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Climbing

Rocks & Recovery: Paraclimber Brittany Davis and the Path Back to the Wall

An accident that left her paralyzed isn't enough to keep Brittany Davis down or off the wall.

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“It had been a little over a year since Brittany’s accident when I caught up with her at a training camp for Paraclimbing World Championships. She was preparing to compete at the 2018 competition in Innsbruck, Austria, having made the U.S. team just a few months before. For over a year she had been in recovery from a route-setting fall that had left her paralyzed with a broken wrist.

In the short time since then she had made remarkable progress, but still had a long road ahead of her. At the time of the camp she still couldn’t take a full fall, so when she warmed up on boulders her strategy entailed climbing up half a route, traversing to a set of jugs on an easier problem and then down-climbing to safety. It seemed tedious, but what showed through in her training routine was her determination.

I got to talk with her about her past year and she shared her goals, her journey and the role climbing played in her recovery.”

— Matt Chao, director


Director/Producer: Matt Chao

Climber: Brittany Davis

Additional Photos and Video: Tom Condie, Aaron Davis

Special Thanks: Kareemah Batts, Scott Blackburn, Andrew Chao


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