New Arc’teryx athlete aims to make climbing more inclusive
Outdoor brand Arc’teryx has added US-based climber Ashima Shiraishi to its roster of sponsored athletes.
Ms Shiraishi was born in New York and discovered climbing at the age of six at a facility called the Rat Rock in Central Park. She went on to achieve a string of accolades of first-female-ascents and youngest-person-ever ascents on a variety of climbs.
Now based in Los Angeles, she combines climbing with university studies at UCLA.
She has said she takes great motivation from a desire to make rock climbing a more inclusive sport, and that she shares Arc’teryx’s ambition of making the outdoors in general more accessible. “I’m hoping that, together, we can amplify the voices of those who have historically been left out of the conversation,” she said.
Something else she said she was looking forward to is working with Arc’teryx designers, with a particular desire to become involved in circularity initiatives. She said she admired the company’s emphasis on reusing gear and repurposing materials via a programme called ReBird.
