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Emeline Lakrout

@emelineclimbs

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🧗 US Paraclimbing Gold Medalist
👩‍💼Executive Director of @paracliffhangers
👩‍🦯 Blind Disability advocate
🔊 Speaker and consultant
🗽 NYC

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Another clip from Trauma Mia, a transgender parody of the hit musical. @emelineclimbs and @hbchickpea choreographed this themselves. Emeline, who’s Blind, holds Hannah’s hand as she circles around her to help stay oriented. This also enhances the scene, because this number is about how their characters are in love.

Tickets are selling quickly but still have limited availability. Shows are on June 25 at 7 pm and July 1 at 9:15 pm, at Under St Marks as part of the @queerlyfestival.

Ticket link is in bio! by @emelineclimbs

Cast Announcement: Emeline Lakrout as Katie!

Emeline Lakrout (she/her) is thrilled to be making her New York stage debut in Trauma Mia, and is delighted to be originating the role of Katie, a woman who, like herself, is queer and blind. Emeline is a Disability Rights activist, US Gold Medalist paraclimber, and executive director of the adaptive sports nonprofit ParaCliffHangers. While this is her first musical, she is no stranger to a stage; she has been a public speaker for years, including delivering a speech at the One Young World Conference in Belfast, and she has been featured in CBS Morning News, among others. She has also worked as a background actor in an upcoming major motion picture. Her life’s mission is to fight for the joy, dignity, and rights of every single disabled person, and she is so excited to be a part of this special musical! by @emelineclimbs

The hype was real with Emeline’s first top at Canadian Nationals qualifiers in Montreal.
B1 division climbs with a blindfold on while the caller gives instructions from the bottom, feel free to ask us how this works.

@emelineclimbs
@climbcanada
@paracliffhangers

#blindclimbing
#adaptiveathlete
#paraclimbing
#canadiannationals
#competitionclimbing by @emelineclimbs

On January 24th, I’ll be participating in Owl Night, an all-night climbathon to raise money for ParaCliffHangers (PCH). I’m aiming to climb 20 routes over 12 hours… and since I’m also the one running the event, I expect that most of those climbs will happen somewhere between 1–3am. 😅🦉

For those who don’t know, ParaCliffHangers is a nonprofit that builds community, confidence, and equity through adaptive rock climbing. We provide indoor, outdoor, and competitive climbing opportunities for people with all types of disabilities.

I’ve shared my story many times before of being systematically excluded from sports as a blind kid, and how climbing changed my relationship with my body, my confidence, and what I believed was possible for myself. Through PCH, I didn’t just become a climber. I found community, leadership opportunities, and eventually a professional home.

Since becoming ED, I’ve heard so many stories of how others found the same life-changing benefits because of our work—and different benefits. Long-time climbers have been able to introduce their disabled partners to climbing for the first time at our sessions, parents have discovered a new passion they can share with their disabled children, and participants with various chronic conditions have found pain relief from the sport.

So I’m climbing all night (and probably very sleep-deprived) to help make sure this work continues to grow and reach more climbers across the country, and beyond.

If you’re willing, I’d be so grateful if you’d consider sponsoring me, either with a flat donation or a per-route pledge as I work toward my goal of 20 climbs.

👉 https://paracliffhangers.rallybound.org/emeline

And if you’re NYC-based, come check out Owl Night! The event runs from 4PM-4AM (come whenever, leave whenever, but you won’t want to), and is featuring all kinds of clinics, activities, food, raffles, and more. Families, befinners, and elite climbers alike will have an absolute blast. All event info can be found at www.paracliffhangers.rallybound.org.

Thank you for supporting me, for supporting PCH, and for cheering me on when I’m halfway up a wall at 2am wondering what life choices led me there. 💙 by @emelineclimbs

Curious about climbing blind? ✨

Swipe for an FAQ about our upcoming calling clinic at Movement LIC this Sunday from 4-7pm!

Thank you to @Movmenetgymsnyc for hosting! Register for free here: https://forms.gle/NnRJcrsWnH45T4dY8

Based in the Bay? Check out the clinic happening on the same day at our Movement Sunnyvale chapter from 3-5pm: https://forms.gle/UoYsR8CpxtKTz8fZ7 by @emelineclimbs

Training as a B1 climber is completely different from being able to watch another climber and mimic their movement. It requires repetition by feel to build that muscle memory.

We build our style through feel refining movement over and over until it’s efficient, and balanced.

With @pixel.lana calling, this was filmed at the end of a long, hard session pumped, tired, and squeezing the last bit out of the arms.

#BlindClimber #AdaptiveClimbing #rockclimbing #ClimbingTraining #adaptiveathlete #ReelClimbers #AthleteReels #ProgressNotPerfection #BehindTheScenes #Paraclimbing by @emelineclimbs

Technically, it is a jug ladder…

#blindclimbing #paraclimbing #adaptiveathlete #climbinghumor #climbinglife #climbersofinstagram #blind #gymclimbing #bouldering by @emelineclimbs

Bouldering carries extra risk for blind athletes, here’s what Emeline and I have come up with for a safe way to boulder⬇️

1. We choose climbs where the crux is low. If she pops, she can roll safely onto her back instead of dropping and risking an ankle injury.

2. Before starting, we feel out the low holds together so she knows exactly where she is in relation to the ground.

3. Once she climbs past a certain point, someone will place a hand on her back so she has a sense of where the ground is below.

4. And after she tops out, we spot and catch to minimize risk in the down climb.

5. We treat bouldering as a way to train new moves off the rope. Sometimes we will only climb to a point where either a move becomes dynamic and stop there. For example, here we are just going to a point to practice toe hook tension.

#Paraclimbing #AdaptiveClimbing #VisuallyImpaired #BlindAthlete #ClimbersOfInstagram #Bouldering #ClimbingLife #Trust #AdaptiveAthlete #climbing #rockclimbing by @emelineclimbs

Climbing is never just physical. Everything you bring in life gets carried onto the wall.
At World Nationals, Emeline fought hard but the head game got the better of us in qualifiers, a few moves slipped away, and finals weren’t in the cards this time.

Still, she climbed with grit, with trust, and with heart. I’m humbled every time I get to be her caller, and I couldn’t be prouder of the way she shows up.

We both learned a lot on this one. Time to enjoy Korea!

#Paraclimbing #AdaptiveClimbing #climbing #rockclimbing #blindclimbing #BlindAthlete #VisuallyImpaired #AdaptiveSports #climbinglife #climbersofinstagram by @emelineclimbs

This is what climbing blind sounds like:
@emelineclimbs and I working through a footwork crux.

#Paraclimbing #AdaptiveClimbing #VisuallyImpaired #BlindAthlete #ClimbingLife #Inspiration #ClimbersOfInstagram #Paralympics ##climbing #rockclimbing by @emelineclimbs

We brought our $10,000 travel grant winners, board members, partners, and supporters together for the @blindtravelfoundation New York City Weekend 2025!

The video captures scenes from our NYC Weekend and features interviews with the 2025 winners explaining their projects. The video shows shots of New York City and the grant winners together in Downtown Brooklyn. Executive Director Mike Walsh speaks to a group of people in the lounge at Brooklyn Point. The grant winners talk about their projects.

Thank you to our sponsors for the weekend: @feeldom_adaptive_gear, @aira.io, @twoblindbrothes, and @harrys! Thank you to @metmuseum for the tactile tour! We also enjoyed a performance by grant winner @ignasi.cambra!

Thank you to our other grant winners this year: @bendyblindblonde, @erinpruittauthor, @emelineclimbs, @arch_goose

Thank you @jordanallott and @codyras for the filming and photos involved in creating this video and capturing these incredible moments from our Blind Travel Foundation New York City Weekend!

#BTFNYC #Travel #Blind #LowVision #VisuallyImpaired #BlindTravel #VisuallyImpairedTravel #LowVisionTravel #AccessibilityMatters #DisabilityInclusion #BlindCreators #TravelWithPurpose #BlindTravelFoundation #DisabilityHistory #DeafBlindAccess #PodcastingBlind #AccessibleOutdoors #BlindPianist by @emelineclimbs

Dear ParaCliffHangers Community,

We are excited to announce that the Board of Directors has appointed Emeline Lakrout as ParaCliffHangers’ Executive Director.

Emeline’s appointment comes through a rigorous national search, including consideration of community feedback to shape the role description, wide dissemination of the job posting, consistent review and assessment of all applicants, and interviews spanning the Board and community leaders.

Emeline embodies the core mission and values of ParaCliffHangers. She has been a member of the ParaCliffHangers community since its early days in 2021, calling the Movement LIC chapter in New York home. ParaCliffHangers was Emeline’s entry into adaptive sports, and she has since won US Paraclimbing Nationals as a B1 category blindfolded climber, podiumed at IFSC World Cups, and most importantly, continued to foster inclusion and disability leadership in our growing paraclimbing community.

In addition to her passion for climbing and the ParaCliffHangers community, Emeline brings strong project management, team leadership, strategy, and implementation experience from the corporate world. She has been a committed disability advocate for years, helping to shape and lead legislative, programmatic, and fundraising efforts across a variety of contexts. She is also an accomplished multi-sport athlete, as climbing set off her journey into other adaptive sports including cycling, marathons, and triathlons.

Thank you to our Board search committee Emily Seelenfreund, Stacey Chen, and Nicole Sullivan for facilitating a thoughtful and transparent process to find our outstanding new leader.

We are thrilled to welcome Emeline into her new role and look forward to ParaCliffHangers’ next phase of continued growth, sustainability, and impact. Thank you for your continued support for our ParaCliffHangers community, and we look forward to all that is to come!

Dave Kovach
ParaCliffHangers Board Chair

📸: @alantdng by @emelineclimbs