But I like the list we have created here! They are pretty funny and relatable.

Hey, I have another one:
When you ask for beta, people reply to your husband.

This one is particularly urksome since I am the more serious climber.

The list being developed here is way more accurate. Seriously I have never thought about what my hair looked like for a day of climbing...its in a ponytail, so I don't get it caught on rappel. Though my bf does like to pick on me for wearing earrings to the crag..

So true about the beta!

Also whenever we go into to a gear shop, the staff always talk to my bf and start swapping beta, etc. but totally ignore me. ugh.

The trick is to go to the gear shop without your bf. At the local gear store, the guys who work there act like I am some kind of unicorn. While it is kind of flattering, I do still wish I could just go buy gear like anyone (by anyone, I mean guy) else.
Other stores...I either get unicorn, "must be a noob" or "she is probably shopping for her bf."

I just don't seem to get this stuff directed to me with or without the hubby. In the end I'm more assertive and more chatty than he so if anything I would say people tend to address me before him.

That's not all I bedazzle.

you don't mean to say you're into.,...
http://now.msn.com/...s.aspx?ocid=xnetr1-3
....pejazzling?

I just don't seem to get this stuff directed to me with or without the hubby. In the end I'm more assertive and more chatty than he so if anything I would say people tend to address me before him.

Hmm. I am assertive to the point of bitchiness at times. May be it's not a gender divide but that my husband is just a nicer gentler soul?

Either that or you Canadians are just more evolved.

And yes, I am referring to my experiences when I was living in OH. Haven't really climbed much with hubby here so not quite sure of the regional differences.

My hubby is the quiet sort too and often isn't going to initiate conversation, so perhaps there's a greater contrast between us?

I don't quite buy the regional differences though. Climbers all seem to be cut from the same cloth regardless where I've climbed (which includes extensive time at the Red and the New along with a whole pile of other areas). Though I'm always climbing outside, never really had a gym nearby so I don't get to hang out with gym rats too often.

I'll readily admit the problem is WAY more concentrated in the climbing gym.

But...
You have NEVER seen bros at the Red?

I have seen bros at the Red.

But I have never been on a receiving end of the "I'll talk to your male partner, but not to you" attitude from them.


I can only think of two occasions (one at the NRG, WV, one at Bishop, CA-- so much for regional differences and unenlightened Midwest) where guys seemed to assume things about me apparently based on nothing but my gender.

But in both cases the attitude was quickly corrected once they realized that I actually could climb the route/problem they were working on.

But I have never been on a receiving end of the "I'll talk to your male partner, but not to you" attitude from them.


I can only think of two occasions (one at the NRG, WV, one at Bishop, CA-- so much for regional differences and unenlightened Midwest) where guys seemed to assume things about me apparently based on nothing but my gender.

But in both cases the attitude was quickly corrected once they realized that I actually could climb the route/problem they were working on.

On a completely unrelated note...I'm beginning to wonder if Smith Rock, where I climbed for my first couple of years, was majorly sandbagged. Or maybe it was just the dry desert air plus basalt that made me feel super sticky on the rocks...the new and red feel so out of my comfort zone. The new more than the red...that rock feels way more slippery to me. /end tangent

Sandbagged means the opposite of what you seem to think it means. (sandbagged = graded lower than it should be, e.i. the climb feels too hard for the grade. If you call a 5.11a climb a 5.9 -- that is sandbagging. The opposite of that is "soft" grading)

I didn't feel that Smith rock was graded softly. If anything, the grades felt quite stiff to me.

But whatever area you climb at a lot, you get used to the feel of the rock there, and when you go to a new area, especially the first few times, it can feel harder for the grade than the same-grade climbs at your usual place.

Some other reasons you might feel that way:

Smith Rock climbs in the lower grades tend to be slabby, so "pump" is not a factor. It can make a major difference in how secure you feel on the rock, if you can stand and catch your breath and there is no ticking clock in your forearms.

Also, if it has been a couple of years between the time you were climbing at Smith Rock, and the present day of you climbing at the Red/New, with major events such as having a baby in between, your memory of how a climb of a certain grade felt may not be accurate/relevant to your current feel of a certain grade. If you were to go back to Smith now and compare the grades, maybe it would be different.

Also, there are only couple areas at the New with a good concentration of easy/moderate climbs. These areas tend to be very popular, so the rock is definitely seeing the effect of many hands and feet.

Also, I remember you saying something in another thread about how you only toproped at Smith because your "mentor" was an asshole who wouldn't let you lead? For many people who struggle with the mental aspect of leading, a climb can feel much easier and more secure on toprope. So maybe your remembering is colored by this, too, at least in part.

I find it interesting that the OP solely posts links to her blog and doesn't engage in the conversation that she's started. Come on, climbonsister!

No doubt. Something tells me that we weren't exactly the "primping and crimping" ladies she was looking for though.
Or she is busy at the gym, heel hooking EVERYthing in her bedazzled men's aggressive shoes :-|

I think she's simply pimpimg her blog. She has very few posts & every one is solely a link to her website with no content.

...you stink worse than the boys at the end of a trip.

Seriously now. One of my female climbing partners told me she thought girls end up smellier than boys after a weekend of climbing. This was last Sunday at the NRG, which was the end of VERY rainy weekend at the crag, with a group three boys to her one girl, so she had plenty of points of reference. I tried to tell her -

A. You're standing closer to yourself, so naturally you will smell yourself more.

B. You're fucking crazy. Boys stink way worse.

She wasn't buyin it though. So yeah, girls stink worse. Apparently.

Option C might be that girls NOTICE that they stink, more than guys(notice that they stink).

Or a gear-sling-tan-line!