Noticed a new bouldering gym pop up in town and want to try it? Good. New to bouldering? Even better. Here’s a cheat sheet for you: The wall Natasha Hirst Photography The indoor bouldering gym usually hosts a 20 foot (or 6.1 metre) wall. It is an artificially constructed...
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Natasha Hirst Photography Enjoying the bouldering wall, but not sure what the lingo's all about? Here's a quick guide to get you started: Barn door: when the body swings open from the same hand and foot being positioned on the wall Beta: information about the moves, approach...
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Date: March 8th 2019 – International Women’s Day Location: Ojos del Salado, Chile. Depart 2am. Summit at 6,893m. Back at base camp 8pm. Sounds like a standard, well-prepped alpine ascent (‘alpine start’ = obscenely early, obvs). This 12-strong team of women were not your standard alpinists though. Only...
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The countryside code is a set of guidelines that helps people to enjoy the outdoors whilst protecting the rights of landowners and helping everyone to take responsibility for themselves whilst they are out enjoying nature. It gives guidance on what you should and shouldn't do, so...
Read MoreIt’s been the hottest winter on record, Blue Planet has shown the true perils of the plastic straw, and latest sea level projections are suggesting that we’ll be snorkelling up Pembroke’s seacliffs by 2300. OK, so maybe the last one isn’t quite right, but as...
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Hello. Over the years since Womenclimb started, we've run lots of different events and Meetups, where women of all different abilities have come together to make new climbing partnerships and enjoy climbing. As founder and CEO, I'm always so proud to see people coming together and...
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Each year, millions of women share in the experience of having periods, but it is still seen as a taboo subject, making many people feel awkward and stopping thousands from participating. As part of their long-term research project 'Managing Menstruation in Extreme Environments Project’ (or...
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If you are wondering why you should log your climbs, if you need to log them or you’re not sure how to start logging them, then Womenclimb is here to help. Here’s our opinion on why you should, and four different ways to start keeping...
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We all know the usual drill at the wall. You approach the wall; find your holds, which are all the same colour and scramble up hoping for success. However sometimes you might find yourselves at a smaller wall where the jumps between grades are massive,...
Read More'I’m not getting out of bed for less than $10,000.' My alarm melodies. It's 1am on 13th October, 2018. I hear people shuffling around outside the tent of our summit camp, 5800 metres high in the Himalaya. I lie for another 20 minutes until Durjee calls “tea?”....
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Climbing Ulassai would like to welcome you to the first WOMEN ROCK event in Sardinia! From September 13th to 17th 2019, this awesome event will bring together and celebrate the female climbing community in the up and coming hotspot for European sport climbing: Ulassai, Sardinia. What you...
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[vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]Mindfulness has been shown to help athletes improve their head game and perform better. Sometimes, it's easy to start, but not so easy to sustain a new habit, like mindfulness. Here are some tactics other people use to make mindfulness a habit:[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][vc_text_separator title="Attach to a habit you...
Read MoreThere is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so. Hamlet Act 2, scene 2, 239–251 I am new to the climbing scene. Funny, as I am now a climbing writer, but I have a few experiences up my sleeve, that I am finding...
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Mountaineering can sometimes be seen as an expensive and inaccessible hobby that most people can only dream of trying out. The Jonathan Conville Course seeks to break those boundaries and ensure that young people aged 18-30 can take their first steps in this exhilarating sport...
Read MoreThey don’t speak english, they’re not safe, they’ll rip you off and leave you hanging in a remote place with no way to exit. They are different and are only for people who are cheap and want a bargain price with none of the comfort....
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10 years ago, Molly Burdick was diagnosed with congenital heart disease. After years fighting PTSD due to her illness, and often too scared to leave the house, her life changed forever when she watched a climbing video of Chris Sharma and Adam Ondra. Fast forward...
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It being winter here in the northern hemisphere, my social media feed is full of news and images of the white stuff – people climbing it, hiking across it, skiing down it (me, jealous much?!). I came across one such article (link at the end)...
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My tight budget and desire to explore came together when I hired local guides on my far-flung trips. Here are my top 3 tips to finding your own local guide for your next adventure 1. Start asking around You have friends who are travellers, or you have...
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"You need to combat your fears of failing first and after that, simply take it step by step. Even if you don’t get to the very top, you’ll get an awful lot from the experience as a whole." Last September, travel writer Lindsay Hawdon achieved a...
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Currently, 1 in 4 people in Britain experience mental health problems each year (according to Mind). The chances are pretty high then that every one of us knows someone who’s suffering with some aspect of mental health. It’s also pretty likely that we don’t actually...
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Do you ever think it’s too late to take up a new activity, like mountaineering? Perhaps you’ll get criticism just from believing you can. Particularly if you’re a middle-aged woman working as a cook at the bottom of Bolivia’s highest peaks… A few years ago, 11...
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Making the jump from top roping to lead climbing is a big moment in any climber’s career that expands the routes climbers can do indoors and outdoors. With this new skill, climbers can access new training techniques that will help push their climbing even further....
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In contrast to last week’s post about a 99-year old making her first climb, today we’re celebrating the incredible story of Edward Mills and his mum Bekki Christian. [caption id="attachment_4146" align="alignleft" width="300"] Edward and the Old Man. Photo Alex Shaw[/caption] Last June, Edward (now 9) became the...
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In her recent TEDx talk, pro climber Emily Harrington succinctly describes how she uses her fear of falling to succeed at climbing some of the hardest routes in the world. Starting out climbing aged 11, she – like most beginners – was afraid of falling. She...
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Think you’re too old to learn new tricks?! How about this amazing 99-year old grandma who just did her first indoor climb… For Tim Dobson, watching his grandma tie in and start her first ever climb was probably not the calmest moment of his life. Especially...
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Written by Beth Thomas
Yoga has become a bit of a buzz word in recent years and you could even say it has become quite trendy. It is however an ancient Indian practice developed over 5,000 years ago! Bang on trend.
2017 was a huge year for climbing. Margo Hayes became the first woman to climb 9a+, Angy Eiter became the first woman to climb 9b, Adam Ondra made the first 9c ascent, and Alex Honnold free soloed El Capitan in Yosemite. All of these accomplishments...
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Petra Klingler, the Bouldering 2016 World-champion from Switzerland, led the competition bouldering workshop at WCS2018. We were excited to get a chance to chat to her at the end of the day and reflect on the day’s events, the food (particularly the cake table), and...
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Emma Twyford is certainly flavour of the month. Thanks to her huge successes and exciting future goals, she has been cover star of both Summit and Climber in recent weeks. When she’s not on the rock, she’s one of the UK’s leading female route-setters and is running her business Creative Climbing offering setting courses to women with fellow setter Evie Cotrulia.
Currently busy setting full time, I managed to catch Emma for a quick cuppa before she set the comp circuit at my local wall. We talked climbing, route setting and inspiration.
That Cover Photo © J Bunney
17th October 2018, Kathmandu International Hospital Pharyngitis and AMS the doctor has written on the whiteboard outside my room. I haven't even googled it yet. Sitting cross legged on bed, in lilac hospital pajamas, I google instead ‘Denali climbing operators’. Forever living in the future. I...
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