‘Everyday’ Women’s Experiences of Rock Climbing Research

Hello!

If you have come looking for more information on my research in women’s experiences of rock climbing you have come to the correct place. I am writing this blog post to give you some information on what my research is all about. If you have just stumbled upon this and thought that it looked quite interesting, welcome! 

If you don’t already know me my name is Emily Ankers and I am currently doing a Masters by Research at Leeds Beckett University under the Carnegie School of Sport. My research aims to find out more about women’s changing experiences of rock climbing, how significant ‘everyday’ factors of life are in women’s experiences of climbing, how significant age and ageing is in experiences of rock climbing and what are the differences between representations and reality of experiences for female rock climbers. The emphasis is on ‘everyday’ women – meaning your normal climber, who climbs for fun, fitness, challenge, skill. What this research is not about are elite, professional climbers. Maybe I will be able to do research on elite climbers in the future but for now, I am talking about everyday women. My research is not limited to one style of climbing, I will be looking at experiences of women across different styles including and not limited to; bouldering, lead climbing, top rope climbing, speed climbing, trad climbing – and both indoor and outdoor experiences of climbing. It might sound like a lot. However, it is important to note that climbing as a sport has evolved over the past fifty years and so different styles have been popular at different points in time as climbing has developed. I am interested in how experiences have changed over time. 

I myself am a climber (although not a very good one!) - and this has motivated my research, along with being a critical thinker on women in sport, a Leeds Girls Can volunteer Ambassador, historian and lover of the great outdoors. In qualitative research (research that is not quantifiable by numbers or statistics) - there is such a thing as reflexive research. This means that the researcher (me) will consider their own position in relation to the research (women in climbing) throughout the research process. The researcher will put in place measures to ensure that their own position is used to enrich the research, but not skew or distort it. 

There are different layers to this research. The first is desk based literature, which might sound dull, but it is really interesting and important in understand what research exists on climbing already and finding out about studies on gender and other ‘alternative’ sports such as windsurfing and skateboarding. If you are interested in knowing more about existing research I will include some texts at the end of this blog post.

Another aspect of my research involves visiting the Mountain Heritage Trust archive. The Mountain Heritage Trust archive is full of brilliant climbing and mountaineering primary sources. They will be useful for the element of tracking change over time in my study. Mountain Heritage Trust are based in Keswick and they often put on exhibitions at the Keswick Museum if you wanted to find out more about climbing and mountaineering history. You can also find out more on their website: https://www.mountain-heritage.org/ . 

I will also be carrying out anonymous interviews with female climbers, with an emphasis on cross generational experiences and understanding women’s experiences in their own words. This research could be described as feminist in that it places women at the centre of the research. Yet, it’s not just about putting women at the centre, but putting the participant at the centre. This is important when doing research on individuals’ experiences – fully understanding their perspective and making sure that this is reflected accurately in the research.

I am very excited about this research and enjoying it immensely so far. I have been considering a PhD but am also thinking about other avenues, if a climbing organisation or company would like to employ me to do research that would be the dream.  
Thank you for your interest and your cooperation. Maybe see you in a climbing centre sometime soon!

Em 

Instagram: @active.em.blog
Twitter: @active_em_blog 
LinkedIn: Emily Ankers, Masters by Research Student, Women and Rock Climbing 

As promised, here are some not-too-heavy texts that you might find interesting on alternative sport and gender: 

Balka, E. (1995) Risk Recreation, Gender, Technology and Empowerment: Reflections of Life on the Rocks. Canadian Women’s Studies. 15 (4), pp.42-46

Dilley, R. (2012) Embodying difference: gender, identity and climbing. In: Hughson, J, Palmer, C, and Skillen F. (eds.) The role of sports in the formations of personal identities – studies in the community loyalties. New York: Edwin Mellen Press. pp.191-216

Humberstone, B (ed.) (2000) Her Outdoors: Risk, Challenge, Adventure in Gendered Open Spaces. Brighton: Leisure Studies Association

Wheaton, B. (2004) Lifestyle Sports: Consumption, identity and difference. Oxon: Routledge

Wheaton, B. (2013) The Consumption and Representation of Lifestyle Sports. Abingdon: Routledge