Scotty Brown (they/she)
Photo by Keely Wells
When I arrived at my first Flash Foxy, I have to admit I was feeling a bit nervous. I’m often one of few transfemme girls in most spaces I’m in back where I live in DC, and I never quite know how I’ll be received when I enter femme-centered spaces. Especially in rock climbing, the body dysphoria and insecurities often rear their mean-girl heads, so the nervousness felt familiar.
However, I told myself that I was going to be brave and make an effort to say hi to people and connect with new friends. My dear friend and I arrived Thursday night from our 10 hour drive, and the first thing I did after setting up camp was take a little walk to see who was around. I saw a gender-bendy person who looked like they fit the Flash Foxy profile, and waved. Soon we were striking up a cute conversation, and I left feeling a little more comfortable already.
Throughout the weekend, I kept having increasingly sweet, connective, and inclusive conversations with the folks attending. There were people who shared my gender presentation or a similar body as mine, and people who didn’t, but everyone was incredibly warm. I loved that I felt like I could just walk up to any table at lunch, or any group of people chatting in a circle, and just jump in. No cliqueyness at all– my childhood summer camp trauma was being healed in real time.
That sweetness extended to our time at the crag. Gear was being shared free-flowingly, folks were teaching one another new skills or reviewing old ones, and at least three people were always cheering on whoever was climbing. I learned so much from all the talented climbers around me, including sport climbing outside for the first time, and being supervised in belaying sport climbing outside for the first time too! I left the weekend feeling so much more knowledgeable about climbing, and absolutely pumped to get back outside soon- pun intended ;).
One of my favorite moments of the weekend was when after a long day of climbing and making cute new friends, one of the other participants offered to facilitate an impromptu flirting 101 meetup. The bashful, subtext-loving queer inside of me was swooning– this was the skillshare I needed. We received some beautiful advice that the best kind of flirting is just genuinely being interested in getting to know the other person, and asking them real questions to learn more. Wow, what a concept. We then practiced with one another, and the giggles and shyness blossomed into a massage train, which our bodies were all deeply craving after a long day of climbs.
I left the weekend reflecting that truly only at a space like Flash Foxy could I experience such a safe, gentle, queer environment to explore the whole spectrum of my being. From sweating my way up sandstone walls, to blushing during flirting class, to nerding out with other trans and nonbinary climbers from across the country, Flash Foxy really had it all. I am so excited to return again and again, and so grateful I had this first experience.
