Photo Credit: Tommy Corey

Q: What types of climbing do you do (indoor, outdoor, sport, trad, bouldering, alpine, etc.? Do you have a favorite style of climbing? A favorite location?

YES! I do it all! I do indoor climbing for training and exercise but my heart lives in the outdoor. Alpine 5.fun routes are my favorite. I don’t love bouldering but will do it in the gym when I want to work on my technique. After a few moves bouldering I get scared of falling off and hurting myself, I need the rope!

I have just begun learning lead and I think I will really love the puzzle that comes with trad leading. I’m an expert trad cleaner at this point. My fiance does all the leading when we are outdoors and I would definitely love to be able to swap leads with him. We both have a similar risk tolerance so I think our future has a lot of mid grade outdoor routes.

My favorite alpine climb to date was probably Cosmic Wall on Mt Hubris/The Ogre at Castle Crags State Park in Northern CA. It’s a beautiful 6-pitch 5.6 granite route. We had it all to ourselves and the weather was perfect the day we climbed it. I love climbing on granite.

French's Dome, Mt. Hood Area, OR. Photo Credit: Andy Phan

Smith Rock, OR. Photo Credit: Andy Phan

Q: How long have you been climbing?

I started with an 8-week beginning mountaineering course through the Mazamas, an outdoor organization here in Portland, OR, in Spring 2017. The first part of the course covers rock climbing, which was how I was introduced to it. So a little over 2 years, which is crazy to me! It hasn’t been that long at all.


Q: The theme for this Edition of Common Climber is “overcoming boundaries.” You have a message about being plus sized and climbing. What boundaries have you faced or overcome with respect to climbing and being plus sized (or what boundaries has climbing helped you overcome?)

When I started climbing, I never really thought anything about the fact that I was plus size. I took the beginner course with the Mazamas for the snow skills and figured I would just learn the rock stuff but never actually use it. My classmates and I would go to the rock gym after class and that’s when I really started to like climbing. After my first alpine rock climb (Unicorn Peak in Mt. Rainier NP) I was hooked.

​The first time I noticed I was different was when someone dropped me when they were lowering me. I wasn’t injured, but it was an eye opener that “oh, I am bigger than most people here and I should probably make sure the person belaying me gets that.” ​

I also had a hard time with comparing myself to other climbers. I would push myself to progress through grades and get upset when I couldn’t. I would get upset when I couldn’t do moves like other climbers. I kept wanting my body to do the things that people who weight 100lbs less than me could do. I really struggled with accepting my body and being grateful for the things it could do. It took me about a year to work through that.

Climbing helped me discover my true strength, both mentally and physically. It helped me stop comparing my body to others around me and really be present in my current body. I stopped caring about my weight and my size and really focused on having fun and learning new, creative ways to get my body up a route. Now, I enjoy trying to figure out how to climb a route differently than my fiance who is about half my size.

I would encourage anyone who wants to do something similar to start conversations with the gyms around more inclusive harness sizing. It can be as simple as a phone call to the gym manager to ask if you can get sizing information and proceed from there.

Megan on Acker Rock, Oregon.

Megan on Mt Hubris, Castle Crag State Park, California. Photo credit: Andy Phan

Q: Tell us about the “Plus Size Rock Climbing Meetup?” How Long have you been doing it? What advice would you give to someone who might consider hosting something similar where they live? 

My good friend, Sam Ortiz was the organizer. She started doing plus size climbing meet-ups in the Tacoma/Seattle area. We actually met on Instagram. She created the @biggirlsclimbtoo Instagram site and we connected. I just started the group this summer and the interest has been huge.

The biggest struggle was getting gyms to purchase size-inclusive harnesses. Most gyms only have harnesses that will fit up to a 2X. Most climbing companies don’t make harnesses that are bigger than that.

We had to do a lot of research and find brands (mostly companies that make commercial gear for things like ziplining) that would make a harness that would fit up to 5X. Convincing the gyms that this was a need was harder at some locations than others.

I wrote a letter to the gyms outlining what I wanted to do, what my needs are, and most importantly why it was so close to my heart. If you need help getting started in your area, I know that Sam and myself are open books and can help!

​Q: What would you like to say to other plus-sized people about rock climbing?

You can absolutely do it. The most common reasons I hear from people who are scared to try is “I’m too big” or “I don’t have enough arm strength”. Guess what? Climbing is all about LEG strength. Especially in the beginning. When you first start climbing on lower grades, your legs are doing all the power lifting. The arms are there to stabilize and keep your balance. When we teach classes we often compare it to climbing a ladder. You don’t pull yourself up a ladder, you climb each rung with your legs first and just use your hands to balance you. This is exactly how beginning rock climbing should be. As you progress to more advanced routes, you will have to use your arms more, but most of the power should still be coming from your legs. This is a really freeing concept for people.

Q.: What would you like to say to rock climbers who are not plus-sized?

1. Familiarize yourself with how to belay someone who is much larger than you. My fiance and I have a 100lb weight difference, but he has never dropped me. We talk about a route, where I think my areas of struggle may be. When I ask him to take up slack he knows that he need to really put his full body weight into the system to take the slack out. Be ok using a sand bag or ground anchor.  The Edelrid OHM, a device that you clip into the first bolt to offset weight differences between a climber and belayer, is also helpful.

2. Don’t give beta on how YOU were able to climb the route. My partner struggles with this one because his advice is coming from a good place. But his body moves much differently than mine. He doesn’t have breasts or a belly or thick thighs to work with. He can do moves that my body just physically can’t do. Which is fine, I can generate more power than he can. I will sometimes ask him for advice about a route or a hold, but he has learned to wait until asked before trying to offer help.

3. Watch what you say. A lot of times I will hear climbers that are next to me say things like “man I feel fat today” or a belayer will say “whoa dude you’re SO heavy” while lowering. I get it, these are common phrases in our society and you don’t mean anything by it. But fat is not a feeling. Being heavy is not a bad thing.  I am really working on getting people to take these phrases out of their vocabulary.

Q: Do you have a special climbing-related story you’d like to share?

It’s not necessarily special but I think it’s a little funny. My very first time climbing at the gym, I didn’t realize that each route was a different color. I just tied in and went to the top using whatever hold was there. I was so excited to get to the top my very first time. I got down and was like “that was awesome and not hard at all!” and then my partner was like “yea! You did great! Except that you used like 3 different routes” and then explained how routes work and that each color was a different route and I was supposed to stay on the same color. We both had a good laugh about it.
 

Mt. Saint Helens, WA. Photo Credit: Ralph Daub

Megan Banker. Photo Credit: Tommy Corey

​Q: Do you have a goal or vision you are working toward?

I am really working toward AMGA single- and mult- pitch instructor certifications. I want to be able to take plus size people (especially those who identify as female) outside. My mission is to empower plus size women to explore all the great things their bodies can do, at any size. The AMGA needs more women, and as far as I know there are no plus size women instructors. I want to be part of this change!
 

Q: Anything we missed or you’d like to share with the Common Climber readers?

I really just want people to be more open-minded about who can be a climber. Instead of filling your Instagram feeds with elite climbers, try adding some climbers who are part of marginalized groups. Support groups that are opening doors for different communities to enjoy the sport. Be open to changing your conversations about climbing and who it is for. ​​​