Whatever the origins of climbing with crampons and the array of other technical equipment that has allowed us to gain access to some of the most challenging terrain on the planet, a revolution was born. This revolution remains in its infancy. It's infancy you say! How can that be?

      It's like this. Climbing will always change. Faces change, techniques change, gear changes, and routes change. None of this stuff stays the same because we don't stay the same. Climbing challenges us to explore that extra sort of a something buried deep inside. It implores us to ask bigger and better questions. It helps us to slow down, to see a better route or design better tool or be more efficient. It gives us access to the place inside where we get to (re)write history.

      For this piece of history, I caught up with 30-year old Dawn Glanc (pronounced "glance") in December 2005. Dawn is an accomplished water ice climber and a professional mountain guide with the American Alpine Institute. She climbed over 200 days in 2005, and 50 of those days were on water ice, a unique and especially challenging medium. During the interview, I asked Dawn about to define the word "hero," and she offered the best description I've ever heard. Read on to see if you qualify.

So Dawn, how did you begin climbing?

      It was 1995. I was 20 years old, a student at Kent State University in Ohio. A boyfriend took me. We climbed rock at a tiny top-roping area. I mean tiny. We climbed 30-foot tall cliffs, and I thought they were huge. I decided to change my major to outdoor education (from physical education) and moved to the Black Hills of South Dakota to pursue a four-year degree at Black Hills State University. That's where I really got into climbing, leading, multi-pitch, cracks, and I was introduced to ice climbing.

Did you love waterfall ice climbing right away?

      Yes! It was such an odd medium. Coming from Cleveland I'd never seen anything like that before. I was blown away. In Cleveland, you know, the ice is on the ground. There were two women climbing nearby the first time I tried it, which gave me confidence that I could do it. It's like rock climbing but so different. Climbing on frozen water is amazing. The protective systems are similar for both, but with ice tools there are usually many more choices for how to tackle each section of the climb. I just love ice.

What is your favorite kind of climbing (alpine, ice, or rock) and why?

      Ice climbing. It's where I feel the most confident, and it's always changing. And sometimes you only have a small window to get the climb. I've already climbed stuff this year that's come down because things have warmed up.

Who were your early influences?

      There really wasn't any particular person. It just came from within, drew me from within. Nothing had challenged me like that before.

How is your life enhanced by climbing?

      It helps me to know that you can have a goal and that you can reach it. It helps me to understand that fear is natural and that it's okay. You do what you can to get through it; and it's not always the outcome you want, but that's okay. You have to work for it; it doesn't just come. You have to work for the success that you gain.

You are trained as a guide. What is it like being responsible for others lives and fears and safety?

      I try to be the quiet leader. You know, I don't like to puff out my feathers and be bossy. I try to enable people to learn and to grow by simply nudging them along, allowing them to make subtle mistakes they can learn from, and protect them from any that will hurt them or kill them. When you're a guide, it's a lot of weight on our shoulders, but it's a very creative position to be in. I wouldn't give it up for anything.

How did you get into guiding?

      I started in college. I was leading some instructional courses for the university and working for a small guide service in the Black Hills for a couple summers, and just loved it.

How did you land at AAI?

      I started at AAI in May of 2004. I put in an application with my fingers crossed. I wanted to guide with a big company, to guide year round and around the world. I applied on the advice of my friend Joe, one of my greatest inspirations.

What do you like best about guiding?

      (She laughs) I like being outside. I like being in the mountains, in this environment, and that it's always changing.

How about the worst?

      Sometimes always being on the road gets to me. I don't have a home base really, and that kind of gets to me.

Is there any place you sort of call home base?

      Bellingham [WA]. That's where my sister is (pause) and that's where my storage unit is. (She laughs again)

You are a woman working in a field populated primarily by men. What is that like?

      The people that I'm surrounded with as co-workers are awesome. They treat me like an equal, and they are very supportive. I respect them, and I feel respected, equal. With male clients who are older, they don't seem to respect me right off the bat like my male co-workers. They see me, and I'm a small person, and they don't know what to think. Like they don't know what I can do. It's through my actions that I gain respect. I just be myself, try to do my best, and it happens, trust comes. In the beginning I feel their sense of doubt and then, it all comes out fine. And, the women - they are always so happy to have you!

So, why is alpine climbing such a male dominated sport? (note: this question is about mountaineering, not rock climbing which draws more women)

      The suffering. Hands down, the suffering. You have to know how to suffer and know how to embrace it, and if you can't embrace it, you'll hate it. Having no privacy, building camps, all the gear, having your period. It's a lot of work. All the things you have to endure. Most women are like "forget that!"

What's your response to that?

      When they try it, they discover they can handle a lot, and that makes them feel really good. The places we go and the things we see, you just can't match it. We have a lot of things that we as women have endured. I think it's the self-doubt that gets us. We can endure anything a man can endure. We need to embrace our strength. We are stronger than we think we are. And many women aren't gear heads. Maybe they think it's over their heads, to learn all the gear and technical stuff, but the skills are really easy to learn. They can do it. The women I've taught and guided as clients have been very successful. It's exciting to see them get it and love it after just a day or two.

Do you teach courses for women only?

      Yes, both at AAI in Ouray, Colorado, periodically throughout the winter, and this February I'll also be doing a clinic for women at the 8th Annual Water Fall Ice Festival in Cody, Wyoming.

What is it like teaching women only courses?

      I like teaching men, or mixed courses, or just women. I would say on women's courses the atmosphere is more relaxed. Over all, the people feel more comfortable. There is a sense of camaraderie. When they walk away from the course, women who live in the same area often call each other to go climbing together. It is easy for women to call other women, but a woman calling a man may imply wanting to get together. It's just harder. With women together there is an equality, and there is no competition. It becomes more of a support network than a competitive thing.

Do women learn differently?

      I've notice that everyone has a different way of learning, whether they're men or women. As outdoor educators, we teach the same skills to everyone. Teaching groups of women tends to be maybe more nurturing. I hear "good job" more often. But it's all the same skills and techniques.

Describe your life in 2005, where you were, what you were doing.

      2005 has been the greatest year I've had in a long time. I've climbed more than 200 days this year. I've been all over the country, and I've climbed predominately with women this year.

Was that planned?

      No that's just how it worked out.

What is in your head while you are climbing? Where is your focus?

      Just what's in front of me. Just what I'm doing at that moment. I'm thinking how good that hand jam or tool placement is or how bad it is. After it's all finished, I can go back and recall that moment. I used to laugh, hearing climbers talk. Now I understand that talking afterwards. Climbers can recall so well because you have to be 100% focused. It's a feeling you cannot get from anything else.

Do you carry that feeling and that ability into other parts of your life?

      Yes, that focus for sure.

Any particular insights that have come from climbing?

      I've learned to appreciate the finer things in life that most people take for granted. A bed, a shower, my dog. I have a better appreciation for things now. I have a lot of confidence in my ability after all these days of climbing. It's given me some bigger goals for upcoming years.

What are your current climbing goals?

      I don't have any big ones. Some ice climbing, some climbs in Cody. I'd like to climb water ice VI consistently. Just to have the confidence to climb some crazier things. I've been toying with the idea of K2 one day. No woman has done it successfully. (interviewer's note: so that's not a big one?). Mostly, I just want to have fun out there. I don't care what the rating is or the grade is. Just enjoy what you doing and who you're with. It has nothing to do with the numbers.

What are you afraid of?

      Losing a climbing partner, a tragic accident.

Was there a time when you were especially scared? Why and what was it like?

      Ice climbing. When the climbs are falling apart below your feet, that's pretty scary.

So why take these risks? Why take any risk in climbing?

      I think it's the addiction to that feeling - meeting risk with skill and judgment. That 100% focused sort of a feeling that nothing else matters except what happens between you and the rock or ice. I think I'm addicted to climbing. And, gosh, you can meet some really cool people and go really cool places. I wouldn't want to give that up.

Talk about a defining moment or climb.

      This past winter, in the early part of 2005, I climbed the hardest ice climb I'd ever done at that point. I couldn't believe I did it. I really could not believe it. No falls, no hangs, no fears, no sense of doubt. It was like something took over. I got done, and I sat at the belay, and I couldn't believe I'd done it. I'm still amazed, but it's given me the confidence to do others. To say, "Yep, I can do this, I know I can."

What are your interests outside of climbing?

      Hanging out with friends and family and cooking. I love cooking.

How has your family influenced you?

      I think because they act like they don't care about climbing, it keeps me humble. What I do, they don't understand it. I can brag all day to them, and they don't really care. It keeps me humble, and it keeps me grounded.

How do they feel about your lifestyle?

      I'm not sure honestly. I think sometimes they think it's cool, but I don't think this is what they wanted their little girl to do. At the same time, I was never really one to conform, so maybe they saw this coming - an odd career path and an odd way of life. I love being out there. I love the instructional time, I love being an educator, and then there are the times where it's just "let's go climb."

Have you made any major mistakes or bad decisions? If so, what were they and how would you have chosen differently knowing what you know now?

      You know, I don't feel like I've made any decisions I'm really regretful of. Of course there are always people you wish you would have known better, but I don't feel I have regrets. Maybe that haircut in 7th grade or the perm at 21.

Do you have a mentor?

      My sister.

Is she a climber?

      Sort of but not really. It's her attitude in life, the things that she's gone through, that she is as strong and successful as she is after what she's gone through.

What do you think it means to be a hero? Are athletes heroes?

      I guess it just means to have strength when others don't. I don't know if I'd say professional athletes are heroes. It's tough to say. My parents have always been heroes to me. They're pretty amazing. I think it's because they've never had a lot, but they really encourage us to do the best we can.

What do you want the world to know about you?

      That I'm funny. That I think I'm the funniest person I know (she laughs). I don't know! That having fun is the most important thing in my life. If it's not fun, you need to do something different.

      My family. Just seeing the little ones, or seeing people do good things. There are exceptional people out there doing good things.

You're one of them, Dawn. Thanks for your time! Have fun in Ouray this winter.

      This January and February, Dawn is teaching and guiding water ice climbs in Colorado's Ouray Ice Park. If you would like to try ice climbing, mention this article and receive 10% off any AAI water ice climbing program if you sign up before February 15, 2006 (see details). If you know of others who would enjoy this article, by all means, forward it to them. You may want to encourage your women friends to check out our programs for women.

      Please note that AAI and editors of its E-newsletter have created this newsletter to serve educational and promotional purposes. They do not necessarily share the opinions expressed in articles, but wish to educate readers to the varied world of climbing, the individuals who participate in it, and how having a climbing experience, whether at a local crag or on an international expedition, might serve to enhance their life experience.

Reference:
Climbing Ice, Yvon Chouinard, Sierra Mountain Books, San Francisco, 1978.

Return to AAI's January 2006 E-newsletter

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