Climbing as a Girl: Sometimes You're Not One of the Guys

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“You’re a pretty girl who climbs; you shouldn’t have any trouble finding partners.”

You asked me to climb because you need a catch, right?

I’ve heard variations of that line more times than I care to keep track of, and I still don’t know how to respond. Do I take it as a compliment? The middle-aged man just called me pretty. But he did also just suggest, perhaps unintentionally, that the number one reason people will want to climb with me is that I’m a young, attractive female. Not what I’m going for.

Climbing remains a male-dominated sport. Yes, in recent years more women have taken to the cliffs and boulders, and some of them climb hard—V14, 5.14—and I do have some friends who are girls who climb. However, I have a lot more guy friends who climb, so I often find myself in a pack of boys—or occasionally 60-year-old men. I really don’t mind climbing with the bros, in fact it’s quite fun; my goal is to become one of them, so they don’t notice that I’m the only girl.

“Every time a guy asks for your number to go climbing, unless he has a girlfriend, he’s looking for something else too,” my friend told me the other day. Really? I have a hard time believing that. First of all, I’m not so narcissistic that I think every boy at the crag has his eye on me. I’m also not looking for anything more than a patient catch and maybe some pleasant conversation when I ask someone to climb. Occasionally I’m hoping that I can toprope some harder routes than I would normally lead, but a reach-in kiss or the dreaded harness grab on the pitch 3 belay ledge is not on my mind. I’m not asking for a date; I’m asking for a climbing partner. Isn't that what the guys I climb with are asking for too?

I’d really like to think that people want to climb with me because I’m a competent belayer who might even have a decent personality. I want to be a fun friend to lap routes at the crag with; someone who will have the patience to belay you while you suss out the beta for your next project. I wish that every time I climbed with a group of guys that the people around me simply assumed that I was friends with them, not dating one of them. No, I didn’t start climbing because my boyfriend brought me to Rumney as a fun date—I found toproping in the gym and then my University’s climbing team on my own. I’m not always the strongest climber of my crew, but please don’t assume that just because I’m a small female that I’ll be the weakest climber in the group.

So what can I make of all this? First, I don’t believe that all males at the crag want “something more” when they give me a catch. My friend Alec is one of my favorite climbing partners. He's always stoked whether we're climbing hard or messing around on V1s in Pawtuckaway, and he'd never seen me before he picked me up at my dorm for a morning bouldering session the first time we met. He's not "looking for anything" except a fun time on some rocks, which is pretty much guaranteed every time I climb with him. However, I am told that I’m often oblivious to those who do have other intentions.

Overall, my goal is to be one of the bros, hearing their girl stories instead of being in their girl stories. I want to get stronger (a little physically a lot mentally), so I can eventually project routes with them. I want to be an equal, one of the guys—or, better yet, just another climber.

How to Begin a Climb: A Routine to Make Sending Your Routine

Having a routine before you begin every climb can help get you into the sending mindset. Whether you’re warming up on a 5.6 or getting ready to give your 5.13d project a redpoint burn, if you go through the same steps each time you will be prepared to focus entirely on the motions necessary to send, and you will try 76.43%* harder. Also, brushing the dirt off your shoes—see number 10 below—will make your rubber stickier, also assisting sending. 

Looking this fantastic while sending is not guaranteed.

1. Eat a snack – you need glucose from simple sugars to power you for the send, no matter if the route is four bolts or fourteen. Gummies in any form—bears, fish, penguins, blocks—are great.
2. Tie in. 
3. Take off crag shoes. Squeeze feet into tiny rubber shoes. 
4. Check your knot. Have your partner check your knot. 
5. Check your partner’s belay device. Have them check it too.
6. Check your hair in case of pictures.
7. Point out places you might fall and special clipping holds to ensure soft catches and minimal short-roping. 
8. Take off jacket.
9. Tell partner how you feel about the route—excited, nervous, unhappy that a key hold is wet. Now tell them how attractive they are. 
10. Brush dirt off climbing shoes and onto pant-legs or your legs if wearing shorts. 
11. Chalk up. Chalk up again for good measure.
12. Grab starting holds. Chalk up a third time. Begin climbing. 

*Statistic has not been scientifically verified.

Reflections While Running in Salt Lake City before Outdoor Retailer

I woke up and picked up my phone: 7 a.m., two hours before the Outdoor Retailer trade show opened and an hour before I was meeting the Rock and Ice crew at breakfast. The hotel Internet was, as always, slower than dialup, so I decided to go for a run.

I’m not used to city running, and Salt Lake is a funny city. The streets are a minimum of two lanes wide in each direction, sometimes more, giving one the feeling of crossing an interstate at the end of each block. Since I’m not used to stoplights and didn’t feel like waiting for a walk signal every quarter-mile, I opted to run squares around the block our hotel was on, zigzagging through the various fast-food parking lots every few laps to mix things up.

The mountain I'd rather have been running up.

I passed the same man handing out Outdoor Retailer information magazines each time I went around my circle; we smiled at each other. “You running the mile?” he asked. I hoped I would last that long, thinking of all the unfinished projects I wished I climbing at Rifle instead of lapping people pushing shopping carts with everything they owned down the street.

As I jogged past the Holiday Inn, I saw two police cars busting a guest for having beers purchased outside of Utah in a cooler—Coors Light.

I ran past a man biking in circles around a back parking lot, dress pants cuffed to keep them clean from chain grease. He was here for the same reason I was: to get a little early morning exercise in before beginning hours of meetings about SUP boards, ultra-light bike frames and the newest Black Diamond cams, ounces lighter than last year’s. He was on a mountain bike, which belonged on the trails surrounding the city, not in it. I was wishing I could be running between walls at Rifle Canyon instead of McDonalds parking lots.

Twice a year, in August and January, the outdoor industry comes together in the Salt Palace to show off the newest gear along miles of booths costing thousands of dollars each. It’s a place to do work but also a place to meet old friends and make new connections. Those who attend break the culture of the city, biking through parking lots at 7 a.m. and drinking beer full strength beer—illegal to brew in Utah, where only beverages with an alcohol content of 3.2% or less are defined as "beer." We talk about the latest gadgets that get us up the mountains and cliffs, down the rivers, across the lakes, and through the oceans we love.

However, the outdoor industry isn't just about selling you a product that you "need" to be complete; it's about providing you with the best tools possible that will allow you to have the experiences in nature you'll remember. 

The 10 Rules of Toproping

Hayden Kennedy gave the closing keynote presentation at this year's International Climber’s Festival in Lander, Wyoming. His topic: The 10 Rules of Alpinism. His presentation was by far the best, as he didn’t stumble over his words like several other athletes, despite being more than a handful of beers deep, and talked humorously about alpinism instead of just presenting on his accomplishments and how awesome they are—though they’re pretty awesome.

This led me to the idea for "The 10 Rules of Toproping," since I’m less rad than Hayden and know a lot more about Toproping (TRing) than Alpinism. He approved the idea, so here you go:

Pictures--see number 9 below--are acceptable (encouraged) if you are this adorable.
Finnegan gets ready for his first toprope with "Auntie B." Photo courtesy of Brandi Horn.

1. Don’t toprope. If you’re trying to look like the strongman/woman at the crag—or, perhaps, are trying to impress a member of the opposite sex—then don’t TR. You simply won’t look like a pro when you’re sitting on the rope ever five seconds even after letting your buddy give you a boost through the crux. 
2. In the case of overhung routes, toprope through the draws. Don’t be that kid who takes a twenty-foot swing into a tree because they fell at the second draw TRing an overhung route. Even if there aren’t any trees or other obstacles you’ll swing into, getting back on the route will be impossible. Don’t be lazy; pulling the rope through also helps even the wear on the rope, and you'll have less rope drag as move up the route and unclip each draw.
3. DO NOT TOPROPE OFF THE ANCHORS. Hang your own quickdraws off the anchors instead of putting unnecessary wear on the quickclips. Only clean the draws and lower off the anchors when you’re done.
4. Don’t take it too seriously. You're not tied into the sharp end, so enjoy the flow of the climb as you discover your beta. Don't yell at your belayer to "take" when you get nervous or get frustrated when they accidentally lower your four inches below the last hold you reached. And don't, whatever you do, make excuses for why you're TRing to make yourself seem more competent. It won't work. Just have fun with some stress-free climbing.
5. Stick-clipping up a route = more complicated toproping. Sometimes you really want to TR a route to work out the moves without whipping five times from every bolt, but you aren’t climbing with someone strong enough to run up it and hang a rope for you. This is where the stick-clip TR technique comes in: Stick-clip the first bolt and climb to it, bringing your stick-clip with you. Stop. Go in hard with a quickdraw. Stick-clip the next bolt. Go back on belay, and climb up to the second bolt. Stop, and go in hard. Stick-clip up to the third bolt. Repeat until you reach the chains.
6. Know when to employ toprope aid climbing. If you've fallen thrutching for the same move 15 times in a row, you might want to employ some "TR aid," that is if you ever want your belayer to let you TR their project ever again. The simplest form of TR aid is the boost: have your belayer take in all the slack before you fall and sit back even when you start climbing again, continuing to help pull you up the route as you try the sequence with weight off. Think of it like getting a power-spot. Another method is the "nylon-jung," where you pull on the dogbone of the quickdraw above you or the other side of the rope (going to your belayer) to skip a difficult section.
7. Don’t hate on toproping. If you're going to do it, don't hate on it. Even if you're not going to do it, some of us prefer to work out moves without taking 75 whips on one route—it’s better for the rope.
8. Don’t use toproping as an excuse to stop leading. Sure it's nice to not worry about taking a whip, but don't let TRing become your norm. Dial in difficult, scary sequences on TR, but let that give you confidence to then lead the route clean. Even pretend to clip on TR, so you know you can make each clip on the sharp end. 
9. Don’t take (too many) pictures. Rock and Ice does not put any pictures of TRing in its magazine. So if you want to impress the Instagram climbing community, don't post too many TR pictures; save it for your leads. 
10. Just have fun climbing! Whether you're TRing or not, don't get so worked up about sending your project that climbing becomes just another thing to check off your To Do List.  Take a minute to remember why you're out at the crag and have fun! You never know, maybe if you take a little pressure off and focus purely on the movement, you'll loosen up enough to send.

Training for the Lander International Climbers’ Festival

The International Climbers’ Festival has been a Lander, Wyoming, summer highlight since it began in 1993. Each July, hundreds of climbers from around the world come to Lander to climb limestone pockets at Wild Iris, slide down natural rock waterslides after exploring the sport and trad routes in Sinks Canyon, camp for free in City Park, and end each day with a loaded burger and refreshing brew from the Lander Bar. A temporary tattoo gives festivalgoers free breakfasts, a t-shirt, entry into the annual dyno comp, and access to climbing clinics with Sasha Digiulian, Hayden Kennedy and Ethan Pringle, among other professional climbers.

This year's Lander crew (left to right): Simon, Ben, Steve, Kalous, me, Tom, Rachael
Photo credit: Ben Yardley

Now, you may be wondering: “Beyond buying my ticket, what can I do to prepare for this once-a-year chance to impress Sasha Didiulian and Ethan Pringle? Should I train only two-finger pockets and monos from March till July 4^th? Should I purchase a white tracksuit for dancing at the bar? Should I get a hotel room with a shower to stand out from everyone camping in the park?”

No, no and no. If you’re not sending 5.15, you probably won’t impress Sasha with your technique. And be realistic, you’ll spend enough in gas and sustenance at the Lander Bar to lighten your bank account without paying for a Holiday Inn as well. And a thrift-store tracksuit might make a statement, but you’ll be so dehydrated from sweating that you’ll have to leave the dance floor every 10 minutes for water.

HERE IS A QUICK AND EASY TRAINING GUIDE FOR MAXIMIZING YOUR FOUR DAYS IN LANDER:

Forget about pockets: Only train dynos. The dyno comp is the highlight of the Friday evening trade show, and the best way to impress the crowd is to out-dyno Carlo Traversi, Ethan Pringle, and Alex Johnson.

Play a lot of volleyball. If you’re not the best at dynoing, or don’t feel like watching people jump from one set of plastic holds to another, then volleyball is the trade show activity for you. There is a sand court next to the pavilion in City Park, and there’s a good chance that you’ll be playing alongside—or against—a professional athlete or two. I did not train this year and was shown up by Hayden Kennedy, who also didn’t train and was shown up by pretty much everyone else. 

Get your cardio up for dancing in the Lander Bar. Thursday night is the warm-up, with a live band and swing dancing outside. You can dip in and out of the crowd, but don’t tire your legs out too much. Friday is hours of live music inside, and anyone who is anyone—I danced next to Sasha, Carlo and Hayden—is boogieing on the dance floor for hours. Saturday is the same, though typically with a DJ instead.

Dancing is also the number one way to impress Sasha D. Simon only climbed one pitch the entire weekend—a 5.10d, which Sasha may or may not have seen—however, his moves caught her attention and resulted their enjoying several songs worth of college-esque dancing. He didn’t even wear his tracksuit—which he brought. 

Get comfortable with a marathon drinking pace, or be comfortable with your sober self enough to spend three nights in a row closing out the Lander Bar. Not getting blackout drunk the first night is highly recommended, especially if you plan to climb in a clinic the next morning. 

In my experience, the International Climbers’ Festival is a blast. It did involve a little less time at Wild Iris and a lot more time at the Lander Bar than I expected, but if I'm in Wyoming next July, you'll be certain to find me boogieing on the Lander Bar dance floor and pulling on some Wild Iris pockets.