SALT LAKE CITY — A spinal cord injury five years ago took away a Salt Lake City man's ability to walk.
But he turned that tragedy into triumph by finding a passion for paraclimbing.
Tanner Cislaw's life changed on March 28, 2018.
Just 19 years old at the time, Cislaw was on spring break during his freshman year at University of California Santa Cruz.
Cislaw and his friends decided to hike near Mt. Woodson near San Diego.
"Lost my grip plus my footing and I fell about 25-30 feet onto a rock slab underneath, blacked out on the way down," said Cislaw.
He woke up in the hospital four days later. He said three realizations came to his mind: he was on a ventilator, he was in pain, and he couldn't feel his legs.
"In terms of the spinal cord, it wasn't cut all the way through, but it was severed pretty severely," said Cislaw.
He suffered a T-10 complete spinal cord injury, which left him with no motor functions below his waist.
Determined to regain some normalcy, Cislaw discovered paraclimbing — rock climbing for athletes with disabilities — while in physical therapy.
He says he started participating in the sport while still in his back brace, less than 12 weeks out of rehabilitating his spinal cord injury.
"Using the full power and fortitude of my body and my mind and being able to just climb under my own strength... that's just a really empowering feeling," said Cislaw.
It didn't take him long to take home some accolades in the sport.
"Within that year I was already at Nationals and winning my first Nationals... in Columbus, Ohio," said Cislaw.
That was in the seated category of the USA Climbing Adaptive National Championships.
Since 2019, paraclimbing has taken Cislaw both near and far.
"Went to the world championships in Branson, France, where I got bronze in my category," said Cislaw. "Then, we had the World Championships in Moscow, Russia, where I got silver in my category."
Cislaw has been climbing and training at The Front Climbing Club in Salt Lake City.
"We have a competitive adaptive team that practices twice a week, and he's very consistent coming and training and challenging others to compete as well," said McKenna Guilds, the adaptive program coordinator at The Front Climbing Club.
Guilds says Cislaw's drive is always on full display.
"It's an extension of who Tanner is and it correlates with all aspects of his life," she said.
Battling back from a slew of fresh injuries in the past year, Cislaw says he is fit and his body and mind are ready to succeed.
With a full slate of competitions beginning in March, he has his eyes set on the 2023 World Championships in Bern, Switzerland.
"It's just a really incredible opportunity, and also to spend two months in Europe, that's kind of a once-in-a-lifetime thing too," he said.
He says his ultimate goal is to not only represent the United States at the World Championships, but to also receive that gold medal on the world stage.
Cislaw has started a GoFundMe to cover travel expenses, medical supplies and a variety of other items for his competitions across the country and overseas this year.
