“My motivation for creating this program
is based on an outdoor trip I had taken with
girls I had been coaching for a long time,
and I always wanted to do just an all-girls
trip,” Varisco said. “It was an incredible thing
that happened when you took the boys out
of the equation. The girls could feel comfortable
climbing in their sports bras and we
were doing fitness competitions every night
and doing push-ups together. It was incredible
how they all came together, and I just
wanted to do something that would help
empower them in that way.”
According to the three climbers, there are
countless ways in which young women benefit
from learning the ropes of rock climbing.
The girls build self-confidence, face their
fears, embrace mindfulness and meditation,
build relationships with each other and mentors
and hone their communication skills
— all extremely important skills when one is
holding the rope connected to their fellow
climber’s harness as they are scaling a mountain
the height of a skyscraper.
“I signed up for YWWC because I heard
‘rock climbing’ and my immediate reaction
was, ‘Oh, that sounds fun!’” said Marjana
Tafader, a past YWWC participant. “What
interested me more was how during the orientation,
SEPTEMBER 2019
the founders of the program were
explaining how this will be an environment
in which young women of color will be able
to get together and have this space where
they will explore and thrive. I was eager to join
when I heard that we will have mentors who
will be guiding us. I cannot explain in words
how thankful I am to everyone who made this
program a reality.”
Tafader began her experience with YWWC
in November 2017 at the end of her senior
year in high school and still remains active
with YWWC, but as an alumna mentor. The
first time Tafader walked into The Cliffs and
touched the rock climbing wall she was shaking.
By the end of her first outdoor trip, she
made it to the top of a rock and repelled
down to safety.
When Tafader went on to Lafayette College
she noticed a lack of diversity in the
campus’s rock climbing gym, and the talented
climber is now in the process of starting
a student Muslim rock climbing club or
something similar.
“Overall, YWWC has helped me grow into
the confident and adventurous young woman
I am today,” Tafader said. “I have learned
so much from my peers and mentors. I have
learned skills such as positive self-talk that
I began to use in college when things get
tough. I learned some of the climbing jargon
and I love how I use it without even thinking
like when I climb with peers and tell them,
‘Trust your feet!’”
It is apparent the positive impact programs
like YWWC have on young women growing
up in Queens or New York City, a place that
some of them may not see as home. What is
even more inescapable is how community
members like Krauss, Varisco and Kalea have
made a difference and imprint on these girls’
lives by encouraging them to challenge themselves
physically and mentally and by taking
the time out of their lives to support the passions
of young women who want to face their
fears by making it to the top of a barrier.
“My favorite part about running YWWC
is a very hard question,” Kalea said. “I really
love how dedicated the girls are and how
much initiative they have. One of our girls
secretly made a video during our outdoor
trip where the girls said thank you to us. It
was just so sweet and she’s so talented and
how she wanted to channel that talent to say
thank you was so amazing.”
Young Women Who Crush
HTTPS://LIC.
THECLIFFSCLIMBING.COM/YWWC
@YOUNGWOMENWHOCRUSH
MIND + BODY
Photos by Savannah McCauley
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/LIC
/LIC
/YWWC
