Eimir McSwiggan: Champion Ice Climber

 

Meet Eimir McSwiggan…

Eimir McSwiggan is a World Champion Ice Climber from Northern Ireland who’s been living and working in South Korea since 2010.

With 6 World Cup medals under her belt, Eimir is passionate about sharing her love for climbing and dreams of bringing competitive Ice Climbing back to Northern Ireland someday in the near future…

In this episode we chat about:

  • Growing up on a farm in Gortin, County Tyrone.

  • How she got into the sport at an age when most people consider retiring

  • Life lessons climbing competitively has taught her

  • And some of her war stories from along the way (including a brutal yet beautiful 20-hour climb up Asia’s tallest frozen waterfall)

All this and more in a very heartfelt and honest conversation with one of Northern Ireland’s best-kept secrets.

Check it out.

//

Eimir McSwiggan Treasure Trove:

  • What's One Thing Most People Don't Know About You?
    I'm terrified of public speaking.

  • What's Your Favourite Book?
    Uncoiling the Ropes: the memoir of trailblazing Irish climber, Clare Sheridan. Clare is such an inspirational person and her book is so beautifully written, a fascinating read, I can't recommend it enough.

  • What's Your Favourite Quote?
    'Stick at it, you are always gaining' from my dad

  • Last but not least, is there anything you'd like us to promote?
    - https://www.mountaineering.ie/Mountaineering Ireland for anyone interested in getting into climbing.

    - https://www.theuiaa.org/ice-climbing/ for coverage on the ice climbing competition season.
    - Eimir’s Instagram

//

Today's episode is part of our collaboration with NI Connections where we catch up with someone incredible from Northern Ireland doing interesting things overseas on the last Monday of every month.

To discover more amazing diaspora stories, check out their website niconnections.com where you can also sign up for their free, monthly newsletter.

How To Listen

If you don’t have time to tune in right now, you can listen to today’s show on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Overcast or your favourite podcast app.

If it’s your first time listening to a podcast, click here to learn how to listen and enjoy audio shows.

Thanks for listening, wanna hear more local stories?

Subscribe to our email newsletter or see who else we’ve interviewed here.

Thanks again to Eimir McSwiggan for taking the time to share her story with us.

See you next time.

— Matt

P.S. You can share this episode by clicking the buttons below.

 
Matthew ThompsonNIC