International Women’s Climbing Meet, Britain. The Women’s International Rock Climbing Meet, sponsored by the British Mountaineering Council, took place in Britain between June 12 and 26. Representatives from Denmark (1), Norway (2), Sweden (1), France (3), Italy (2), the United States (2) and Ireland (1) participated in the meet, and were accompanied by about 20 British women climbers who served as hosts for varying lengths of time. The meet assembled in London, where we spent most of the first two days. June 12 was consumed by the task of collecting all the representatives in one place; by evening we were all located and had dinner together. Day 2 we visited a climbing wall and a sandstone top-roping site south of London called Harrison’s Rocks. We left London on the morning of June 14 to spend four days in the Peak District, four days in Wales, and three days in the Lake District. The general format of the meet was quite informal. Generally we visited a different crag or cliff each day and a visitor would pair off with one of the British women to climb for the day. These partnerships were formed on the basis of climbing ability and a generally shared desire to meet and climb with a variety of the participants. Transportation, food and lodging were provided by the BMC. We travelled in two vans and whatever cars were available at a given time. We stayed in climbing club huts, which were very comfortable accommodations. Mark Hutchinson did all the food shopping while we climbed, but participants shared in the food preparation tasks. Generally breakfast and lunch were informal, with dinners being a shared, sit-down meal. We did eat in restaurants on a number of occasions, including an elegant dinner provided for us by Karrimor at a Victorian-style dining establishment (for which we were perhaps a little scruffy). My overall impression of the meet was very favorable. It provided me with a unique opportunity to meet other women climbers, to visit a new place and make important contacts. I feel it is a trip which will continue to be a part of my life for a long time to come. I am already making plans to climb with women I met on the meet. Catherine Freer and I appeared to be doing the hardest climbs of any of the visitors; the British women were most closely matched with us of the other participants. Catherine and I apparently did some first female ascents during our visit, although this was never firmly established. I would have preferred for there to be less of a gap in ability among the participants, so that I could have climbed with more of the women and still tried the climbs that interested me. This type of meet seems a really worthwhile undertaking. My major recommendations would be to limit group size to 12 to 15 participants and strive for a narrower range of ability among the participants. Otherwise, it was a memorable experience that I am pleased to have shared with others.

Rosie Andrews