Mentorship in the climbing world can be tough to find. As the activity gains popularity, there’s a lot of people climbing now it is harder and harder to find reliable and trustworthy folks that can help guide our development in the outdoors and in our technical climbing goals-especially folks that share our experiences.
The Brown Girls Climb community is all too familiar with the barriers that exist with Communities of Color. From harassment to basic scheduling, there’s a number of reasons why finding a mentor can be near impossible for some. Below are a few suggestions we have and some resources to help you along your journey.
Start Identifying Your Needs
Mentorship can develop in many different ways and it’s important when you’re starting off to consider your values and what traits you might be looking for in a potential mentor. Here are some questions that might help guide this process:
What are some areas that you’d like support in?
Maybe you’re looking to expand your network with like-minded people that also like to climb or maybe you have a specific climbing or mountaineering objective you want to achieve by the time you turn 35. Whatever you’re looking for, being able to articulate it may help you to start the process.
Are you flexible with your goals?
You may meet folks that can help you with learning trad skills or that can relate to your experience as a first generation college student but may not always be able to do both. Alternatively, you may find mentorship in unexpected places so it’s helpful to be open to people as they come into your life.
What are your boundaries?
People may enter your life with some amazing offers for technical training but this doesn’t always mean they’re the right person for you. Everyone has different levels of tolerance when it comes to interacting with people but we suggest making sure you feel respected within any mentor relationship you enter.
Find Community
There are number of different communities out there that you can connect with from local climbing groups to affinity climbing spaces, connecting with the communities you’re interested in is really important to finding folks that you might connect with.
Brown Girls Climb knows that mentorship can develop in unexpected places and with unexpected people. We’ve seen really strong mentorships develop organically out of our meet-up space and online connections, so have focused our efforts one developing spaces that our members can connect with people that may share their backgrounds and their interest in climbing.
There are a number of other groups that are worth connecting with locally and nationally that may provide the unique resources and the community you need!
Over the past few years, there have been some tremendous grassroots efforts to organize in local cities and towns across the US. Climbing 4 Change, a non-profit dedicated to making rock climbing and the outdoor industry more inclusive has carried on the task of creating a great database for both national and local groups (If you run or know a group that’s not listed, make sure to fill it out or share!). A few folks we’d like to shout out are:
>Non-Binary & GNC Rock Climbers – a POC founded online group! This space is for Non-binary and Gender Non-Conforming rock climbers and we are so stoked to see this come into being!
>Climb Like a Woman – A BIPOC run group which organizes internationally, with their primary focus in India (so cool) and some events and leadership in the US! Watch more of the mentorship efforts in the video below:
Connect & Network
Being vulnerable in new situations or new communities can be really tough and uncomfortable! It’s not an easy thing to ask for help or reach out for a new friendship (a few of our national team are hardcore introverts so we get it!) Networking is a skill that has to be practiced. We want to be clear also that when we refer to networking, we don’t mean swapping business cards, we mean building intentional relationships with new people. Sometimes these encounters can lead to life long friendships and sometimes they can lead to legitimate advice for your next adventure or work project but good networking always starts with authentic and vulnerable connections.
For some of us, reaching out to new people is easy, even fun in some cases. For others, it’s dreadfully scary. We understand. There’s a lot of shame associated with being the new person and for BIPOC climbers, these feelings can be even more pronounced in the spaces we navigate.
We wanted to reduce this fear and also create an intimate and empathetic space for BIPOC women and non-binary folks comfortable in our space to ask questions and connect freely with one another. That’s why we created our own private BGC App for members! If you’re interested, here’s how how it works:
- Sign up for a free or premium membership
- Wait for an email about app access
- Join the BGC Community App
- Join the regional, affinity, and climbing groups within the app to find mentors that relate to you!
- Regional – Connect with other BIPOC climbers in your state
- Affinity – Connect with other climbers that share your identity
- Climbing – Share your climbing skill or need on the following groups:
- New to Climbing
- Bouldering
- Sport- Top Rope
- Trad Climbing
- Ice Climbing
- Mountaineering
- Post who you are, what you’re looking for, and what skills or knowledge you may have!
Regardless of whether you’re connecting with us on the app or on a Facebook group with a local crew. Here are some suggestions on ways to connect deeper with potential mentors:
- Introduce yourself: Who are you, what you’re looking for, and what objectives you have
- Ex: “Hi everyone, my name is Maria (She/her)! I’m reaching out to find other moms that climb. I’d love to get back to climbing and am looking to find someone to top rope with indoors.”
- Be honest about skills you have and skills you need
- Ex: “Hi everyone, my name is Alex (They/Them)! I’m reaching out to find a trad mentor. I sport climb up to 5.10 and am happy lead belay and bring snacks! I have followed a few times in the past but would love to learn more about traditional climbing from someone more experienced.
- Be upfront about scheduling:
- Ex: “Hi everyone, my name is Rina (She/Ella)! I’d love to get some outdoor lead climbing mileage in. I’m looking for someone comfortable lead belaying and cleaning routes. I work on weekends so Wednesday or Thursday afternoons work best. Hit me up if this works for you.
- State your boundaries:
- Ex: “Hi everyone, my name is Belen (She/They). I’m looking for some bouldering buds that are down for some fun climbs. I’ve got two pads and a lot of psych but no patience for racists or jerks. If you like PB&J and being a nice human, hit up my DMs.”
- Create a safety plan
- If you decide to meet up with a new person or people. We strongly suggest making a plan to meet that person in a public place with a friend beforehand. Climbing with them and someone you know the first time or first few times, and letting your friends or family know where you are if you decide to make plans elsewhere.
Overall, use your best judgement when navigating new relationships (have a safety plan in place), have fun, be honest, and remember to share what skills or offerings you might be able to bring as well or ask in a follow up conversation.
Plug into Existing Programs
There are a LOT of great programs to boost your technical skills and training. We’ve listed a few below for you!
Mentorship Programs
Click the logos to be directed to their webpages.
Outdoor Programs, Grants & Scholarships
Click the logos to be redirected to their webpages
***Please note BGC does not work directly with all of these organizations or affiliated providers that they might promote. We are happy to share our beta on who we work with and why and also connect you with folks for organizations that we may be less familiar with. Although all of these efforts reduce barriers to access and knowledge for BIPOC folks, some are BIPOC, queer, and/or women run operations which we always recommend as a first source for support!
Find Multiple Mentors
In our experience, when it comes to mentorship, more is better. We have mentors from all genders, experiences, races, and ages that have helped us develop our skills as climbers, professionals, and community leaders. Each relationship you encounter has potential to enrich your life if it feels like it’s a good fit (see boundaries). Although you may not find the perfect mentor, you might find three or five amazing mentors that can be available at different times (scheduling is a major crux) and different areas to help you reach your goals
Become a Mentor!
At Brown Girls Climb, we firmly believe that everyone is a leader and a mentor in their own right. Sometimes it takes a gentle reminder from a good friend to remember all the skills and knowledge you already have! We’ve met many of you and interact with new and experienced across all sorts of levels. The one thing we have in common (besides the fact that we’re amazing and radiant) is that each of us tends to have some level of imposter syndrome or doubt about our skills.
These sneaky feelings of insecurity about our abilities are not your fault. Typically these narratives stem from a number of different experiences and interactions we’ve had over time telling us we’re not good enough, strong enough, smart enough, or that we simply don’t belong in this historically white activity/ or space. Well, as your good friends, we’re here to tell you that’s bologney!
If you’ve been outdoors, tried top rope or bouldering, or are seasoned recreational sport climber, you’ve already got a lot of knowledge that other folks may find valuable. Those experiences plus your personal perspective can be a valuable combination for other folks looking to connect.
So, remember that mentorship is a two way street. Sometimes the swap is business beta for some rescue lessons or a sympathetic ear about a mixed race relationship for a bouldering spot, but in every scenario there’s room to grow and learn from one another.
As we grow and develop our skills so does our responsibility to share these with others. We hope as we reach our goals, we’ll continue to remind each other to take a moment, look around, and make sure we’re not still alone in the places we arrive to.
Take care fam and reach out if you have any questions, concerns, or additional resources you’d like us to share!
Resources
https://info.deuter.com/blog/how-to-find-mentorship-in-climbing
https://www.npr.org/2019/10/25/773158390/how-to-find-a-mentor-and-make-it-work
