These days it feels as if you cant throw a rock without hitting, well, a climbing gym . Next year the booming sport will make its Olympic debut, highlighting the female climbers who have quietly been on the rise. (In the past few years there has been an explosion in womens-only climbing clubs, vacation packages, clinics, and climbing festivals, like those offered by Flash Foxy .)
One thing I love about climbing is that you can never tell by looking at someone who will be the better climber, says Kyra Condie, who did her first climb at a birthday party when she was 11 and is currently on the World Cup circuit hoping to make the Tokyo squad. You can easily go into any gym in the country and see an 11-year-old girl outclimb an athletic adult male.
We cant wait to see her debut at the 2020 Olympics.
This article appears in the July/August 2019 issue of Womens Health. For more intel on how to live a happier, healthier life, pick up a copy on newsstands now.