When it comes to rock climbing as a type of sporting activity, one thing is certain: at the beginning, this activity was mainly approached by men. This is because women at that time, in the late 18th century, were not known to be otherwise dressed but with long gowns that prevented them from these types of activities.

They could go on horse riding with specially designed outfit, but that was as far as their sporting activity involving pants wearing could go. Later, when the mountain climbing started to become more popular, we could find women involved in mountaineering, but there was a difference between this activity and rock climbing.

With mountain climbing, one will only approach the route in a more accessible way but not the same can be said about rock climbing that includes only tougher routes, such as mou8ntain walls and cliffs. As a result women started to choose the mountain climbing but even with some sections of these mountains they confronted with tougher parts so that pretty soon they got themselves involved in rock climbing as well.

If we take a look at the records describing the first feminine presence as a mountain climber, we find the name of a woman – Miss Pinter – who was mentioned to be the first female climber in 1799 on the Mt. Blanc. She was part of a team of mountain climbers who had mentioned her as part of their expedition.

It is worth mentioning that many women followed across the centuries in this type of sporting and exploration activity, but their names weren’t mentioned for the simple fact that they were the spouses or friends of the mountaineers.

Well, one can imagine that back in those days, this form of activity was mostly looked at as one belonging to men, so women had no interest whatsoever into participating. It was later, after one century, that a woman’s name was mentioned among a team of climbers – Meta Brevoort, who decided to drop her feminine outfit and got into a pair of trousers to ascent the mountain peaks.

In the late 20th century, rock climbing started to become more popular among the ranges of women and this was combined as well with the establishing of many clubs across the country with female members joining in. These days, rock climbing has recorded an increased number of female climbers thanks to the introduction of rock climbing walls in many leisure centers. This has determined women to see this activity as a very challenging one and even if they don’t choose to explore the outdoor rocks, the indoor alternative suits them just fine.