Dressing for success

[pozorvlak]

I was reading in a climbing magazine last night that there's a thriving women's ice-climbing and mountaineering scene in Iran, and even an annual Iranian women's ice-climbing contest. I couldn't find anything on the net about the contest, but I did find this story on the Alpine Club of Iran's website, suggesting that female mountaineering is indeed alive and well in Iran.

Said climbing magazine¹ claimed that part of the reason is that mountaineering is one of the few sports that can be pursued to a high level (or indeed any level) without Islamic dress codes getting in the way.

I can't decide if that's really cool or just messed up.

Edit: some background to my befuddlement is perhaps necessary. In his memoir Mountaineering in Scotland, W.H. Murray talks about a dog of his, who had been up innumerable mountains with him - indeed, she was a better slab climber than he was - and easily met the criteria for joining the Scottish Mountaineering Club, but was barred by reason of her gender. Species was no obstacle. This was despite the many pioneering ascents which had been made by women in both Scotland and the Alps by this time.

¹ which is, of course, Western, and thus perhaps not in possession of the full facts.

Comments

[pozorvlak.livejournal.com]

I don't know how dangerous ice-climbing is, to be honest: it varies hugely, depending on the route you climb, your state of fitness and skill, and the prevailing weather and snow conditions, and to some extent you can pick your preferred level of risk. But overall, I suspect that ice-climbing in a reasonably mainstream venue is not much more dangerous than, say, skiing or horse-riding. On the other hand, it's an incredibly expensive sport, unless you can find someone to lend you all the necessary gear.

[pozorvlak.livejournal.com]

For "skiing", read "off-piste skiing", possibly.