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wishiwaswest
Apr 11, 2003, 5:04 PM
Post #26 of 30
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Registered: Jan 21, 2003
Posts: 966
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Sorry Kate :cry: I was just being silly. I know Emelia quite well. In the spirit of the topic, I met her in Yosemite and she was amazing to watch. I am a mediocre at best climber and I asked her for some pointers. She was *very* shy, but very forthcoming and helpful.
We also found out we lived in the same town and went to the same gym. We had some very elitist attitude women, (and men) there. They intimidated me, but just p.o'd Mel. Fortunately, she climbed just as well or better than most of them, so by being helpful and friendly *and* a resident hardwoman, I think she showed them what asses they were. Then again, people like that are just going to be that way no matter what they're good at. I just ignore them.
In reply to: 1.If you climb "Hard" (hard among your peers), do you find you have an attitude to match?
If I climb hard, my attitude is simply exhausted. I 'm too tired to be obnoxious.
In reply to: 2.What do you think of "elitist" women who think they are God's gift to the climbing world(which they are).
God's gift to the climbing world? Elitist women.? I don't think so. It's the attitude of others who *think* these women are gods gift that provides them with the impetus (?) Treat them like gods gift and that's what they'll act like!
In reply to: 3.Do you think the stronger you climb, the more respect you deserve from your male counterparts and from other climbing ladies?
The only respect you *deserve*, is that which you have earned and others are willing to give you. I respect the *skills* that some climbers show, but frequently, do *not* respect their attitudes. Which would you prefer? To be respected for who you are as a person or what you can do? Given a choice, I'd go for the former. Ideally, it would be both.
BTW. Mel is *not* a snooty elitist bitch.
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boardcrazzy
Apr 11, 2003, 5:14 PM
Post #27 of 30
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Registered: Oct 22, 2002
Posts: 183
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My two cents.
I think elitest climbers are not elitest because they are good climbers. I think they are elitest because they have a low self esteem. They worry about what other people think of them and act accordingly. I think if you meet the top climbers you will rarely find they are elitest, as some examples stated earlier support.
Seems most people are intimidated by elitest climbers. I believe being intimidated is a personal choice and the choice to be intimidated sends negative energy out, which is received back as elitism. Maybe there was an opportunity to say hi, but you don't because you think they're elitest and don't want to talk to you anyway (Nikegirl's idea). If you can make the choice to go about your business and not be intimidated, you'll probably find they may come talk to you. And if they don't, it's really no skin off your back.
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mreardon
Apr 13, 2003, 6:45 AM
Post #28 of 30
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Registered: Jun 17, 2002
Posts: 1337
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I've been lucky to meet a handful of the people we read about in the mags and such and have to say that the majority of them tend to be nice, but the women tend to have less of an ego about what they do then the men. I think this is because there is an understanding that for every elite climber out there, a handful of unknowns are just climbing to have fun at the same levels. I just got back from Bishop and watched a close woman friend from Italy send a V11 on her third try, and she's probably going to get the "Buttermilker" (V12) before I see her again in a couple days. Her boyfriend recently sent "Dreamtime" (V15) and was "warming up" on V13's at the Happy's like they were nothing. Both of them are very humble and warm people, and no one has a clue who these folks are in the U.S. Yet Peter Croft walked by and everyone got very quiet out of respect? Don't get me wrong, Peter is extremely nice and climbs very hard, but the boys get more in awe at the other boys in the media whereas the women tend to recognize others as in, so what? It's not about ego, so treat everyone the same. Or as my wife likes to say, "you're not that impressive, there's an easier way up the rock". Pretty much keeps everything in perspective that way.
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aimeerose
Apr 15, 2003, 4:27 AM
Post #29 of 30
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Registered: Jan 21, 2003
Posts: 574
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In reply to: 1.If you climb "Hard" (hard among your peers), do you find you have an attitude to match?
I climb pretty "hard". I usually find I am the only woman around leading/bouldering at my level (course that's unless I run into Lisa Rands at Hueco!) I don't feel that I have an attitude to match. I try to be really encouraging and friendly to other people. I don't want to be a know-it-all, so I don't always step in and give beta to other ladies in the gym, but if they're friendly and seem open to suggestions, I love to help out. I actually find myself intimidated by some of the younger ladies (late teens) because they are so aggro.
In reply to: 2.What do you think of "elitist" women who think they are God's gift to the climbing world(which they are).
Well, the "elite" ladies I have met (Lynn Hill, Bobbi Bensmen, Lisa Rands, Elena O, Beth Rodden) have all been extremely cool. The only woman (well, little girl) I've run into with the elitist attitude was Tori Allen. I suppose you could just write that off to her being young and naive.
In reply to: 3.Do you think the stronger you climb, the more respect you deserve from your male counterparts and from other climbing ladies?
I don't think the stronger you climb, the more respect you deserve, but the more commited you are to climbing the more respect you deserve. These ladies forums, for example. The experience vs ability one has been really sad. It seems there are no committed female boulderers out there (ie. you don't just boulder in the gym and you work problems outdoors). Really makes me sad.
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iris
Apr 15, 2003, 8:12 AM
Post #30 of 30
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Registered: Jun 26, 2002
Posts: 26
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Hi hi,
I experienced, when starting to climb, that the good female climbers weren't very much interested in talking to me. Only when I improved, I started to be of more interest to them. Although this might not be the nicest way to do, I now understand it better because:
When you are looking for someone to join a climbing trip in a region where you have mainly difficult routes, it is of no interest for someone who climbs at a lower level to join (Happened to me, beeing the weak climber and getting bored as I couldn't find any nice routes for me).
Secondly, when you are outside you might have an area with very difficult routes and less difficult ones but not next to eachother. Whilst climbing you do not always want to run around with the rope from the difficult to the less difficult and back again. For this reason I always try to find people which are climbing at more or less the same level.
Of course indoors it doesn't really matter as you can find all levels at one place and maybe when you boulder it is different again (I never tried).
I am not a great climber and I also climb a lot with starters. Actually a lot of my friends started to climb because I pushed them to do so. However, I am very glad to climb from time to time with people of a higher level as like this I am getting more ambitious. In this case it is normally easier to find male climbers. Most of the good female climbers I know, already have a fixed climbing partner.
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