Interview - Shelma Jun

The New York- and Californiabased rock climber, community builder and filmmaker shares what climbing has taught her, where it’s taken her and what’s coming next.

By Dominique Lamberton

Shelma Jun spent her childhood exploring California’s national parks. Her family emigrated from Korea when Jun was five and, while they didn’t have much money, they had a tent (“We brought it from Korea, and it was shaped like a cinnamon roll.”) and a love of camping. But even though she was often in the outdoors, Jun didn’t feel part of it. “I felt very much like an observer,” she says.

That changed when, years later, Jun started rock climbing in New York’s Shawangunk Mountains (a.k.a. the Gunks). “The first time I was on the side of a wall, 200 feet up, I felt like, wow, I’m a part of the landscape.” In 2014, Jun started Flash Foxy, a community for women and genderqueer climbers; then, in 2016, she launched the annual Flash Foxy Climbing Festival. Now, Jun is passing Flash Foxy on to a new generation: “I’m proud to have created a space where people feel like climbing can be done on their own terms.”

Range What has climbing taught you?

Shelma Jun It has taught me a lot about my body, how I move in it, how I feel in it. What I really love about climbing is that everybody has their own conversation with the rock — each person is going to climb it differently. And the climbing community has taught me a lot about how we welcome people, how we let go of perceptions, how we let go of identity and how we create new identity.

R Where are your favorite climbing areas?

SJ The Gunks in New York, and California’s Eastern Sierra. And next is Korea, which I visited in 2019 on a trip for Arc’teryx. As a Korean, my identity as a climber felt bifurcated, because I’d always associated climbing with American climbing culture. Climbing with Korean climbers was a real investigation into how to start bringing my whole self into spaces that are important to me.

R How does climbing help you connect with new destinations?

SJ It changes the way I travel because not only am I interacting with the landscape, but I’m making connections with locals. I’ve spent some time in Paris over the last decade, and it can be a hard place to meet people. When I first started climbing, I went and found a climbing gym — and by the end of that session, I had three phone numbers and weekend plans.

R You recently finished directing your first feature-length film, On the Land. Is more filmmaking in your future?

SJ I want to give myself the space to be playful and try new things. I’m excited to share my film with as many people as possible — it’s a story about skill and culture sharing — and to climb more. Last year was probably the least I’ve climbed since I started, so I’m going to take time to reconnect with it.