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The X Factor
Like any other pioneering event, first female ascents are controversial and spark debate across the board. From a decade ago to today, the number of FFAs has increased, and along with it, the importance and meaning has shifted with the changing culture. In addition to this exploration of FFAs and their place in the climbing world are a few profiles of some of climbing’s female crushers, who bring as many opinions of the term as they do FFAs on their tick lists.
FFA can mean anything from Future Farmers of America to free-fire area. Here, however, we are talking about the controversial first female ascents, i.e., when a woman climbs a problem or route that no other woman has previously sent. Due to the growth of climbing, the number of female climbers is increasing, more women are climbing stronger, and the reports of first female ascents are more frequent. Recently, Alex Puccio did the first female ascent of The Centaur (V11) in Rocky Mountain National Park, and Thomasina Pidgeon landed the FFA of Summoning Sit (V12) in Squamish, British Columbia. Some just mark these as impressives ticks on these women’s 8a.nu scorecards, but others claim they are breaking boundaries by sending something that in many cases, only men have done before. What do these ascents mean, if anything? Are they significant or important enough to even record? Lisa Rands climbed The Mandala (V12) in Bishop, California in 2008, making her the first American woman to climb V12. Now Rands is not alone at the V12 mark, as several ladies have joined her in climbing such difficult lines.
Over the years, first female ascents (FFAs) have been met with different receptions: some with praise, encouragement, and respect and others with downgrading, judgment, and jealousy. There are also first female ascents that are met with indifference. With the growing popularity of the sport, more men and women are climbing at a difficult level. Training in the gym since they were tikes means they are hitting the outdoor scene and immediately sending difficult problems. With this increased number of powerful ladies, an FFA is the result of just another day of trying hard and having fun. In other situations, FFAs have resulted in cutthroat behavior. Some women become possessive of the climb. “It’s the FFA syndrome,” Pidgeon explained. Having many of her own female first ascents, she has climbed with women who are seeking FFAs. She explains, “What I don’t like about the FFA syndrome is the competitive aspect of it. It’s akin to red-tagging a route or discouraging someone because you want the FFA. It’s poor sportsmanship, and this reaction is a normal part of nature. But it’s just that, a reaction, and I believe we can move beyond that.”
Grades change for several reasons. It’s a fact of climbing, like when holds break or when new Beta is found. In some situations, the first ascensionist might not have needed a tiny crimp in between two holds due to strength or height, like Fred Nicole or John Long. This intermediate hold is what enables women who are five feet tall to climb the problem. Natasha Barnes points out that there are undeniable and inescapable differences between male and female athletes, including size, body composition, hormones, etc. These differences come into play when a woman tries problems like the Wellsite Dyno (V10) in Hueco or the notoriously big moves on Trent’s Mom (V10) in Joe’s Valley, Utah. Climbs are different for men and women; therefore, sometimes they are approached differently. Because an intermediate is used, is the problem now easier or is it harder? Never has a problem been upgraded because of using alternative Beta such as this. In other situations, a newly found knee bar that eliminates the crux or traversing onto a different problem will change the level of difficulty, so grades settle with time, and alternative boulder problems grow from the original.
The legendary Bobbi Bensman recalls witnessing grades settling a little too quickly in Hueco Tanks, Texas, in the 1990s. “Problems were literally downgraded minutes after I did them,” she remembers. Often Bensman climbed these problems in a similar style to the men who had previously sent them, but it seemed the grade had changed instantly because she was a woman. “There was more than one downgrade in Hueco, not to mention Rifle [Colorado]. Serious Legends, Sex After Death, The Egg… all of these were graded harder. The day I did them, all were downgraded. [Better Eat Your] Wheaties was the first. Effed up, but whatever.” To be fair, there were only a handful of women out at the crags during Bobbi’s Hueco days, and fewer women were climbing just as hard as the men. When a small chick did the problem, it seemed to the guys that the problem had to be easier then they thought, and the downgrading began.
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