Nicole: "Some of us did bouldering league the previous year and we were going to keep the same team, but a few members from that year couldn’t attend so we formed a new team. Also, we are climbing besties at Sender One so it just made sense."

Arielle: "It was fate to do bouldering league with my best homies. We climb together, we laugh together, we boulder-league together."

Rebecca: "My best homies asked me if I wanted to be on their bouldering league team and I couldn’t possibly say no."

Ralen: "Through friendship and camaraderie"

Nicole: "I like very technical routes with small holds and flowy, balance-y moves."

Arielle: "I have grown to love stemming and balancing moves. Anything that requires a bit of a pistol squat to show off my leg strength, I am psyched on. Also love an overhang."

Rebecca: "I love stemming! I also love climbs with big committing moves that make me really have to throw myself at stuff - all or nothing, baby!"

Ralen: "My favorite style of climbing is technical vert."

Nicole: "Anything that requires overhang is a challenge for me."

Arielle: "Crimps that hurt my delicate fingers!"

Rebecca: "Anything with slopers"

Ralen: "Slabby sloper-y"

Nicole: "I live in the Denver area now so my favorite outdoor crag is Clear Creek. But Texas Canyon, Holcomb Valley, and Red Rocks will always have a place in my heart."

Arielle: "BISHOP. My boulder heart beats for Happy Boulders. But as my sport climbing love grows, I enjoy a local day to Texas Canyon."

Rebecca: "Red rocks!!! But Texas Canyon locally."

Ralen: "It’s quickly becoming Clear Creek but historically Red Rocks."

Nicole: "I usually sport climb so I think I switched to bouldering a little more before to prepare."

Arielle: "I lift a lot so that definitely helped, and focusing on bouldering sessions over ropes."

Rebecca: "I started bouldering a bit more and climbing more in general."

Ralen: "I didn’t. Hahahaha. I just climbed a lot because it’s based on improvement so I just climbed A LOT."

Nicole: "It was very fun rooting for everyone and projecting together and supporting all the teams. Also crying together about hard routes."

Arielle: "Just being goofy with my friends and feeling the gym community come together to all root for each other."

Rebecca: "Getting to push myself out of my comfort zone and try problems I normally wouldn’t. The competitive aspect makes the victory of sending harder grades wayyy more rewarding. And of course, I can’t forget getting more time to spend with my pals - what is climbing if not a silly goofy sendy time with the homies."

Ralen: "Honestly, it was getting to try hard problems with all my friends. I had fun. Like even on the last day I got to hang out and have fun even though I couldn’t climb. It was getting to climb with my friends of all levels because, usually, I wouldn’t climb with Becca and Arielle who climb at a skill level that would normally prevent me from climbing with them."

Nicole: "As a repeat myself, I’d say it’s all about your team's attitude and believing in yourself and others on your team. Negative talk and self doubt will manifest. Positive talk and just believing you can do it goes a long way!"

Arielle: "Just have fun, pick a fun team name, and don’t be hard on yourself! Don’t focus on last year, just focus on this year! It is a new day."

Rebecca: "Make sure you pick a good team name. It’s never too early to start training ;)"

Ralen: "Just climb a lot and you'll get better as you go. Climb a lot and climb hard and you can surprise yourself."

Nicole: "Don’t get injured! *cough* *Arielle & Ralen*... but actually, listen to your body cause you’re climbing things that are harder and that’s an easy way to get injured. Also have fun!"

Arielle: "...Make sure you do some bouldering training beforehand, or the sudden switch to bouldering will make it more difficult for ya! If you have a team full of supportive pals, you are going to climb better and have way more fun. I love you Nicole, Ralen, and Becca <3 Also do not plan to go to Craggin Classic the day after Bouldering League finals if you want to climb. We spent the weekend in the hot springs recovering from sending so hard. No regrets. "

Rebecca: "Also make sure you pick a good team name and start training early. Some people really come to compete, so make sure your team is aligned on it if you’re shooting for the w or just want to have fun."

Ralen: "Climb a lot and climb hard and you can surprise yourself. But be careful of injury."

When I was around 15 and before I knew about climbing gyms, I went on a bike ride with my dad. We passed by a renaissance fair with a ton of art booths and a rock wall, so of course we stopped in. The woman running the rock wall let me go up once, twice, and eventually as many times as I wanted because I wouldn’t leave. I remember being in the harness for hours until we finally had to bike home before the sun set on us. Then a few months later, I remember begging my dad to take me to a rock gym after a bad cross country meet, but we had no idea how to do it and we just walked around and admired the climbers. I didn’t actually start climbing until a year later when I was asked on a date, my first date, to a climbing gym. That same day I bought a membership and I’ve never stopped. This is the moment I truly started climbing, and often the one I reference in interviews.

Snacks! And more snacks. And then, if you can believe it: even more snacks. I get VERY hangry and no one likes a hangry hippo.

If I had to pick just one, I’d choose the moment I topped out “the Walk of Life” in Devon, England. I remember feeling completely in control throughout the entire 50 meter slab trad route, and when I got to the top I was beyond euphoric. It was a mix of feeling excited, proud, calm, competent, and overjoyed.

It’s a tango with the wall that requires precision, focus, and trust in how you and your partner (the wall) connect. I think (a) Slab is typically sandbagged, and (b) Slab is often scary. It’s hard to want to feel terrified when projecting something 3 grades easier than your max. People don’t like to get their egos smashed.

Sometimes it feels unfair to be a woman in rock climbing. That’s such a valid feeling. But try not to let your perception of what people say or think about you get in the way of your rock climbing journey. Do it your way. You belong here too.

I have both grade goals and specific route/boulder goals for each discipline I do (which is a constantly evolving list), but I also have my psychological goals, like ultimately remembering to find joy with every climb.

I’m only human at the end of the day. I think the best thing that someone in the public eye can do is to represent that truth. I hope that, if I am a role model to someone out there, I’m a role model who shows that it's okay to be imperfect and grow from experiences, rather than someone who feigns perfection.

There are a lot of badass women doing badass rock climbs in some pretty badass documentaries now. I think the next push is for a badass all-woman crew behind the camera, too.

Climbing is about learning. I find that thinking about climbing “sends” in terms of both completion AND execution is a very valuable growth mindset. E.g. I sent it, but it was sloppy; maybe I can still learn more from it. This offers a process-focused solution to the more problematic must-conquer mentality.

There aren’t many women first ascentionsits, guidebook authors or route setters when compared to men and the current ratio of women to men that climb. This creates bias in grades and popularizes climbing trends that often favor a bigger body. These climbs shape us and our ideas about climbing. It would be incredible to see an initiative to get more women involved in the entire climbing process, whether that means setting or establishing outside, to have a more diverse set of people coming up with the ideas that we, as the greater climbing community, play on.