Reaching gold an uphill battle For paraclimber
Rachel Ma¯ ia is set to become the first Kiwi to bring home a World Cup climbing medal, but she tells Zoe¨ George that the financial rope doesn’t quite reach the top.
World Cup gold – possibly the first of any colour for any New Zealander – is in reach for paraclimber Rachel Ma¯ ia, but there’s one more giant overhang to traverse.
The 39-year-old Whanganuibased climber is a self supported elite athlete, relying on the generous koha of her local community, smaller sponsors and Climbing New Zealand – who are ‘‘wonderful and supportive’’ – but there’s no financial rope to hold her.
‘‘People might see that you’re wearing a shirt that says
‘athlete’ and assume you’re really well-supported, but it doesn’t actually mean that you have everything you need to do your best,’’ she said.
‘‘It’s hard when you feel like you’re not quite reaching your potential because there are so many roadblocks in the way and there’s so much anxiety about if we’ll get there.’’
The single mum of three – one of whom has ‘‘the superpower’’ of autism, and a rare genetic disorder – is determined to make history, but it’s not easy with the cost of living spiking.
The price of petrol alone is eye-watering, particularly when she has to drive hours each way to her nearest professional walls in Ohakune and Turangi.
Covid lockdowns literally drove her up the wall, one that was donated by her community, located in her garage.
It’s her go-to when the central North Island walls are out of reach.
The motivation to keep going and hold on ‘‘just a little bit longer’’ during ebbed and flowed, but she’s glad she persevered, as global success is just in arm’s reach.
‘‘For me, it’s more than climbing. And it’s more than making a little piece of history for New Zealand, although that’s wonderful, and would be a huge achievement to bring home the first medal in the sport,’’ she said.
‘‘That does really excite me, but I want to show my kids, and I want to do it for the single mums out there that are struggling.
‘‘I want to do it for the younger me that just couldn’t even imagine everything that’s happening right now, and the good that can come when you have a positive community and positive people and positive sounds in your life.’’
The chance to compete on the world stage also comes after she ‘‘watched the world happen without me’’ last year.
While she was able to gain a place at the World Championships in Moscow, she wasn’t so lucky with an MIQ spot.
‘‘I just had to be thankful that we were safe and healthy, and that my time will come,’’ she said.
Ma¯ ia’s time is now, as she prepares to depart in mid-May for an eight-week trip, across three World Cup events in two continents. First it’s Salt Lake City, then Austria and Switzerland, competing in the AL2 category for female amputees. It will be the first time she’s competed internationally with an artificial limb.
In 2019 Maia opted to have her leg amputated below the knee. It followed a serious climbing accident at 16, and years of medical treatment, pain and setbacks. But the wall kept calling. Post-surgery, it’s a place she finds solace, free from the constant nerve pain that radiates from her residual limb.
‘‘There’s something about the sports that we love that is both a community . . . and family. It’s belonging and it’s wellbeing. But it’s also sometimes a place to put fear and anxiety, struggle, and stress and trauma,’’ she said.
‘‘And climbing for pain relief. It’s always an escape from that. It’s the only place where I don’t feel like I have a disability. It’s the only place where I feel completely free of pain.
‘‘We can have so much mana for ourselves, I think, when we push through those challenging parts, and then land back on our feet in the middle of the joy of it all.’’
Ma¯ ia’s journey to gold will be documented by climber and filmmaker Katie Meyers, who will also be her training partner during this time. The duo have only met over video chat, but have shared similar experiences, which she knows will help bring a unique perspective in shining a light on the ‘‘climbing family’’ and community.
Ma¯ ia said she has approached the likes of High Performance Sport NZ and Paralympics New Zealand for funding, but as climbing isn’t a ‘‘targeted sport’’, it’s no dice for her.
But it isn’t stopping her trying to reach the top, and has started fundraising to get to the World Cups via a give a little page. She’s two-thirds there. It’s almost in reach.
Ma¯ ia said it’s not easy fundraising, but it’s necessary.
‘‘I know that’s the same story for so many athletes and minority sports. It’s not a unique struggle.
‘‘I also understand that big players have to work to a budget and they have to draw a line somewhere, so I’m not upset about it. But it’s an extra struggle on top of trying to do other things.
‘‘I’m really thankful that I even get to go [to the World Cups], and that is literally from the kindness of people’s souls who have given.’’
Ultimately, it’s her community and climbing family who have got her through.
That’s why she keeps coming back to the wall. ‘‘You can do enormously big, scary, challenging, wonderful things with the right people.’’
‘ People might see that you’re wearing a shirt that says ‘athlete’ and assume you’re really wellsupported, but it doesn’t actually mean that you have everything you need to do your best.’ RACHEL MA¯IA