by Siany Escamilla
About 9 years ago, my climbing journey began in a local gym, thanks to an old friend who introduced me to climbing. He was a boulder bro, and I was scared of heights, so I only bouldered for the first 2-3 years of my climbing journey. I was also not very consistent and every time I returned to climbing after taking weeks or a month off, I would start back at V0 again. Although the technique and movement became like a muscle memory for me, physically, I was totally out of shape. Climbing, yoga, hiking and occasionally Stand Up Paddle boarding were my only form of exercise when I first started.
One day, I invited my friend Hannah, who had a climbing membership at Vertex, to come climb with me. One day while we were at work together they asked me if I wanted to top rope. I laughed and said no. I told them I was terrified of heights. They insisted I learned how to top rope. That conversation is what immediately pushed me out of my comfort zone. The very first time I jumped on top rope, it was with Stephen, who was a staff member at Vertex., He was kind and patient with me. When I went up the wall I only got up like 15ft, and I was screaming, like full on making a scene. I was freaking out for at least 5 minutes before I calmed down and realized I was in a safe and controlled environment. Stephen, the belayer, then proceeds to tell me, “Okay, now push away from the wall.”
I responded with, “Are You KIdDiNg ME?!”
“Just do it,” he encouraged me. I trusted him, so I did. After another few minutes of swinging around on top rope and learning to trust the system I eventually completed the climb. I watched some youtube videos on how to belay and tie a figure 8 knot and with some practice at the gym, I got my belay cert card.
I became really strong and made a lot of acquaintances at the gym. I mostly climbed indoors. I only climbed at Goat Rock once with an ex-boyfriend who used to climb. We didn’t really date for long nor did we climb much together. I knew nothing about how to set up anchors. I didn’t have the confidence to go bouldering by myself outside. My friends who I mostly climbed with also only climbed indoors and I was skeptical of climbing outdoors with strangers. Then Covid happened, the gym closed, and for the next 2 years I only went hiking and occasionally scrambled on rocks. My closest friends that I did hang out with during Covid, didn’t climb.
Then the gyms re-opened. I started climbing at Vertex again. I started back at V0. What I had learned was that even though I was frustrated about starting back at V0 / 5.5, I was would actually be stronger every time I came back. I learned to become patient with myself instead of getting upset whenever I got stuck on something.
Shortly after, I learned that Session was hiring. Before they even opened, I applied and got the job. After 6 years of climbing on and off, my slow and long climbing journey finally took a turn and really amplified my life as a climber. I learned how to lead climb, and set up anchors, and how to place trad gear. I became more confident as a climber. Not only did I gain skills and knowledge around climbing, I also finally started climbing more outdoors too.
Climbing strangely also seeped into other parts of my life: it helped mitigate my fear of heights, I’ve become more patient with myself and others, and I’ve learned to enjoy fitness. I started weight lifting and one of my dearest friends from WLC, Pauline, got me into surfing, and shared with me the art of croissants and fromage.
For the past 3 years I’ve actually become more consistent with climbing. Session Climbing and the Women’s Lead Club (WLC) group have definitely made this an achievable factor. I remember the day Alé asked me if she should start a lead club for women. and I said, “Yes, of course, I would join and, I’m sure more people would be a part of it.” WLC started as a group chat with maybe 6 women. Now the WhatsAapp chat has blown up to nearly 200 members.
I would like to add, my first climbing trip was by myself. For context, I have only been to the local crags like St. Helena, Salt Point and Goat Rock. This was my first actual camping / climbing trip). I went to Joshua Tree for 3 days during Christmas. I was originally going to go with my ex-boyfriend who was not a climber. The reason he didn’t go was because he had Covid and didn’t want to go camping while he was sick. I didn’t let that affect my decision to go. I was not going to reschedule either. And I don’t regret it. It was one of the best climbing experiences I’ve ever had. I brought my camping gear, 2 crash pads and a set of quickdraws. I had never been to J tree before. And I had a 20 year old topo guidebook. Looking at the book and trying to pinpoint where you are is pretty difficult when there’s thousands of rocks that all basically look the same. I went to the Visitor’s Center and I asked about climbing. The ranger told me to go to climber’s coffee at the Hidden Valley parking lot every Saturday and Sunday. I rushed to climber’s coffee eager to meet new climbing buddies. I met two climbing guides and one hiking guide who were willing to show me around the park and climb. Two of the Guides, Zarren and Hannah, took me with them shortly after we met. We went to three different areas. Zarren set up a natural anchor, which we all top-roped together. The next day Hannah and I went bouldering and the third day I met up with Hannah and the other climbing guide, John. We went to Echo Cove and did some lead/ trad mix and more bouldering. I was so grateful to meet these wonderful people who were willing to show me around the park. Hannah was kind enough to let me shower in her RV since there is no running water in J Tree. And we had pancakes for our Christmas dinner. It was an experience I will never forget, which opened up a new chapter in my climbing journey.
Since then, I have been on multiple climbing trips in Tahoe and Bishop. Most of them with my current partner Abel, who has shown me how to set up natural anchors, trad lead, top rope solo, and so much more. But some of those trips have also included wonderful members of the Women’s Lead Club. I’ve also had the luxury of climbing at Lover’s Leap, Tuolumne Meadows, Red Rocks, Bishop, and most recently, Thailand and Laos.
On our trip to Donner pass I went with Pauline, Robin, Joey, and Abel. On this trip I was able to set up some top rope with Abel for my friends and I got to teach them how to rappel and place trad gear.
Last year in December, Ally, Robin, and I visited Rae in Bishop. We went bouldering in the Happys and got to go to the Gorge.
Climbing has taken over a huge part of my life, in a good way. Last year for my birthday, Abel and I went to Tuolumne Meadows. We did a lot of bouldering and some cragging days, but we also got to climb Matthes Crest. We hiked down the trail, camped for the night and at 7am we hiked to the base of the climb. He led most of the route. It was my first time simul-climbing and it was the most exposure I’ve ever felt. Although it was a 5.7 and therefore not too challenging, the climb definitely stimulated my brain. And the conditions were perfect. In the morning there were some dark clouds, but by the time we got to the base, they had cleared up. It took us about four hours to reach the South Summit. When we started to rappel, the clouds came back. By the time we got back to our camp it started sprinkling. This was just the kind of stimulus I needed to complete a 16-pitch climb, the longest multi-pitch I’ve done so far.
This past February, Abel and I planned to go on our first international climbing trip, which was to Thailand and Laos. Oh my goodness! I fell in love! I would go back in a heartbeat. We didn’t do much climbing in Thailand. We went to a bouldering gym in Koh Tao. We spent most of our time mainly in the water swimming, snorkeling, and I got my scuba diving cert. When we got to Laos, that’s when we went hardcore climbing everyday. We were at Green Climber’s home for a week. If you plan to go out there you will probably want to stay for at least 2-3 weeks. It’s all limestone, with an epic roof I didn’t climb because I was too intimidated. But I jumped on this sport route called Beginners Roof, which is probably a 5.10a? I was shitting bricks. Abel was so patient and so encouraging. I led it and at every clip I had him take. Although I was scared out of my mind, I was able to push through the uncomfortable committing move I had to make to the next one. Honestly It was a really fun route that had these tufas to grab on to or kind of wedge your body in, almost like climbing a chimney.
I notice that I tend to get really scared when I’m leading and when I start to push towards my limit. I know a lot of times, it depends on the route. But there are also times when I know I can physically do something, but the exposure of the route is what gets to me. I’m currently trying to work on this. For example I can get half way up on a 5.12-5.13 on top rope no problem. But If there’s a 5.11 that has a committing big move, I will tend to hesitate and hold myself back. I have so much more to learn and practice. Climbing is just one of those things that you can always gain a new experience from no matter how long you’ve been climbing. I can’t wait to go on more climbing trips and make new memories with all the wonderful people in the community <3
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