A Frome woman has achieved national success, winning first place in the British Paraclimbing Championships and third in the Paraclimbing World Cup in France.
Charly Andrew, who is part of the GB Paraclimbing Team, walks with a crutch due to limited movement in her left leg after having a quarter of her pelvis replaced when she was 16, following a diagnosis of bone cancer.
She began climbing in 2015 after an ex-colleague introduced her to the sport. Last year, she started competing at a national level in the British Paraclimbing Championships. This year, she achieved first place in her category at the championship in Edinburgh. She then flew to Laval, France, to compete in the World Cup, where she came third in her category.
“It’s still a bit of a wild feeling for me to be competing at all, let alone placing,” said Charly. “The British Nationals last year was my first serious competition, so it feels great to have pushed myself to show up last year and really cool to have won this year. Last year I won too but I ended up in the wrong category, so it doesn’t feel like it really counts.
“The World Cup in Laval was so cool. The routes were so much fun and varied. I had to really fight on my first route, which I thought was going to be the easier one, and nearly topped the second. I finished the qualifier round in second place and ended up coming third overall, which still feels unreal. There is definitely a bit of imposter syndrome.”
When Charly was 16, she had bone cancer in her pelvis and surrounding soft tissue. “Along with a year of chemo and radiotherapy, I ended up with a quarter of my pelvis being replaced,” explained Charly. “The amount of bone and muscle that was removed, and the subsequent radiotherapy, means I have very limited range and power in my left leg, so I walk with a crutch.
“The lack of range and power impacts my climbing pretty substantially. I can’t stand up through my left leg or lift it higher than a few inches. There are some moves I just can’t do, but I enjoy trying to find a way around these.”
Charly is the co-owner of Frome Boulder Rooms on Vallis Road, which she and her partner Niall opened in 2020.
With the competition season now finished for the year, Charly is training for the next season. “The comp season starts back up in May and I’m currently trying to figure out how much time I have to sink into the season, but I think I’ll be at least another couple of World Cups again in 2026,” she said.
