Getting started — Hazel’s story

I was brought up to enjoy camping and the outdoors, and started climbing in my 20s. That was in the 1980s with a local climbing club, all male then, who taught me the ropes. They were supportive, but I always felt they were being kind to let me lead a Severe before I belayed them on their next E1. So it wasn't really until another woman joined the club that we got together and decided to do our own thing on borrowed gear, starting on Diffs and working our way up to harder routes. We were learning together and pushing ourselves and each other.

During my first teaching job in London I went on a series of six free weekends away hill-walking and backpacking, organised by the outdoor pursuits adviser, which I absolutely loved and which were a lifesaver during my probationary year. Then I moved back up north and was looking for a group to carry on hill-walking with. So I asked in a local outdoor shop, and found out which pubs the local mountaineering clubs met in, which was really the only way to contact them. As a woman, and complete beginner, it felt intimidating, but when I finally psyched myself up to walk into a pub and meet a group of strangers, it was actually the climbers who were more welcoming. This was in the 1980s, and the club was all male.

I was lent a harness and EBs to start with, and taken up my first climb at Almscliff. I seconded a lot of Yorkshire grit, got a taste for it and gradually bought my own kit. I picked things up as we went along; the guys were supportive and helpful, but I always felt they were being kind to let me lead a VDiff before I belayed them on their next E1. So it wasn't really until another woman joined the club that we got together and decided to do our own thing on borrowed gear, starting on Diffs and working our way up to harder routes. We were learning together and pushing ourselves and each other.

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