Our hope is that the outdoors and climbing gyms serve as our safe spaces for everyone. However, “African-American experiences are far more complex than the contemporary narrative suggests, having been shaped by institutions of slavery, segregation and scientific racism. That combined impact has presented outdoor public areas as contested and often, violent social spaces" (Goodrid, 2018, p. 30). So, one step we are taking is to continue to learn about systemic impacts through black narratives and perspectives so we can better acknowledge past injustices and stop or intervene in future ones.

If you've ever felt like a fear of falling is holding you back from climbing through hard cruxes of routes or problems, you're not alone! Fear of falling is something that all climbers, even those with years of experience, manage regularly. It can be one of the most scary parts of climbing. However, falling is a part of climbing and learning how to take practice falls is a skill that should be practiced.

An Introduction into Core Tension What Is Core Tension?

The best climbers I know aren't just climbers on the wall. They are climbers as a lifestyle. I'm not talking about the dirtbag climber lifestyle, and I don't mean these people train all the time. I mean that they practice the principles of effective climbing in their daily lives, and view their daily lives as practice for climbing.

Actively working to change systemic racism and inequity. For the last few years, we have leaned on a trusted group of individuals from a variety of positions within the company to guide our DEI efforts. During this pivotal moment, they dedicated time to encourage conversations and listen to our entire workforce – this statement is a collection of voices from across every region, gym and position within our company and we are proud to stand behind every word below. Robert Cohen, CEO Renee DeAngelis, COO Charlotte Bosley, CMO Chris Jenkins, CSO Scott Yeager, CFO We support an inclusive society and condemn racial injustice. We stand in solidarity with the Black community, our staff, members, and partners, in the fight against systemic racism, inequity, and the historic oppression of the black community. Black Lives Matter.

If you’ve ever walked away from a crag with black, dirty hands, it might be time to wash your climbing rope.

Twenty million Americans took to the streets to celebrate the very first Earth Day 50 years ago. We may not have been able to gather the masses together for Earth Day this year, but that doesn't mean that our staff didn't find some creative ways to have fun at home. Reduce, REUSE, Recycle Is there a child alive who came out of schools systems in the 1980s and 1990s school system who doesn't know of the 3 Rs? Reduce, reuse, recycle. In any case, a lot of our staff came up with creative ways to reuse all kinds of materials to create drip irrigation systems, raised beds, and even watercolors! Take a look:

When one thinks of areas of your body to strengthen and stabilize, many focus on shoulders, hips, etc, but strong ankles are an incredibly important foundation for many of the movements we make with our bodies. Lack of strength or stability in the ankles can lead to instability or overcompensation in the knees or hips, which can lead to bad running technique and climbing technique. Think about it, weak ankles make standing on small holds difficult, which makes controlling your body position harder to control. So let’s strengthen those ankles! We’ve got three warmups and three exercises that help improve ankle strength and ensure that your ankles are strong and stable for activity and use down the road.

Do you remember your childhood memories and your ability to have innocent fun? Yes? Pick a number. 1-2-3. Pick a color. B-L-U-E. Pick another number. 1-2-3-4. We understand that adulting is sometimes difficult. The “real world” is challenging, but it does ironically expose a wonderful truth, which is that being an adult can be overrated. Picasso’s even on our side for this one (so you know it’s true): “It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child”. Reclaiming our innocence and the ability to break down our own barriers for fun is daunting. The first step is to get in the right mindset--rewind to your youth. Do you remember the old games of yore? Kick the can, the stick with a wooden circle rolly thing, pong, truth or dare, spin the bottle, creepy crawlers, the water level in Zelda? (Insert pause for melancholic sigh of remembrance). Recently, we’ve noticed our online community going bonkers for a silly, little game of “Would you Rather” and we thought we’d share the ones that seem to be getting downright heated. (To be fair, choosing between eating mayonnaise for the rest of your life or sweating mayonnaise for the rest of your life tends to do that). Enjoy!

The key to a good life is to have balance and what better way to test your skills than walking along a suspended length of flat webbing tensioned between two anchors, also known as slacklining? If you’ve never heard of slacklining or would just like a few extra tips, we’re here to help!