UKC

"Down in the city, I was a girl being treated differently. When I went to the mountains with my Dad, I felt like an equal." For Shirin Shabestari, climbing and mountaineering presented an opportunity to transcend the oppressive barriers of inner-city life whilst growing up in Tehran.

At a time when Iranian women are making their voices heard like never before, Natalie Berry interviews three female Iranian climbers at the forefront of Iranian climbing and mountaineering, to find out how they are subverting preconceived ideas about women in sport and inspiring a new generation of young climbers.

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In reply to UKC Articles:

That's a very interesting read, thanks for that!

In reply to UKC Articles:
Interesting topic and a good article.

In reply to Misha:

Yeah, really interesting. Hope the ice climber gets to go on the BMC international meet sometime!

In reply to UKC Articles:

Great subject. Too bad about the editing though. Will read all of it when the word-spacings that vanished in the import are added.

In reply to UKC Articles:

Really interesting to read about climbing in such different parts of the world.

In reply to Jonas Wiklund:
There's been a coding glitch this evening. Hopefully will be sorted shortly!

In reply to Natalie Berry - UKC:

Thanks! Now it's in a readable format.

In reply to UKC Articles:

Really good article. Balanced in its discussion of women's rights in Iran and recognising the agency of these clearly excellent female climbers. It's for work like this that I value UKC.

In reply to UKC Articles:

Really good article, thanks Natalie and UKC.

In reply to Natalie Berry - UKC:

Brilliant, interesting and very worthwhile article, chapeau.

In reply to UKC Articles:

Fantastic article. These women show incredible determination.

In reply to UKC Articles:

It's great to see climbing being a source of self expression in such difficult circumstances. Humbling as well. Cool. Great Article.

In reply to UKC Articles:

What an excellent and inspiring article! The Bumper Book of Climbing Fun team have just returned from climbing in Sicily, where we had the great pleasure of meeting at the crag a young climber from Iran. Her conversation was really stimulating and I'm sure she will be very interested in this article when I forward her the link.

Out of curiosity, what prompted the article?

In reply to nwclimber:
I had heard of Farnaz through the IFSC events but she has also featured in a lot of mainstream media interviews recently. I knew Shirin through the making of her film Damavand: An Iranian Dream (which is at the end of her section and featured on the homepage and well worth a watch if anyone hasn't managed yet and can spare ten minutes!) and the two stories suddenly came together. I was interested in their commitment to two different disciplines, which were affected differently by the strict laws in the city. Shirin then introduced me to Zohreh who added yet another angle.

Added to this is the fact that there really has been a lot of coverage about hijab laws and women's sport in Iran of late, which made research quite full-on but really interesting. Do a Google search and you'll find there's been a story at least once a week in the past few months!

Many thanks for the positive comments! I am very glad that their stories have been so well received.

In reply to UKC Articles:

Superb article. Thanks!

In reply to UKC Articles:

A very thought-provoking article indeed. Many thanks!

Mick

In reply to UKC Articles:

I saw the Iran youth team in Arco last year at the youth world champs and managed to have a brief chat with the coaches. It was great to see them there: and climbing well!