jenaya413

I'm shopping for a new harness and could use some advice. My last harness was a cheapo unpadded REI get-up that rode up during raps and just generally blew. I've been surfing REI and am wondering if the "made specifically for women" rhetoric holds true in practice. I'm leaning towards the Arc'Teryx Isis, but don't want to make another harness mistake. Do any of the female climbers out there have advice on a comfortable harness for multi-pitch trad climbing?

Not a word from anyone... I've about given up.

God, I never wanted to be one of these people... I left an crappy rei harness at the bottom of Great Northern/Lower Town Wall with some 'biners and a nut tool. Think there was a #4 cam too. Saturday, 1:30ish. Beer reward offered (along with my undying gratitude)- please email jenaya@nobreakfast.com

I was on the first pitch of a climb called Johnny Vegas in Red Rocks, NV. I don't have a guide handy so I can't tell you too much about it, but I think it's a 5.8. That was my first climb of a weekend trip my partner and I took, and the first time I'd climbed outside of Washington. The approach was (to me) long and shitty. The area was pretty isolated, but there was another party a pitch ahead of us. I had brand new rock shoes and neither my partner nor myself thought to keep em untied or off while belaying. My partner was not visible when he reached the next belay point, and verbal communication was nearly impossible with wind and echoes. My feet were cramping really badly from the shoes, and I had a hard time even getting started. The whole climb felt like dental work and about 2/3 of the way up the pitch, I suddenly got The Fear. No muscle exhaustion, no fall, no slip. I just suddenly, inexplicably, got very scared. At first there was no real tangible threat, I wasn't exactly afraid *of falling*, I was just afraid. And once I was scared, it all built on itself, I knew that I put everyone in danger by panicking, and that made me panic. My amazingly capable partner managed to get me to the belay point, and ordered me to get a grip. I managed to rappel down, and as I looked at the rock, it wasn't a hard climb. I shook and cried and swore I'd never climb again. We spent the night playing blackjack and drinking, and the next morning it was me that dragged my partner back to the rock. We spent that day, however, on sport climbs next to the road, and I was fine. I got The Fear inexplicably again at Peshastin in April. No real trigger, except maybe frustration. My earlier post was inaccurate. I don't have to get high to climb, but I do occaisionally have a day where it's a boost. In response to the other questions SL posed, I think that people can be stupid without chemicals, and I think some people get especially stupid with them. I think it's a pretty situational thing. My partner has usually toked in the past, but doesn't with me, explaining that climbing with me has made him more careful (probably since I'm a girl.) Conversely, it was actually him that suggested it might be the thing to get me back up off the ground. I know there's people that climb drunk, however, and that to me seems like a death wish. P.S. I realize this post is off topic - I'm not sure of the etiquette on this board when responding to questions. If I should have created a new subject, I apologize.

I'm not catching the pity-me-I'm-a-girl part, Erik, but some of that is excellent advice - thanks. [This message has been edited by Anayajay (edited 06-08-2001).]

When I first started, I didn't smoke before climbing- I smoked after, or at the top. This Spring I got scared for the first time, like blindingly, paralyzingly scared. There was no reason for it, I was totally protected and there was nothing wrong on the climb. There were no drugs involved. The next few times I climbed, I was still way-too-easily spooked. Determined to enjoy climbing again, I started sparkin' up before a climb, and in a modest amount, it seems to help get me focused and relieve the initial anxiety. Dunno if I'd lead stoned, but sometimes for me smoke does serve a purpose.

I've wanted to rock climb since I was 18, and driving cross-country, watched people dance up Devil's Tower. I had a group of friends (all male) that climbed and I begged for years for them to teach me, to take me with them. They always yes-yesed me, but I never actually touched rock with any of them, going so far as to leave me at campsites when they suddenly decided to find the nearest crag. One of those guys was my boyfriend. I owned my harness for almost a year before I used it and I didn't hang on to the boyfriend nearly that long. Since I met my partner and started climbing about a year ago, I've been relatively insatiable. I don't get out nearly as much as I want to, and am anxious to learn. I greatly prefer trad climbing to sport, and can't even get interested in the gym. I've been urging to boyfriend to take up climbing so that I can do more, and not feel like such a shit when I leave him behind for a day or four. Some of the issues are real. I don't do well on really long approaches. I can't carry nearly as much as my partner. I think women have different fear issues - I wasn't scared to climb at first, my first spook was on like my 10th trad climb. Some of this is personal, but I think a lot of it is par for the course, gender-wise. I think more girls would climb if they felt like they could. After the early rejections from my friends, I started to think maybe girls really *couldn't* climb. If you want your girlfriend to even consider climbing, you have to be encouraging, not patronizing. Flexible, but not a pushover or a drill seargant. Sometimes, she's not going to be willing to make a 3, 5, or 10 mile approach (especially at first!!), and you're gonna have to compromise. She's not going to start out at a 5.10 and you'll have to suck in your ego and climb at her learning curve. I think you'll find the more accessible you make it, the better the chance she'll try it, and enjoy it. It's worth it to be able to do something you love with someone you love. On another note, I find the climbing community to be very insular, and people tend to be even unfriendly to beginning climbers, seeing them as poseurs, followers of a (admitted) trend. That stuff is really discouraging, and I think some chicks aren't willing to do battle with it.

Hola folks, Being partner-less, I was thinking of doing some bouldering this weekend. I just recently started climbing, and don't know all the hotspots yet. I'm in Seattle and willing to spend up to 3 hours on the road, but no more than a half hour on the approach. Where would y'all recommend I go?