Flash Foxy Climbing Festival • BISHOP, CA
March 15-17, 2024
*Presented by Patagonia
Bishop is located within the lands traditionally known as Payahuunadu, which is the traditional ancestral homeland of the Nuumu and Newe Peoples past and present. Learn about the local Bishop Paiute Tribe here.
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Nestled in in beautiful Payahuunadu in the Eastern Sierras, Bishop not only offers world-class bouldering but also provides hundreds of sport climbing routes nearby. We work hard to make the Flash Foxy Climbing Festival a welcoming space for women and genderqueer climbers of all levels to come together and celebrate all that climbing has to offer! This event is open to climbers of all ages and abilities.
Flash Foxy Climbing Festival* welcomes all women and genderqueer climbers to join us at this event. Our goal is to create and maintain a safe and diverse space where consent and respect are our first priorities. Harassment of any kind (unwanted contact, verbal or physical abuse, racism, homophobia, transphobia, body-shaming, etc.) will NOT be tolerated and will lead to being asked to leave.
*Flash Foxy Climbing Festival was formerly known as the Women’s Climbing Festival (WCF)
Goals Achieved
CREATING COMMUNITY
We’ve reached more than 2,500 climbers since the start of the festival. Climbers have traveled from 36 states and territories and 3 countries. They’ve ranged in age from infants + children to folks over 70 years-old! Our festivals have sold out within minutes and have had over 500 climbers on the waitlist.
SUPpORTING THE TOWN OF BISHOP
We partner closely with 20 local small businesses and organizations as well as the Bishop Chamber of Commerce. Excluding the payment given to athletes, facilitators, panelists, photographers and other professionals involved with the festival, we are also able to spend ~80% of our budget locally, giving back into the local economy.
WOMEN + GENDERQUEER CLIMBERS TEACHING EACH OTHER
Each year we have over a dozen outdoor clinics at the festival, all are led by women and genderqueer athletes and guides. In addition, we host multiple workshops, yoga sessions and panels, all led by women and genderqueer facilitators, instructors, and panelists.
CONTRIBUTING TO INCREASE ACCESS AND MINIMIZE IMPACT
With generous raffle donations from our sponsors, we raise money at every festival for local conservation organizations, Indigenous Tribes and our scholarship fund. We also partner with local conservation organization, Friends of the Inyo, to co-host a stewardship day on Sunday at every festival.
Since 2016, we've raised a total of over $17,000 at our festivals! These funds have gone to Friends of the Inyo, the Access Fund, Bishop Area Climbers Coalition, Bishop Paiute Tribe, and the Flash Foxy Scholarship Fund. At the 2022 Flash Foxy Climbing Festival in Bishop we raised: $848 for the Bishop Area Climbers Coalition, $1,100 for Friends of the Inyo, $1,100 for the Access Fund, $2,850 for the Bishop Paiute Tribe, and $2,275 for the Flash Foxy Scholarship Fund!
Accessibility
All primary festival event venues (opening party, open air market, film screenings, panels) will be held at wheelchair accessible venues and will have accessible bathrooms. The Opening Party takes place outdoors in a a paved parking lot, limited seating is available and all participants are encouraged to BYO chair. The Open Air Market takes place in a grassy field, other outdoor programming takes place in parking lots. Film screenings, panel, dinner and other activities will take place in the Heritage Arts Building at the Tri-County Fairgrounds - this building is ground-level. The Community Slideshow will take place at Mountain Rambler Brewery - this building is ground-level. For more information about our venues please scroll to the bottom of the Schedule Page.
Approaches differ by climbing area. Details about approaches can be found on our Clinics Page or can be found on Mountain Project.
All films will have captions in English. ASL interpreters can be coordinated upon request. As of 2/5/2024 ASL interpretation is scheduled for presentations and panels. To coordinate interpretation for clinics or workshops please email events@flashfoxy.com.
Have an accessibility concern? Reach out to events@flashfoxy.com and we’ll see how we can help!
We are always working to make the Flash Foxy Climbing Festival a more inclusive and welcoming space, please let us know what we can do to make our event more accessible for you. Unfortunately, we are not always able to arrange accommodations, but we will do our best and will provide honest answers about the our event spaces, staff capabilities and the activities that take place at our festivals. Thank you for learning and growing with us!