Skiers participate in the telemark class at Eldora s Women s Days last week. ( Jenn Fields )
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Want to find women's outdoor programs nearby? Check out Boulder's Women's Wilderness Institute at womenswilderness.org .

Friend Megan and I were both without our husbands on Valentine's Day, and we decided I'd teach her how to ice climb. Afterward, we recapped to her friend, who asked me:

"Who got you into ice climbing?"

My right eye squinted to a slit. The question was like Gloria Steinem's nails on a chalkboard. Why assume someone else -- a man? -- had gotten me into it?

"I got myself into ice climbing."

I think Gloria would like that answer.

The past two winters I've done three women's outdoors programs: ice climbing with Chicks With Picks twice, and tele skiing with Eldora's Women's Days. I enjoyed all of them, but they sometimes leave me wondering about post-Title IX progress in these crazy sports I love.

These programs provide an unusual learning situation for me -- it's rare that I climb, ski or bike without guys.

I talked about this with Krista Crabtree, who runs Eldora's Women's Days and She Skis women's ski testing clinics at Vail. Crabtree grew up ski racing, but a bad gear decision by a coach wrecked her racing for a year when she was 17.

"My coach put me on a pair of really stiff skis just because he had an affiliation with the company," she said. "And I went from being a really strong racer to not being able to flex my skis well, and my confidence was just shot."

Crabtree's first women's-specific skis brought her confidence back. She got into teaching women's programs when she realized that for some, it's a better way to learn.

"It might not work for everybody," Crabtree said. "Some women might learn just as well from a man. I've learned a lot from my husband, and hopefully I've taught him a lot as well. But having a daughter now, I just want her to feel empowered.

"I want her to be in a place where she can learn and feel comfortable, and we'll see where that is for her. But women's groups are empowering."

True to Crabtree's word, the women I talked with in Eldora's program were buoyantly confident after six weeks of progressively skiing better together. I felt they intrinsically knew they were becoming rad tele skiers.

But here's why I wonder about progress: At the end of Chicks, the participants stand up and say something about the experience. A few women always get choked up talking about how empowered they feel, and one cried, "You're so much more supportive than the men I climb with back home."

I wanted to yell, "You're climbing with the wrong men! Go find new people to climb with -- men or women!"

I felt terrible for her. All I could do was hope her newfound empowerment had staying power. In my Gloria-loving heart, I wish things were so ideal for all women that these programs weren't necessary. But she made it clear that they are.

Next winter, will I go back?

What would Gloria do?

I'm guessing she wouldn't yell. She'd sign up again, volunteer, or teach a girlfriend how to swing an ice tool on Valentine's Day.