Page 14 - 2021 AMA Summer

GUESTWRITER
Colin DUFFY of the USA
(Credit Dimitris Tosidis/IFSC)
an Olympic sport one day, but I never believed that it would happen. Negativity dominated the community discourse. Climbing seemed different; too off-the- wall, too anarchic, too niche.
For me, the Tokyo Games were a reminder that climbing has something for everyone, and that all disciplines – from indoor climbing, to elite competitions, to moun- taineering and everything in-between – can be both contrasting and coexisting. Climbers have freedom of choice: from aid ascents to expeditions, free climbing to free soloing, bouldering to bolted lines, Alpine style to ‘comp’ style indoor climbs – the activity is constantly evolving. Guard- ianship of the idea of what constitutes climbing or not – or of which discipline is superior – serves only to exclude.
One of the first Olympic gold medallists in climbing, George Mallory, echoed de Coubertin’s philosophy of striving
no matter the circumstances when he wrote about attempting Everest: ‘Have we vanquished an enemy? None but ourselves. Have we gained success? That word means nothing here [...] We have achieved an ultimate satisfaction. . . fulfilled a destiny. . . To struggle and to understand – never this last without the other; such is the law...’
The route to Tokyo was long and uncertain for athletes and organisers – and for me, to a certain extent, as a first-time Olympic journalist. After the years of build-up, the four days of action passed by in the blink of an eye. Looking back, it feels a little bit like a dream, but the memories of this historic – in more ways than one – sporting event live on.
Overall, the postponed Games were a lesson in patience and persistence; life skills that are worth their weight in gold. Success isn’t always measured in medals.
NATALIE BERRY BIOGRAPHY
Natalie Berry is Editor- in-Chief of UKClimbing. com and freelance writer with bylines for several broadsheet newspapers, WIRED UK and Alpinist Magazine.
As a youngster, climbing quickly took over her life where she progressed from Glasgow Climbing Centre kids’ club to represent the GB Youth Climbing Team at age 11 including a win at the 2007 European Youth Series in Slovenia. Today, Natalie pushes her climbing by focusing on her sport, bouldering, trad and alpine ambitions, placing 3rd in the 2018 British Bouldering Championships. This remarkable achievement earned Natalie a place in the 2019 GB Bouldering Team where she finished 11th in the European Bouldering Championships in the same year.
Anyone wishing to know more about Natalie and her work should visit www.natalie-berry.com
14 / ARMY MOUNTAINEER
Aleksandra MIROSLAW of Poland
(Credit Leo Zhukov/IFSC)