At 35 metres high and with an overhang of 12 metres, the Tiger Cat at Elphinstone, Katoomba is a route worthy of its ferocious moniker.
However, Monique Forestier has once again proven her abilities by successfully ascending the grade 33 route on December 27 last year, becoming one of just a handful of climbers to do so.
Known as the first Australian female climber to successfully take on routes graded 31 and 32, Forestier more recently went on to make her first 33-grade climb at Oliana in Spain with a fruitful climb on Fish Eye.
Having already achieved this goal, Forestier then sought to replicate her feat on home soil, which she told us in a recent interview “wasn’t about who I could beat along the way. The fact is that Tiger Cat has already been climbed by a female, and hats off to Andrea Hah for that achievement”.
“I wanted to climb Tiger Cat for myself; to prove to myself that I could do it,” she said. “I have never really been motivated by competition with others, but rather by self-improvement.”
Interestingly, Forestier feels she has been climbing her best after taking time off six years ago in order to welcome her daughter into the world.
Her success at Elphinstone is doubly satisfying to Forestier as she admits that her stature and climbing style is less suited for sandstone routes.
“Personally I prefer to climb on limestone on long, striking lines that are more aesthetically pleasing to me. The sandstone routes that typify most of Australia’s hardest climbs often tend to have long spans between holds and this can be a real limiting factor for me.”
Having fulfilled her goal with Tiger Cat, Forestier is now taking an opportunity to enjoy the range of climbing opportunities available in the Blue Mountains, while also contemplating when she might take on a grade 34 route.
The downtime is also allowing her a chance to consider the local climbing field as a whole, which she says is really beginning to boom.
“It’s heartening to hear the sport in general is growing in popularity around Australia,” Forestier remarked. “Although, you wouldn’t know it by looking at visitors at the cliff. It seems that indoor climbing is really booming; perhaps climbing is perceived as being too extreme or dangerous and not translating to people actually out on the rock.”
You can read more details about Forestier’s ascent of Tiger Cat on her blog.