Welcome to Rockgrrl – A Climbing and Outdoor Community!
Get climbing advice, read guides and reviews, share outdoor sports epics, shop for cool gifts for guys & girls, or just hang out with rock climbing chicks.
I’m founding editor, “rockgrrl” aka Eileen. By today’s standards I guess you could say I’m an old school climber, having started over 25 years ago by taking a free class. I didn’t know anyone who climbed (though my dad apparently got in trouble for climbing a neighbor’s coconut tree in the Philippines) but it looked like fun to me and I wanted to challenge my slight fear of heights. Now, having started and having climbed consistently since then are two different things, and I have had my stops and starts. Some of those were due to climbing partners moving away and me having to train new ones. I’ve introduced a small number of folks to climbing, so I suppose I’ve contributed to the sport’s growth in my own small way 😉
Though I was mainly a shy bookworm as a kid, I have also enjoyed outdoor activities my entire life, including early camping trips to Yosemite and many California State Beaches with my family and trips with the Girl Scouts. One reason I got into climbing was because I loved hiking and exploring, and climbing is an extension of both.
I started the rockgrrl website in 2002. I’m a bit of a geek and a professional graphic designer so I had intended to write and hand code in many articles about climbing and outdoor adventures and while I did share a lot, it was mainly done in the rockgrrl forums and the photo gallery rather than on the homepage. Fast forward to 2009, when I decided to integrate a blog into my home page instead of doing the hand hard coding, in the hopes that the ease of which I can write a blog post would help me contribute more consistently.
With the advent of Twitter my site and profile got a large boost on the internet. I was a founding organizer of the JtreeTweetup and eventually I was invited to the Gore-Tex Outdoor Blogger Summit and was also an inaugural member of the 2012-2013 eight person Chaco Ambassador Team. I have also been a guest on ClimbTalk radio and a member of the #ORInsight lab. Currently I am an Adidas Outdoor Grassroots Ambassador.
I hope you join in the fun, whether by commenting here in the blog or on my photos (I maintain largely casual photos on rockgrrl.com but I also have a professional photography site), by following me on Twitter or Instagram — or meeting up at a random rock face in the great outdoors!
~ Eileen
aka rockgrrl
Full Rockgrrl Team:
Eileen Descallar Ringwald – Founder, Editor
Nina Suetake – Editor
Terri Barry – Writer
Ivana Crone – Writer
Narinda Heng – Writer
Katie London – Writer
Ben Pope – Writer
Disclosure: Some of the links in articles on this site contain affiliate links and as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Keep in mind that I link these companies and their products because of their quality and not because of the commission I receive from your purchases. The decision is yours, and whether or not you decide to buy something is completely up to you.