Interview with Nasim Eshqi

01.10.2023

Born in 1982, Nasim Eshqi is the only Iranian professional climber. She lives in Tehran and is committed to promoting the sport of climbing there.

She became known for her film ‘Climbing Iran’, which was shown at several outdoor film festivals last year. It shows how the traditionally male-dominated Iranian culture is opposed to climbing as a liberating element, and since the protests and demonstrations in Iran, she has urged people not to remain silent and understandably has a very special attitude towards protecting the mountains, human rights and nature.

Freedom is not the same as ignorance

Do you think that the mountains can be used for sport and protected at the same time? (Or are we simply ignoring the fact that our heavy consumption is destroying the mountains and the environment?)

Of course, I think that we can make a difference to the mountain world, which includes people and animals - in other words, ourselves. We use the mountains to feel free. When it comes to protective measures, it is not okay to ignore the rights of animals or the rights of the environment or human rights. For example, we have the Olympic Games for human solidarity, so how could we say that sport is outside of human rights. We, the people who play sport, have to take responsibility, for ourselves and for our environment. Otherwise it's not something that really affects us, it's just something.

On your tours, you are often surrounded by beautiful scenery. Can you enjoy it and what are you personally doing to help protect mountain nature and the climate?

That's a very difficult question, because I believe that we humans are destroying everything through our existence. So we try to save ourselves, not the mountains, not nature. Nature doesn't need us to be saved. When we no longer exist, when we are no longer on this planet, nature will heal itself. If I act in a considerate and environmentally friendly way, I can't say that I'm contributing and making a difference. It should be perfectly normal not to destroy trees or pollute the environment. We are not better people when we try to save nature - we are simply selfish, because when we talk about saving nature, we are actually talking about saving ourselves. The only thing I can do personally is not to defend the big companies that are destroying small businesses.

Outdoor sports are often associated with risk-taking. Is this ability to take a chance something innate or can it be learnt? What do you do to approach your sport as safely as possible?

It's a feeling that's in everyone, because we always want to push boundaries. It's the same in normal life. Children want to test boundaries and people have this willingness to take risks in their brains. Of course, we can learn this from others. The willingness to take risks has always been there. Even in earlier times we had to take risks to save for the winter. I think without this ability to take risks, we wouldn't exist.

We are aware of the situation in Iran and would like to know what message you would like to send to the climbing community.

Thank you for asking this question. My message is that we mountaineers are always in search of freedom and that we care a lot about human rights, which is demonstrated by the fact that we have high-level rescue teams in Western countries. So we fundamentally care about people. In the climbing community, it's always an issue of how we preserve our friendship rather than jeopardising it for our ego. On a higher level, it's about the fact that we also need to raise awareness of the human rights situation. I don't want to talk about politics and this complicated situation in Iran. But if we realise that we know about it, it is very important to listen and not ignore it, otherwise the concept of community no longer makes sense. My friends, for example, are trying to be the voice of the Iranian people, they are trying to talk, but they don't have a platform, the internet is blocked, and they show me that the climbing community is not a lazy, ignorant community. This makes me happy and wish that the climbing community would join in and be the voice of all these women in Iran who don't have internet to send their voice to the world. I think this is our duty, I use my platform for this and I wish that my friends feel that I can do something.