Molly Thompson-Smith, from London, started climbing at the age of eight, after attending a birthday party at the Westway Sports Centre in Kensington.  It was immediately clear that Thompson-Smith had a lot of natural talent and she started attending climbing sessions at her local club.  Within two years, she had achieved two top ten finishes in the British Regional Youth Climbing Series (BRYCS) finals.  Thompson-Smith’s big breakthrough came in 2010 when she became British Lead Climbing Champion and followed that success by winning the British Open Championships and the British Team Trials as well as securing a creditable third place in the British Bouldering Championships.  Molly successfully defended her titles the following year and she held all of the major lead climbing titles in Britain for her age group.

Since 2011, Thompson-Smith has continued to achieve outstanding results at both junior and, more lately, senior competitions.  She is an ambassador for the British Mountaineering Council (BMC), meeting up and coming young climbers, speaking on behalf of the BMC and climbing in general, and making personal appearances
up and down the country to promote the BMC
and climbing.

David Heath, Berghaus vice president of product and marketing, comments:
“We’re really excited about working with Molly.  She has bags of talent and personality and is really going to fit in well with the rest of our team of sponsored athletes.  Berghaus has always supported young climbers and we started working with Leo Houlding when he was just not much older than Molly.  Everyone knows how well that partnership has worked and I hope that Berghaus and Molly Thompson-Smith can also develop a successful, long term relationship.”

Molly Thompson-Smith adds:
“I’m over the moon to be joining the Berghaus team.  I am going work with some of my climbing heroes and I’m sure I’ll learn loads from them, especially as I start doing more outside.  I am already a fan of Berghaus kit and have been using it for a while, but now I will be able to find out even more about how outdoor gear is developed and contribute to the next generation of great products.  I’m really looking forward to that.”

For more information about the Berghaus team of sponsored athletes visit www.berghaus.com.  For more details about Molly Thompson-Smith, visit her blog at www.mollythompsonsmith.blogspot.com or follow @MollyTheClimber on Twitter.