#Climb fall human guys professional#
These are the true stories of female climbers-from five-year old girls who only climb the routes in the gym that have purple tape, to professional female climbers who have established routes on multiple continents, competed for national titles, and ticked countless 5.14s. I decided to share only a fraction of the stories I received, selecting the ones I did because they echoed what many other women had expressed, or because they were particularly hilarious.
No matter the age, strength, or experience level of the woman, the themes of their negative experiences could easily be grouped under a few main categories.
You’ll find those accounts toward the end of the article. Then, slowly, the positive stories started coming in-stories of empowerment, inspiration, and recognition. Initially, I was told about moments when women felt degraded, looked down upon, or judged. I have arranged this article in the same manner that the responses were received. I have kept their names anonymous, mostly for the sake of the men who their stories are about. Most of the women are from the San Francisco Bay Area, some are from elsewhere in the United States, and a few are from overseas. I asked almost 100 female climbers of varying ages and ability levels to tell me a story about a notable experience they had while climbing with a male. I knew that other female climbers were interested in this too, and that they had stories of their own about being a woman in the bro’ed out world of rock climbing. Being a woman in a sport that is ruled (for the most part) by men makes for a lot of gender-related experiences, all of which I find to be really interesting. He doesn’t climb with us the next day.īeing a climber and a writer naturally makes me a curious person.
“That compliment was spiked with something that feels pretty demeaning.” My friend’s face softens and he nods, the other guy doesn’t know what to say. “That’s a really weird thing to say,” I say to the guy. I know in that moment that I shouldn’t either. His brow furrows and his mouth looks tight, he does not approve of what the dude said. My eye catches a glance from one of my friends. I tilt my beer back, trying to muster the energy to come back with some witty response, even though I just want to pretend I’m one of those girls who isn’t bothered by a comment like that. The space between my shoulder blades aches from multiple burns on my project and I’m mentally exhausted. The apparent attempt at a compliment comes from a guy we met earlier that day. I’m sitting around a campfire in the Buttermilks with three of my closest male friends. “You’re pretty strong for a girl,” he says to me. Please note that the views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views held by Touchstone Climbing. We hope that this article inspires thoughtful conversation. We at Touchstone Climbing want to provide our readership with insightful, relevant writing from our members and the climbing community.
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