This woman who scaled a 2,600-metre mountain face says she 'proudly checks the disability box'

The Sunday Magazine19:34This woman who scaled a 2,600-metre mountain face says she 'proudly checks the disability box'

Originally published on April 15, 2023.

Adaptive rock climber Maureen Beck sees herself as a role model — but not just for people with disabilities.

The 2019 National Geographic Adventurer of the Year became, in 2018, the first adaptive climber to summit the 2,600-metre White Lotus Flower mountain face in the Northwest Territories' Cirque of the Unclimbables — completely unassisted.

"I never identified as having a disability because I'm like, 'Oh, that's negative. That means you can't do something. I'm not disabled. I can still take full advantage of life,'" she told The Sunday Magazine guest host David Common.

Beck, who was born without a left hand, said she didn't really comprehend the idea of a disability until she started paraclimbing in her 20s and met other disabled athletes. Even then she didn't see it in the traditional sense.

"Like, sure, they're blind, they're missing limbs, they're in wheelchairs, but they're still climbers first and they just have a disability to go with their climbing. And that's when I realized that actually having a disability is pretty cool."

'We can get out there and try hard and bleed and fail'

She said she bristles at the idea that people with disabilities require special care. "We can get out there and try hard and bleed and fail, and then go back and do it all again the next day. So I now proudly check the disability box."

Beck, who lives in Colorado but grew up in Maine, has won nine titles as the top U.S. paraclimber, and has been world champion twice. She was in Toronto recently to talk about her climbing career.

She does, obviously, have to make some adaptations as a climber with one hand. But not as much as people might think. "Sometimes it doesn't change a thing, which is kind of incredible when you think about how technical climbing is and how important fingers probably are for climbing," she said.

She does have to wear a specially designed shirt that allows her to touch the rock with her bare left arm but keep it warm, and not get in the way when she is belaying or rappelling. She tapes the end of her arm so she can wedge it into cracks for grip. "My reach can be quite short, as you can imagine. And so, as I'm moving along the rock, I'll be making moves and using features that are different."

Beck says she's noticed a change in the way people react when they hear she's a top-calibre climber. "When I was a kid starting climbing, I definitely saw a lot of people who were like, 'Ooh, can you do this? Can you belay safely, can you be a safe climber? Like, can you, can you actually rock climb'?"

Now, people congratulate her and seek her advice. "These days, so many times I'll be climbing and someone says, 'Hey, I have a cousin who's missing their leg, or I have a friend in a wheelchair, can they climb?' And so it's just this motivation spreading through the community." 

Paula Zonneveld, an occupational therapist and volunteer co-ordinator with the Canadian Adaptive Climbing Society, said Beck's accomplishments are "huge," not just for adaptive climbers, but anyone who climbs.

"I really like to see people with disabilities represented in the sport and not just participating in the sport, but thriving in the sport, going above and beyond and really making an impact in the climbing community."

Blazing a trail for others

She added that it's so beneficial for disabled people to see people who are similar to them competing and performing at the highest levels — literally, in Beck's case.

"I think having leaders like that is so important just to trail-blaze the way for everyone else and to raise awareness that climbing can really be for everybody. You don't have to limit it or have preconceived notions about who can and can't do certain things." 

The Canadian Adaptive Climbing Society, based in Vancouver and Toronto, offers programs for people who have suffered limb loss or other injuries as part of their therapy or rehabilitation.

"We set goals, planning goals and personal goals, and we work through that all together in a group. And a huge basis of it is mindfulness practice and also working on becoming independent in climbing," she said.

The group also offers recreational programs to help volunteers meet the needs of adaptive climbers who might wish to try the sport in a climbing gym. "So providing the tools and the knowledge to all these gyms just so that if someone were to walk in and say, 'Hey, I want to climb', that they're equipped to help them do so."

Maureen Beck says she's hoping not to inspire just disabled athletes, but anyone who's ever been afraid to take on a challenge.

"I learned that the power of saying yes gave you this transformative experience. And I haven't stopped saying yes since. And so I think the lesson is when someone invites you to try something scary and intimidating, say yes."