Every Body Climbs | Melissa Ruiz on Training with a Neurological Disorder
Today's episode, which comes to us from Every Body Climbs, features Melissa Ruiz. Melissa has been climbing and competing for about 6 years. She’s got a collection of medals to her name, including five gold, from national and world paraclimbing championships/cups.
But recently she's started climbing outside, and to put it lightly, she is stoked. So, this October (2024) she'll be teaching an aid climbing workshop at the Adaptive Climbers Fest in the Red River Gorge. Aid climbing is part of how Melissa has been able to access outdoor climbing with her disability, which is cerebral palsy. We pick up the conversation as she's explaining her condition and throughout the episode we talk about the importance of core strength, the joy of outdoor climbing, and what grades really mean.
Every Body Climbs (EBC) is a collaborative podcast bringing you interviews with para and adaptive climbers. These profiles can be heard on The Power Company Podcast and Sends and Suffers. Content about festivals, engagement projects and other modes of community building air on Sends and Suffers, while training and nutrition focused interviews can be heard on The Power Company Podcast. Host, Emily Chen-Newton is a freelance adaptive sports reporter working in both print and broadcast. Living with a chronic medical condition herself, her journalism centers athletes, not their disabilities. When she’s not reporting, she’s rock climbing with her husband and their two cats.
EXPLORE FURTHER
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