Maturing of climbing as a sport & the rise of gyms NYTimes

There were plenty of societal taboos I had to break to drop out of school and live in a campground to climb full time, and I was surrounded by like minded climbers, virtually all male.

Why do women let societal expectations limit them more than men in this regard

Making a big deal out of first female ascents is sexist, and assumes that they are less able by gender than men.

I actually think reporting first female ascents of sport routes is important. Due to differences in biology and body, competitively, it's a different sport.

Do we care who makes our stairs?
.....
I NEEDZ TO KNOW!!!!

First Female Ascent would be an interesting independent topic...

The authors report a field experiment with skateboarders that demonstrates that physical risk taking by young men increases in the presence of an attractive female. This increased risk taking leads to more successes but also more crash landings in front of a female observer. Mediational analyses suggest that this increase in risk taking is caused in part by elevated testosterone levels of men who performed in front of the attractive female.

This thread has sparked some interest to do more thinking regarding own motivations for FAs. Interesting stuff.

Nooooobbbb HAHA.

I want to give you a well-thought-out answer about what my goals are, so I spent an absurd amount of time trying to flesh out what exactly it is that I want from the mountains--my apologies if I ramble too excessively! I don't have a list of classic routes that I want to climb or a set of mountains I've been eyeing (though I am sure that I will start to accrue such a list eventually). I think the fundamental motivation behind my interest in these outdoorsy pursuits is the desire to explore the environment I'm in as fully as possible. I've always been eager to explore, but until last year I lived in north and central Texas. Almost every weekend was filled with a low-key adventure; I loved camping and hiking and exploring the huge range of terrain that exists across Texas. I never encountered any climbers (though now that I've left Texas, I've become aware that there is fun climbing there!) and didn't even realize it was a "thing." Then I moved to California, and suddenly my environment was filled with places that were impossible to explore without a lot of technical knowledge. The features of the west are just so magnificent, and I want to learn whatever it is I need to be able to fully immerse myself in the Californian wild.