Amy Skinner on Las Vegas Climbing in the 80s and the Importance of Great Female Partners
Amy Skinner on women of the 80’s.
The thing about trying to research women of the 80’s is that because I didn’t know about many of them - and the written history has been mostly focused on firsts and bests - I was simply just searching at random. Sifting through magazines and whatever records. When I’d come across a name I didn’t know, I’d dig further to see if it was someone that I should include - which in itself is a strange position to be in - deciding what “matters” so to speak. This is the position media is always in, I suppose.
This conversation happened at the very beginning of my research. I wanted to get a feel for how women in the 80s were finding out about other women in the 80s, when there weren’t nearly as many women climbing as there are today. I wanted to hear names I didn’t know. So I asked my good friend Amy Skinner - who, in the early 80s in Las Vegas, sort of stumbled into the scene that would eventually be called sport climbing - to come over and chat about her perspective of that movement, where she first encountered other female climbers, who her favorite female climbing partners have been, and more.
Like many of the women who have been mentioned in this series, Amy is still involved in the climbing community, but has also become a pillar in her greater community. A business owner, an advocate, a supporter, and maybe most important, a friend.
Let’s get into it.
