by Amy Saffell
Being a wheelchair user doesn’t typically mean feeling tall or
towering over others. Far too often, those of us who navigate life on wheels don't get to try
adventurous sports easily in our own city, either, however I recently had an experience
that reverses both of those trends: climbing.
Nashville held its first adaptive climbing clinic at our
local climbing gym, Climb Nashville, with the help of Catalyst Sports, the
largest adaptive climbing program in the country. Catalyst is based in Atlanta
and travels throughout the southeast to implement adaptive climbing programs in
various cities. With the success of Catalyst’s efforts, other organizations in
different areas are taking note, and adaptive climbing has spread across the country
in recent years. The sport has become popular enough that this year marked the
first USA Paraclimbing National Championships, with top competitors advancing
to the World Cup.
![]() |
Amy in the Wellman Chair |
I had previously climbed once using a chair pulley system,
known as the Wellman Chair, created by and named for Mark Wellman. Wellman was
injured as a young adult climbing in the Sierra Nevadas and lost the use of his
legs. He not only didn’t stop climbing, but he has since climbed some of the
world’s toughest peaks and lit the 1996 Paralympic cauldron by climbing to its
top. He has also become dedicated to helping other people with disabilities
learn to climb. My first experience with the Wellman Chair was at a convention
center with somewhat low ceiling. I knew that I didn’t get the full experience
of what I could accomplish in climbing then, but it made me eager to try again.
The Nashville climbing clinic also had a Wellman Chair setup, but I first wanted the opportunity to climb the wall. Able-bodied climbers
use their legs for balance and support, and I knew that it would be much harder
to only use my arms, but I was up for the challenge.
As I went up to the wall,
the fabulous volunteers were incredibly encouraging, and I began to climb. It
wasn’t long before I began to doubt my abilities. Pulling myself up was such a new experience! I didn’t feel like I was going to fall, and since I was
facing right up to the wall, I didn’t have a fear of being up high at all, but
I didn’t feel like I knew where to grab next. Since pulling up isn’t
something that I do ever in my daily life, I began to doubt that I could
make it very far. I was also a little worried about what my legs were doing
since I couldn’t see them or have control of them. So, I stopped. The
volunteers were completely supportive of what I wanted to do, so they suggested
that I try the Wellman Chair, since I knew that I could do it, and then come
back to the wall if I wanted to try again. I met some of my friends back at the
Wellman Chair, and we all realized that we were having difficulties getting our
bearings at such a new experience like climbing. We found common ground in our
experiences and supported each other in doing what we could and simply enjoying the process.
![]() |
Amy up in the Wellman Chair |
In the Wellman Chair, I really excelled. Rather than skill or immense strength, now it was much more
about endurance, which is definitely more in my wheelhouse. It was a great feeling getting to the top of the climbing
gym, three stories high. I could see everything from up high, and I had gotten
there on my own! What is wonderful about the Wellman Chair is that the pulley
system reduces the pulling force, so people with disabilities that affect their
muscle strength can still climb. The handles on the pulley system allow people
to grab on in whatever way that they can. There are also cuffs that can be used
for quadriplegics. One of my friends doesn’t have any grip in her hands, and she got to
the top like a rockstar.
While we ate lunch, my friends and I talked about our
experiences, and we could all feel our competitive juices flowing. We’d had
great mornings, but none of us had gotten to the top of the climbing wall, and
we were all eager for one more try. Even though I barely got a foot off of my
chair the first time, I couldn’t help but think that I could do better after
watching other chair users conquer the wall. I went back to the volunteer who
had helped me during my first attempt, and she was thrilled that I came back.
She had found another spot on the wall that she thought I would like better.
There are numerous wall sections, and they’re all different with varying
degrees of difficulty and different kinds of holds to grab. As she worked with
other climbers, she had found this section, and she had also learned that for
climbers who were chair users, having a volunteer climb alongside them to help
support dead weight or to keep them steady really made a big difference. And
did it ever! I got almost all the way up before I was ready to stop. The girl
climbing alongside me was helping me just enough to make climbing possible, but
not so much that it made it easy. She convinced me to keep going a few times
when I thought I might stop, but after a while, my muscles were done! I had
watched other climbers and saw that their legs looked fine and were in good
positioning. When I mentioned the concern about my legs, another girl I knew
who was volunteering said that she would watch my legs and let me know if they
looked like they might be getting in an awkward position. That gave me the
peace of mind to just focus on climbing, and I was really proud of how high on
the wall I reached.
One of the great things about climbing is that people with
and without disabilities can climb together in the same facility. That day at
the clinic, I was just another climber like other experienced climbers who came
to climb that day. On the wall, the equipment isn’t much different regardless
of disability. The Wellman Chair can be installed next to a climbing wall, not
set apart from other friends climbing. Nashville will soon have its own ongoing
climbing program, and I will definitely be participating.
Visit www.climbnashville.com and www.gocatalystsports.org.
Columnist Amy Saffell lives in Nashville, TN and works in the music industry. She enjoys spending time with friends, concerts, and volunteering for a local youth wheelchair sports and independence group.
'climbing new heights'.....true Amy, i appreciated ur work as a successful columnist....n, now i find u in a new diva look....gauging new heights....n, dis amazes me!!
ReplyDeleteGod bless....n, keep rolling like dis, i pray...
LoL,
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