In The Pink

by Kathryn Weber

In 1989, I was thrust into the world of rock climbing. I had no idea at the time how it would change my life, my relationship to my physical body, and my love of nature!

My introduction to this sport came with a new relationship. Until then, mountain biking & hiking had been my primary outdoor sports. My partner and his buddies were going to Yosemite regularly so all of a sudden, I was wearing a harness & tight shoes in order to climb an intimidating rock on the end of a rope that was supposed to keep me alive! The first time I went to Yosemite with them, I had no idea what to wear. I figured I wanted something that protected my legs and could be ruined on the rock. For whatever reason, I chose some old pink sweatpants and a pink t-shirt. I think I looked pretty cute but I took a lot of razzing that day!

Being a very kinesthetic person, rock climbing appealed to me in numerous ways. First, it felt almost spiritual to me. Touching the rock, using it to move my way up, finding miraculous little notches for hands and feet – all these things were joyous. I felt connected to the rock in ways I hadn’t experienced in nature before. To me, rocks are beautiful. They tell an ancient story.

Up to this point, I had not led a very athletic life. Diving into rock climbing taught me the power of my body. I discovered I was strong, balanced and graceful. I was excited to feel the muscle control in my body, and to use my body in ways that surprised me.

I knew very few female climbers during these early days. We were mostly “tag alongs” with the guys. If we wanted to climb, that was fine but they weren’t spending time giving us instructions. I remember being terrified doing the walk-off from Lembert Dome. My partner’s response was “What are you afraid of? Just stand up and walk down.” So I grasped the fundamentals quickly but didn’t learn important techniques that would help me improve my climbing. It never occurred to me that I could pursue this sport on my own.

Fast forward and that relationship is over. But luckily, not my climbing! When I met my husband, Robin, he was looking for a partner “who likes to sleep on the ground and wear a harness.” I fit the bill perfectly! Finally, I had a partner who empowered me to learn as much as I wanted about climbing. He was patient, detailed, safe, and made climbing fun. When we went back to Lembert Dome, he showed me the proper way to do a steep walk-off, and helped me when I balked. I did private classes with Yosemite Mountaineering School to learn how to lead climb. I had a new set of friends that included lots of women who also loved to climb and were very good. It gave me inspiration to continue to improve as an individual, not just as the tag along half of a couple.

In 2009, we were living on the Peninsula. Every day, we would look out our windows and see sailboats in the South Bay. One day, we decided to visit the local yacht club. That was the beginning of our next odyssey! We bought our first sailboat in 2009. We quickly replaced all our time spent in rock climbing with sailing adventures on SF Bay. We took our climbing friends sailing instead. As with rock climbing, my kinesthetic nature helped me fall in love with sailing too. I loved the feel of the wind in the sails, the challenges faced on the water, the new elements of nature we were enjoying. It wasn’t long before my curiosity began to take me beyond SF Bay. I was asking “what’s out that Golden Gate anyway?” If we wanted to take on the big ocean though, we needed a bigger boat. We purchased a 50’ sailboat, named her Agave Azul, and made preparations to go out the Gate. In June, 2012, we sold our home, my 30-year-old accounting business and most of our personal possessions (but not our climbing gear), and moved onboard our boat. We left SF Bay, sailed to Mexico and enjoyed 6 incredible years of new adventures on the water.

In 2018, we sold our beautiful floating home and moved to Santa Rosa. We immediately began looking for a climbing gym. Of course, it wasn’t until 2022 that we ran over to join Session when it opened but we found places to climb in the meantime. Yosemite, Joshua Tree, Sonora Pass, Mt. St. Helena, Squamish BC, and more.

My love for rocks and climbing hasn’t diminished at all. After 36 years, I am still “In The Pink” (this means ‘in very good health and spirits’)! I continue to love the feeling I get when I am climbing. Because of the regularity of my climbing in the gym, I have been able to work on technique and continue to improve. I have a new community of climbing women in the Women’s Lead Club who inspire me and encourage me. Best of all, our love of climbing has been passed to the next generation. We now have 3 generations of climbers in our family, the youngest being our 4-year-old granddaughter. We will all be climbing together at Red Rocks this fall. Life is good!