Caroline Ciavaldini, being a mother and an athlete is possible!

Your life began in the middle of the Indian Ocean, in a tropical place, did you start climbing as a child? What are the “mountains” like there? If you weren’t climbing, what were you doing?

I grew up on the island of Reunion, in the middle of the Indian Ocean, next to Mauritius, and that’s where I started climbing when I was 12, simply at school. There are mountains up to 3069 m high there, but of course being tropical there is no snow. Also, Reunion Island is an active volcano, so all the rock is basalt, which is quite unusual in Europe. Apart from climbing, I have done many different sports, sailing, dancing, horse riding and tennis. It’s a wonderful place to grow up, because the nature is incredible and very varied, from the ocean to the mountains in 50 km!

You have dedicated most of your life to competitions, but now you don’t climb plastic anymore, what led you to make this choice? 

I spent 10 years focusing on the World Cup, but today, all my projects are outdoors on real rock. I loved my competition years, because it was a very intense search for the best athlete I could be, but I always knew that I would move towards the outdoors, because plastic is not really all that climbing has to offer!

You always climb with James Pearson, what is it like to climb with someone you trust so much and share your life with?

In fact I always climb with my husband James, he is also a professional climber. In fact, we are partners in life, in work, and we spend almost all our time together. Some might say that this is unhealthy, but it works very well for us: James knows me perfectly well as a climber, just as I know him perfectly well, even though we are two extremely different types. James always pushes for adventure and danger, while I push for safety, and I think this is a great mix.

It’s strange to imagine climbing without him, because he’s my perfect partner, but actually since we have a baby, we’ve started climbing with other people as well.

Your hardest project ever?

I don’t know if I would be able to say which project was the hardest or the most difficult. Certainly making the first female ascent of Voie Petit took a lot of time, concentration and conviction, but so did going to Japan to climb waterfalls or leading an expedition to Reunion Island to open a new route! Some projects are hard and challenging because you have to be the “best climber” you can be in terms of the difficulty of the routes, some projects are hard because they are scary and dangerous and you have to find the balance between a little risk and too much risk… and that makes the difference between success and disaster. Even our recent trip to Ethiopia with our son Arthur was hard because we had to understand how to take risks while being parents.

By now you and James have formed a family and you can call yourself a “mum”, how do you manage to be a woman and a mum in a world that for years has been predominantly male? 

I am a mum, a climber and a wife in a world that is still predominantly male. I guess I don’t find it so difficult because I’m used to it, as it was already like that when I started climbing at the age of 12. There are positives and there are negatives. For example, it’s really hard to be the best among male climbers. A female first ascent is never considered to be a pure first ascent. I’ve actually created an event that is dedicated to female climbers, it’s called Grimpeuses, and it aims to make women more aware of and advocates for their climbing. As women, we have to fight millennia of preconceptions and the first person we have to convince that we are capable of this is often ourselves.

The idea of being a parent makes many people imagine a life limited by children, but you are an example of how being a family can be an advantage in the outdoor world, is it really difficult?

There is this idea that children limit your freedom. But I think those ideas come mainly from the belief that children shouldn’t be in certain places. James and I never put a limit on what I could do as a climber when I was pregnant. Instead of listening to opinions I trusted my body and my knowledge of myself and that worked out well in the end.

Once Arthur was born, we behaved similarly, of course we pay attention to his safety and well-being, but we also allow him to climb a table, a wall, a tall tree, even though he is only two and a half years old. In general, life with the little one has taught us a lot: first of all, I have become more patient, and Arthur marvelling at the small details of the world, such as grass or a pebble, has reminded me how wonderful the world is in its small details.  Now we go on adventures by bike and climb for weeks, we have been to Ethiopia and spend a lot of time in the van.

Of course there are some bad days, I remember one day when Arthur was younger, he cried every time I tried to start a route, I ended my day wondering if I could really be a climber and a mum, but then the next day he was the perfect little boy at the crag playing with rocks, and I climbed without any problems! I think it’s all about patience.

You are currently pregnant, how do you foresee the coming months? Is there any advice you would give to others who would like to follow a path like yours? 

Number two is on the way! It’s going to be a girl and I’m eight months pregnant. I’ve just stopped climbing, to be honest climbing has been easier than walking, really. I guess it’s because it’s what my body does best. First of all I would like to tell every pregnant woman that she should not stop at a doctor’s advice, because doctors sometimes don’t really know what climbing is, and medium-intensity sport has been proven to be great for mums and babies!

You should rather listen to your body. I know that all these ideas and tips come easy when you are a full-time athlete, and it is much more difficult with a normal job, but I believe that with enough patience, you can continue with your passion even if you are a parent and have a full-time job. The only ingredient you need is to get both parents involved and to have good family support.

Future plans?

To start with, I aim to get back to my best level, and just as it was extremely hard for Arthur, I know it will be hard for little Z (that’s his nickname), but this time rather than being impatient and going too fast, I will allow my body to take the time it needs.

James and I are dreaming of a big family and eco-friendly trip to the USA, we’d like to cross the Atlantic on a sailboat and then take a road trip in an electric car, exploring all the walls the USA has to offer. Let’s see what happens!