The Gifts of the Forest, Patagonia’s new film.
Zofia Reych inspires us on bouldering, life and neurodivergence.
She is currently founder of the Women’s Bouldering Festival in Fontainebleau and author of Born to Climb: From Rock Climbing Pioneers to Olympic Athletes.
Climbing is a driving force in his life, but for a long time it also seemed destructive. After being diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, and after limits to climbing during the pandemic period, Zof found that perhaps the most effective way to improve his climbing was to leave it temporarily.
The forest of Fontainebleau, France, is a bouldering mecca; year-round bouldering enthusiasts travel there to climb some of the world’s toughest and most famous boulders.
Fontainebleau, however, is also a place of great natural beauty, as experienced by the protagonist of Patagonia’s new film, who learned among these very rocks that, to become truly strong, we must accept our limitations.
Zofia’s story invites us to look at the forest from a new perspective “Sometimes, the only way to become stronger is to let go.”
Looking for changes in her life, Zofia tells us, “I had moved to Fontainebleau thinking it was the best way to turn my life around, climb an incredibly hard boulder and feel better about myself, but it was far from being the medicine I needed. Instead, I had to learn that the saying about travel and destination is more than a cliché, and that I needed what I now call, usually only in private, the gifts of the forest. I couldn’t see them without moving away from attempts to validate myself through climbing.”
