Nasim Eshqi is one of the best climbers in the world. It is known for opening new climbing routes, being the first to climb them and making them accessible to others. And Eshqi is a human rights activist. She says she was arrested several times in Iran, for example because she didn’t wear a headscarf while climbing. She did not return to Iran in 2022 after the assassination of Jina Mahsa Amini.
TIME ONLINE: Ms. Eshqi, you have opened more than 100 routes in the mountains. What do you have to pay attention to when you’re the first to climb a rock face?
Nasim Eshqi: The most important thing is to talk to the locals. I always refer to them as the parents of the mountains. When they say that there are no more routes needed in this place because there are already many others, you have to listen to them. We climbers should protect nature and not destroy any area. The locals know best.
TIME ONLINE: And what if the mountain parents gave you the go?
Love: For me, it’s primarily about safety, not competition. I don’t want to open routes that no one will climb for 40 years because they are too dangerous. I’d rather tick one more box. I like risk, but I don’t want to create extra risks for others. And then the rock dictates a lot, but it remains a very creative process.
TIME ONLINE: It is said that a climber must read the rock.
Love: Yes, I look at the rock and have to recognize what it is telling me. Sometimes you see a crack in the rock and know: I have to go this way. We can attach hooks to cracks in the rock. If there are no cracks, we need to drill to set the hooks. But everyone finds a different way to the top. When I’m traveling with friends, they sometimes see completely different routes than I do. I don’t understand where and how they want to get up there. But they see it. I see a route one meter away.
TIME ONLINE: You started a project last year called: When the Mountains Speak. What is that about?
Love: It’s a project with my partner Sina Heidari, he’s also a climber. We want our sport to be a voice for them Human rights be, especially for women’s rights. And that’s why Sina and I are opening new routes and giving them names that have to do with the human rights movement. Of course my origins play a role. I come from a country where freedom is restricted. That’s why I have such a strong urge to fight for freedom. We did our first project together with Michel Piola on Mont Blanc.
TIME ONLINE: Piola is a very well-known alpinist from Switzerland. Nobody is said to have set more climbing routes than him, more than 1,500.
Love: When I told Michel about my project, he told me that he has been naming his routes after social movements for many years. He dedicated a route to Salman Rushdie in 1989, shortly after Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa against Rushdie and called for his assassination.
TIME ONLINE: Piola named a climbing route after Salman Rushdie?
Love: He named her Satanic sideSatanic tendency. An allusion to Rushdie’s novel The Satanic Versesafter which Khomeini issued the fatwa. This really impressed me because it shows how much this legend of our sport is dealing with the situation Iran is conscious. We have our common route Rise up for Human Rights called. Sina and I’s second project was in the Dolomites, where we named the route after the women’s movement in Iran: Women, life, freedom. However, it wasn’t easy with our project at the beginning.
TIME ONLINE: Why?
Love: Because there aren’t many sponsors who support something like that. Some of my sponsors also accused me of being too political.
TIME ONLINE: What are the sponsors afraid of?
Love: They told me they don’t want to upset their customers. It’s a shame when people ignore women’s rights and remain silent. I can’t keep quiet.
TIME ONLINE: Iranian student Ahoo Daryaei was arrested at the beginning of November. She is said to have stripped down to her underwear at the Asad University campus in Tehran. What did you think when you saw the pictures of it?
Love: I am sure Ahoo’s decision to defy the regime’s strict dress codes was not an impulsive act. It was her conscious decision. She is risking her life because she is an educated woman determined to convey a powerful message that Iranian women have been sending for years: We are not free, and we want to be free.
TIME ONLINE: They left Iran more than two years ago and have not returned since. Because you know they could be arrested like Ahoo Daryaei?
Esq: In Iran, any kind of protest against the Islamic regime can have serious consequences. Ahoo’s bravery is another wake-up call to the international community to stop ignoring the plight of Iranian women. I spent years defying oppressive rules. I climbed without a hijab and in a bikini top. I was arrested several times because of this. I know if I went back it could mean my death.
Nasim Eshqi is one of the best climbers in the world. It is known for opening new climbing routes, being the first to climb them and making them accessible to others. And Eshqi is a human rights activist. She says she was arrested several times in Iran, for example because she didn’t wear a headscarf while climbing. She did not return to Iran in 2022 after the assassination of Jina Mahsa Amini.
TIME ONLINE: Ms. Eshqi, you have opened more than 100 routes in the mountains. What do you have to pay attention to when you’re the first to climb a rock face?
