Alizee Dufraisse completes Highlander (8B+)

Alizee Dufraisse, with nine 8B’s to her name, has sent Martin Keller’s Highlander (8B+) at Sustenpass. The 37-year-old, who won bronze at the European Lead Championship and climbed her first 9a 15 years ago, completed the 8B stand start last summer and has been projecting it intensively throughout last autumn and this spring, mainly alone. In the meantime, she also completed her PhD in Sport Science.

Can you tell us more about the ascent and which was harder, Highlander or the PhD?
I first tried it in 2018 and then did the higher start last year. It’s a very long boulder where the crux comes after about 20 moves. But the PhD was harder :) You know, you work hard for six hours every day. When you go climbing, you have projects, but you don’t usually invest that much time. I'm glad the hard work paid off for the boulder as well.

The PhD thesis was a Sociological analysis investigating how climbers incorporate sport and work practices in the changing context of their sport and profession, as well as the impact of gender in these processes.

"In conclusion, we assert that the professionalization of male and female climbers in the neoliberal era is based on diverse practices, embedded with divergent values stemming from two distinct social worlds, within a context that generates multiple tensions for the athletes. Moreover, despite public policies and the initiatives undertaken by sportswomen who adopt practices aimed at promoting greater gender equality, the resistance of social actors to the destabilization of male dominance—combined with conflicting ethical perspectives on the very concept of equality—limits the possibilities for a reconfiguration of gender relations, which continue to struggle to mitigate the differential valuation of the sexes.";

"I call for the development of policies and/or initiatives, based on scientific research, aimed at promoting the inclusion and advancement of women in climbing"; "As well as initiatives, also based on research, aimed at reflecting on the development of climbing and multiple tensions and power struggles that it brings in the climbing community overall.”