Girl power.

Navigation: Main page

Author: Unknown

Clinging only by her fingertips and a touch of rubber sole, Monique Forestier recently became the only Australian woman to complete a grade 32 rock-climb. On the Australian climbing scale, this is only one grade off the hardest climbs in the country that have been completed by only a handful of men. Monique's 25 m climb, called Intergalactic Lactic Spastic, in the Blue Mountains, NSW, has a 7 m overhang and involves a long series of handholds no more than 10 mm deep, with room for three fingers at the very best. "Some are only two fingers and a little dimple," Monique said after the exhausting climb. "There's nothing really big enough to rest on, so you just keep going until you either make it of fall off." Monique completed the climb in one go, but clipped a rope into pre-placed karabiners along the way in case she fell. She believes that she's not yet reached her potential and in the next few years hopes to tackle even more challenging routes.

• Height: 1.63 m

• Armspan: 1.63 m

• Weight: 45 kg

• Age: 30

• Experience: 6 years

• First climb: In a gym

PHOTO (COLOR)