STORIES OF IMPACT | Litzy P.
Mapping Out a Future with Young Women Who Crush and CatRock
Litzy began her adventures in rock climbing in an unusual place. “I went to an indoor waterpark,” she recalls, “and they had a rock climbing wall, which I tried, and I really enjoyed it.” Then she discovered Young Women Who Crush (YWWC), a climbing and leadership development program that provides opportunities for high school girls in NYC to experience the physical, mental, and emotional benefits of rock climbing.
CatRock Ventures has teamed up with YWWC because both groups are passionate about inspiring and empowering low income youth to become socially responsible change makers.
“Rock climbing is a unique experience that a lot of people haven't been able to try,” Litzy says. “If it hadn't been for YWWC, I couldn't have done so many things and learned so much about myself.”
“I learned it's completely okay to be afraid,” she explains, “but you have people there to guide you. You have so many supportive people that you almost let those fears dissipate. You end up not only trusting them, but trusting yourself, which is a really important part, not only in climbing, but in life.”
Learning to rock climb is more complicated than it may seem. “I believe it was my third climb,” Litzy recalls. “It was awful. I didn't know what to do. I kept getting Elvis leg. That’s when your leg just shakes uncontrollably because of improper breathing. They taught me how to fix that.”
“With Young Women Who Crush you learn you can be literally anything. You don't have to worry about where you're from, your ethnicity, or feeling excluded. You have a rock climbing community.”
“Rock climbing has also taught me a lot of patience,” Litzy confesses. “In rock climbing, you have to pace yourself. They taught me that reaching the top is not always the main goal, it’s just seeing how you progress over time.”
One climbing skill Litzy has been able to apply in her life is mapping. “Mapping is looking at the route you're going to take and picturing what you can do and what will work best for you,” she explains. “Let's say you’re going to do a climb that's straight up. You already kind of know where to put your hands and feet. But if it's something more complicated, you have to see how you can handle it so that it's easier. You’re not necessarily mapping so you can go up more quickly, you’re mapping it out so that you can do something that's your level and more achievable. And if you map something out and it doesn't work, you can always come back down and then see how you can map it out again. In school I try to map out all my work to see how I can handle it. If I'm struggling, I try something else.”
She remembers her first outdoor climb. “It wasn't as bad as I thought. It just looks way more complicated because you don't have the color coded routes like on a wall. You don't see the hot pink or the blue. It's just all rock.” Another outdoor climb had a special payoff at the end. “I was sitting there just absorbing the scenery,” Litzy says. “I found a small patch of blueberries. I had to scream down to Alexis, my mentor, ‘Can I eat this?’ I tried them and it was literally amazing. I just keep going back to that moment. I'm really glad I was able to have that opportunity to experience nature and discover something new.”
Litzy hopes more students take advantage of what the program offers. “Rock climbing has given me that community I was looking for,” Litzy declares. “I’ve seen a lot of white people climbing, not as many people of color. With Young Women Who Crush you learn you can be literally anything. You don't have to worry about where you're from, your ethnicity, or feeling excluded. You have a rock climbing community.”
Litzy is planning more climbing adventures. “Once I'm older,” she says, “I'll be able to visit other places and climb and experience the outdoors not only in New York, but in other parts of the country and the world.”