Women’s climbing is having an incredible moment. Built on the shoulders of 30-plus years of accomplishments, women are making ever more first ascents and pushing against the limits of technical difficulty as they climb incredibly challenging routes around the world.
Climbing sheer rock faces relies on balance and on nimble strength relative to body size, not on who is bigger or faster. This has enabled women to approach parity with men and sometimes exceed it. It also has led to pushback from what has been a male dominated world. But that is not stopping women from making history in the sport.