Introducing Jessie Leong
Coming from a diasporic culture where the outdoors hadn’t necessarily been an important focus, Jessie found the connection to the outdoors as a young adult. Drawn to the ‘adventurous trad’ (her words), this introduction to climbing was discovered through learning the ropes on Yorkshire’s finest grit at Almscliffe. From here her climbing journey began. Since then she’s expanded her climbing confidence and prowess to take on bigger multipitch walls and has experienced a range of climbing adventures, from dangling above sea cliffs to Alpine 4000ers.
Jessie has also gained accreditation as a Mountain Leader and rock-climbing instructor. Alongside her passion for outdoor adventures, Jessie has developed several films inspired by the great outdoors, including ‘I am Fellrunner’ which received recognition at the Kendal Mountain Film Festival in 2019.
Key achievements
2021:
Started climbing 4000m peaks in the Swiss Alps
2020:
Completed Mountain Leader assessment
2019:
Shot second film – ‘ I am a Fellrunner ‘ – a film about fell running in the Lake District, which was selected for a number of prestigious film festivals, including Fort William Mountain Festival | Accredited with Rock Climbing Instructor qualification | Completed a winter season as Snowmobile guide on Langjökull in Iceland
2018:
Shot first film – ‘Banana Skin’ on the sea cliffs of Hong Kong and was selected for several festivals, including winning in the BMC/ Montane Women in Adventure competition | Joined as a full member of the Pinnacle Club, a climbing club for women
Athlete testimonial
“Montane are the go-to clothes I have stuffed into my rucksack on my climbing days. For me the reason why I’ve had some of my best days out wearing Montane kit comes down to the women specific fit, the perfect distribution of warmth to weight and the attention to detail. It’s allowed me to keep warm, not feel too restrictive nor too bulky for when my kit needs to protect me against the elements.”
- Jessie Leong