The USA Paraclimbing Team is headed to Austin, Texas this weekend with a Cincinnati team member.
Nationally-ranked adaptive climber, Caroline Winstel-McLeod, has been preparing for her third entry to the Paraclimbing Nationals since last year. She trains four times per week around Cincinnati, most often at Climb Time Oakley and RockQuest Climbing Center.
“I am feeling really good. I have trained really hard over the last year and put in a lot of work,” Winstel-McLeod told CityBeat in an email. “It’s a big year in competitive climbing as we are all working towards the World Championships in Bern, Switzerland in August. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t feeling the pressure and had some nerves about this weekend but that’s pretty typical for me.”
Winstel has an acquired physical disability that manifested when she was 18 years old. She was diagnosed with Rhabdomyolysis (a syndrome caused by dead muscle fibers being released into the bloodstream), hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (a connective tissue disorder causing joint hypermobility) and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (a blood circulation disorder). Today, she utilizes a wheelchair.
Paraclimbing categories have four main classifications: Neurological/Physical Disability (RP1, RP2, RP3); Visual Impairment (B1, B2, B3); Upper and Lower Extremity Amputee (AU1, AU2, AL2); and Seated (AL1).
Winstel-McLeod, who competes in the RP2 category, qualified for the last two International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) Paraclimbing World Cups, an annual competition not to be confused with the biennial IFSC Paraclimbing World Championships. She hasn’t failed to qualify since first competing two years ago.
This year’s IFSC Paraclimbing World Championships in Bern, Switzerland takes place in August and marks the beginning of the qualification path to the Paralympic Games in Paris in 2024. Winstel-McLeod says this year’s Nationals are seeing the most entries since its inception in 2017.
“It’s amazing to see. I think we have over 120 folks registered for the comp and so many of those are new faces so I know the stoke will be super high,” Winstel-McLeod said. “I think something unique about it too is that even though each year has been bigger than the last, the community piece of the comp is still at the center.”
Winstel-McLeod is a leader in the Cincinnati climbing community and paraclimbing community, which have been evolving and becoming more integrated. In partnership with Catalyst Sports, The Bridge Sports Complex and RockQuest, she helped make possible a monthly adaptive climbing night at RockQuest on every final Sunday starting this month.
After a rough summer on the World Cup circuit, Winstel-McLeod didn’t know if her body was able to keep up at competition level. She had multiple bouts of rhabdomyolysis, but says her muscles have recently settled down. She said she’s changed a lot as a climber and is starting to find her own rhythm rather than fighting her body’s limitations.
“I am going to try to be more present [this year],” she said. “The past two Nationals have been a blur and so I am excited to actually try to enjoy the comp and find my flow state on the climbs.”
Viewers can stream this weekend’s USA Paraclimbing Nationals here.
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This article appears in Feb 22 – Mar 7, 2023.
