CLIMBING WITH A MOONCUP (VOL. 3)
…and not just any climbing; WINTER climbing.
Can you imagine changing a tampon up a snowy mountain and then having to take it with you back down in your pack? Or needing the toilet and changing a pad / keeping the same one because you can’t be bothered to get a new one out because you’re freezing? Because you cannot leave any trace up there; no toilet roll, no nothing.
Ok so we’re here again. Booked onto a winter climbing course (seriously, of all things!) that I paid a lot of money to attend, 2 days out from my period and with a most-likely-broken-but-kind-of-on-the-mend toe.
I’m starting to view these seemingly ridiculous situations as a test of willpower and strength, because if I didn’t, I’d get mad at my own body. And we don’t have time for that in 2023.
Anyway, here we are. Me and 5 men (who are all, to be fair, absolute legends). All sat in a room discussing what the aim of this course is, what our winter hiking / climbing experience is, what we want to get from the course, any injuries (yep I have a broken toe) and any medical conditions (oh yes hi me again I have epilepsy).
I’m hardly going to add “…and I’m pretty sure I’m about to get my period so PS. am exhausted don’t mind my increased anxiety, panic, and inexplicably long toilet breaks over the next week”. (The only one who vaguely knows what’s going on is my boyfriend, and I say vaguely because he can’t truly empathise; he doesn’t understand like my menstruating friends understand. I can tell him and he’ll understand and be supportive, but he doesn’t knowwwwwww, you know?)
FYI, Just before and during my period I pretty much always feel:
More anxious than usual
More scared than usual
Obviously more tired than usual
Less confident than usual
…anyone else?
Let’s put that in a climbing context. Indoors on the wall, or outdoors in summer, I just drop a grade and remove as much of the risk of falling as I can, because it scares me more.
Now if I take all that and put in a snowy mountain context, where I’m learning how to use all my climbing gear with gloves and crampons for the first time, whilst simultaneously wielding two ice axes instead of one, and carrying a load of extra weight on my back, it doesn’t bode well for my mental state.
I actually turned to my boyfriend at the start of our first climb and said: “maybe I just do this week and then it’s not something I’ll continue afterwards – I’m not sure this is really my thing”.
Hahaha.
SPOILER ALERT:
I have since climbed a route on the north face of Ben Nevis*, mostly without a rope.
No it was not dangerous, but that is how much hormones mess with your brain.
*For reference, Ben Nevis is the UK’s highest mountain
So that’s really the PMS talking. We haven’t even got to the period part yet.
Here’s where it gets interesting. Day 2 of the course and I woke up with a low temperature (36.24 to be weirdly precise and demonstrate excellent recall skillz).
Bit of background; I use Natural Cycles as my chosen form of contraception. It is completely non-hormonal, enables me to track my cycle, predict my fertility window each cycle, and works using your basal body temperature, which you have to take each morning before you get up. I have used it for years and it’s amazing.
I was on the combined pill for many years from the age of 17, and in my mid-20s had the Mirena coil fitted. I had it removed after about 3 years because I wanted to experience my natural menstrual cycle for the first time since I basically started menstruating.
Your body temperature is typically lower during the low hormone phases of your cycle (menstruation and follicular phases), rising after ovulation and staying high throughout your luteal phase.
I know from experience that on the day my temperature drops, that is usually the day that my period starts. I cannot even begin to tell you how grateful I felt, having that knowledge in my back pocket; I’m about to spend my entire day out on a snowy hill for christs sake, I (quite literally) cannot just be walking off round the corner to sort myself out when the time comes.
I haven’t used tampons in years, and to be honest they’d have been pretty useless in this situation - you can’t just stick a tampon in the morning and hope your period comes. What if it doesn’t? We’ve all probably used the wrong size at the end of our period and it’s just painful. Why? Cervical fluid levels are much lower around menstruation, and tampons are super absorbent… ouch.
A moonucp on the other hand?! No chemicals, no harm done if nothing happens, no pain, no discomfort, and I’ve already established that for me personally, it’s the best performer for really active days #teamnoleaks.
So I wake up on day 2, see from my temperature that my period is due but hasn’t yet arrived, put my mooncup in and forget all about it.
Day 2 is physically hardddd. It’s a longer climb, and the weather is epic therefore I’m sweating buckets (which by the way totally convinces me I’ve started and had a major leak, but no time to focus on that right now). I’m also leading for the first time, so am mildly terrified on the steeper sections, because there’s no rope above me.
Day 2 of the course; leading up a snowy gully whilst my period kicks in somewhere around my uterus.
My movements feel heavy, and I’m constantly reminding myself to “keep it fluid” so that I don’t tense up. I’m trying to focus on placing good gear, but my mind feels slow and in the end I just fully let the instructor tell me what to do and when.
Hauling myself over the top brings some extensive lower back pain (should’ve twigged) and then I get a brief rest before trudging back off the mountain. I’m lagging behind most of the way, which annoys me as the only girl; again, I feel like I’m letting the side down somehow.
Heading off the top in blustery and icy conditions.
I get back to base and head straight for the bathroom. Period has started (hurrah!) mooncup did its job well (double yay!) a very minor leak is all we’ve got. PHEW!
If I hadn’t been tracking my cycle on a daily basis and had the foresight to use a mooncup, that day would’ve been so very shit. So grateful.
That’s most of the drama covered.
I’ve spoken about energy and mood management before in the previous two blogs in what is essentially now an ‘Outdoors with a Mooncup’ series, so I’m not going to repeat myself. I did use my mooncup for the rest of the week, as well as a super comfy pair of modi bodi pants the following day, just because I wanted added comfort and security.
I generally find that after the first two days of my period my energy starts to rise again, so in a weird twist I actually ended the course with more energy than when I started. And my broken toe lasted the week!
I would also like to point out that at no point during any of the 5 days did I need to go to the toilet outside – I have enough experience in the mountains to know how to manage that situation pretty well…
…although at the time of writing I have actually unexpectedly needed to pee halfway up a winter climb and had to drop my trousers whilst still harnessed in and hanging off a very snowy rock – not ideal!
<<< nice view though :)
Safe to say, I really enjoy winter climbing.
I’ve been out several times since finishing the course and although it’s a long, physically and mentally challenging day, and I wouldn’t choose to do it in my late luteal phase / when I’m due my period, it is an epic level of adventure.
Topping out on an absolutely mad blue sky day after a harder mixed climb than we anticipated! Spot the moon…
