15/06/2026
It is such a privilege to have this opportunity to support my friend and amazing athlete Rachel Māia at the up coming Paraclimbing world cups.
Everything we do is self funded and volunteer based so if you are able to donate to her page it will really help towards our flights to the competitions in Japan and Korea this October 🙏💐
Help Rachel Māia represent NZ in Paralympics para-climbing
After a climbing accident at 16 and an 18-year break, Rachel Māia returned to climbing “as a way of rebuilding my life — navigating trauma, raising three children, and learning to live again in a body shaped by pain, amputation, over 20 surgeries, and ongoing mental health challenges.”
The RCP featured Rachel on our front page in August 2018, 15 months after she had returned to climbing. She had already done well winning the New Zealand championships that year as well as getting 4th in the USA Adapted Climbing Championships. She was off to Austria in September to the International Federation of Sport Climbing World Championships.
Now, Rachel is working toward representing New Zealand in para-climbing at the Paralympics. However, she needs critical funding to reach two World Cups this year, in Japan and Korea, in October and November. She says “I currently have no sponsorship, so this path is entirely self-funded. I’m saving hard, have refinanced my mortgage, and I’m working on some art to sell too.”
Despite battling chronic pain every day and ironically having a fear of heights, she is determined to get to the debut paraclimbing event in Los Angeles in 2028. She trains from her garage because there are no climbing facilities in Whanganui.
She says, “This fundraising goal covers my core costs — but even having someone to belay me in training at international events (hold the rope) means raising additional funds to bring a coach or support person along.
My goal is simple: to stand on the world stage and show what’s possible when resilience is built quietly, over time — and to bring my community with me, from the Whanganui River to rocks to rings.”
On her Givealittle page she adds, “This journey is about showing that strength doesn’t always look loud — sometimes it looks like getting up again, and again.
If this resonates, you can also support by sharing this page, following along on social media, or booking me as a speaker for your school or business.”
https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/from-garage-training-to-the-world-stage
