The Climbing Advocate

In fall of 2021, Access Fund started the new Climber Steward program in Indian Creek. On this month’s podcast, Peter sits down with Lauren Hebert and Johanna Cogen, the inaugural Climber Stewards. They posted up in the Creek during peak season this fall to share information and resources on how to minimize impact and enjoy climbing resources responsibly—especially important in the fragile desert e...

The guest for today’s episode is writer, podcaster, and perhaps most notably, the creator of the Climbing Zine, Luke Mehall. Originally hailing from the midwest, Luke was first exposed to climbing in Southern Illinois and at first, he didn’t really take to it. Through the trials and tribulations of being a young adult, Luke truly found his way when he moved to Gunnison, Colorado and began putting...

Our guest for today’s episode is Felipe Proaño. Felipe is a professional climber based in Quito, Ecuador and is the founder and former president of Fondo de Acceso Andino — the equivalent of Access Fund in Ecuador. Fondo de Acceso Andino is a community-focused organization that works with members of rural communities in Ecuador to discuss opportunities for climbing development and how it can suppo...

Our guest for today’s episode is Kendra Stritch. Kendra is a competitive ice climber and serves as the board president of the Minnesota Climbers Association (MCA). Minnesota has a lot to offer in terms of climbing, whether it’s rock or ice. As an LCO working on a state-wide level, the MCA works with local Minnesota-based climbing organizations and land managers to help ensure these special Midwest...

Our guest for today’s episode is Jon Hawk. Jon is the Director of Gym Operations at Memphis Rox in Tennessee. Based in Soulsville, an underserved neighborhood in South Memphis, Memphis Rox serves as an access point to mentorship and helps community members overcome life’s obstacles. Memphis Rox takes pride in not being for profit, but being for people. It is the first non-profit gym of its size, a...

Our guest for today’s episode is Briana Mazzolini-Blanchard. Briana sits on the board of the Red River Gorge Climbers’ Coalition (RRGCC) and is very active in the world of social advocacy. Beyond her role and responsibilities as a board member, she has contributed tremendously to the RRGCC’s social efforts by coordinating L8 events, which aim to provide barrier-free entry to climbing for folks in...

Our guest for today’s episode is the president of the Bay Area Climbers Coalition (BACC), Peter Monks. Peter recently took over as president in January of this year and he shared an impressive amount of information and stories about the organization. Holding the responsibility over the land of “micro crags”, the BACC has done a remarkable job building a rapport with the local community and with an...

The guest for this month’s episode is Access Fund’s Policy Analyst, Curt Shannon. Access Fund and other allies have been working on protecting Oak Flat, an incredible area outside of Phoenix, Arizona, for over 15 years, and Shannon has been focused on protecting this world-class climbing area for almost a decade. Oak Flat is under threat of mining, which would forever decimate not just the area’s...

The guests for today’s episode are Audrey and Curtis Gale-Dyer. This power couple serves as the land management team for the Red River Gorge Climbers’ Coalition (RRGCC) in Kentucky. As land managers, they are responsible for planning and implementing large- and small-scale stewardship projects all around the Red River Gorge. It’s no secret that the “Red” holds miles and miles of cliff line that at...

The guest for this month’s episode is Sarah Garlick. Based in North Conway, New Hampshire, Sarah serves as the board president of Friends of the Ledges, an advocacy group that covers the White Mountains of New Hampshire and Maine. Perhaps the most well-known climbing area in the region is Cathedral Ledge, home to some of the most classic and iconic routes in the Northeast. Friends of the Ledges is...

The guest for today’s episode is Ben Scott. Ben is perhaps best known for his role as president of the Northern Colorado Climbers Coalition (NCCC), a position he has held for more than a decade. But Ben’s creative nature has taken him well beyond his experience as NCCC president. Ben has etched his name in the history books by establishing many first ascents around the greater Fort Collins area, u...

The guest for today’s episode is Access Fund’s fearless leader, executive director Chris Winter. As executive director, Chris leads the charge on organizational development and holds a pulse on all operations of the organization. The unprecedented events of 2020 forced Chris and his team to think on their feet and quickly react to keep their strong work going. We spent our time together recapping...

This month’s guests are Veronica Baker and Dani Dobrot. Veronica and Dani are, respectively, the executive director and director of community engagement of The Climbing Initiative. Both Veronica and Dani are passionate climbers who have traveled to the far reaches of the globe in pursuit of climbing. It was through their world travels that they both noticed an opportunity to engage with the global...

This month’s guest is Graham Zimmerman. Graham is a professional alpinist, filmmaker, and staunch climate advocate. Through the past couple decades of traveling around the world, prioritizing climbing over everything else, the red flags and telltale signs of a changing environment shifted to the forefront of Graham’s mind. He decided to ramp up his commitment to climbing—and the environment. Graha...

This month’s episode features multiple guests who share their insights and experiences in the space of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion. The guests include Access Fund staff member Taimur Ahmad, founder of Brown Girls Climb and Access Fund board member Bethany Lebewitz, and Access Fund board member Kenji Haroutunian. In light of recent events concerning social justice, both nationally and...

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...

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 fest...

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 w...

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 a...

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 pr...

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 wi...

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,...

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 digestibl...

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 To...

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’...