The Future of Climbing

You've seen it. The local university outdoor club leaders going to bolt-to-bolt on the cliff's only moderate routes. The conga line of colorfully clothed gumbies waiting impatiently to top rope for the next several hours. The hammocks all flapping about like the sails of a hippie pirate ship. The "Mother of God! It's all toilet sounds!" music blasting from Bluetooth speakers. We've all seen it. Heard it. Heck, we've probably been a part of it. 

Last December, the Access Fund distributed an email with a picture of a similar scene at the Orange Oswald Wall near the New River Gorge. It asked, "Is this the future of climbing?" You probably remember the now-viral traffic jam of over 300 climbers on the Hillary Step of Mount Everest (if you don't, watch 14 Peaks on Netflix). Whether Ten Sleep, Wyoming, Sand Rock, Alabama, or the highest peak on earth, the problem of overcrowded crags isn't the future of climbing, it is the present reality. 

Climbing advocacy groups like the Access Fund and local climbing coalitions have two competing goals. On the one hand, they seek to increase access to an activity that is relatively exclusive. On the other, these groups seek to decrease the negative impact rock climbers have on the environment. These effects are infinitesimal compared to, say, a coal-fired powered plant but with rock climbing in the Olympics, Alex Honnold at the Oscars, and the proliferation of big business climbing gyms, more people are at the crag than ever before. The effects are noticeable. To be clear, I think these goals are inherently good. Diversity, inclusion, and the longevity of cliff base vegetation matter. But, like a good toprope anchor, these goals are opposite and opposed. It doesn't take a nihilistic alcoholic rocket scientist to know that more people climbing means more impact on the environment. Morty, meet pickle. 

It's a dilemma, but it isn't one without solutions, even if I personally do not know what those solutions are. Thankfully the fine people over on the Mountain Project forums do. 

Mountain Project posters with predictable profile pictures have taken it upon themselves to determine who does and does not have access to America's rock climbing, i.e., "gatekeeping." And it is almost always those who started climbing after the gatekeepers that do not deserve access. It's an ingenious idea that certainly would, if implemented, have positive results on our climbing areas. No new climbers! The implementation is the tricky part. Who's let in the gate? What year does one have to have started climbing? How established in the scene does one need to be? Are people who climb above a certain grade grandfathered in?  

Instead, I would like to propose an alternative to these Mountain Project posters, an alternative far easier to implement and far more effective for protecting wild spaces. Just stop climbing. Quit it. Walk out of that gate you made and leave it behind. I mean, when you took the photo of the overcrowded crag and complained about it at the bar later, were you not also there, crowding the crag? And when the boulder field parking lot was full, did you go somewhere else or did you park on the shoulder and work on your sick project anyway? It seems to me that the most responsible thing for a climber to do for the future of climbing is to quit climbing. 

There are so many other hobbies to choose from! Have you ever tried meditating? Trail running? Becoming a sommelier but instead of wine, you become an expert in Danimals® Kids Yogurt & Smoothies? Other such "hobbies" may include but are not limited to...

• reading
• baking
• knitting
• competitive duck herding
• watching Lord of the Rings: Return of the King 362 times
• Magic the Gathering
• open water swimming
• semi-professional stone skipping
• weightlifting
• staying more hydrated
• hog calling
• LARPing 
• bird watching
• mowing the yard with a pair of fingernail clippers

Each is as arbitrary and momentarily rewarding as on-sighting 5.12 or finally sending your boulder project. These hobbies are less time-consuming than volunteering with a local climbing coalition to conserve wildlife or working with land managers to preserve access. And each is far easier than mentoring a new climber in the ways of Leave No Trace principles, crag etiquette, and safe climbing practices. Ugh, creating an actual sustainable future for rock climbing is so much work! 

Protect America's climbing. Stop climbing and start being a Danimals® sommelier. 

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