The Early Years
From a young age I was leaping from trees and swinging out of the barn on the farm I grew up on. Fear didn’t make an appearance in my life until I was three years old when I was attacked by a cockerel and I’ve been scared of birds ever since. That aside, I’ve found my own wings with paragliding and I’ve always had an insatiable spirit for adventure. For many years my plan was simple, I was going to be a farmer and leave school when I was 16. Things don’t always work out as you think they might though.
At 12 one of my teachers suggested that if I applied myself, I had more potential academically than I realised, so I did and I did! I completed my GCES’s, A-levels & Duke of Edinburgh’s Award and embracing my love for sport and the outdoors set off into the unknown. At 18 I found myself deep in the heart of the French Alps. Every morning I saw Mt Blanc out of my bedroom window and I had no clue that this mountain would come to represent the beginning of one of my greatest passions – big mountain climbing!
Big Mountain Climbing
After a few years of work, travel and a moderate amount of sport, I got involved with endurance adventure racing with a group of friends. It was with those same friends that I climbed my first big mountain in South America. In 2004 they were off to climb Aconcagua in Argentina, at 6,975m, the highest peak in the western hemisphere, and I wanted to go to. Lack of experience, I realised, can be overcome with an experienced and solid team around you, a good level of fitness and a massive dose of the right mental attitude. That mountain led to more mountains and in 2008 I Summited Cho Oyu, descending part of the way on my bumboard becoming the world’s highest ever bumboarder. Cho Oyu is just 600m lower than Everest and that made me realise that maybe Everest and other adventures weren’t out of the question?
Alongside climbing mountains I’m a keen skier, paraglider, motorbike rider and all-round adventurer. In 2009 I hatched a plan, a culmination of several dreams I’d had over the years; to ride a motorbike down to the south of France, climb Mt Blanc and then fly from the summit. Against the odds, I managed it. Only afterwards discovering that I was the first British woman to fly from the top.
“Squash spoke eloquently about her journey that led from growing up on a farm to summiting Mount Everest. I can honestly say that we were all spellbound. Interspersed was footage and photos of Squash’s expeditions – we enjoyed every minute and left motivated and inspired!”
Irena Davies, Oil Trader, London
Aims & Motivation
Through my experiences, adventures, work and travels I’ve been able to meet some amazing people, create a career that I love and live the life that I dare to embrace. It’s down to my family and friends that I’m sure I developed the confidence to say yes to opportunities. And as a result of that, I think, “why not?”, when I suspect other people think, “definitely not!”. My motivation to do things is born out of wanting to feel and experience as much as I can. To learn and grow, to share my experiences, to make a difference to other people, to have a brilliant time living life to the full and to turn possibilities into realities. Life is short.
My aim isn’t to encourage people to do what I do, unless of course they want to. What I hope I can achieve through sharing my adventures and experiences is a reaction; to stir something up inside of others, that perhaps inspires, maybe motivates, hopefully entertains but most importantly I hope to give people a message.
“Whatever your dream, goal or plan is, ridiculously big or so small it seems insignificant, it’s really worth going for and doing something about. The journey there might lead to something quite different and the end result may or may not be as you thought BUT there’s really nothing quite like that feeling of energy, spirit and life that runs through every part of your body when you take action.”
Squash Falconer