June/July 2013 issue of Rock and Ice Magazine.
Allow me to summarize: in 2011 I competed on the World Cup Circuit, sucked a lot, lost all my confidence and got depressed. I took some time off, picked back up with climbing (only outside) fell in love with climbing again, started having fun and sent my hardest to date. Also I'm tired of being ostracized for being tall. Like REALLY tired of it.
August 2013 issue of Denver's 5280 Magazine Feature titled "Built." Comparable to ESPN's "Bodies" including Missy Franklin, Gretchen Bleiler and four other athletes around Colorado. It's an honor to be featured in the same article as those two Olympians!
i sympathize with you on being a taller female (i have almost your identical specs height/weight ( -1/4", +5lbs). Don't get me wrong, i like being the height/weight i am but as far as annoying comments go you on one hand have males making typical garbage comments like "you have small girl hands", "you're light because you're a girl", "you're flexible". (<-uh not true, have you LOOKED at me? I probably outweigh at least 1/2 of Boulder,CO's male boulders, have man hands and can touch my toes on a good day) and on the other hand tiny girls say things like "well reaching that should be easier for you because you're tall!". Seems like being a female 5'8" is a lose/lose height for obnoxious comments. ugh >:(
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment! Isn't it outrageous?! Excuses, excuses!
DeleteStrange seeing you dressed in the sports bra and short shorts. I remember you had a vocal opinion against that kind of outfit for climbing. Has your opinion changed?
ReplyDeleteI can imagine you're certainly sick of your height being used as an asterisk constantly by others. Pretty much every time your name comes up in climbing discussion someone will mention your height one way or another.
Hi Dave,
DeleteThanks for your comment! As for my opinion on the outfits... I'll be honest, I'm not exactly sure where I stand right now. I used to be so adamant towards one end of the spectrum, but eventually felt like I was just losing a pointless battle.
That being said I most definitely will not be competing in the shorts pictured above! But as I'm getting older I'm starting to appreciate more of the appeal of an athletic female body -- very different than using the female body as a sexy display. I think there's a really, really fine line between these two, and it's a balancing act the entire community has struggled with.
Regarding the article: its whole purpose was to portray an athletic, fit, female climber's body, so they requested the outfit. I am absolutely tired of seeing notoriety being given ONLY for body image, when talent is entirely lacking. But honestly I felt my "talent" alone was being left behind, unfortunately. I guess I'm just trying to stand somewhere in the middle.