girl crush

Girl Crush: An Interview with Sarah Hay

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Every so often, we’ll interview extraordinary girls doing extraordinary things: this is Girl Crush.  This week, we’re stoked to profile Auckland-based athlete Sarah Hay, who recently competed and crushed at the first two New Zealand National Climbing and Bouldering Competitions of the series.

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“Climbing has also taken me to places and countries I’d never otherwise have thought to visit and I’m lucky enough to have parents who live in Queenstown which is gorgeous and close to so much great rock.“

-Sarah Hay | Climbing Athlete

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Babies and Boulders: A Personal Essay by Kristin Re

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Kristin is a mother to a super rad 3-year-old, an alternative high school and local community college teacher, doctoral candidate, and entrepreneur.

An active member of the rock climbing community in the northeastern United States, she is extremely devoted to the empowerment of women through climbing, and teaches ladies technique clinics at climbing gyms in Rhode Island.

I began climbing in 2011, nurturing my newfound obsession as the spring and summer gave way to the crisp air that provided the best friction. That fall, I went on my first real climbing trip to the Red River Gorge, led my first 5.11, and began working my first V4. Then, my intuition told me something was wrong; I took a pregnancy test before going to the gym one night, and my fear became a reality.

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Gear Talk with Our Badass BFFs: Dynamite Starfish

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This edition of Gear Talk – girls talking gear and all things awesome – features Dynamite Starfish, a Los Angeles-based climbing lifestyle brand that designs tees and tanks inspired by places that are near and dear to any California climber’s heart.

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We love that each shirt is screen printed with water-based inks to keep the environment in mind, and in colors and cuts that are comfy and flattering.

We sat down with founder, artist and designer Leslie Sam Kim, to talk shop.

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We’re so much more than just another t-shirt company. From the design to the printing technique, Dynamite Starfish creates tees that bring awareness to the outdoors in a fun and cheeky way. They remind us of the classic crags we’ve grown to love, and encourage us to explore the places we have yet to see.

-Leslie Sam Kim | Founder, Dynamite Starfish

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Girl Crush: An Interview with Mary Lüthy

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Every so often, we’ll interview extraordinary girls doing extraordinary things: this is Girl Crush.  This week, we’re thrilled to feature Cambodia-based climbing entrepreneur Mary Lüthy, whose passion project is Phnom Climb, Phnom Penh’s first rock climbing gym.

Mary is super stoked about rock climbing because it builds community, a safe and supportive environment, trust, self-esteem, confidence and perseverance amongst locals and expats climbers.

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“Most people don’t immediately think that a low income country like Cambodia would need something like a climbing gym. Yet, after living here for over 5 years, we are convinced that our beloved city, Phnom Penh, would be better off if there were more fun, constructive, and healthy activities available. We have watched the rapid growth of the economy and consumer possibilities, but no parallel growth of sports or extracurricular activities for young people. Phnom Penh is hungry for a rock climbing gym!”

-Mary Lüthy | Co-Founder, Phnom Climb

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Seeking Higher Ground: Don’t Panic

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Welcome to our inaugural edition of Seeking Higher Ground  – a column about climbing, women, and women climbing – written by Bouldering Babe Athlete Anastasia B.

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It’s 100 degrees outside, and I’m halfway up one of maybe ten bolted routes in the whole of Zion. I’m not sure what grade the route is, only that I’m hot, it’s hard, and that I’ve never been in this far over my head. From the ground this seemed like such a sure thing, but I am afraid. I am gut-wrenchingly, mind numbingly afraid. 

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Gear Talk with Our Badass BFFs: The Jam Salves

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This edition of Gear Talk – girls talking gear and all things awesome – features one of our badass BFFs The Jam Salves, a Providence-based purveyor of handmade, natural salves for myriad of uses.

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What strikes us most about The Jam Salves are its non-greasy texture, feminine fragrance, and healing properties. We love The Tendon One, which is specifically formulated to heal and strengthen tendons.

We sat down with Kristin Re, Bouldering Babes Athlete and one of the beautiful brains behind Jam Salves, to talk shop.

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To be badass is to love what you are doing, wholeheartedly, and unforgivingly. It doesn’t mean you are the strongest or coolest; it means you do more than what people think you can. You go above and beyond the norm and believe limitations don’t exist. It’s a state of being in which you are in control, and you are an unstoppable force in whatever endeavor you attempt, despite the challenges that come along.

-Kristin Re | Founder, The Jam Salves

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Girl Crush: An Interview with Alyse Dietel

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Every so often, we’ll interview extraordinary girls doing extraordinary things: this is Girl Crush. This week, we’re stoked to feature recent Rock and Ice cover girl Alyse Dietel.

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Alyse had been climbing for 15 years before she  fell off a cliff during her first month of college and was paralyzed from the waist down for 6 months.  Despite being confined to a wheelchair, she defied her doctors and re-learned to walk, and then to climb.

She sent her first 5.13b a year later after intensive training and rehabilitation. Now she has sent more 5.13s and has taken up trad climbing with her boyfriend, Tim.

‘Climbing is everything to us, and we plan on doing it as much as possible while inspiring others to push their boundaries to do what they love. ‘

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Girl Crush Guest Post: The Process of Projecting by Cat Suen

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Every so often, we’ll feature extraordinary girls doing extraordinary things: this is Girl Crush.

Cat Suen makes us smile. We first met through mutual friends on a girls only climbcation, where we were blown away by her dedication, kindness, and warmth, and quickly developed a girl crush.  When she’s not projecting 5.12’s in her home crag in Squamish, she enjoys climber family potlucks, other people’s dogs, patio gardening, fly fishing, and surfing.

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“I am just a girl who loves to climb! I did not heel hook out of the womb, but I was born to climb.  Climbing is my oxygen and I can’t live without it.  I am afraid of heights, but I am not afraid of the places it takes me. Nothing compares to getting to the top of a climb and breathing in all the beauty that surrounds me. These mountain top moments make my heart smile. Climbing makes my heart smile.”

-Cat Suen

Something pretty magical happened recently: I sent one of my hardest routes to date.  After projecting  Rugmunchers (5.11d.) for about a month, one night it all came together.

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Girl Crush: An Interview with Meg the Legend

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Every so often, we’ll interview extraordinary girls doing extraordinary things: this is Girl Crush.  This week, we’re stoked to feature badass radass female climber and digital dirtbag Megan Sullivan.

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Meg the Legend

Megan Sullivan’s business card says that she is a Producer and Director for an internal production company within an advertising agency, but she is basically a dirtbag who lives in the city of San Francisco and travels to wherever possible as much as possible.

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Girl Crush: An Interview with Kathy Karlo

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Every so often, we’ll interview extraordinary girls doing extraordinary things: this is Girl Crush.  This week, we’re stoked to feature for the love of climbing author Kathy Karlo.

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Kathy Karlo is a rock climber based out of Brooklyn, NY. When she’s not on the road, she owns a Brooklyn and Boulder-based nanny agency. Between baking and loving’ on dogs, she’s desperately trying not to kill the last few living basil plants in her apartment.

Her love of rock and ice has been a life changing experience. She encourages anyone and everyone to try it! Her belief that climbing a rock is so much more than that…it’s a life journey that forever tests the limits of possibility.

Kathy is adopted from Korea, has a brown dog named Shooter, and a severely irrational fear of both zombies and dinosaurs.

If it isn’t ridiculous, then what’s the point?

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