International Women's Day - Climbing is unique

Climbing is unique as there is no other physical sport where female are so close to male top performance. Actually, there are some examples where women have actually performed on a higher level than male like Lynn Hill making the FA of The Nose 8b+ MP in Yosemite and Ashima Shiraishi setting age grade world records. Another example is Beth Rodden doing the first 8c+ trad climb. Several coaches and route setters have over the years said that, if the routes had been adjusted to female lengths, the best would always made it to the semi and possibly the finals. Two years ago,being 15 years old and 152 cm, Ashima's outdoor performance would have placed her Top-20 among the senior male. Talking about multi-discipline climbers, Barbara Zangerl would easily fit into Top-30 or even Top-20 in the All Time High list. Climbing is a great powerful platform for promoting gender equality and empowering women and girls.