowly building back up her confidence after the fall.

“It’s something I’ve had to personally overcome,” she says.

Natasha says there’s a good mix of men and women in climbing, and “women are just as capable of doing just as much and as well as men”.

She says the community of women is “really strong”, even at climbing competitions.

“There’s this idea that you’re competing against other people, but really you’re just competing with yourself.”

Climbing has changed how Natasha views exercise and fitness.

“The idea of fitness is no longer about how I look, but how it serves my climbing,” she says. “It has repurposed how I feel about my body.”

One area that is growing in popularity is ice climbing.

Eimir McSwiggan, based in Cork and originally from Tyrone, started ice-climbing while living in South Korea and teaching English.

The sport comes from the Alpine environment and involves climbing up frozen waterfalls, or artificial surfaces at competitions. In Korea, it’s very popular during the very cold winters.

Now back home, Eimir competes for Ireland in ice climbing.

She has represented the country in the International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation (UIAA) Ice Climbing World Cup, and was ranked third in the world in 2019.

She credits her time in Korea for helping her get to the top of her sport.

“When you train with the strongest, you get stronger,” she said.

Eimir is also an experienced rock climber.

Most of her travel now revolves around climbing, and she loves being outdoors, “engaged in nature” and spending time with good people.

Climbing is a “stress- buster” for Eimir.

“You can drive six hours to a climbing area, and you’re there five minutes and you feel relaxed.”

Eimir had a “really unlucky fall” during one climb, and broke her foot. However, she says it’s a misconception that climbing is a dangerous sport.

“People think it’s more dangerous than it is, but if you follow the protocols, it’s actually quite safe.”

She believes a little bit of fear is healthy when it comes to climbing.

“The fear never goes away,” she says. “But it’s good that it doesn’t because it’s one thing that will keep you safe.”

Eimir says climbing is one of the sports that women can do as well as men. “Women can climb just as hard as men,” she says.

The sport has come a long way, she tells me.

“Back in the day, women’s harnesses were designed differently, as it was assumed men would be leading. But that’s all gone now.”

It’s not just a sport for young people either. Eimir says that it’s never too late to give it a try.

“People in their sixties and older are starting, and in some areas you can see the clock reversing,” she tells me. “I was nearly 30 starting.”

Now approaching retirement from competitive climbing, her aim is to develop ice climbing in Ireland. She would love to see it become an Olympic sport by 2030.

Despite all her achievements, for Eimir the highlight of her climbing career so far is the “the time you spend with friends in the mountains, you build really good friendships”.

For any women interested in trying it out, all the climbers I spoke to recommend checking out your local climbing wall.

Awesome Walls in Cork is a friendly and welcoming climbing gym, with women-only training sessions. Eimir’s advice is not to worry about being good or bad at it. “Nobody is good from the start, so stick with it.”

I have to say, I’m tempted to give it a go.