James Rudge was born without a left hand or the lower part of his forearm, but that hasn’t stopped the keen rock climber from reaching for the summit of his sport. Now 29, James was born in Bath and grew up in Corston, but it is in Bristol that he is training for Paralympics glory – either as an athlete or as a coach.
As well as being a competitive climber, the adrenaline junkie is a trustee of Bristol Inclusive Thrill Seekers and has started his own not-for-profit, Grit Collective, encouraging participation by those with physical or learning disabilities. “I’ve always been interested in thrill-seeking activities and sports,” said James, who is also a qualified parkour instructor. “From a young age I was always climbing trees and jumping off things.”
He started taking parkour seriously as a teenager, before switching to focus on climbing in his twenties. “It’s a sport with more opportunities and a bit more of an established foundation,” James explained. “There are more chances to compete, to be part of a community. And obviously it’s just been put in the Olympics with plans to extend it into the Paralympics, so it’s an exciting time for the sport.”
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Climbing is as much a mental challenge as a physical one, James insists. “When you’re climbing at competitions you get one chance to get as high as you can so you have to plan how you climb, control your breathing and so on,” he said. “It’s a marathon, not a sprint. With my arm, I have to find ways of climbing efficiently. I can still use that arm on climbing holds, and building that strength is quite important for how well I do. You also get used to using your feet and just utilising what you have.”
He added: “Climbing is all about technique. I’ve seen people with no legs, people who are fully blind, people with little or no use of either hand go up huge walls. There’s always a way and you make the best of what you have.”
In life as in sports, James has always found workarounds for whatever problem he encountered. “I’ve never struggled with day-to-day stuff,” he said. “Having one hand is just natural to me, so I’ve never felt like I faced too much of a physical challenge.
“At school I was a bit of a class clown,” he added. “That’s what worked for me, and how my confidence started to grow. Since then I’ve always been motivated to challenge my body and push myself.”
Not long after taking up climbing, James began competing at a national level. Before long he was spotted by scouts from the GB Paraclimbing Team, of which he is now a member.
In June he travelled to Austria to compete in the Paraclimbing World Cup, while in July he attended the IFSC Paraclimbing World Cup in Switzerland.
“I was brought up in a way to always adapt and give anything a go,” said James. “I went through a process of accepting and embracing what I had and how I could make the most of the opportunities I got, to be part of something awesome, like I am now.”
The inspiring athlete not only dreams of competing in the 2028 Summer Paralympics in Los Angeles – the first to include sport climbing as a discipline – but of making opportunities for others to follow in his footsteps.
With friend Tom Stabbins he co-founded Bristol Inclusive Thrill Seekers, a charity providing people of all abilities and backgrounds the chance to take part in adventure sports. Fellow climber Tom has only one leg, after surgery for bone cancer in his early teens.
BITS runs weekly one-hour sessions at Redpoint Bristol, a climbing centre on Winterstoke Road. The pair and their charity were the subject of BBC Three’s Amazing Humans.
James has also founded Grit Collective, a new community interest company with similar aims. Its official launch is scheduled for September, but the non-profit is set to run a taster session this Saturday for blind and visually impaired people who would like to try climbing.
Paralympic gold medalist Richard Slocock GB Paraclimbing youth team coach Jay Jackson will be coming to share their world-beating expertise. The session is fully booked, but James hopes to run more in the near future.
“People often don’t know they have the opportunity to take part in niche sports like this,” he said. “In climbing you’re working against yourself – people with learning disabilities and so on really resonate with that.
“I’ve always found ways of overcoming things. And even though I don’t feel out of the ordinary, because I was born this way, I can see how I can use my position to help other people."
He added: “I’ve always been trying to use my journey as a positive influence on other people and inspire their own journeys. I’ve seen how important it is to have a role model, someone who has come out the other side stronger and can share beneficial experiences.
"I would love to be part of LA 2028 in some way – competing, or helping people through coaching. I just want to keep building on my climbing and getting better. I’m keeping the goals simple in that sense."
For more information on BITS, including details of their weekly climbing sessions at Redpoint Bristol, visit their website . Follow James on Instagram to learn more about his awe-inspiring climbing career.
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