The Climbing Advocate

This is part two of my conversation with the Access Fund–Jeep Conservation Teams. Today is Annie and Mat from the East Conservation Team. This dynamic duo is responsible for the crags and boulders throughout the Eastern United States. As a regional team, they spend extended amounts of time in one spot, completing major stewardship projects at popular areas such as Rumney and Cathedral Ledge, where they are currently working.

Annie and Mat bring extensive experience from working on a conservation corps in North Carolina prior to joining Access Fund. They are now taking their passion for stewardship and their newly found love of climbing to care for our treasured climbing resources across the Eastern United States.

Enjoy!

0:27 – The day’s field work

1:48 – Annie’s intro

3:10 – Conservation before climbing

4:04 – Mat’s intro

4:54 – Conservation corps into Access Fund’s Conservation Team

7:26 – Cathedral Ledge and this year’s work

9:18 – Restore Rumney campaign

10:23 – Stewardship in a wet climate

12:30 – Best trail-building material

15:07 – Stewarding crags vs. bouldering areas

19:30 – The stewardship process

24:14 – What to expect at a stewardship day

27:04 – Volunteer coordination amidst COVID

30:47 – Project completion

32:18 – The team’s climbing experience

35:18 – Conservation team in your area

Climbing Area Stewardship- https://www.accessfund.org/learn/for-advocates/climbing-area-stewardship

Restoring Climbing Areas- https://www.accessfund.org/our-causes/sustainable-climbing-areas

Can Climbers Save the Economy- https://www.accessfund.org/open-gate-blog/a-bold-plan-can-climbers-help-save-the-economy

Appalachian Mountain Club- https://www.outdoors.org/

White Mountain Trail Collective- https://wmtrailcollective.org/

Vehicles for Charity- https://www.vehiclesforcharity.org/ (866) 628-2277

My guests today are Loryn Posladek and Kyle Leihsing. Together they make up the Access Fund–Jeep National Conservation Team. As the national team, they are lucky enough to travel across the country for 10 months out of the year, stopping at many different climbing areas along the way to conduct trail work, educate climbers on sustainable trail use, and host tabling events at gyms and climbing festivals.

Their current project involves working on an accessible/adaptive trail to a crag outside of Estes Park, Colorado. Working closely with adaptive climber Quinn Brett, they are aiming to set a standard for adaptive access on trails to climbing areas. Prior to their work in Estes, they were quarantined in Indian Creek for an extensive period of time, working on trails with the West Conservation Team with no volunteers! This speaks to the level of passion and dedication they have for caring for our nation’s climbing.

The importance of volunteering and stewardship as a main pillar of Access Fund’s mission to “protect America’s climbing” is undeniable. They say that climbers should be drawn to a “higher calling” to be a steward and advocate for this sport. Otherwise, just as a trail is not permanent, neither is access to our beloved climbing areas. Stewardship can be interpreted in multiple ways, and getting out there and getting your hands dirty is just one of them.

Enjoy!

0:23 – Current fieldwork

1:30 – Accessible/adaptive trail work

10:4 5– “Invisible” recreation management

12:56 – Team intros

15:21 – Defining stewardship

21:27 – Geographical differences in stewardship

23:44 – Managerial differences in stewardship

25:00 – Structural considerations for building trails

27:46 – Implications of COVID-19 on stewardship

33:44 – Being “guest facing” and interacting with climbers

39:34 – Importance of volunteering

44:00 – Operations of the national team vs. the regional teams

46:55 – The importance of stewardship in “protecting America’s climbing”

Climbing Area Stewardship- https://www.accessfund.org/learn/for-advocates/climbing-area-stewardship

Restoring Climbing Areas- https://www.accessfund.org/our-causes/sustainable-climbing-areas

Can climbers have save the economy- https://www.accessfund.org/open-gate-blog/a-bold-plan-can-climbers-help-save-the-economy

Idaho Conservation Corps- https://www.idahocc.org/

Rocky Mountain Conservancy- https://rmconservancy.org/

My guest today is Mark Kenyon. Mark is a hunter, author, fellow-podcaster, and dedicated conservationist. He is the first guest of the show who is not a climber! Through rich outdoor experiences growing up, Mark took a dive deep into the world of conservation and public lands history. Now his entrepreneurial experience in conservation is nothing short of exceptional. The combination of hard work with his podcast, Wired to Hunt; his private land conservation efforts on the Back 40 project; and through his book, That Wild Country, his passion for and knowledge for our nation’s wild lands runs deep.

The main theme of the episode revolves around the notion of “public lands unite us.” We talk extensively about how the conservation and outdoor community, including hunters and climbers, have rallied together at imperative moments to create positive change when threats to our public lands were imminent. These victories we have seen in recent years are due to the effort and passion among all outdoor users joining forces. Mark provides a fresh perspective on the current state of our public lands through the eyes of a hunter, and walks us through where we started, where we have been, and where we are going.

0:31 – Intro

1:31 – Mark Kenyon: Hunter and angler, not a climber

4:02 – Conservation awareness

6:00 – More than just a public lands user

6:55 – Challenging assumptions about public lands and conservation

10:43 – Mark’s podcast, Wired to Hunt, and his experience at Google

17:42 – The hunter’s paradox

19:50 – Lessons and takeaways from Wired to Hunt

22:50 – The Back 40

26:43 – Transactional vs. participatory relationship with the outdoors

28:32 – “Giving away” the Back 40

29:22 – Mark’s book, That Wild Country

33:20 – Starting his book with the Bundys and the standoff at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge

36:07 – Not here just on behalf of the hunting and fishing communities

38:24 – Are hunters the original conservationists?

44:15 – Declining numbers of hunters and anglers

49:22 – Top threats to climbers and hunters

53:10 – Joining forces and the resiliency of the conservation community

1:03:07 – Tools and resources

Mark’s Instagram: @wiredtohunt

Wired to Hunt: http://wiredtohunt.com/

The Back 40 Project: https://www.themeateater.com/watch/series/back-40

Back 40 Mini Series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOHFTvDmsbE

That Wild Country: https://www.amazon.com/That-Wild-Country-Journey-Americas/dp/1542043042/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

High Country News: https://www.hcn.org/

Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership: https://www.trcp.org/

Center for Western Priorities: https://westernpriorities.org/

“Public Lands Unite Us”: https://www.accessfund.org/open-gate-blog/our-public-lands-can-unite-us

This month’s guest is Scott Underwood. Scott sits on the board of the Washington Climbers Coalition (WCC) and spearheads the Olympic Peninsula Climbers chapter of the WCC. He also leads the Washington Anchor Replacement Project (WARP). He has been an influential figure in Washington state because of his extraordinary rebolting and anchor replacement efforts over the years. This year, Access Fund awarded him a well-deserved Climbing Advocate award.

Scott and I cover all things bolting. He shared some of his personal experiences, how to identify bad bolts, how to start and structure a rebolting initiative, and much more. Old hardware and poor bolts are something many crags face around the country. The work required to install modern hardware takes a significant amount of time and dedication. Kudos to people like Scott, who take the time to dangle around on a rope for hours on end to ensure that our crags are safe and up to today’s standards.

Enjoy!

Washington Anchor Replacement Project (WARP): https://washingtonanchors.org/

Washington Climbers Coalition (WCC): https://washingtonclimbers.org/

Bolting Literature and Information:

Access Fund: https://www.accessfund.org/our-causes/replace-aging-bolts

American Safe Climbing Association: https://www.safeclimbing.org/

UIAA: https://www.theuiaa.org/documents/safety/UIAA-WARNING-ABOUT-CLIMBING-ANCHORS-FAILURES_Dec15.pdf

Chockstone: http://www.chockstone.org/TechTips/SoftRockBolting.pdf

Bolt Products: http://www.bolt-products.com/

Bolting Hardware:

Kong: https://www.kong.it/en/2-products/items/c2-sport/r7-anchorage

Fixe Hardware: https://fixehardware.com/

Petzl: https://www.petzl.com/US/en/Sport/Anchors

Today’s guest is Kareemah Batts. Kareemah is an adaptive climber based in New York City with one incredible story. She was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer back in 2009 and was forced to have one of her legs amputated to save her life.

A climbing trip out to Colorado profoundly changed her life. After this moving experience, she founded the Adaptive Climbing Group and made it her mission to provide the same kind of opportunities for other adaptive climbers to experience what she did in Colorado. She tells her story so well, you can’t help but be moved by it. In the end she says it’s not about what makes us different. It’s all about highlighting what’s the same about us and what brings us all together. It’s definitely the climbing.

Enjoy!

Adaptive Climbing Group: https://www.adaptiveclimbinggroup.org/

Kareemah's Instagram: @herhopness

My guest this month was none other than Tommy Caldwell. We all know Tommy for his athletic accomplishments, but what’s becoming just as impressive is his commitment to advocacy. He has put in a tremendous amount of work not only advocating for climbing but also for climate change and wild spaces in general. His advocacy work has quickly become a large part of his identity, and he’s taking it on with just as much energy and focus as he does the Dawn Wall.

Tommy runs us through his advocacy beginnings and how they have blossomed into his current role as a Global Sport Activist for Patagonia. He says he’s no longer supposed to just go out and climb hard routes but to complement that with action to stand up for our environment.

Access Fund's Climb the Hill 2019: https://www.accessfund.org/news-and-events/news/a-live-report-from-climb-the-hill

Patagonia Action Works: https://www.accessfund.org/news-and-events/news/a-live-report-from-climb-the-hill

Protect Our Winters: https://protectourwinters.org/

Tommy's Instagram: @tommycaldwell

This month’s episode features two advocates from the indoor climbing world, Paul Guarino and Hilary Harris. Both Paul and Hilary are founders of their indoor facilities, Paul with Ascend Pittsburgh and Hilary with Evo Rock + Fitness gyms. In addition to their entrepreneurial spirit, Paul and Hilary sit on the boards of directors for the Southwestern Pennsylvania Climbers Coalition and Access Fund, respectively.

We run through what their motivations were for starting their gyms, their takeaways from Access Fund’s latest educational campaign, and the role of indoor facilities in relation to climbing advocacy. Both of them are moving the needle in the right direction and highlight the opportunities gyms have to educate and communicate effective messaging around this topic.

Enjoy!

Ascend Pittsburgh: https://www.ascendclimbing.com/

Evo rock gyms: https://www.evorock.com/

Southwestern Pennsylvania Climbers Coalition: http://www.swpacc.org/

Access Fund's inside education campaign: https://www.accessfund.org/news-and-events/news/access-fund-challenges-indoor-climbing-gyms-with-new-insideout-education

This month’s episode features Access Fund Policy Director Erik Murdock. Erik provides some incredible insight on the top five threats facing our nation’s public lands. If you are at all interested in being brought up to speed on everything public lands, there is a ton of information in this episode.

Erik took topics that can be really complicated and distilled them down to make them very digestible. His well-rounded history working for federal land agencies, in academia, and now in the nonprofit world has set him up to be incredibly knowledgeable on all of these topics. From environmental rollbacks, national level policy changes to conservation, and access being hamstrung, we cover it all.

For the climber and nonclimber alike, this episode paints a broad brushstroke on the state of our public lands and how it affects us as climbers.

Enjoy!

Top 5 Threats to Public Lands: https://www.accessfund.org/open-gate-blog/top-5-threats-to-public-lands

NEPA Rule Changes: https://ceq.doe.gov/laws-regulations/regulations.html

Outdoor Alliance: https://www.outdooralliance.org/

BLM Acting Leader: https://www.outdooralliance.org/blog/2020/1/8/proponent-of-public-land-sell-offs-will-continue-to-lead-blm

This month’s episode features Aaron Mike. Based out of Tucson, Arizona, Aaron operates Pangaea Mountain Guides and is Access Fund’s native lands regional coordinator.

As a Navajo, Aaron is well-versed in the issues surrounding climbing and the sovereignty of native lands. We covered the issues associated with climbing and native interests on public and native lands, including Bears Ears, Devils Tower, Ship Rock, and Canyon Diablo.

Aaron’s soft-spoken delivery and passion for these lands is genuine and sincere. Join us as we chat about a topic that is becoming more and more prevalent in the outdoor industry as a whole.

Enjoy!

Devils Tower: https://www.accessfund.org/news-and-events/news/climbers-honor-the-june-closure-at-devils-tower

Aaron's Instagram: @aaron.r.mike

Native Outdoors: https://natives-outdoors.com/

Pangaea Mountain Guides: http://pangaeamountainguides.com/

This episode features two crusher advocates coming out of the Southeast: Cody Roney and Andrea Hassler. Cody is the former executive director of the Southeastern Climbers Coalition (SCC), and her list of accolades during her time with the SCC is exemplary. Andrea has now taken the reins as SCC’s executive director. She says she has big shoes to fill but her passion and knowledge for the Southeast’s climbing resources is palpable, and she is

undoubtedly the right person for the job.

Follow along as we discuss SCC success stories, including the huge Denny Cove acquisition, some of the ins and outs of running a local climbing organization, and the very bright future of the SCC.

Enjoy!

Steep South's Filling the Void: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QKytNP0fFU&t=1s

Thrive Regional Partnership: https://www.thriveregionalpartnership.org/

Southeastern Climbers Coailtion:

https://www.seclimbers.org/

Facebook & Instagram- @seclimbers