17/11/2025
I have been establishing new routes and completing first ascents and first free ascents around the country—many of them in Vedauwoo, WY and the desert Southwest for the past 15 years. These climbs represent years of work, commitment, and passion. They are deeply meaningful chapters in both my life and in the shared history of offwidth/ wide crack climbing.
Over the course of my career I’ve experienced a repeated pattern:
the majority of my FA/FFA contributions have been publicly attributed to my male partners, despite irrefutable documentation and eyewitness accounts. This has occurred across multiple guidebooks and publications and in many cases without any attempt to contact me directly—even when my name is clearly documented in original notes and previous published sources.
This is not an issue of ego. This is an issue of historical accuracy and the integrity of our climbing record. Historically, many women in climbing have had their contributions erased. Often not intentionally by their climbing partners, but through editing where guidebook writers, (consciously or unconsciously) decide who is worth including and who isn’t.
I know this doesn’t only happen to women. Many climbers, regardless of gender, have had their first ascents mislabeled, rewritten, or ignored. Sometimes it happens through oversight — sometimes through interpersonal bias —bsometimes through the politics of climbing communities.
Most recently I was told that a misattributed FFA was the result of “conflicting information,” and therefore I was not contacted before publication. But I want to point out that conflict can only be evaluated if primary sources are consulted—and in this case neither I nor others who were present were ever asked. I am sharing this not to blame, attack, or create division, but to open a conversation about how we can do better in preserving an accurate record of climbing history.
I would love to hear from others who have experienced similar situations. My hope is that by speaking openly, we start building a culture where every climber’s contribution is recognized with respect, and where guidebook authors feel accountable to the communities they represent.
Thank you for taking the time to read this.
And thank you to everyone—past, present, and future—who puts heart and soul into the routes we climb.
Photo: First ascent of The Dark Passenger · Long Canyon, UT 📸 Photo: Andrew Burr
