USA Women's Ice Climbing Team

I first discovered the Ice Coop drytooling gym when they hosted a Ladies’ night in July 2021. I had been climbing for over a decade so the thought of trying out a new sport in a space where I didn’t know anyone felt incredibly vulnerable - I even swindled a coworker to go with me. However, the compassion and enthusiasm exuded by the volunteers made me feel instantly welcomed and gave me the courage to keep showing up and learning beyond the event. First with a membership. Then by joining the rec team. And, finally, by starting to register for competitions. The same empowerment and sense of belonging that I encountered at Ladies’ night was what ultimately pushed me to try out for the USA Ice Climbing Team that winter. There are no words to express the elation I felt representing the USA at the UIAA Ice Climbing World Championships in Saas-Fee, Switzerland in January 2022. More than that, I felt immense gratitude and pride for the team of athletes, many of whom had nearly a decade more experience than me, that had become such genuine advocates and friends.

My experience should not be such an isolated one. And, yet, in a newer sport that has historically been dominated by athletes identifying as male, there is still so much opportunity to expand our community and build a stronger foundation for USA Ice Climbing locally and internationally. One of the ways we are able to promote the sport and grow as a team is by competing in the World Cup competitions hosted in various countries every winter. (Check out the UIAA website here for more information). Unfortunately, without sponsors or additional funds, the cost of airfare, lodging, and event registration often make these events prohibitively expensive for athletes, which results in fewer competitors traveling to represent the USA. All of these athletes maintain a self-disciplined training schedule in addition to scholastic or professional careers. On top of this, many women are volunteering their time for events such as the Ladies’ Night at our local gym to get the word out but this isn’t enough to sustainably scale our sport and community. It is somewhat of a catch-22, as more international representation is needed to advocate for broader media coverage and sponsorship, but the current lack of these things makes travel less accessible to our teammates.

Your donation will support the USA Women’s Ice Climbing team (see bios below) in traveling to and competing in World Cup competition events in South Korea, France, and Switzerland for the 2022-2023 year. Additionally, it will support us in building a more inclusive community for the long-term. By helping the team financially, our brand and reputation will be strengthened abroad and you will play a vital role in helping us expand access to even more women and non-binary identifying people across the country.

-Ryan

Meet the Team:

Catalina (Cat) Shirley

she/her/hers

20-year old Cat Shirley grew up in Durango, Colorado; training with Marcus Garcia and exploring the beautiful San Juan mountains. She has competed internationally at youth and adult world events since 2016, and with her placement at the Denver World Cup in 2020, she became the youngest American to make a world cup semifinal. Other notable achievements in competition ice climbing include bronze medals in the 2016, 2019, and 2022 UIAA Youth World Championships, and a win at the Ouray Ice Festival Elite Mixed Comp this past season. Outdoors, Cat’s hardest mixed ascent is “Super Juan,” a D11- at the Hall of Justice in Ouray, Colorado. In addition to her climbing and classes as an integrative physiology major at CU Boulder, Cat works at The Ice Coop, a drytooling gym in Boulder and the unofficial training grounds of Team USA. There, she coaches Ice Coop team practices, teaches skills clinics, routesets, and leads special events for women, beginners, and her university’s alpine club. Cat is hoping to crush this season at the Ouray Ice Festival, and at the World Cup in South Korea. Outside of climbing, there is nothing Cat loves more than exploring beautiful Colorado with her friends and family.

Chelsea Kyffin

she/her/hers

Chelsea currently resides in Boulder, Colorado where she works as a nurse and climbing instructor. She has been climbing rock for 13 years and was introduced to ice three years ago. It took some time to get over her fear of the cold, but now she’s hooked. This will be Chelsea’s first season competing and she couldn’t be more excited. When not working or climbing, she can be found doing crosswords or cuddling with her dog, Cam.

Jessica Perez

she/her/hers

Jessica Perez is originally from Michigan but currently resides in Colorado. She started Ice Climbing in 2017. Her passion to do it competitively started in 2019 when she was a spectator at the Ice Climbing World Cup in Denver. Some of her favorite places to climb are in Ouray, Colorado and in the Cordillera Blanca range, located in Peru. When she’s not climbing she enjoys mountain biking, contributing to affinity spaces, and introducing new people to ice climbing.

Marian Prather

they/them

Marian Prather is from Colorado and is currently a student at CU Boulder studying product design. This will be Marian’s second season competing for Team USA and last year as a youth climber. They are looking forward to competing at Ouray Ice Fest and the Korean World Cup. Marian also works at Rock & Resole as a cobbler and volunteers at Boulder’s Ice Coop. Their other passions include word games, rock climbing, and bees.

Roz Reynolds

she/her/hers

Roz is an avid climber, skier, runner, and rafter who lives in Boulder, Colorado. She works full time as an avalanche professional, but enjoys training for climbing and bringing new people into the sport on the side. She values outreach in her community and is an ambassador for the Ladies Climbing Coalition and is on the board of directors for the Ice Coop, a dry tooling gym. She enjoys traveling and connecting with people around the world.

Ryan McCauley

she/her/hers

Although Ryan grew up passionate about water sports and temporarily worked as a raft guide after college, she fell in love with climbing and mountain sports in 2010. Since moving to Colorado, she has expanded her technical ice skills and shared her love of adventure by volunteering as an instructor for the High Altitude Mountaineering School at the Colorado Mountain Club with her husband Jay. This experience connected her to the Ice Coop community in the summer of 2021, which allowed her to more seriously pursue dry tooling with coaching from Tyler Kempney and Cat Shirley. Ryan is honored and ecstatic to be competing for the USA Ice Climbing team for a second season. Outside of climbing, she has worked in education for the past 13 years and values any opportunity to continue learning and growing.