CTC in the Asheville Citizen Times

Program helps girls achieve confidence, courage

Dale Neal • DNeal@CITIZEN-TIMES.com • updated November 18, 2008 12:56 am

ASHEVILLE – Lebraysha Spakes, 13, scampered quickly up the plastic toeholds of the climbing wall, then made the mistake of looking down. “Oh my God,” she cried.

“Sit back,” ordered Anna Sharratt from below.

Spakes leaned back, supported by the climbing rope and her harness and slowly walked back down the wall. “I'm scared of heights,” she smiled broadly when she reached the bottom.

Spakes spends her Monday afternoons in the Climbing Toward Confidence program, sponsored by Our Voice, Buncombe County's rape response center. Each Monday, a group of nine girls in the seventh and eighth grades at Randolph Learning Center and Asheville Middle School meet with their mentors at the Climbmax Climbing Center on Wall Street, learning how to edge up tough toe holds, tie on their harnesses and safely belay their partners down the walls.

Scaling a tough climbing wall can teach young girls confidence in their abilities and courage to take on new situations, which could reduce the risk of sexual violence, Sharratt said.

The program is funded by a $10,000 grant over two years from the American Association of University Women.

Sharratt said she's been climbing herself since she was a child. “It's a passion of mine. It forces you to be honest with yourself.”

Girls at ages 12 and 13 often begin to lose confidence in themselves, worried about their body image and fitting in.

Climbing can also help young girls challenge their assumptions, said Gordon Grant, principal of Randolph Learning Center and an avid rock climber himself. “A lot of students set artificial limits for themselves, then they learn they can do more. They can take their experience from the climbing wall and apply to life,” Grant said.

Sharratt said the program runs for eight weeks. After they master basic climbing skills, the girls will have an outdoor climb, either at Rumbling Bald or Looking Glass Rock, two popular climbing spots in the area.

For more information on the Climbing Toward Confidence program, visit http://climbingtoward confidence.blogspot.com or www.ourvoicenc.org.