Photo credit: Cedar Wright
Maureen "Mo" Beck has never let the fact that she is missing her lower left arm hold her back from climbing. She doesn’t want to be considered a good one-armed climber, or a good female climber…she just wants to be a plain good climber.
Stumped chronicles UVM graduate and former Outing Club member, Maureen "Mo" Beck as she attempts her first 5.12 climb. Stumped is now screening with The Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour.
Skirack hosts The 2017/2018 Banff Mountain Film Festival with two unique shows:
Thursday January 25th and Friday, January 26th at 7 PM
at the Flynn Center for the Performing Arts in Burlington, VT.
Stumped will be screening at Thursday night's show, in which Maureen "Mo" Beck will be attending.
Tickets are available at the Flynn Center box office, CLICK HERE to buy online.
Check out the preview of Stumped:
Stumped - Promo Clip from Banff Mountain Film Festival
About Maureen "Mo" Beck:
Maureen ("Mo") Beck was lucky to grow up in the Maine woods scrambling and playing in the dirt. She roped up for the first time at age 12 and hasn’t stopped since. Cragging her way through New England, she developed her potential as a one-handed climber.
Prior to the advent of social media and the Internet, Maureen believed that she was the only differently abled person in the world that climbed. She and her friends invented techniques using a trial and error process, slowly (and sometimes painfully) learning out how to climb one-handed. Just because Maureen went to the school of hard knocks and just because she thought she was the only one-handed climber, doesn't mean others have to have the same experience. She loves introducing differently abled people to climbing.
"If I can connect with someone that might not be aware of what they’re capable of and push them towards trying something new, maybe even a little outside of their comfort zone, then putting myself out there in the world as a resource and a motivator is entirely worth it. One arm? One leg? Blind? In a wheelchair? Bring it on. But will you do me a favor? Being an inspiration doesn't imply action. I want you to take that inspiration, find your courage, and take action. Change your life.”
Now based in the Colorado Front Range, Mo spends her nights training at Earth Treks and her weekends climbing all over the American southwest. She works closely with the adaptive climbing community through Paradox Sports and the Paraclimbing section of USA Climbing and helps manage the Front Range Adaptive Climbing Team. As a competitive climber, she has won four national titles, a gold medal at the 2014 Paraclimbing World Championships in Spain, and defended that title with a gold medal at the 2016 World Championships in Paris.
In addition to climbing, Mo loves gardening, her chickens and dogs, sleeping in cars, and fine Scotch whiskey.
See a link to Maureen Beck's bio: www.moinmountains.com
Accomplishments:
2017
2017 USA Paraclimbing National Championships Boston, MA - 1st Place Female Upper Limb
2017 IFSC Paraclimbing World Cup Edinburgh, Scotland - 1st Place in combined RP1, RP2 and AU2
2016
2016 IFSC World Championships, Paris France - World Champion, Women's Upper Limb
2016 USA Paraclimbing National Championships Atlanta, GA - 1st Place Female Upper Limb, First Female Overall (tied)
2016 USA Climbing Adaptive Bouldering Championships Madison, WI - 1st Place Female Upper Limb, 1st Place Female Overall
2015
2015 Paraclimbing World Cup, Sheffield UK - 3rd Place Upper Limb
2015 USA Paraclimbing Championsips Atlanta, GA - 1st Place Female Upper Limb, 3rd Female Overall
2015 Vail Mountain Games Vail, CO - 1st Place Paraclimber
2015 ABS Paraclimbing Championships Madison, WI - 1st Place Upper Limb, 1st Female overall
2014
2014 IFSC World Paraclimbing Championships Gijon, Spain - 1st Place Female Upper Limb Masters, 2nd Place Upper Limb Co ed
2014 USA Paraclimbing National Championships, Atlanta, GA - 1st Place Upper Limb
2014 ABS Paraclimbing Championships, Colorado Springs, CO - CoEd - 3rd Place Upper Limb
2013
2013 Vail Mountain Games - 4th Place Female Paraclimber
About The Banff Mountain Film Festival:
The Banff Mountain Film Festival, a program of Banff Centre, is the largest, and one of the most prestigious, mountain festivals in the world. Hot on the heels of the festival held every fall in Banff, Canada, the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour hits the road.
With stops planned in about 550 communities and more than 40 countries across the globe, this year’s tour features a collection of the most inspiring action, environmental, and adventure films from the festival.
Traveling to exotic landscapes and remote cultures, and bringing audiences up-close and personal with adrenaline-packed action sports, the 2017/2018 World Tour is an exhilarating and provocative exploration of the mountain world.
From approximately 400 films entered into the annual festival, award-winning films and audience favorites are among the films chosen to travel the globe.
View the full 2017/2018 Banff Mountain Film Festival preview:
