Upcoming events
2022 Sport Climbing Australia National Championships
Katie will travel to Sydney for Nationals wearing two hats this year: Paraclimbing Classifier and physiotherapist. More to come!
Sport Climbing Australia 2022 Open Team Training Camp
Katie had a great time at the recent SCA Open Team Training Camp, hosted by Urban Climb and Boulder Lab. Katie presented on shoulder health and mobility, and had the opportunity to sit in on a presentation by Anthony Klarica, Sports Psychologist and Managing Director of Elite Performance. You can find Anthony's book, "The Performance Mindset: 7 steps to success in sport and life", on the Elite Performance website.
Vic State Boulder Titles 2022
Katie volunteered at the Sport Climbing Victoria State Boulder Titles on October 15th where she hung out with fellow climbing physio, Kelvin Leung of https://www.sterlingphysio.com.au/. It's great to see our community grow - here's to many climbing physio nerd-outs!
Update 20th September, 2022
What a big couple of years. We're through COVID-19 to some form of normalcy at present, and Katie is back on board after 3 overseas trips with the National Climbing Team:
Katie continues to work with climbers of all levels, from beginners to elite competitors and recreational crushers, with her characteristic no-nonsense, empathetic and goal-focused approach.
6th February, 2020
An exciting day! Hamish Anderson, of Anderson Hand Therapy, is starting a clinic at Northcote Northside Boulders on a Friday. Hamish has worked closely with Katie in managing complex climbing hands, and is an expert sporting hand therapist with a wealth of climbing and non-climbing experience. Looking forward to further strengthening our professional relationship and learning from Hamish as the year goes on!
24th January, 2020
Katie has finished her Masters of Sports Physio - Hooray! She was appointed the Australian Youth Climbing Team Physio this year, and attended their first training camp in Hobart on the 24th of January, presenting about how a sports physio can benefit and work with sporting teams and athletes. She also ran a short clinic aiming to keep the young guns in full training.
23rd February, 2019
Katie and the team at Adaptive Climbing Victoria held Melbourne's first ever Adaptive Climbing event at North Walls Indoor Climbing Gym in Brunswick. Thanks to a great team of facilitators and volunteers, the event was a roaring success and we look forward to more in the near future! If you'd like to be involved in any capacity, please email Katie or contact adaptive@sportclimbingvictoria.com.au.
1st February, 2019
Women's Uprising, North Walls, Brunswick
I'll be presenting at Women's Uprising on Hips: Heel Hooks and High Steps.
Come on down (if you hail from the feminine) and hang for a practical, informative and fun session!
Post-placement wrap-up:
One final subject next semester! On the finish line - soon I'll be an Australian Physiotherapy Association titled Sports Physiotherapist!
The Invictus Games were a once-in-a-lifetime experience in every sense of the expression. It was such a privilege and honour to work with the competitors and their support teams. Enough to make me consider applying to work at the 2020 event in The Hague.
NICA was equally as fantastic - the students in the Bachelor of Circus Arts are highly skilled in managing their workload and at times profound flexibility and strength. I look forward to sitting in on their physio screenings in early 2019.
Current projects: two Adaptive Climbing subcommittees, climbing injury research (ongoing project and planning for the next phase), writing two workshops on foundations of amputee rehabilitation, and getting ready for Christmas!
October - December 2018
Masters of Sports Physiotherapy Clinical Placements
The La Trobe University Masters of Sports Physiotherapy program has been absolutely eye opening. My head feels so jam-packed with valuable information, which I will be able to put to good use at my last two clinical placements!
- October: 2018 Invictus Games (Sydney)
- November: National Institute of Circus Arts (Melbourne)
Both these placements will consolidate my climbing physiotherapy skills and knowledge - being one of the few climbing physios in Australia, the more skills, the better!
Suffice to say I can't wait.
8 - 14/7/18
Katie is traveling to Chamonix to the 2018 International Rock Climbing Research Association Rock Congress!
The Congress title is "Towards Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 - Bridge the gap between sciences and training in climbing". I'm sure to bring back some sports science, training, sports medicine and sociological gems.
See https://ircra2018.sciencesconf.org/ for details
2/6/18
Northside Women's Workshops - Tough Tendons
Thanks to the ladies who came to my Tough Tendons workshop - I daresay it was the best one yet. We looked at tendon structure, the contexts in which tendons perform optimally, what happens when the context is suboptimal, and how to exercise back to full performance on the wall.
See https://www.northsideboulders.com/new-page/ for more deets on the Women's Workshops - they're a fantastic initiative!
21/5/18
INAUGURAL MEETING OF THE ADAPTIVE CLIMBING VICTORIA SUBCOMMITTEE ad Hardrock CBD, Melbourne
I'm so proud to announce that we now have an official working party aimed to promote access to and develop adaptive climbing in Victoria. As the newly elected chair, I have a lot to get my head around - who knows where this road will take us! Climbing is a sport that is so easily accessible and rewarding from many perspectives. See the below video for a bit of insight:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sct-QTRuwxs
14/5/18
2018 Clif Bar Youth National Lead and Speed Climbing Championships
I flew up to the Sydney Indoor Climbing Centre, Villawood, to continue collecting data for my epidemiological study into climbing injuries in Australian Comp Climbers. It was such a pleasure to watch the competitors crushing, especially the Youth boulderers - so strong!! Thanks to everyone who has filled in a survey - every response helps us to build a picture of the current state of injuries in Aus comp climbers, which takes us a step closer to determining effective ways to prevent injury.
26/2/18 - 2/3/18
2018 Lower Limb Prosthetics and Amputee Rehabilitation Course (Royal Melbourne Hospital)
I was lucky enough to share a scholarship from the Epworth Medical Foundation with a colleague to attend a week-long course exploring lower-limb amputee rehabilitation and prosthetic management. This has been integral in developing my amputee and adaptive athlete skills and knowledge - watch this space for other exciting climbing-related developments!
11 - 23/2/18
Advanced Clinical Reasoning for Physiotherapy
My 2-week intensive subject as part of my Masters of Sports Physiotherapy was held at La Trobe University this February. We had lectures, tutorials and masterclasses from some of the most highly regarded Australian physiotherapists who really are world leaders in our profession. It was a challenging couple of months leading up to the subject with a lot of pre-reading and preparation, anatomy revision and case-study development, which meant we hit the ground running at uni. The fortnight was back-to-back learning, presenting, revision and exams, with some interspersed fun. It's been great to observe my own professional development over the course of the past few years of study - I'm learning to question everything, including my own biases, and to incorporate a holistic approach to each individual. One body part or condition does not a human make - we are far more sophisticated than that!
Katie will travel to Sydney for Nationals wearing two hats this year: Paraclimbing Classifier and physiotherapist. More to come!
Sport Climbing Australia 2022 Open Team Training Camp
Katie had a great time at the recent SCA Open Team Training Camp, hosted by Urban Climb and Boulder Lab. Katie presented on shoulder health and mobility, and had the opportunity to sit in on a presentation by Anthony Klarica, Sports Psychologist and Managing Director of Elite Performance. You can find Anthony's book, "The Performance Mindset: 7 steps to success in sport and life", on the Elite Performance website.
Vic State Boulder Titles 2022
Katie volunteered at the Sport Climbing Victoria State Boulder Titles on October 15th where she hung out with fellow climbing physio, Kelvin Leung of https://www.sterlingphysio.com.au/. It's great to see our community grow - here's to many climbing physio nerd-outs!
Update 20th September, 2022
What a big couple of years. We're through COVID-19 to some form of normalcy at present, and Katie is back on board after 3 overseas trips with the National Climbing Team:
- 2022 IFSC Salt Lake City Boulder / Speed World Cups, Paraclimbing World Cup
- 2022 IFSC Innsbruck World Cup, Paraclimbing World Cup
- 2022 IFSC Villars World Cup, Paraclimbing World Cup
- 2022 IFSC World Youth Championships (Lead, Speed, Boulder)
Katie continues to work with climbers of all levels, from beginners to elite competitors and recreational crushers, with her characteristic no-nonsense, empathetic and goal-focused approach.
6th February, 2020
An exciting day! Hamish Anderson, of Anderson Hand Therapy, is starting a clinic at Northcote Northside Boulders on a Friday. Hamish has worked closely with Katie in managing complex climbing hands, and is an expert sporting hand therapist with a wealth of climbing and non-climbing experience. Looking forward to further strengthening our professional relationship and learning from Hamish as the year goes on!
24th January, 2020
Katie has finished her Masters of Sports Physio - Hooray! She was appointed the Australian Youth Climbing Team Physio this year, and attended their first training camp in Hobart on the 24th of January, presenting about how a sports physio can benefit and work with sporting teams and athletes. She also ran a short clinic aiming to keep the young guns in full training.
23rd February, 2019
Katie and the team at Adaptive Climbing Victoria held Melbourne's first ever Adaptive Climbing event at North Walls Indoor Climbing Gym in Brunswick. Thanks to a great team of facilitators and volunteers, the event was a roaring success and we look forward to more in the near future! If you'd like to be involved in any capacity, please email Katie or contact adaptive@sportclimbingvictoria.com.au.
1st February, 2019
Women's Uprising, North Walls, Brunswick
I'll be presenting at Women's Uprising on Hips: Heel Hooks and High Steps.
Come on down (if you hail from the feminine) and hang for a practical, informative and fun session!
Post-placement wrap-up:
One final subject next semester! On the finish line - soon I'll be an Australian Physiotherapy Association titled Sports Physiotherapist!
The Invictus Games were a once-in-a-lifetime experience in every sense of the expression. It was such a privilege and honour to work with the competitors and their support teams. Enough to make me consider applying to work at the 2020 event in The Hague.
NICA was equally as fantastic - the students in the Bachelor of Circus Arts are highly skilled in managing their workload and at times profound flexibility and strength. I look forward to sitting in on their physio screenings in early 2019.
Current projects: two Adaptive Climbing subcommittees, climbing injury research (ongoing project and planning for the next phase), writing two workshops on foundations of amputee rehabilitation, and getting ready for Christmas!
October - December 2018
Masters of Sports Physiotherapy Clinical Placements
The La Trobe University Masters of Sports Physiotherapy program has been absolutely eye opening. My head feels so jam-packed with valuable information, which I will be able to put to good use at my last two clinical placements!
- October: 2018 Invictus Games (Sydney)
- November: National Institute of Circus Arts (Melbourne)
Both these placements will consolidate my climbing physiotherapy skills and knowledge - being one of the few climbing physios in Australia, the more skills, the better!
Suffice to say I can't wait.
8 - 14/7/18
Katie is traveling to Chamonix to the 2018 International Rock Climbing Research Association Rock Congress!
The Congress title is "Towards Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 - Bridge the gap between sciences and training in climbing". I'm sure to bring back some sports science, training, sports medicine and sociological gems.
See https://ircra2018.sciencesconf.org/ for details
2/6/18
Northside Women's Workshops - Tough Tendons
Thanks to the ladies who came to my Tough Tendons workshop - I daresay it was the best one yet. We looked at tendon structure, the contexts in which tendons perform optimally, what happens when the context is suboptimal, and how to exercise back to full performance on the wall.
See https://www.northsideboulders.com/new-page/ for more deets on the Women's Workshops - they're a fantastic initiative!
21/5/18
INAUGURAL MEETING OF THE ADAPTIVE CLIMBING VICTORIA SUBCOMMITTEE ad Hardrock CBD, Melbourne
I'm so proud to announce that we now have an official working party aimed to promote access to and develop adaptive climbing in Victoria. As the newly elected chair, I have a lot to get my head around - who knows where this road will take us! Climbing is a sport that is so easily accessible and rewarding from many perspectives. See the below video for a bit of insight:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sct-QTRuwxs
14/5/18
2018 Clif Bar Youth National Lead and Speed Climbing Championships
I flew up to the Sydney Indoor Climbing Centre, Villawood, to continue collecting data for my epidemiological study into climbing injuries in Australian Comp Climbers. It was such a pleasure to watch the competitors crushing, especially the Youth boulderers - so strong!! Thanks to everyone who has filled in a survey - every response helps us to build a picture of the current state of injuries in Aus comp climbers, which takes us a step closer to determining effective ways to prevent injury.
26/2/18 - 2/3/18
2018 Lower Limb Prosthetics and Amputee Rehabilitation Course (Royal Melbourne Hospital)
I was lucky enough to share a scholarship from the Epworth Medical Foundation with a colleague to attend a week-long course exploring lower-limb amputee rehabilitation and prosthetic management. This has been integral in developing my amputee and adaptive athlete skills and knowledge - watch this space for other exciting climbing-related developments!
11 - 23/2/18
Advanced Clinical Reasoning for Physiotherapy
My 2-week intensive subject as part of my Masters of Sports Physiotherapy was held at La Trobe University this February. We had lectures, tutorials and masterclasses from some of the most highly regarded Australian physiotherapists who really are world leaders in our profession. It was a challenging couple of months leading up to the subject with a lot of pre-reading and preparation, anatomy revision and case-study development, which meant we hit the ground running at uni. The fortnight was back-to-back learning, presenting, revision and exams, with some interspersed fun. It's been great to observe my own professional development over the course of the past few years of study - I'm learning to question everything, including my own biases, and to incorporate a holistic approach to each individual. One body part or condition does not a human make - we are far more sophisticated than that!
19 - 21/05/17
2017 Australian Youth Climbing Championships - Melbourne
Katie is volunteering as First Aid and Safety Officer for the youth climbers of today - potential Olympians of tomorrow! Check out http://www.sportclimbingaustralia.org.au/ for details of the event, and come on down to support the climbers and crew! Physios are uniquely placed to offer fast, practical injury assessment and advice to athletes, including acute management, referrals to appropriate health care practitioners, and competition-day decision making in conjunction with an athlete and their support team.
13/05/17:
Northside Boulders Women's Workshop series, week 4/6: Injury prevention strategies
Katie has redeveloped her interactive and practical injury prevention workshop. Come and learn the evidence-based theory behind proper warm-ups, relative rest, adapting to your body, and building tissue resilience through smart training!
For more info, visit http://sendtrain.bigcartel.com/
11/02/2016:
Northside Boulders Women's Workshop series, week 4/4: Injury prevention and discussion group
Katie is taking the final week of the Northside Boulders inaugural Women's Workshop series. She will wrap up the series by tying technique, power, yoga and mindfulness together in a discussion on injury prevention, with practical on-the-wall components, goal setting, and training strategies. Knowledge and prevention is key - the rock isn't going anywhere, so let's plan for long-term, sustainable climbing practice!
For more information, visit http://sendtrain.bigcartel.com/
Note: the first Women's Workshop series is now sold out. Due to popular demand, we'll be back in a couple of months with a similar series, which will run throughout the year. If you missed out this time, check back soon!