Ola, how did it all start? Where did your passion for climbing come from?

As soon as I remember, long before my first visit to the climbing wall, I was very attracted to mountains and climbing.As it often happens in many cases, it started with walking up and down trees, which my grandparents were not necessarily happy about, but my indulgent parents treated it very leniently. As early as at the age of 8-9, I organised my first climbing trainings and willow circuits near my grandparents' house, on top of which, together with my siblings, we built ourselves something like a nest - our main campus.From those times I remember very clearly how, with an accelerated heartbeat and incredibly sweaty hands, I watched photos of older colleagues from their scouting trips, where during rallies they managed to get down on the rope or at least pose in a harness or helmet... I was usually excluded from participating in such games, under the pretence that I am either too young, or that I am a girl, or that there is no suitable equipment for me. I could not do anything with the first two of these hockey reasons, but just in case, I persuaded my parents to give me a harness, a rifle and a Figure 8 (belay device) for my next birthday present.During the next few years I managed to use the equipment only three or four times, but the amount of emotions that accompanied each of the occasions was amazing. It was obvious to me that being in the mountains, climbing or even going down the rocks is the coolest thing to do.Climbing in a more traditional form, i.e. training on a climbing wall, despite my efforts, I did not start until the fourth year of my studies, when I was admitted to sports climbing classes and soon afterwards I was invited to training in the climbing club of the Wrocław University of Science and Technology. Since that day, and it was 16 years ago, I have not stopped climbing.

How did you know that this is exactly what you want to do in life and how did you manage to combine it with your professional life? 

 The fact that I wanted to climb was as obvious to me as the fact that I like the green colour or the taste of vanilla ice cream. I simply enjoy climbing.  Just a few years ago I couldn't imagine that climbing would be more than just a 'serious hobby' for me. I graduated from physics, which I have always liked, but it didn't seem possible for me to combine the work of a physicist with climbing. So I started my next studies in computer science, which I did not like at all. So when there was an option to go on a scholarship to Beijing, I just checked if it was possible to climb in this city and decided to try.Although the first few years did not look like that at all, it was a hit. Climbing, which practically did not yet exist in China when I arrived there, has been experiencing a huge boom for several years, and specialists in any discipline of this sport are very appreciated. Step by step, often without even noticing it, I have changed my life in such a way that everything is subordinated to climbing.

There is a saying "do what you love and you will never have to work". It seems to fit perfectly with your current situation. And what exactly do you do?  

I certainly do a lot of climbing in the rocks and travel a lot. However, if you ask about the form of earning for a living, it is quite a widespread topic. In the first place, I would have to mention the Green Step Adventures company, which I initiated four years ago with a Chinese colleague. The company organises outdoor and educational trips for international schools that are located in China. In the current state of the environment, this area of my work also seems to be increasingly important.We also have our own team in Shanghai, which designs and builds climbing facilities, as well as trainers who conduct classes on facilities that we have already built.Besides, I am often invited to many climbing events in Asia. Most of them are competitions, but it is not uncommon for me to get involved on television when making reports or advertising. I am also more and more often hired to open rock climbing routes - such work, although physically heavy, is a good way of getting away from the work of running my own business.

Do your life climbing choices (such as living in China) require dedication? Do you ever experience moments of doubt or fatigue with climbing / your lifestyle?

Well, I live in one of the most polluted and crowded parts of the world without health insurance, a fixed salary, no pension contribution, no personal flat and away from my family. Although I do not think about it on a daily basis, the decisions I have taken to climb definitely make me a kind of social outsider. Doubts certainly do happen.I am rarely over-exploited, because at the moment I have a lot of freedom to choose what I do. If I am tired or feel 'burning out', I just take a break and do something else. As for doubts, it is hard to find logic in climbing, as in most sports, so despite my successes and great commitment, I sometimes wonder if this is the right way to go.

What are you most grateful for in your life - with regard to the choice you have made and how you live?

There are many things for which I am very grateful. Starting with my wonderful family, who have always supported me in my choices.I am also aware that my history of climbing would have turned out quite differently if I had not had the aptitude and talent for this sport.So for strong fingers and good endurance I thank almost every day. As far as the choices I have made are concerned, one of the most important seems to be the fact that I went to China. It was only outside Poland that I realised how limited I was in not going beyond my own comfort and group of friends. Living in a country so different from the one I come from has really taught me a lot.

What are your plans for the future?

Recently, it seems to me increasingly often that I do not have the need to set myself very specific climbing targets. New inspirations come to my mind almost every day and it is worth being 'flexible' in the whole process. It is good to plan some of the trips in advance, especially those which are not of a sporting nature and where I need more reliable partners, but in general, it works much better when I am focused on the pleasure I get from the climbing process and not on the climbing itself.

As for the plans that are not strictly oriented towards climbing, perhaps I can explain them with a little digression.This year, in my climbing trips, I have managed to visit more amazing places than ever before. I have climbed in Tasmania, Ecuador, Columbia, the Kingdom of Tonga, the French Alps, Spain and, of course, many places in China.I have visited places where nature and its beauty has really made me cry. Swimming with smooth hammerhead sharks in the Galapagos or opening new paths on the island of Eua in the Kingdom of Tonga, when whales jump out of the ocean beneath you and a herd of wild horses grazes in a clearing above you... Such experiences are unforgettable and so incredible that it is hard not to notice the contrast when you return to China afterwards. In China, I visited a kind of museum in the northern part of the country some time ago, next to the border with Russia, where it was possible to enter small buildings in the birch forest to see stuffed deer, wild boar, rabbits or squirrels. From the signatures you could read out how long these animals, which are popular in our region, have not been seen in that area.It is terribly sad, and the awareness that the same fate can affect other places that I have visited and the animals that have made such an incredible impression on me does not allow me to sleep at night. It is no secret that the impact that people have on the environment is generally not positive. Climbers should be more focused on such problems, because by climbing we are closer to nature than most people. At this point I am trying to find a way in which our community could contribute more actively to protecting the environment.

Together with the Green Step Adventures group, we are already doing a lot in terms of education, but I would very much like to take more direct actions and, together with the climbers in Yangshuo, initiate several environmental programmes.