Reaching Higher: Megan Gleason ’18 Climbs to International Competition

For Megan Gleason ’18, a journey that began as a challenge to face her fears in Whitman’s Climbing Center has turned into an international athletic career. Now a silver medalist headed to the World Cup with the U.S. Para Climbing National Team, the climber is redefining possibilities—both for herself and those watching her ascent.

Starting From the Ground Up

Photo courtesy of Megan Gleason

Growing up with cerebral palsy (CP) on Bainbridge Island, Washington, Gleason shied away from team sports, particularly those that featured running. Her diagnosis limits the strength and coordination of her right leg as well as her balance—and she has occasional bouts of clonus, a sustained, rhythmic muscle spasm triggered by stress and fatigue. 

“I was always two steps behind in soccer,” she recalls. Individual sports, like horseback riding, turned out to be a better fit, but climbing was barely on her radar before college.

At Whitman, Gleason started looking for a sport she could do consistently. She tried Ultimate and went on a few Outdoor Program trips, but despite a fear of heights, it was a Beginning Rock Climbing course that spoke to her, she recalls. “There’s no magical story about what made me sign up for the class. It was more just, ‘All right, I’m going to show up and keep facing my fears.’” 

Stepping out of her comfort zone energized her, but at one point in the semester, her workload caused her to miss several climbing classes. To fit in makeup sessions before the semester ended, she had to climb four times in one week, which she’d never done before.

“It was a little insane,” she says. “But that was where it clicked.” For the first time, she could see measurable progress—and she started to fall in love with the sport. 

The summer after her sophomore year, Gleason returned home to Bainbridge Island, where she recruited her younger sister as her climbing partner. And for a while, they pursued the sport together. But over time, between studying abroad in France and then entering the workforce after graduation, climbing fell by the wayside. It would be five years before she laced up her climbing shoes again.

Reigniting the Spark 

Photo by Dan Gajda/USA Climbing

In 2022, in a full-circle moment, Gleason’s younger sister was home from college for the summer and seeking a climbing partner. Gleason was happy to oblige, albeit with some trepidation. “I remember being really nervous to get back into it after a five-year break,” she says.

Gleason found her footing and her love of the sport again. But she was faced with another fear when she realized that to continue climbing once her sister returned to school, she’d have to learn to auto-belay. Traditionally, a climbing partner manages the rope attached to your harness to keep you from falling. Auto-belay, on the other hand, is an automated system that allows you to climb safely solo—but trusting a device can be much scarier than trusting your climbing partner.

Gleason described her first attempts at using auto-belay as “terrifying.” But instead of backing away from the challenge, she told the climbing gym staff, “I’m just going to practice falling, so don’t be alarmed.” Then, she forced herself to fall repeatedly on auto-belay until she felt comfortable using the technology.

For the next couple of years, Gleason climbed recreationally about once a week, until she went to a multi-sport event, The Big Hurt, to cheer for a friend. There, she met an amputee who was part of an adaptive team. When he mentioned he’d competed at Para Climbing Nationals, Gleason was intrigued.  

By the end of their conversation, her curiosity had given way to ambition. “When he said, ‘See you next year [at Nationals],’ in front of his whole team, I took that as a challenge. I said I would do it. And if I say I’m going to do something, I mean it,” Gleason says. 

Knowing she’d need support if she was going to get serious about the sport, in the fall of 2024, Gleason connected with Seattle-based climbing coach Emmett Cookson. His training plan had her climbing four days a week with rest days sandwiched between training days to reduce the risk of overtraining. A typical weekday session has her in the gym for two to two-and-a-half hours after her workday as a Marketing and Communications Consultant at the consulting firm Spur Reply. Weekend sessions can take up to four hours, with plenty of rest between climbs. 

After six months of consistent training, Gleason went into Nationals this March with no idea how she’d stack up. As it turned out, her best was enough to earn a silver medal and a spot on the U.S. Para Climbing National Team.

More Than a Medal Hunt

Though Gleason’s athletic skills and aspirations have grown tremendously since she first dipped her toe in the climbing world, her love for the sport remains rooted in the way it makes her progress so obvious. “You have such a clear problem—and the rush that comes with solving it is pretty hard to beat,” she says.

It turns out, the difficult pre-veterinary coursework she tackled at Whitman was excellent preparation for navigating challenges on the climbing wall. As a French Language and Literature major with a minor in Biology, Gleason thought she’d never master her Organic Chemistry class. But she said to herself, “I’m just going to figure this out”—the same mantra she employed to psych herself up for the auto-belay and still uses when staring down a tough climbing route.  

Knowing she can be pushed to her limits “and come out the other side being able to do more than I thought I could” is empowering. With every new challenge she completes, Gleason’s confidence grows. “I’ve found I can’t say, ‘I’ll never be able to do that’ anymore. It’s not that I can’t get there, it’s just a question of how long it will take.” 

While CP can make certain routes more difficult for Gleason, who wears a prosthetic device to support her right leg when not climbing, she appreciates the way climbing exposes every athlete’s unique strengths and weaknesses. “Whether it’s your height, your reach, or something else, everyone is having to adapt their movements [to accommodate their body],” she says. “I still stick out as the climber whose right leg isn’t very cooperative, but everyone is dealing with something.”

Even if Gleason is tired, she hits the climbing gym anyway, knowing her competition is hard at work—and not knowing who she might impact through her efforts. While she knows there’s much more to her story than her disability, she recognizes that her visibility matters. “I’m the only para climber I know of at my local gym, and I think it’s important to keep showing up because you never know who is watching.” 

As a para climber, Gleason has few role models in the sport. “It’s hard to see yourself doing something if no one has gone before you,” she says. But she’s grateful for women like elite para climber Melissa Ruiz, who shares her journey on Instagram. “Knowing there are climbers with CP out there is pretty cool, so the chance to be an example for someone else is huge,” says Gleason. “I don’t want it just to be about me achieving glory.” 

On the Horizon

Gleason’s next competition is the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) Para Climbing World Cup, starting in Salt Lake City on May 20–21. “I just want to give it all I’ve got and see what happens,” says Gleason of her first global competition. “I’d love to podium, but I’m not sure what to expect.”

While she’s keeping her eye on Salt Lake for now, she hopes an even bigger stage could be in her future. In 2024, the International Paralympic Committee announced that Para Climbing will make its Olympic debut at the LA 2028 Paralympics. Gleason doesn’t yet know what the future will hold. At the time of this writing, the International Olympic Committee had yet to release qualification requirements. Meanwhile, she will have to requalify for the national team every year. 

While she hopes to stay on the team and ultimately make it to the LA games, she’s proud of how the sport of paraclimbing is expanding. “As the sport grows, I don’t know if I’m going to be competitive in 2028,” she says. But either way, “I’d consider it a win.”

You can learn more about para climbing on the IFSC and USA Climbing websites. To cheer on Gleason in the IFSC Para Climbing World Cup circuit, follow her journey on Instagram.