Women’s Climbing Events & Courses Every Female Climber Should Know About
Are you wondering how to start climbing outside in a safe and smart way?
Are you ready to take your climbing game to the next level by learning from bad female climbers?
Perhaps you’re completely enamored with rock climbing and want to be a certified rock climbing instructor?
Well if you haven’t already checked out these women’s climbing events, festivals, and programs, then you’re in for treat!
These climbing festivals, events, and courses are the perfect gatherings for you if you’re looking for female climbing partners, mentors, or an inclusive climbing community who you feel comfortable around and want to share your climbing stoke with.
Women teaching women is essential for growing female leadership and inclusive culture in outdoor spaces and positions of authority.
However you’re looking to expand your climbing community and take your climbing pursuits to the next level, there are some rad women’s rock climbing events and programs created to help you do exactly that.
Be competent, be safe, be confident.
If you are wondering how you can be an even more awesome climber (hard to fathom, I know), be sure to check out The 13 Promises Every Awesome Climber Should Make.
Flash Foxy
Originally, it began as an instagram account of a sendy rock climbing girl crew in 2014.
Before they know it, it was 2016 and they were hosting their first Women’s Climbing Festival out in Bishop, California with the intention to connect women in the greater climbing community in real life, out on real rocks.
Not only is Flash Foxy badass for hosting women led + women celebrated climbing events, but they have an Education, Leadership, and Development Fund in partnership with Arc’teryx.
This fund provides “scholarships and programs [that] will provide women and non-binary climbers, from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds, the opportunities to learn from other women, develop their personal climbing skills and connect with others in wild spaces.”
The scholarship fund covers the cost of registration fees for ten lucky individuals plus a $250 stipend to help offset travel costs.
Hell yeah, Flash Foxy!
This badass group of women are providing an incredible service to the female climbing community and I hope to see more work like this being done in the world.
Flash Foxy holds three main events:
Women’s Climbing Festival
The Women’s Climbing Festival welcomes all women, cis and trans.
Fundamentally, it aims to bring both experienced and beginner female rock climbers together for an “amazing weekend of climbing, clinics, films, and more!”
Currently, these foxy ladies host this event in two locations in which they hold their biannual climbing festival: Bishop, California and Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Our hope is that it provides women with a space for camaraderie, conversation, connection and climbing
1) the opportunity to meet other passionate female climbers from across the country,
2) the invitation to women who may have felt intimidated for various reasons to try climbing outside to come, experience climbing outdoors and take introductory clinics in a supportive environment
3) the ability to gain confidence, skills and stoke, which they can take back and share at their local crags and beyond.
Flash Foxy
Flash Foxy Summerfest
The Flash Foxy Summerfest is a climbing festival celebrating women that extends the invitation for all genders to attend.
Everyone is welcome. Cheers to badass women. Let’s get sendy.
Women, Trans, Femme (W.T.F.) Climbing!
At the present time, there isn’t much information on these events on their site.
Nevertheless, what we do know is that Flash Foxy’s intention is to host these gatherings inside climbing gyms giving your local female climbing community a space to show rock climbing films and host workshops.
Athena Rock Climbing
Originally, Athena Rock Climbing was founded in 2011 by Kelly Fields when she was only 20 years old.
These women’s trad climbing events are based out of Seneca Rocks, West Virginia and Joshua Tree, California.
With exclusively women identifying, both trans and cis, trad climbing events, Athena Rock Climbing is a special family owned and operated company.
Join Athena Rock Climbing for a weekend to learn Trad climbing fundamentals, gear and anchor building skills for learning to lead, or spend the weekend practicing invaluable self-rescue techniques in a multi-pitch setting.
Our goal is to create a safe, inclusive space built on a foundation of respect that promotes a healthy learning environment.
Our guides will turn the mountains into a living classroom to help you become a more confident, competent climber.
Athena Rock Climbing
Importantly, the 2:1 student to instructor ratio is absolutely stellar, keeping the events small, your questions answered, and climbing goals addressed.
Climbers of all levels are welcome to the Athena Rock Climbing trad climbing events. And yes, climbing gear, camping/lodging, raffle prizes, and some meals are included in the event price.
Dates for events can be found here.
Their next events are in Joshua Tree, Ca this February 7th – 9th, and April 24th – 26th. Visit the website to reserve a space!
Event workshops
- Learn to Lead
- Gear Placements
- Anchor Building with Slings, Cord, & Rope
- Top Belaying
- Rappelling
- Protecting the Second On Technical
- Terrain
- Intro to Trad
- Basic knots & hitches
- Top rope & lead belaying
- Basic Self Rescue Skills
- Rappelling
- Mastering the role of a second for multi-pitch climbing
- Anchors and Gear Placement
- Properly cleaning gear
- Building ground anchors
- Top rope anchors
- Placing protection (experienced climbers)
- Anchors for multi-pitch settings (experienced climbers)
- Self-Rescue
- Rescuing a fallen leader/ second
- Alternative systems for belaying, rappelling and climbing
- Releasable systems vital to rescue
- Belay escapes
- Hauling & lowering systems
- Multi-pitch rescue
Women’s Bouldering Festival
Alright chicas, get your passports out and get ready to fly to Fontainebleau, France for a lady-powered bouldering festival!
The first women’s bouldering festival began in 2018 with the intention to:
- show new female climbers how to get outdoors and climb
- help women in the community connect with new climbing partners
- to educate people about sustainable recreation
Related: #LoveYourCrag: 33 Ways Climbers Can Protect Their Crags and Planet
Essentially, the event focuses on three main workshops which can all be purchased separately:
- Route Setting
- Conservation
- Climbing (duh!)
The workshops offered throughout the weekend also include yoga, parkour, and injury prevention for climbers.
Additionally, there’s time built in for connecting with other awesome female climbers like evening talks & raffles and gatherings around the campfire with beers.
Fundamentally, one thing that I find to be particularly awesome about this festival are the climbing mentors and the free conservation clinic.
Festival Pass Includes:
- access to camping
- access to bouldering in a small group with an experienced climbing mentor
- an invitation to all the evening talks
Plus, you get a goodie bag with swag from the sponsors along with a free entry ticket to Karma Climbing Gym (also in Fontainebleau).
The Women’s Bouldering Festival in Fontainebleau is an inclusive platform that allows climbers to meet likeminded individuals in our sport.
Womensbouldering.com
We hope to promote excellence in climbing and perpetuate climbing ethics through creating a network of mentorship and support.
We believe that outdoor recreation inspires confidence and helps in building skills transferable to other areas of life.
We promote outdoor conservation and best practices in the Forest of Fontainebleau.
All our actions are rooted in an intersectional framework adopted to advocate for social equity and environmentalism.
Woman Up Climbing Festival
What is the Woman Up Climbing Festival?
The Woman Up Climbing festival is a celebration of the incredible womxn present in every aspect of rock climbing—from routesetters to weekend warriors to professional athletes. With this multi-day event, we hope to inspire womxn to join our industry, achieve their personal goals, and find their community.
This two day festival starts off with a an all-womxn’s comp opened to all levels of climber’s.
Additionally, all the routes have been crafted by all female route setters.
Day 1
Day 2
Following, the second day is packed with “clinics, panels, and presentations by top athletes, routesetters, and industry leaders, all geared towards encouraging participants to acquire new skills and open up conversations about womxn in climbing.”
Every year, the theme of the panel evolves, but the goal remains the same: to amplify womxn’s voices and experiences in our sport.
Check out these highlights from the 2018 Woman Up Climbing Festival below!
AMGA Women’s Single Pitch Instructor Course
AMGA Women’s Single Pitch Instructor course is a “comprehensive training and positive learning environment for women” created for female climbers who want to “proficiently facilitate and instruct the sport of rock climbing in a single pitch setting”.
They partnered with Flash Foxy, Brown Girls Climb, American Alpine Club, and 5.10 to bring you this three day event that not only covers the SPI curriculum but also evening events with their partners like Brown Girls Climb and Flash Foxy.
This course is for the experienced female climber who has been rock climbing for over a year and is comfortable placing pro and leading trad routes.
To qualify for this course, every climber must be a member of the AMGA and must also meet their pre-reqs which you can check out here.
Lucky for you, they do offer scholarships so be sure to keep your eyes out on application deadlines!
The course consists of:
- 27-hour training course that’s typically three consecutive nine-hour days or day classes with evening sessions
- The SPI Assessment that’s a minimum of 16 hours held over a two-day period
- Certification lasts for three years as long as the single pitch instructor keeps current AMGA Membership and First Aid Certification
- Once three years has passed, current SPI’s can re-take the SPI Assessment to maintain the SPI certification
- This course in a pre-req for any higher level AMGA Course
Brown Girls Climb Meetups
Brown Girls Climb aspires to:
… promote and increase visibility of diversity in climbing by establishing a community of climbers of color, encouraging leadership opportunities for self-identified women climbers of color, and by creating inclusive opportunities to climb and explore for under represented communities.
Brown Girls Climb
Their local meetups are for individuals who identify as a WOC to learn and grow from each other.
You can find more info about their local meetups here.
If you identify as a WOC and want to support BGC, then I would highly recommend becoming a member.
They offer three different memberships:
- Entry Level
- Access to events, meet-ups, and other opportunities
- Free
- Premium Monthly
- Support BGC at an affordable monthly rate
- Access to discounted gear and courses throughout the year
- $5/month
- Premium Annual
- Invest in the future of BGC
- Premium access to discounted gear and courses
- Free BGC shirt
- $50/year
Sierra Mountain Center Women’s Clinics
The Sierra Mountain Center offers women’s only trips and clinics ranging from beginner backpacking trips to multi-day trad climbing clinics.
Best part is, it’s all happening in the beautiful granite landscape of the Eastern Sierras.
The goal of our women’s programming is to provide a supportive all-female environment to allow you to learn new skills, let loose and have fun.
Sierra Mountain Center
Women’s Gym to Crag
Fundamentally, this class covers all the basics of outdoor climbing, designed to help gym climbers feel safe and prepared to start climbing outside.
You will learn how to:
• Climbing specific warm up techniques
• Footwork
• Putting a route together
• Visualization
• Mental and physical training for sport climbing
• Equipment selection
• Anchor construction and its safe usage
• As much climbing as you are able to handle
- Technical Difficulty: Technical difficulty from 5.6 to 5.10
- Physical Difficulty: Moderate
- Length: 2 Days
- Ratio: 1 guide: 4 students
- Locations: Owens River Gorge, Rock Creek, or Clark Canyon
- Prereqs: Previous indoor climbing experience and basic knowledge of knots and climbing techniques.
- Comfortable climbing 5.9 in the gym.
- Accommodation: not included in the course
Women’s Trad Climbing Clinic
This course is for the advanced sport climber that who is ready to take on the world of traditional climbing.
You will learn how to :
- Use passive and active gear
- Different climber and belayer techniques
- Build and clean anchors
- Descending techniques
- Trad climbing ethics
- Deciphering guidebooks
- Technical Difficulty: Trad routes range from 5.6 to 5.10
- Most of the course will be covering gear, equipment, anchor building, belay setup and techniques.
- Physical Difficulty: Moderate
- Length: 2 days
- Ratio: 1 guide: 4 participants
REI Women’s Climbing Classes
Not only does REI have killer climbing how-to videos on YouTube, but they host tons of climbing relating events.
REI hosts a few climbing classes and events specifically for women including:
Women’s Rock Climbing Basics
- In-store class
- Learn about the different types of climbing and what climbing gear you need to get started
- Totes free
Women’s Learn to Climb Class
- Hands-on indoor experience for beginners
- Covers knots and basic climbing techniques
- Gear Provided
- Price ranges from around $49 and up depending on location and membership status
Women’s Introduction to Outdoor Rock Climbing
- Outdoor climbing experience for beginners
- Covers knots, belay techniques, rope management, and outdoor climbing techniques
- Gear provided
- Price ranges from around $89 and up depending on location and membership status
Women’s Climbing Technique
- Learn more advanced skills alongside other women
- Small group coaching session to take your climbing to the next level
- Prerequisite: Rock Climbing Basics or equivalent experience.
- Price ranges from around $49 and up depending on location and membership status
Women’s Climb Night in Manhattan Beach, California
- Hosted by women for women
- Have fun and meet other female climbers
- Climbers of all experience levels are welcome
- Gear and Instruction are provided
- $15 to attend
Women’s Open Climb in Seattle, Washington
- Climbers of all experience levels are welcome
- Practice your climbing techniques in a controlled environment
- Meet other women interested in climbing
- REI Outdoor School instructors will be on hand to offer tips, techniques and belay support.
- $29 for members/ $49 for non-members
Women’s Climb the Crag
- Climbers of all experience levels are welcome
- Located in the McDowell Mountains in the McDowell Sonoran Preserve.
- Practice new techniques specific to climbing on granite slab
- Climbing gear provided
- $59 for members/ $69 for non-members
Stay up to date with the climbing events in your area by heading to the REI events page found here, type in your zip code, and hit the down down menu selecting “Climbing”.
As you can see, REI has a ton of women’s climbing events and they are only growing so be sure to check it out often!
Womxn Who Climb
Womxn Who Climb believes climbing is for everyone.
They are “an intersectional space for woman & non-binary people who climb to connect, share gear & crag advice, & discuss various topics that relate to climbing.”
Currently, Womxn Who Climb doesn’t have a website (coming soon!) but you can check out their instagram here to see when upcoming women’s climbing events will be taking place.
Ultimately, the purpose of many of these women’s climbing events is to bring us together in real life and grow together in our competency and confidence.
Grow your girl crew and dive deeper into the beloved sport of climbing! Hope to see you out there!
P.S. If you know of any women’s climbing events or programs that aren’t featured here, please comment down below so they can be included in this resource!
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