Celebrating the women who shape us

Our Athlete Development Program was created to support the dreams of trailblazing athletes like Maya Madere and Laura Cortez. We recently caught up with them to cheer them on—and ask a few questions about their experiences with the ADP. Take a dive into their recent missions in our short films “Under Construction” and “Izta.”

“Under Construction.”

Watch competitive climber Maya as she tackles her first outdoor project in Tahoe, CA, with the help of The North Face Athlete Brette Harrington. This is women supporting women, and we’re here for it.

“This has been a really sick opportunity to be able to learn from the best and get a solid introduction into bolting and what goes into putting up new routes.”
 

—Maya

What is the Athlete Development Program to you? 

Being accepted into the ADP felt like the “big break” I'd been waiting on for the past eleven years. The program gave me the financial stability to focus fully on climbing after I graduated college, and suddenly I was living the dream I’d never dared to plan for. 

How has the ADP impacted you as an athlete?  

It’s shifted my perspective on what’s possible, and indeed realistic, for me in terms of my climbing career. Being able to dedicate my energy to climbing and training has come with growth and improvement, and I’ve also learned about navigating sponsor relationships and gained insight into avenues for opportunity within climbing. Before this program, getting a flexible day job and climbing on the weekends was my default life plan ... now, climbing professionally is Plan A for the immediate future. 

How is mentorship important to your success?  

Anyone who’s spent a lot of time in climbing can tell you that mentors are absolutely crucial for progression. I can think of a handful of mentor figures who played tremendous roles in shaping my relationship with climbing: Coaches, setters, gym owners and staff, older or more experienced competitors and even peers. Each of them possessed some knowledge or resource which I lacked, and each of them chose to share it with me. I don’t know where I'd be without them today.  

In the context of the ADP, working with my athlete mentor, Sav, was essential to my Adventure Project expedition, but even beyond that, she taught me about working with brands, pitching and planning expeditions, creating and producing media, etcetera—things I didn't even know I needed to know. 

“Izta”

Watch trail runner Laura as she attempts to establish a city-to-summit FKT that starts in Amecameca and ends at 17,160ft above sea level, on the ancient volcano Iztaccíhuatl. Her late father’s family came from Amecameca, and here she hopes to not only challenge herself, but also find closure through the land that connects them.

“It was really great to bring flowers to the base of [Izta] and ask for a safe passage and telling my ancestors ‘Hi I’m here, sorry it took so long, but can you watch me today.’”

—Laura

What is the Athlete Development Program to you?  

A space that has given me the extra permission I've needed to explore myself as an athlete and dive deeper into the sport. The funding has allowed me to pick and choose competitive races and overall training schedules that would have been more challenging on my own. It’ has also been a privilege to meet athletes of different backgrounds and see how they’ve created a space for themselves in their sports. 

How has the ADP impacted you as an athlete?  

It’s challenged me to think about what being an athlete means to me and how I want to show up in that space. The North Face supporting my project in Mexico has been instrumental in this process as it's helped me connect to my roots at a deeper level and find a new appreciation for this type of movement in trail running.  

How is mentorship important to your success?  

I deal with a lot of imposter syndrome in the sport. Having the support of a world class athlete like Rob Krar helped give me the confidence boost to go after dreams and goals regardless of the outcome.