06/10/2022
A Message to Climbers from Jimmy Chin
Categories: Perspectives
I’ve been an Access Fund member for over a decade, and I’ve seen firsthand how the fight to protect climbing has changed.
When I first ventured out on the rock, climbers were still fighting for legitimacy—for the right to climb on public lands. With Access Fund leading the charge, we’ve won that battle. Today, the question is whether climbing is sustainable into the future. Can we maintain access and still protect the lands we love?
As a climber, filmmaker, and National Geographic photographer, I’ve seen the effects of more people out on the land. But overuse is just one piece of the puzzle. We must also consider climbing in the context of the great environmental challenges of our time—including climate change, resource extraction, and pressures from development. Wildfires are ripping through our forests, ice climbs are becoming more ephemeral, mountaineering routes are destabilizing, and the ecosystems that climbers cherish are fundamentally changing.
But there is something we can do to help. Today, I’m making an additional donation, above and beyond my yearly membership gift, to help Access Fund take on these challenges and build a sustainable future for climbing. The best part? REI will match my gift dollar-for-dollar. Will you join me by making a donation today?
I’ve seen firsthand the work that Access Fund is doing to reinforce our climbing areas to help manage the exploding popularity of the sport, as well as the adverse effects of climate change and development. They are working hard to protect not just the rock, but the large swaths of land around climbing areas. By protecting the landscape, we protect the climbing experience and we promote climate resiliency, providing a safe haven for the plants and animals that make these lands so special.
We must look at the big picture. Climbers have an opportunity to not only protect the areas we love but to make a real difference in the face of these big environmental challenges.