Louise Campbell

When I was a wee child growing up in Ireland, bullies from my school would throw my lunch potato into the tops of the trees near the Guinness factory or onto the factory roof. I would have to retrieve my potato if I wanted to eat that day, which meant a lot of free solo climbing.

As the bullies got older and stronger, they would throw my lunch potato higher and further, and I would have to climb higher and further also. I never thought that out of such a horrible experience, my greatest passion in life would be born: climbing.

I no longer need to climb to eat, but I live to climb, and I climb to feel alive.