Man, woman and climbing

They are young, energetic, bold…and perhaps a bit conservative when it comes to the roles of men and women.

McGill University PhD student Celine Hequet found that rock climbers, especially heterosexual couples, tend to adopt fairly traditional roles. Men take on a leadership role in climbing, while women follow.

“Obviously, it’s not black or white, we’re talking about a trend,” notes M.^me Hequet: There are more egalitarian couples, there are dynamics of support from friends. But most of the women I met who were competent and autonomous developed outside of heterosexual mentoring.

Céline Hequet is preparing a doctorate in sociology. It was somewhat following a joke that she decided to focus her research on rock climbing.

“I discovered the qualitative method in my second year of my PhD, at the same time that I started indoor climbing again,” she says. “I arrived at the Bloc Shop, a rather unusual place that has its own code, its own hierarchy. So I joked that I was going to do an ethnography of the Bloc Shop.”

In sociology, the qualitative method is based on understanding the behaviors and needs of individuals, while the quantitative method is more based on statistics.

But at the time, Céline Hequet’s doctoral project mainly involved the quantitative method. “It bored me, I didn’t see myself doing that for five to seven years of my life. What started as a joke took over my old research project.”

She wanted to see how women had progressed in the rock climbing subculture. She made observational visits to renowned climbing sites in North America: El Potrero Chico, the Gunks, New River Gorge, Red River Gorge, Joshua Tree, Red Rocks and Rumney. Of course, she took the opportunity to do some climbing herself.

She presented initial research results at the Canadian Sociological Association conference in June. She also wrote a draft article for publication.

Celine Hequet says that most of the female climbers she met had been introduced to rock climbing by their boyfriends. She explains that climbing is not just a sport, but a lifestyle, and that climbers want to minimize anything that might prevent them from climbing. Which means introducing their girlfriends to climbing.

M^me Hequet claims that most couples remain asymmetrical: the man takes charge, the woman remains relatively independent and develops her skills little.

“It’s a two-person dance,” the doctoral student maintains, however.

In a way, women “accept” this domination on climbing sites.

This is about conforming to gender expectations.

“From what I’ve observed, in the climbing community, in the straight context, people are really more attached to these gendered expectations.”

It is the man who chooses the objective of the day, who finds his way around the site, who takes care of rope management, who recovers the woman’s equipment if she gives up in the middle of a climb.

And when a woman is much stronger technically than her partner, she experiences the situation with a little discomfort.

However, women can break out of this pattern by turning to friends for climbing.

“I want to spend quality time with my best friend,” observes M.^me Hequet. I don’t need him to surpass me, I don’t need to admire him, I don’t need him to protect me. On the contrary, I want us to talk as equals, to be able to be vulnerable, to talk about our emotions.

Céline Hequet gives this interview as she travels to the Grands-Jardins National Park to do some climbing for herself. She doesn’t plan on gathering more information for her thesis project, but who knows?

“I think I have enough data to write a PhD, but I could definitely continue to refine my understanding, develop new angles. Especially since it’s a lifestyle that suits me, being a hybrid of an intellectual and an outdoors girl.”