Gym to Crag

PC: Mo Beck climbing; photo by Will Saunders

It’s one of the hottest topics in climbing these days: how to make the transition from gym climbing to climbing outdoors, and in a way that is safe and responsible. A lot goes into climbing outdoors that you don’t have to think twice about in the gym! In our gym to crag series, we cover some of the key principles so that you can be more prepared, or so that you can educate your friends well as you mentor them outside!

Gym to Crag: New Questions to Consider

Our favorite part of this episode is that it was made a couple years ago, and Kai Lightner is a BABY. Oh how time flies…We also cover things like wearing a helmet, rock fall, the approach, uneven terrain when belaying, catching bigger falls, run-outs and more!

Gym to Crag: Stewardship and Environment

Climbing gets more complicated outside, but so does everything else—like eating, trash, and disposing of human waste. This video covers the outdoor ethics that all climbers need to know and practice to be responsible stewards of the crags we all love. Topics include staying on trail, packing out human waste and litter properly, leaving what you find, and more! Basically: wag bags are your new best friend.

Gym to Crag: Interacting with Others

Not going to lie, we know a lot of seasoned outdoor climbers who could brush up on these skills—especially making a respectful but efficient intervention when someone is climbing unsafely. In this installment of Gym to Crag, we cover the ways that risk and safety is amplified outside—and the best way to make sure those around you are respecting nature and each other as much as you do ;)

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Climbing Through Language

The AAC DC Chapter takes Wilderness Kids Alexandria climbing

PC: Elizabeth Waugh

Grassroots: A storytelling series about cutting edge projects and conversations in the AAC community.

By Sierra McGivney

All Melissa Rojas knew about rock climbing was kids' birthday parties. But once she started climbing, pulling herself up multicolored plastic holds with her long-time climber friend, her mind was free. The stress of working in healthcare melted away. Each move she made was related to each other, connected to the whole route, like piecing together a puzzle. 

“I just got hooked,” says Rojas, the Communications Co-Chair for the AAC D.C. Chapter. 

Climbing engrossed Rojas. She wanted to get involved and give back, so she looked into climbing organizations and found the American Alpine Club. 

PC: Elizabeth Waugh

As Rojas got more engaged in the climbing community, she noticed a sizable amount of Spanish-speaking climbers in the area and saw an opportunity for community. In June of 2021, Rojas founded ¡Escala DC!, a Spanish-speaking climbing club.  

Although not all spanish-speakers are people of color, differences in language, and the culture embedded in language, can be a barrier to feeling fully understood and represented in a community. And when language and racial identity overlap, it can be even harder to see yourself represented.

“If you're not white, it can feel very intimidating going into a gym.” says Rojas, “It's not like anybody's doing anything to make you feel intimidated, you just feel intimidated.” 

Members of ¡Escala DC! feel grateful to have found a group that speaks to them. The club organizes weekly meetups at gyms in the area like Crystal City, Timonium, and Rockville. Rojas has created a space that unites climbers whose identities come from a Spanish-speaking background. 

PC: Elizabeth Waugh

Although spanish-speakers in the US come from a wide range of countries and cultures, there is no denying the way language can bind you together. “It's a different experience when you climb with folks that have the same cultural context,” says Rojas.

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Jerry Casagrande didn’t grow up in a particularly outdoorsy family. He never went hiking or camping. When he was 15 years old his science teacher suggested he look into a summer program that would take him to the Grand Tetons in Wyoming, the Bear Creek Mountains in Montana, and Yellowstone. The grand mountains and forests of the West left a lasting mark on Casagrande. 

“It just changed my life completely,” says Casagrande. 

PC: Elizabeth Waugh

In a number of ways, Casagrande has sought to pay that experience forward. He ran a program about 20 years ago that took kids from all over the country to experience the outdoors. In Alexandria, Casagrande’s home, he noticed that there was an imbalance between kids who had access to green spaces and those who did not. In October of 2021, Casagrande founded Wilderness Kids Alexandria. 

WKA believes there are a multitude of benefits to being outside. The mission of the nonprofit organization is to provide life-enriching experiences in nature to teenagers from under-resourced families in Alexandria, Virginia. 

Latino Outdoors is a “volunteer-driven organization that focuses on expanding and amplifying the Latinx experience in the outdoors.” Casagrande posted on the Latino Outdoors DMV—D.C., Maryland, and Virginia—Facebook page looking for volunteers to take kids climbing. A number of people are also a part of the AAC D.C. section. He got an overwhelming response.

PC: Elizabeth Waugh

“We had more volunteers than we could use,” says Casagrande.

Members from the AAC D.C. section, ¡Escala DC!, and the Potomac Mountain Club volunteered to belay kids and teach climbing basics on February 19, 2022, at Movement Climbing gym.

 After a picnic, kids headed to Movement to get fitted for climbing shoes and harnesses. Many looked up at the rainbow of holds that create routes and said, “I can’t do that.” By the end of the day, participants were practically racing up the wall. 

English is not a first language for a majority of the kids who attended. The volunteers were able to speak to kids in their native language. This enabled the kids to easily communicate on the climbing wall and meet passionate climbers who spoke the same language as them. Seeing themselves reflected in this space helped to cultivate a sense of self within the climbing community. 

“It was super cool to be able to talk to them in their mother language and have them feel reassured,” says Rojas. 

PC: Elizabeth Waugh

The AAC, along with PATC took kids climbing at Caderock on Apr 23, 2022. WKA was hoping to get 20 kids in attendance. Ten kids climbed while the other 10 kids went hiking. Mid-day they switched. Volunteers set up topropes and taught kids climbing basics. 

Rojas believes fostering and establishing strong cultural diversity and ability diversity in the climbing community is the keys to true accessibility. It’s a team effort to establish a space accessible to all. Multiple organizations came together to nourish a love of climbing in kids who otherwise might not have the opportunity. 

“We're a really small organization and [the AAC] enables us to have a bigger impact than we could otherwise possibly have,” says Casagrande.

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Museum of Movement: A Story from the 2021 GTM

Artist Spotlight: Route Setter Aroldo Silva

by Holly Yu Tung Chen

photos by Grey Satterfield

“PAINTER. MUSICIAN. DESIGNER... PEOPLE TEND TO END THE CONVERSATION THERE. YOU’RE EITHER IN A BOX OR YOU’RE NOT, AND THAT’S IT.”

— Aroldo Silva

The boulder problem reminded Aroldo of the Florida coastline. He stepped back and spun a long steel bolt between his fingers like a pencil. Then stared down his handiwork built from bright yellow tufas. They started in the bottom corner and slithered all the way to the top of the blue and gray wall.

It was in the Sunshine State where lightning struck. A much younger Aroldo Silva found the art of route setting in a small gym built inside an old warehouse. Route setting wasn’t a paid job then. He started with some old-school wrenches and solid plastic holds. Back then, gyms stripped all the holds off the wall and cleaned them with acid and dishwasher fluid, putting them back up with a kaleidoscope of duct tape marking the path. A “choose your own adventure” to the uninitiated.

The boulder problems he puts up today are made of color-coded fiberglass; three times the size of what he used to work with in the small Florida gym and one-third the weight. Now, Aroldo is the Head Setter at Earth Treks Englewood in Colorado. It’s a full-time job.

“Jobs,” Aroldo corrected. A route setter is at once an artist, a teacher, a janitor, the customer service rep, a product manager, the curator, and the quality control team.

Aroldo studied sculpture and media in college. He focused on installation and performative art and took time to dive deep into fine arts theory. The professors Aroldo respected told him, “focus on understanding.” Once you begin to practice for mastery, you will develop your creative process. He walked away from his degree with a lot more questions than answers.

“What does being an artist mean to you?”

The tool belt on his hip jingled. Aroldo laughed with his shoulders and torso. “People like to define art with a lot of titles, don’t they? Painter. Musician. Designer. People tend to end the conversation there. You’re either in a box or you’re not, and that’s it. You’re a musician? You must make music. I don’t think it matters.” Creation needs no bounds.

He pushed up his safety goggles with a gloved hand, stepped nimbly up the ladder, and bolted a bright-yellow jib to the wall. Below him on the bouldering mat was an array of holds, neatly laid out from largest to smallest, with a handful of foot chips scattered about like seasoning.

There seems to be no line between art and climbing, with set routes akin to exhibits in a museum. A route may appeal to one, yet be detested by another. It’s all contained within the work.

Movement is Aroldo’s medium, which he uses to explore the concept of meaningful play. He understands that climbing allures because of the perfect challenge: a problem which demands both mentally and physically, yet is just attainable so long as we try hard enough.

Likewise, Aroldo believes all approaches and ideas are valid, both for the setter as well as the climber. “Your hands and your body are only so good at recreating what your mind has designed,” he said. “But you can chase them. I want to chase them. I want my setters and our climbers to chase them.” After all, it is the space between the routes which is most important—the environment where people can develop their individuality, explore alternate solutions, and flourish on the wall. To Aroldo and his team, this is facilitated through a setting philosophy: not forcing movement, but sharing it.

Earth Treks Englewood is a 53,000 square-foot canvas, with more than 200 boulder problems and sport routes available to interpret. If someone grabs a foot? Great. If someone busts a sequence? Great. Maybe it feels hard or maybe it feels weird. Maybe somebody will say, “you have to try this,” while another says, “don’t even bother.” Flash or fall, love it or hate it, they are engaging with the problem and exploring what they’re capable of. For Aroldo, this is the art of climbing.

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Holly Yu Tung Chen is a freelance writer, digital marketer, and route setter at several Colorado climbing gyms—she enjoys the duality of these wildly opposing jobs. (Holly’s motto has always been: “keep it interesting.”) In 2019, she kick-started her career as an intern for the American Alpine Club producing content and working in the digital marketing space. Beyond the Club, her writing has been published by Gym Climber, Sharp End Publishing, and the Climbing Wall Association.