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"Strong women are pushing into the higher grades, but some of the guys are still having a hard time accepting it," observes Lisa Rands, after sending two V10 problems near her home in Bishop, California. Rands knew she was climbing well when she flashed the Buttermilks' ultra-classic High Plains Drifter (V7) in November. After handling Moonraker (V9) and Bubba Gump (V9) comfortably, she began to wonder if she could nab a V10 ascent before the year ran out. Early in December, during her second-ever V10 attempt, she completed Acid Wash (V10) at the Happy Boulders. A week later, she sent Beautiful Gecko (V10) at the Sad Boulders, this time needing only two days to make the grade. Happy now? "Nope," says Lisa. "I'll really only be happy when I'm climbing as strong as Fred Nicole." -- Mark Eller
Read Lisa's comments:

"That was quite an embarrassing quote [about climbing as strong as Fred Nicole]. It's a good thing I didn't actually SAY it! I think Wills mumbled something to the magazine about me just as a joke and they went and put it in quotes as though I'd said it! It makes me sound like some kind of a freak, as though I'm not happy with what I'm doing. I think a lot of people got the wrong impression about what I'd be like from reading that quote."