Hi there! My name is Monique Forestier, I am a climbing fanatic and I live in the Blue Mountains (near Sydney).

I have been climbing now for over 20 years. Climbing has given me, not only the perfect physical and mental outlet; it has been a constant in my life and a direction on which to set the compass to travel the world. I am truly lucky to have visited wonderful places and to have met many beautiful people whilst living my life of adventure. Now with Coco on board it’s certainly more challenging but in fact traveling with Coco has opened many doors and she adds yet another element to enrich our travel experiences.

Some of my notable achievements are becoming the first Australian women to climb routes graded 31, 32, 33 and 34. But that’s semantics and seriously misses the point about what climbing has to offer. For me climbing allows me to push my limits, physically and mentally. Focusing on my own dreams and setting my own personal challenges has given me the freedom and direction for which to pursue my climbing.

If you want to know a bit more about me…. I was born in Salzburg, Austria in 1973 and moved to Australia when I was six years old. When I was seven my mother was concerned about me doing cartwheels on the concrete but rather than stopping me she enrolled me in gymnastic classes, which lead to training elite gymnastics six days a week (that’s when I really trained hard) and later I took up sport acrobatics. After high school I completed a Bachelor of Industrial Design at the University of New South Wales in 1996. The next year I was introduced to climbing and I was instantly hooked. The rest is history….

Happy climbing!!!

Monique

PS. Here is a video of a climb that I did in France a few years back.