Women's Climbing Weekend
Friday, April 26th - Sunday, April 28th, 2024All-Inclusive Climbing Training Weekends Taught by and for Climbers Who Identify as Women, Femme, and Non-Binary People
Climbing Education for Women, Femme, and Non-binary People
Why women-specific training?
Every time we offer women-only events, the energy feels unique from coed learning environments. Empowering. Open. Safe. Inspiring. Our women+ instructors climb with guys often - and we enjoy it! - but there is an undeniable charm and power to women-only training.
WCW gatherings bring together climbers of all abilities for learning, connection, and growth. The clinics offer specific curricula to gather around and organize ourselves, and the sum is always more than its parts. Sizable women’s gatherings build connections, grow relationships, and spark new ideas.
Our Women’s Weekends include climbing clinics, camping, food, and evening events hosted by DLCG and guest instructors. We’re excited to offer this instruction at a great value while providing an opportunity for women of similar interests to spend time together.
Nutshell Summary
- Devil's Lake State Park &
- Skillet Creek Campground
- Fri 4/26 - Sun 4/28
- $450 total tuition
- $100 deposit, $350 due 3/25
- No experience necessary
- Climbing equipment provided
- Camping & meals included
Sign Up Details
The event includes:
two full-day climbing clinics at Devil’s Lake State Park
campsite (provide your own tent, bedding, etc.)
delicious meals (breakfast, pack lunch, dinner)
activities at Skillet Creek Campground
Participants should identify as woman, nonbinary, or genderqueer and be 16 years or older.
Cancellations
Please familiarize yourself with our Cancellation Policies before booking. Women’s Climbing Weekend is a special, limited-enrollment event that will run rain or shine. Registration is non-refundable unless the event sells out and we can find another climber to take your place.
We recommend purchasing trip insurance to avoid losing money in the event of an emergency or a change to your travel plans. Forbes has a great trip insurance search tool for finding the right option for your situation.
Spring WCW Sold Out!
Don’t fret, you may still be able to join us. Every year, we have a few folks who develop conflicts and would love to have someone take their places. Add yourself to the waitlist via the button below.
Clinic Offerings
The event includes two full-day clinics. All climbing equipment is provided, though we encourage you to bring and use your own if you have it.
Clinics run approximately 8:30 AM - 4:30 PM Saturday and 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM Sunday. We will gather in the morning at Skillet Creek after breakfast and caravan to Devils Lake State Park.
Clinic offerings are available for all experience levels, from someone trying it for the first time to the wizened multipitch adventurer. Please read each clinic description carefully and consider the course pre-requisites prior to enrolling. With limited space available in this event, switching clinics after enrollment may not be possible.
Have questions about which clinics best fit you? We’re happy to discuss your clinic choices! Reach out to host Carrie Van Lanen with questions. No matter where you are in your climbing journey, rest assured everyone will have ample opportunity for learning, practice and personal, specific feedback.
You’ll get to choose your clinic preferences during the enrollment process. Most clinics are a single day, while others span both days (traditional lead climbing). We tailor the clinic schedule to participant preferences; you will receive a clinic schedule, instructor contact information, and clinic details two weeks prior to the event.
If a clinic should fail to meet a minimum enrollment of three participants, we will cancel that clinic and allow you to transfer into another available clinic. In the case of inclement weather, clinic locations and curricula are subject to change.
Clinic Descriptions
Open top-rope Climbing
(One or two days)
Join us for a fun, casual day of guided top-rope climbing. Instructors will set up a variety of routes for participants to climb. Participants will learn to belay, if needed, and spend the day climbing and building community with a supportive group of women.
Open Top-Rope is similar to showing up at a climbing gym to climb… the ropes are up and all you need to do is connect with a belay partner, tie in and start climbing. If you’d like to learn more about the process of climbing outside, check out Intro to Outdoor Climbing (see below).
Prerequisites: No prior experience necessary
Intro to Outdoor climbing
(one day)
Are you new to outdoor climbing? Do you want to better understand how a climbing day “works” and be able to contribute to an outdoor climbing team? Let us show you the ropes!
Join a welcoming group of women for a day of top-rope cragging and rappelling, and gain the skills needed to pull your weight on an outdoor climbing team. You’ll walk away having a better sense of the planning and skills required to climb on your own outdoors, and familiarity and skills to help you move beyond “rookie” to “asset” in any climbing group. Our curriculum will include:
the basics of outdoor climbing systems
how to identify and manage risks
what and how to pack for a crag day
how to read and interpret a guide book
how to navigate terrain
the basic components of traditional anchor systems
how to rappel
how to coil a rope that won’t fall apart when you pass it to your partner
We will base the specific curriculum on the experience and goals of the group, but this course will allow for some climbing time in addition to skills practice. After this course, you’ll have the confidence to seek new invitations and hold your own at the crag!
**Note: Devil’s Lake is not a sport climbing area; we will not be discussing lead climbing or cleaning anchors in this clinic.**
Prerequisites: No prior experience necessary
Bouldering
(one day)
Bouldering is a type of rock climbing where the climbs, or “problems,” are shorter than typical climbing routes (usually 5 to 20 feet high). Instead of ropes, bouldering uses spotters and thick pads to protect falls.
For a group, bouldering tends to be more dynamic and fluid than roped climbing, since it’s easy to hop on and off a problem, “working the problem” with the group to hone technique. Our instructors demonstrate and coach you on pad placement, spotting, falling, and climbing technique, with plenty of time to just have fun! All experience levels welcome.
Prerequisites: No prior experience necessary
Intro to traditional Climbing Anchors
(One day)
Learn foundational concepts of traditional anchor building in this one-day course. You will learn about fundamental concepts, materials, knots, and techniques that go into building anchors to use in traditional top-rope or lead climbing contexts. The one-day course will focus mostly on applying these concepts to simple anchors using natural protection (trees, boulders).
Plan on lots of anchor practice, but little actual climbing.
Prerequisites: Some previous climbing experience (indoor or outdoor) recommended
Intermediate traditional Climbing Anchors
(One day)
Advance your anchor building skills in this one day course. Students will build on the fundamental concepts presented in Intro to Traditional Climbing Anchors, expanding to more complex anchoring systems. Students will learn how to identify, place, evaluate, remove and incorporate traditional hardware (cams, nuts, etc.) into anchor builds.
Plan on lots of anchor practice, but little actual climbing.
Prerequisites: Some climbing experience recommended. Students should know basic and intermediate knots and have familiarity with traditional anchor building concepts (Intro to Traditional Anchors, Anchors I or similar).
Traditional Lead Climbing
(two days) - SOLD OUT!
This two-day course is for those interested in learning more about traditional lead climbing in a safe, supportive environment. You don’t need to have any prior lead climbing experience - or even be ready to lead - before taking this course.
We teach all lead climbing curricula on "mock-lead," meaning the leader is always connected to a top-rope system in addition to a lead rope. Meanwhile, your instructor ascends next to you on a fixed line, enabling in-the-moment feedback, consultation and reassurance.
This course will review traditional gear placement and anchor systems, and build fundamental lead climbing skills. We will emphasize placing solid gear on lead and artfully belaying a lead climber.
*Note: This course does not include or focus on sport lead climbing.
Prerequisites: Climbers should be familiar with traditional protection and have some experience placing gear and building traditional anchors. Students with little or no anchor building experience should take an Anchors clinic first.
Self rescue
(One day)
Climbing is inherently risky; are you ready to handle the surprises you will inevitably face? Learn the skills needed to solve basic problems, handle realistic retreats, and devise self-rescues (avoid calling for help) in a single pitch environment.
Whether your belayer becomes incapacitated, you need to escape a belay to pee, or you need to rescue an injured climber, this clinic will leave you feeling more prepared to tackle sticky situations that could arise while climbing. There will be plenty of time for hands-on skills practice, so participants should be prepared for an engaging experience.
Prerequisites: Previous outdoor climbing experience. Comfortable belaying with an assisted braking device (Petzl Gri-Gri, Trango Vergo, Beal Birdie, etc). Experience rappelling.
MultiPITCH SKills
(One day) - SOLD OUT!
Looking to take your climbing to new heights? Learn the skills needed to plan and execute multi-pitch climbing adventures. Whether your objective is sport or trad, we’ll cover preparation, navigation, route-finding, climbing systems, rope management, belay transitions, descent skills, and risk management considerations required to safely venture into multi-pitch terrain.
Prerequisites: Participants should have previous outdoor climbing experience, basic familiarity with anchoring concepts, and be lead belay certified in a gym. Note: this course will not focus on how to build anchors.
Instructor Team
We don’t assign instructors to specific courses until enrollment closes, but you can meet our core guide team below.
Weekend logistics
Camping
Camping is included with registration for the Women’s Climbing Weekend. Join us Friday and Saturday at Skillet Creek Campground for food, events, camaraderie, and conversation around the campfire.
Participants should bring their own tent and camping equipment. Space is limited, so no RVs, please. Participants will need to break camp before clinics on Sunday.
MEALS
We include meals to provide an opportunity to gather and build community, and to allow participants to focus on fun and learning.
Registration includes a casual dinner on Friday, breakfast, lunch, and dinner on Saturday, and breakfast and lunch on Sunday. We can adjust to meet most dietary restrictions, just let us know ahead of time!
ADDITIONAL EVENTS
In addition to our clinics, Women’s Climbing Weekend also includes opportunities to continue learning and connecting in the evenings back at the campground. On Friday night, there will be games and campfire conversation with Devils Lake Climbing Guides’ women+ instructors. We’ll talk about our climbing journeys, aspirations, and challenges.
On Saturday morning, we will offer a sunrise gentle yoga session. Participants should bring their own mat or blanket. On Saturday night, we’ll offer several mini-clinics for another opportunity to learn new skills with a new group of women.
Capacity
Each course has a limited capacity to allow for personalized instruction and risk mitigation. Specific capacity varies by course offering, but our participant to instructor ratio never exceeds 6:1.
Clinics with three or fewer enrollees may be canceled. We will reach out to you three weeks prior to the event if your chosen clinic(s) need to be canceled due to low-enrollment. You will then have the option to change clinics or receive a refund.
We will limit capacity to 50 people, total.