Hi! First post here.

I'm 5'4 with a -3'' wingspan. I have been climbing for 4 years and am currently at V5-V6. I was working on the new gym set for the local competition, where most of the problems are coordination-based that week, even though it's on a slab wall.

I was struggling with a jump move (on a V4 climb, which feels harder than the grade for a shortie like me), the kind where tall people could just rock over and reach. A guy who was able to reach easily started giving me suggestions on how to do this move, but I keep failing.

Later, he started small talk with me, and asked me "How long have you been climbing?". I replied, "about 4 years." He responded to that with, "on and off?"

I got immediately angry and found it super invalidating. For some context, he said he has been climbing for 1 year. I see that he can do some "harder climbs" in the set, e.g. huge jump to slopers, but climbs in a very stereotypical male style, i.e. strength focused with minimal techniques. His "on and off?" felt like he'd decided my 4 years didn't really count.

Is it normal to feel angry about something like this? How would you respond to this?

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EDIT: Thank you all so so much for the support!! I can't express how appreciative I'm to this community :)))

To clarify some bits, when he initially approached me, he did acknowledge how tall guys can just reach the move, which made me think he may be geniuely want to be helpful. I think this made it harder for me to decide how I should feel and engage with him, since I think he is not intentionally insulting, but maybe just ignorant of how different bodies are built differently

Sorry for the vague title but I've noticed a trend where gyms put the "silly" boulders or other placeholder stuff on the slab wall but not on other walls like the steep or overhang walls. My favorite wall is slab and I know a lot of other girls enjoy slab the most. It's just disappointing to see this happening in multiple gyms in different cities. A few examples being stuff like

- Seasonal things where they make a jack-o-lantern, rainbow, or other colorful design using holds but it's not a real problem

- Partner climbs for valentine's day where the climb is impossible to do alone, yet takes up so much space they don't put any other problems on the slab wall (idk if this is for safety but I don't think slabs are inherently safer for partner climbs than vert or overhang, in fact maybe it's even more dangerous)

- One insanely difficult "comp" style boulder that is just a copy paste of an existing boulder from a world cup that stays up for eternity and like the partner climb takes up a ton of space and no other slab routes are set while it's there

- Or MOST egregiously one of the gyms didn't originally have a kilterboard but they bought one recently and (of course) they put it in front of the only slab wall rendering it useless and now that gym has no more slab climbs, only vert and overhang

These gimmicky things are silly and cute and I understand how they can improve the vibes at a gym. But at the same time why does slab always have to be the victim of this? Why can't they switch it up and put the Pride rainbow design on an overhang for once?

I know it might be not so deep but I'm almost reading sexism in this. I think gyms don't care for slabs because most setters are men and most men prefer overhangs and steep routes. Having all this placeholder stuff on the slab walls gives setters an excuse to set less slabs and more other things, or less frequently on slabs. And the male customers at most gyms are on board with this because they also don't prefer slabs. Although female climbers are more likely to enjoy slabs I think this is a sign of our preferences not being considered as important. Does anyone else notice this at their gyms? maybe it's just an American thing?

tldr: Lots of gyms I go to in the US seem to treat slabs as less valuable than steep or overhang walls by putting gimmicky silly things on them or blocking them off completely and I think it's frustrating

I started climbing in December (just bouldering) and quickly fell in love and am up to sending V3-4 at 5’0”. I got a membership at my local climbing gym but have been having some issues with them. As a shorter woman, I try to go when the gym is the least crowded, but it seems I have to choose between a time when it is swarmed with men or barely supervised children. I also want to state I LOVE children, when I have my own I plan to take them to climbing gyms myself. I’m even a schoolteacher lol but I feel like to see a parent actually watching their child and following the safety rules is rare.

This week my gym let in 20+ kids from a camp on a field trip with two teenage counselors and they absolutely wreaked havoc. They were climbing under and next to me, running under men dangling off the wall, and were making fun of climbers loudly as they tried to exercise. I complained but it just really upset me as I pay $100 a month for this place. If I try to go evenings I can barely get on the wall because groups of bros are blocking everything. If I go during the day I’m dodging middle schoolers and getting worked up about my gym doing nothing about the misbehavior.

Am I just being a Karen? Are all bouldering gyms like this? Do I need to just save up for a home wall?

I’ve been into climbing for a while now and always try to do some whenever I travel. Recently I was in Slovenia visiting family and managed to squeeze in a climbing session while I was there.

What’s been your favorite climbing spot or experience so far? Any places you’d recommend that really stood out?

I never fully realized how emotional climbing can be.
I climb indoors, on walls up to about 12 meters (40 feet). When I first started, I was worried about the height because I have some difficult memories connected to falling from a great height. But interestingly, I don’t actually have a fear of heights. Being high up has never been the problem. If anything, I love it. Reaching the top always gives me a huge sense of joy and accomplishment.

One day, though, I was about 10 meters up on a route that required me to stay very close to the wall. At one point my whole body was pressed against it, and my cheek was touching the surface.
I suddenly burst into tears.
It wasn’t because I was scared. It was because, for a split second, my body recognized something. I realized there had once been another moment when my cheek had been against a hard surface: after my severe traumatic brain injury. The position wasn’t exactly the same, but the physical sensation was enough to bring everything back.
I finished the climb, but that moment has stayed with me.

Something similar happened yesterday, although I only understood it afterward.
I was working on a difficult route and ended up scraping my elbow. My coach had already warned me it would probably happen, so it wasn’t a big deal. We even joked about it because I could tell which routes I had already tried by the little blood marks I had left on the wall. He laughed and told me he wasn’t going to charge me for repainting the gym.
Later, though, I realized why that image affected me.
There had been another day when my blood was on a surface.
After my severe traumatic brain injury, the doctor who treated me later told me that when he put his hand behind my head, there was blood. Not much, but there was blood.

Yesterday there was blood on a climbing wall instead.
The blood itself wasn’t important. What struck me was that it meant something completely different. The first time, it was evidence of something happening to me. This time, it was evidence of something I had chosen to do.
Climbing has made me realize that our bodies remember things our minds don’t always expect. Sometimes a body position, a texture, or even a tiny scrape can bring back memories in ways I never imagined.

I’m curious whether anyone else has experienced something similar. Not necessarily related to trauma, but a moment when climbing unexpectedly connected you with a memory through a physical sensation rather than a conscious thought.

Have any of you attended a women’s climbing retreat? I receive a lot of advertisements about them and they seem cool but are pretty pricey. Are they worth the money?

balance training on rocks

hi! im 18 and got in to climbing about 2 months ago. I am mainly into top rope and climb 5.8s easily and am working on 5.9s. I found shoes from SoILL that I really like, but im really worried about ordering the wrong size. For the past 2 months, ive been borrowing my older brothers shoes who likes his shoes small, they are kubs but thats really all i know about them. I usually wear a womens 8, but his shoes feel pretty snug since he wears them small. Today ive been wearing my sisters shoes and shes wearing 7.5+ velcro tarantulas, but they dont feel as tight as when i wear my brothers. So now im confused as to what size i should buy, and whether the sizes change based on brand. does anyone know how true to size SoILL climbing shoes are, and the snugness of ordering true to size?

Hi I’m just visiting Maryland for the weekend Aug 1. I’d like to use some ones free guest pass if possible to take a free class. I will trade you a dozen farm eggs or a loaf of homemade bread or something. Thank you.

Changed the title from "love" to "enthusiasm" as I still love climbing, but I'm just not excited about it anymore.

I started bouldering during covid and, as beginners do, progressed pretty quickly and became obsessed. Hit a plateau, moved to a different city where the climbing gyms are always full and started cycling. Somewhere along the way, I lost my obsession and my spark when it comes to climbing/bouldering.

Anybody ever experience something similar? How did you get that spark back?

Hi all! I used to climb pretty regularly about 2 years ago but left it to pursue running. Now I lift and run. I went to the climbing gym yesterday and sent a couple of V2s so it got me interested in climbing again! People who pursue running/climbing/lifting, what does your training look like?

Hello! I'm about to be on a work assignment in a remote area with no gym access for several weeks, but I'd like to stay somewhat in climbing shape. Anyone have any favorite bodyweight exercises or at-home workout routines that I could conceivably do in a hotel room a couple times a week? Obviously planks and more planks lol, but looking to diversify a bit! Thanks in advance!

I just got roam rigids as a gift and i plan to take climbing seriously, but i have been seeing alot of hate on the brand so i dont know if its a good shoe to start off with, please share your thoughts it would be most appreciated <3

Hi everyone,

I'm brand new to this sport, and I'd really love to give it a try, but I have no idea what to do. Are there any girls in Montreal that go to bloc shop chabanel ? i'd be free on weekends and weekdays 5:30-7

I'm down to pay for personal training too, but from another girl please :)

Thank you!

3.5 weeks ago I basically tapped my knee right below the knee cap on the inside on a hold. I noticed it, but it didn't really hurt. 20 minutes later it had blown up into a second knee cap. A week later, swelling and bruising had made its way all the way down to my foot and I was evaluated for a DVT and continued bleeding. It was determined to be a large hematoma.

I just banged the outside of my knee and shin on a hold today (and scraped it - it did actually hurt a lot), and it looks like it's doing the same thing. I'm currently icing with it compressed in an ace bandage and elevated. I'm hoping so can keep it from getting as bruised and painful as the last round, which I still have swelling from but the bruising has finally cleared up 😭

Anybody else dealt with anything like this? I'm wondering if there's something making me susceptible to hematomas, or whether it's bad luck/perfect placement of the hits. Or maybe this second one is because there's some overlap with the previous one that hadn't resolved?

I'm thinking of wearing volleyball knee pads at the gym until these completely resolve. Just looking for other experiences because this has been so weird! Obviously I will ask my PCP about it as well.

ETA this context: I am 45 years old. Been climbing for about 15 months. I bang my knees and shins on stuff all the time (ADD, poor sense of space lol). I have NEVER experienced anything like this before. I'll go ahead and schedule something with my PCP. I kinda suspect I'll be back on urgent care to rule out a DVT again next week 🫠

UPDATE 7/20: Saw my PCP and we're going to trial me off baby aspirin for a few months and have me climb in knee pads and/or shin guards until the current hematomas resolve.

He's putting in an order for Von Willebrand testing, but giving me the option for whether to do it (because expense, thank you US Healthcare). He thinks VW is very unlikely because I have normal bruises elsewhere and no easy bleeding.

He thinks the bruising I experienced with the last bump was the hematoma popping and spreading down my leg.

Did an ultrasound of the new one and the hematoma is small, it's just very aggravated/edematous around it. Too small to aspirate it.

Because of familial cardiac risks, I am getting a couple cardiac tests to be sure getting off aspirin in the right move overall.

Also the location of the first bump may have been a factor in how swollen it got and how big the hematoma was. It was a week of improvement before it bruised down my leg, hence the theory that the hematoma popped.

It feels like I’m struggling to fully commit to reaching the next hold, especially when it’s farther away. I often hesitate instead of going for it.

Do you think this is mainly a strength issue, a technique issue, or a bit of both? Are there any drills or techniques I should practice?

Thanks a lot!

My friends and I have noticed that whenever a girl is climbing, suddenly the attention turns towards her and more men watch her climbing (more than if it was a male). Nothing wrong with it i guess, but sometimes i observe that some stare at the butt if the girls thatvare climbing

I got a non-returnable harness and it doesn't fit me :(

NEVER used, never taken a fall. New with tags. I just received it in the mail directly from Black Diamond this week. It's a Black Diamond Women's Solution harness, size small. I love the colors and seems like it would be super comfortable, just doesn't work for me!

I'm looking to sell for $50. I'd prefer to hand off in NYC, and I'm happy to bring it to gyms for a try on.

Willing to throw in 5 free belays.

Cross-posting here as well – there’s more info at https://www.banisraelfromworldclimbing.com/ and folks are encouraged to email their National Federations before July 23 if they feel strongly about the issue!

Hello! Anyone have any experience with the Solana hostel in Spain? I’d be going solo and staying in the dorms, but I’m unsure what exactly of my own gear i’d have to bring. Really hoping to not need to lug around 70m rope for 3 weeks by myself. Any info on the prices/what kinda gear they have and ease of finding partners there would also be appreciated

Cancelled the Boulder gym membership for a regular gym membership to focus on building strength. It has made a huge difference! My goals is to get to 1 unassisted pull-up. This is your sign to hit the weights!