The British Female Bouldering Team is emerging from the shadows of their male counterparts. Naomi Buys takes an inside look at the shape of things to come.
“Why do women have small feet?”
“To get closer to the kitchen sink.”
A few years ago, if anyone had dared to utter such obscenities in my presence, I’d jump straight onto my high horse. Of course, now I’m older and wiser, I just shake my head in disgust and hold my peace - perhaps I’ve been spending too much time at said sink.
From an early age I’d always wanted to compete against the boys. I was a firm believer that a woman could do anything that a man could, if only they tried hard enough. And if a woman could do what was generally perceived as a man’s job, then men should definitely do a spot of “women’s work” to restore the balance. This is all very well, and many women work hard to equal the achievements of men, but we can’t ignore the vast physical difference between the sexes.
Women have become firefighters - but they have to train far harder to pass the fitness test than men applying for the same job. Ladies have become truck drivers - but only after battling against barriers of prejudice. And some women have climbed pretty hard boulder problems - but only after training twice as hard as their male counterparts.
Some take the view that we ought not to differentiate the achievements of men and women within climbing. Yet imagine if they applied this philosophy to Olympic sports - the medal tables would look a little male dominated to say the least. Women are weaker than men, and that’s an inescapable fact, even as a self-confessed feminist I can’t ignore that. To start with, just to reach the same level of strength to weight ratio us girls must first bridge the natural gap when it comes to body fat; the average healthy man has a 12-17% body fat percentage, a woman between 20–25%. And then there’s the small question of building muscle mass.
So, are women climbing hard despite these apparent handicaps? Of course they are. Out in Spain there’s Josune Bereziartu, the Basque machine climbing F9a and bouldering V14. In France you’ll most likely see any number of delightfully elegant French powerhouse-esses gliding their way up Font 7c’s. And flying the flag over the pond is the ever-impressive Lisa Rands. But what about the homegrown fair ladies of this country - where are they placed on the world climbing scene?
Well, I’m going to stick my neck out here and say that if you’re a woman wanting to climb hard, then Britain just isn’t that great compared to some of the European countries. Half a lifetime of grit bouldering has convinced me that we women just aren’t as naturally sado-masochistic as men. Remember how it feels when you’re planning to go out to the crag and you look out of the window at the sleet, or you arrive at the bottom of your chosen problem and you can’t actually feel your fingers?
Do you really want to shove them in a crack, or shred them on that pebbly sloper? Do you really want to bear down on that knife-edge crimp? No, me neither. And I’m not alone. Lisa Rands is a keen fan of our hard grit test pieces, but even she stays away in the depths of winter, preferring to sacrifice friction for feeling in her fingers. The fickle weather could be why the ratio of female to male climbers - outside at least - seems so low compared to overseas. Though I’m sure scary rounded top-outs in the wet probably don’t help much either.
But there are exceptions to every rule. Quietly ticking away at the problems are some tough girls, with grit callouses in all the right places. In the past few years this country has seen some impressive ascents of burly, condition-dependent, technical boulder problems from the fairer sex. Recently we’ve seen Dalvinda Sodhi climbing Blockbuster (Font 7b+) at Caley and Brad Pit (Font 7c) at Stanage Plantation. Jenny Woodward and Katherine Schirrmacher ticked West Side Story (Font 7b+) at Burbage West. Siobhan Coughlan (OK, she’s Irish) conquered Ben’s Roof (Font 7c+) at Raven Tor, and Lucinda Hughes grabbed the direct start to Breadline (Font 7b+). Not forgetting our very own export Claire Murphy making mincemeat of some horrifically hard and fingery American problems like Martini Roof (V10) and Sarah (V12), at Hueco Tanks in Texas.
Of course many ascents go unreported, and there are plenty of “dark horses” around - both male and female. But female ascents are especially susceptible for being underplayed by the ascentionists themselves. Often the problems have had numerous ascents from the “dark side of the force” and, whilst they may represent what seems like an awesome achievement to us women, we’d feel a bit silly for writing into the magazines or posting on websites about our latest tick. As such, it can sometimes be hard to get a real picture of the state of female bouldering in the UK.
However, the team is actually there for competing, so how are we doing in that department? If I had to use one word, it would be ‘improving’. It is true that the female side of the British team doesn’t have a great record in the history of bouldering competitions, usually overshadowed by the likes of the French, Austrians and Russians. The gap is slowly closing though, helped by substantial commitment and increasing experience.
Our best senior female performance ever (including leading competitions) was courtesy of Claire Murphy back in 2000. Claire got on the podium of the Bouldering World Cup in Konitsa, Greece, beating the World Cup Champion of that year, Sandrine Levet from France. Sadly Claire emigrated to the States shortly afterwards so we’ve lost her talents, but Katherine Schirrmacher got to the final in Greece at that same event, and made several finals since - including Birmingham 2001 - before deciding to take a break from competitions. And this year saw Kate Mills reach the semi-finals in the first leg of the Bouldering World Cup at the NEC - definitely a step in the right direction for the current team members.
Unfortunately funding is limited for all three of the British climbing teams (Bouldering, Difficulty and Junior) and sponsors thin on the ground. What you feel about that very much depends on your viewpoint - there are plenty of climbers who think that competition climbing receives far too much money as it is, after all, it isn’t “real climbing”. The other side of the argument is that it’s now an established and important aspect of the sport, and the only one that absolutely calibrates British climbers on a world scale. And as with any pursuit, advances in standards, equipment, training, and technique that are innovated at the top end, quickly filter down to contribute to the overall enjoyment of the sport as a whole. Competitions may have more effect on you than you think - take bouldering walls for example- the more visionary designs are driven by developments in the competition world.
France is the benchmark in climbing development. There climbing is a mainstream sport, the superstar climbers receive funding, and there are specialised climbing schools where the talented are nurtured into the very best of the best. Their funding is the envy of the world; in Britain and many other countries the most talented climbers are lucky to have any financial support for their climbing and the majority have jobs just like the rest of us. Bear that in mind next time you judge their performance against the full-time sponsored heroes fresh from French boot camp!
On the British team we do have our own stars though; Andy Earl, Gaz Parry and Mark Croxall are consistently up there in the highest world rankings for bouldering, a real force to be reckoned with. They have reached this level with assistance from their sponsors, and of course the BMC who fund their attendance at international events. Currently BMC funding for athletes is based on past results and potential for future success, so how can us girls get a share of the pot?
In a word, commitment. The team needs to keep pushing and fulfill its potential on the international scene. Personally, I’ve been really inspired by participating in the World Cup Bouldering Series and I know that the other girls on the team feel the same way. OK, a bit more support and recognition would make it easier, but there are plenty of girls out there putting in the time and dedication on their own. So if you feel you have what it takes and the potential to work hard to achieve your climbing goals, why not try out for the team too?
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