I REMEMBER AS A KID FLAGGING TO REACH WHAT OTHERWISE SEEMED IMPOSSIBLE. FLAGGING IS AN AESTHETIC CLIMBING TECHNIQUE THAT FEELS MORE LIKE DANCING. WATCHING SARAH LARCOMBE CLIMB WAS JUST ONE LONG FLAG AND EACH OF HER SEQUENCES UP THE WALL HAD HER ABLE LEG COUNTERBALANCE HER PROSTHESIS. SHE JUST FLOWED; SHE WAS DANCING.
A cool breeze fought with the sunshine. It was a typical early-summer day in Tasmania. I was to meet Sarah Larcombe at a designated street on the outskirts of Hobart. Right on time she arrived with a photographer in tow. She had the traits of a climber, but not hard edged in any way. Making our introductions we headed to Genesis, a crag near Hobart I had been developing. Here I would find the spine for a feature on Sarah, and she would get a taste of Tassie climbing. We would both be in for a surprise.
The track was uneven, and I watched Sarah seeking foot placements between stubs of rock. While I walked like a drunken sailor, Sarah was deliberate. Sarah was born with Femur Fibula Ulna Syndrome, in brief, combinations of congenital anomalies in the bones of the thigh, lower leg and forearm. For Sarah
