Yajanetsy Ruano

2024 Flash Foxy Trad Fest in North Conway

Scholarship Recipient Reflection:

My experience at Flash Foxy is all thanks to my friend Jessica Pleyel, with whom I originally started climbing in graduate school. She has always looked out for me when it comes to climbing with queer-centric communities. She is who introduced me to Flash Foxy, the reason I love Jessica as one of my climbing buddies is that she always looks out for the community. She made this festival inclusive, and loving for everyone she came in contact with. I try my best to emulate her example often when in climbing communities. Thanks to her and I’s feminist approach to climbing, I am still here today. I learned a lot about myself while on this trip. I learned that I love climbing and it got me back into it.

As an Introvert, connecting can be hard for me, but the women/queer NB’s at Flash Foxy are a variety of folks who are also introverted and understanding. I appreciated that the festival provided introvert activities like craft stations and sewing. We were able to sit and commune with each other about how we started climbing, and why it means so much to us. I reflected a lot about why I got into this sport and had the pleasure of learning about others' stories too.

Women/Non-binary and queer climbers are incredible, the most exciting part of this trip for me was sitting at the bottom of the rock, looking up and learning from the precise moves they would make, the way they engaged with the rock, and how natural they looked climbing. The hurdles of being a non-man while climbing are real, whether it’s finding a feminist climbing community or feeling the courage to continue climbing on that Crag, finding a stable community is crucial to continuing in this sport. The location was a bit interesting, but I do wish that it was more accessible. I didn’t get to attend any clinics and I wish there was opportunities for topics taught in clinics to also be offered outside of a clinic setting. I didn’t feel the most prepared for the event so it’s important to do some research beforehand on what to take to the festival, I wouldn’t consider this a beginner festival because a lot of words get thrown around without explanation. I was thankful to the other participants who took the time to educate me.

I learned a lot about what I need in a community of climbing, I’ve set a lot of expectations for myself since then, I am very thankful for folks like Jessica, Christie, Axyl, Emma, and Viv who made sure I felt included, understood, and cared for while I was there.