Best Practices

Building Bridges Between Climbers and Rural Communities

By Tim Golden

 

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Key lessons

  • Communities should prioritize attracting climbing residents, not just visitors.

  • Simultaneously attract remote workers while developing recreational tourism.

  • Create opportunities to build common ground.

  • Create appeal with strong community and character.

  • Take action to contribute to nurturing the community.

 

About the author

Tim Golden is the co-founder and former board member of the Bishop Area Climbers' Coalition (BACC), and led the Economic Impact of Climbing study for the Bishop Area in partnership with Eastern Kentucky University. During the data collection process of the study, he surveyed visiting climbers and worked with climbing rangers to collect car counts and other relevant use data. Tim was also president of the Bay Area Climbers Coalition. In that role, he supported the organization and execution of numerous stewardship projects -- which included organizing volunteer teams in trail building, graffiti removal, and re-bolting. He was awarded the 2021 Local Leader and Organizer Award from the Access Fund for his work in the climbing community. He currently serves as a board member of Inyo County Search and Rescue and continues to work on organizational- and community-building projects.

 

Peer reviewer

Tommy Willis, Ed.D.

 

Editor

Tyler Algeo

 

About the best practices project

The Global Climbing Initiative's best practices project taps the expertise of climbing leaders around the world to share lessons learned in crag development and maintenance, environmental conservation, equity and inclusivity, community engagement, economic impact, and climbing organizations. By making this information more accessible, we hope to foster a more united and supported global climbing community. To learn more about this project and how you can support, visit globalclimbing.org/best-practices

 

Introduction

Climbing visitation can play an important role in the economies of rural areas that are nested near climbing destinations. Many of these rural communities could also stand to benefit from prioritizing a healthy local community and a welcoming environment for new residents who are also climbers. Nurturing local community and liveability can appeal to climbers seeking rural, small-town living environments that are in close proximity to climbing destinations. Since demographic data shows that climbers are generally well-educated, new resident climbers could bring additional skills, education, and experience to rural communities that could have long-term benefits for the region.

As climbing grows in popularity, rural economies in the vicinity of climbing destinations (rural gateway communities) are presented with unique challenges: managing an unanticipated increase in visitation within the community. Some of these rural communities may not want to welcome outsiders into their regions, and others struggle with determining how to adapt to the changing landscape. For towns open to the adjustment, this challenge is also a potentially overlooked opportunity: how do small towns and rural areas nurture and prioritize their local communities, creating a place where people want to live – not just pass through?

Rural areas that are experiencing an inflow of visiting climbers should assess their priorities holistically. Will the community benefit best from embracing climbing visitation and capturing more climber expenditures to local businesses, or will they further benefit from embracing new residents – some of which may bring invaluable skills and experience to the area?

The first part of this chapter explores the benefits of attracting climbing residents from a community orientation; the second part of this chapter identifies actions individual actors can take to strengthen the relationship between climbers, locals, governments, businesses, and the tourism industry.

 

Key Lesson #1

Communities should prioritize attracting climbing residents, not just visitors

Rural communities have experienced the plight of rural-to-urban migration for generations – people have relocated to urban centers for more education and opportunity, leaving their hometowns in the wake. This trend is known as human capital flight, also referred to as ‘brain drain’. It has been associated with negative social and economic impacts on rural areas.

While climbing visitation can bring outside income to rural economies and boost local businesses and tax revenues, it alone may not be able to alleviate the long-term needs of these communities.

US Dept of Agriculture data shows a decline in population of many rural counties throughout the United States between 2010-2017. Despite this trend, broadband internet access in rural areas throughout the country continues to be expanded and remote work opportunities will likely continue well into the future. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, many office workers have permanently transitioned to remote work. People that had formerly tolerated their urban living environments

for the benefit of their careers have discovered a new, financially-secure freedom to live in self-chosen locations. As a result, homes in many of these rural areas have experienced record sales and an influx of new residents.

While remote-work opportunities skyrocketed due to the COVID-19 pandemic recently skyrocketed, evidence of de-urbanization has been anecdotally apparent for several years and provides an enormous opportunity for rural gateway communities near climbing areas. These trends suggest the opportunity of brain gain — reversing the long-standing patterns that have affected rural communities. Leveraging climbing and outdoor recreation resources is a notable opportunity for rural communities to attract high-skilled professionals, trade workers, teachers, entrepreneurs, creatives, and service workers. However, the addition of professionals with full time “remote” jobs may still have limited involvement within the community due to their work being remote rather than directly within the community. These additions will bring money into the community but also would require bridge building to contribute their intellectual/academic skills to the community.

Appealing to the climbing demographic, in particular, can be advantageous to rural gateway communities. Economic Impact studies performed by Maples and Bradley for the New River Gorge in West Virginia, the Red River Gorge in Kentucky, the Nantahala and Pisgah National Forests in North Carolina, and the Bishop Area in the Eastern Sierra of California illuminate the demographics of the climbing community. Climbers are generally well-educated: combined study averages show that 49% of USA climbers have at least a bachelor's degree and 25% have attained a higher-level graduate degree. With an average age of 29, roughly 34% of respondents earn between $50,000 and $99,999 annually and 16% earn more than $100,000 a year.

Rural areas with reliable access to outdoor recreation, such as climbing, have an opportunity to leverage these resources to attract and retain highly-skilled professionals, tradespeople, and service workers (both returning residents and new residents) to areas that may otherwise continue to lose population. In addition to attracting on-the-ground workers to the region, outside incomes generated from remote workers also could help spur new life to struggling small town main streets and depleted municipal coffers.

 

  • In Bishop, California, local climbers organized in 2018 to create the Bishop Climbers Coalition. Beyond working to educate visiting climbers, building a climbing ranger program that employs two full-time seasonal rangers, and working with land managers to address issues that arise at climbing areas, the Coalition also organizes community events and raises money to support other local nonprofits. In the first half of 2020, the Coalition raised over $4,500 in donations for nonprofits addressing domestic violence and pandemic relief efforts. Some of the members of the board are actively involved in other area nonprofits, while some are local business owners, healthcare professionals, data scientists, artists, and engineers. All are driven individuals that care about the community that they are a part of as much as they care about the places they recreate.

    Beyond this, the Bishop area has teachers, doctors, nurses, pharmacists, contractors, entrepreneurs, county and city officials, data scientists, mathematicians, astrophysicists, biologists, non-profit leaders, artists, students, and more – all who love climbing and choose to live in Bishop for the small town and its plentiful access to outdoor recreation.

    Although educating visiting climbers and working towards sustainable solutions to manage the impact on loved climbing areas is important, supporting the local community (beyond just the climbing community) has also become an important priority.

 

Key Lesson #2

Simultaneously attract remote workers while developing recreational tourism.

Beyond simply adding to a tax base, being a local – for whatever loosely defined duration of residence that term qualifies – adds tremendous value to a rural community. Locals more fully invest in the community’s economy and community; they are service workers, business owners and entrepreneurs, highly-skilled professionals and trades-people. They often get involved in their local governments and volunteer for area nonprofits. Others start businesses, create jobs and bring new voices and perspectives. For example, a 2017 Outdoor Alliance study by Maples and Bradley found that one in five local resident respondents in the vicinity of the Nantahala and Pisgah National Forests in western North Carolina were both business owners and climbers. These businesses create jobs for other local residents and bring revenue to the area that may otherwise not exist.

A vibrant local population can also help to sustain a region that is rich in tourism in times when visitation declines. Some climbers that choose to live in rural climbing gateway communities bring with them remote jobs or other occupations that provide income insulated from a decline in tourism. If visitation drops, they are still able to contribute to the areas they live and love. Regardless of tourism levels, local climbers contribute to the local economy by spending money at local businesses, paying rent and buying homes. In particular, many folks in the climbing community actively aspire to support local businesses and will often favor a small, family-owned business over big-box retailers or larger corporate entities when given an opportunity. In a rural community, this can have a big impact.

Developing economic resilience to boom-bust cycles is a good course of action for any economy - let alone a rural economy. Although research is still needed on the topic, outdoor recreation appears to be more resistant to traditional boom-bust cycles that commonly affect other industries (for example resource extraction, such as coal in the case of the region surrounding the New River Gorge in West Virginia). In addition, a thriving local community can help to spur a more diverse economic portfolio in a rural area through entrepreneurship and income sources from outside the region (from remote work occupations), for instance.

 

  • When local Indigenous voices are able to shape the growth of climbing in an area, beautiful things can happen. 8vos a los 30s (“Octavos a los Treintas”) is a project through which Indigenous women in Ecuador come together to travel, climb, and take on socio-environmental projects in their local communities and climbing areas.

    Each year, the group of Indigenous women embark on a 15-30 day international rocktrip, where they learn how to be autonomous and move in other countries. Each woman then uses this experience to catalyze a socio-environmental project that engages their Indigenous community with their climbing area.

    Their first project was an enactment of the vision of Fernanda Lechón of the Kichwa Kayambi people. First, the group of women climbed in northern Patagonia, took a Wilderness First Responder course, and provided menstrual education workshops. They then supported the development of a new camping-cafe named Amarumi (meaning “strong woman” in Kichwa) that enables the local Indigenous community to have a hand in the sustainable growth of sustainable climbing tourism in La Chimba.

    The group aims to do one project per year demonstrating the power of local Indigenous climbers to build brides in their communities and shape the growth of our sport worldwide. To learn more, visit mountainsbeyondborders.org/ecuador.

 

Key Lesson #3

Create opportunities to build common ground.

In the case of a new or underdeveloped climbing area, an influx of new residents can be perceived by long-time rural residents as threatening to a small-town way of life. In many climbing destination gateway communities, the idea of visitation and tourism are still relatively new . The regular flow of climbers passing through town in vans, Subarus, and Tacomas to eat, drink, and occasionally sleep; dressed in various hues of polyester; covered in dirt, chalk, and a little blood; carrying mattresses, ropes, and heaps of metal and thread - can be seen as an eye-sore to many long-term locals. Visiting climbers may be perceived as outsiders and birds of a different feather, perspectives that can feed into an Us v. Them paradigm of conflict.

Some of these small town locals attempt to open up to share some insight about their local community, but eventually the visitors they communicate with leave just in time for more to come with the same misunderstandings of their small towns. As a result, communities can grow frustrated with and even somewhat hostile to climbers. It can seem to them that visiting climbers only care about their own recreation and are both ignorant and unconcerned with the realities of the rural areas and communities they pass through.

While social stereotyping fuels antagonism and conflict, finding common ground often makes a huge difference in resolving conflict. If nearly all the residents of a local community don’t climb and visiting climbers only come to the region to climb, common ground may be hard to find. However, if climbers are a part of that local community and positively contribute to the well-being of all residents, it will be much easier to find common ground with non-climbing local residents who also care about their community.

Early stages of any change process are generally difficult. When outsiders become residents in a rural area, they may initially appear to also threaten the community’s way of life. However, as they become a part of the community, they will better understand some of the same struggles experienced by long-term locals of that community. Ideally, these outsiders will end up bringing new perspectives that help resolve struggles and strengthen the community for the benefit of all residents.

There is no silver bullet to unifying new, “different” residents with local communities, however the outsiders who move into rural areas and actively participate could help pave the way for stronger relationships with long-time locals and contribute to a better future for the entire community. If these outsiders-becoming-locals are also climbers, then the overall perception of climbing in the region could be strengthened and access to climbing could be seen as more important to the area.

 

  • In Orangeville and Castle Dale, Utah, the Joe’s Valley Bouldering Festival has helped to cultivate a space for common ground between the climbing community and the traditional local community in the area. These rural climbing gateway towns are home to long-time coal-mining, ranching and agriculture communities. Since the inaugural event in 2015, the Fest has brought climbers and the local community together around the shared love for the outdoors.

    According to local climber Adriana Chimaras, the Fest is providing the opportunity for each community to find acceptance of the other by creating a safe space with humor. Someone from a city who has never lived in a rural agricultural or coal mining community might not understand how coal, ranching, and animal husbandry are the sources of livelihood for many people. Similarly, a traditional rancher who has lived their life in a rural community working cattle or a coal worker who has made their living in the mines might not understand how climbing rocks is a way of life for others. However, most everyone still finds joy and satisfaction in the outdoors.

    While there is still progress to be made, Joe’s Valley Festival has made strides in creating common ground for the different communities in the region. Though there are only a few local climbers in the community, this event helps strengthen understanding between different ways of life, setting the tone for relationship building -- for ranchers and miners and for local climbers and visiting climbers alike -- well into the future.

 

Key Lesson #4

Create appeal with strong community and character.

Regardless of whether they climb rocks, many people aspire to live in rural areas. A 2018 Gallup Poll found that 27% of Americans would prefer to live in rural areas if they could. The biggest thing holding many back is family and finances. The increased access to broadband internet in rural areas and more remote work opportunities for people could help remove a major hurdle for many people looking to relocate to live in a rural area. Furthermore, access to climbing and other outdoor recreation can be a huge opportunity to attract folks. If the character and integrity of a community is welcoming, authentic, and strong - the appeal will be even higher.

A community that acts cohesively and maintains a welcoming environment makes life more liveable and enjoyable for everyone living in the vicinity. Maintaining authenticity and character of the communities are also important. In his blog that explores healthy cities and neighborhoods, Arian Horbovetz pointedly asked in a 2017 article, “do cities invest in big projects that create an entertaining space that grows tourism, or do they invest in the people that have already taken a risk by moving back into their long-dormant downtown?”

The choices for smaller towns facing development decisions are similar. Generic tourist towns that are planned and erected for the sole purpose of promoting more visitation and making more money from visitor spending usually appear to lack something. Resort towns packed full of vacation homes and short-term rentals can become starved of the essential community that makes a town truly vibrant. Nurturing that community is vital to creating a liveable and appealing environment to reside in. This type of environment becomes something local residents take pride in and unite around; it also becomes an attraction for people looking for new areas to relocate to. As Horbovetz illustrates in his article, creating a place where residents want to continue to live will make the community happier and healthier. When people are happy and proud of their community, they contribute to an authentic, thriving area that attracts more people.

The benefits to an area that focuses on nurturing local community far outweighs those that result from focusing solely on tourism. If gateway communities nested near climbing destinations focus on building their local communities, they stand to benefit for the long-run. When smaller towns focus on just developing tourism and not the community, the result is often “tourist traps” that push the local community out. By creating lasting appeal, these areas will attract new residents, such as climbers and outdoor recreationists, strengthening the local economy and bringing in new perspectives, skills and expertise. Climbers are not just dirtbags. They have a lot to contribute to the communities they live in.

 

  • Uma Rumi, a Peruvian nonprofit, focuses on bringing together climbers and local communities for the conservation of climbing ecosystems. In direct coordination with a plethora of other local stakeholders, the organization aims to provide outdoor recreation access, conduct scientific research, develop planning strategies, and offer education and empowerment workshops, especially for young people in rural areas frequented by climbers. The initiative was born from a vision in which the natural areas of Peru are developed and managed by their local community, achieving the conservation of natural and cultural values.

    The initiative’s work began in Inkawaqanqa, where Uma Rumi collaborated with the local community to address the impact of climbing and implement environmental conservation strategies. This resulted in the creation of a conservation agreement and environmental management plan. Currently, Uma Rumi is extending its efforts to Pitumarca, working on upgrades for a former school-turned-refuge in Ch’aqo Wayllasqa and installing water and sanitation facilities in Kuntur Sayana. The organization emphasizes engaging children as future leaders, utilizing creative workshops to connect with them and promote conservation awareness. Learn more about Uma Rumi at globalclimbing.org/uma-rumi.

 

Key Lesson #5

Take action to contribute to nurturing community.

Whether or not you live (or aspire to live) in a rural community nested near a climbing area, everyone can do their part to support and respect and elevate the areas they live in, travel to, and interact with. If climbers can find ways to contribute to a community in a way that is not based on climbing (i.e. not just get involved with trail days, land purchasing, climbing programs) it will go a long way to building bridges with the local non-climbing community.

Climber Locals

  • Volunteer to support afterschool programs, your local fire department or search and rescue team, help out at local events and support nonprofit organizations;

  • Reach beyond the climbing community to find common ground with the broader local community;

  • If you find a need in your community that is not being filled, create the solution.

  • Reach out to your local elected officials to learn more about what is going on and find more ways to get involved;

  • Join town or county commissions, attend public meetings of your local government;

  • Advocate for local businesses and the local community. Go to local shops that aren’t just climber spots and, if it will help those business owners, promote those shops to others.

Local Climbing Organizations (LCO’s)

  • For metropolitan LCOs - Support Destination Stewardship. Encourage your organization and the climbers in your area that frequent rural climbing areas to support the communities they visit and the programs developed by destination LCOs.

  • For destination LCOs - Beyond working to preserve/secure access to your local climbing areas and their sustainable usage, help to educate visiting climbers about the local communities they pass through. Encourage them to visit new shops and local museums, etc. In addition, work with local stakeholders to help educate how climbers can strengthen the community.

  • If your area does not have a local climbing organization, consider creating one. The Access Fund has extensive resources available to support new and existing LCOs

Visiting Climbers

  • Seek to learn more about the rural communities you pass through. Volunteer if you have the time and the opportunities. Reach outside the climbing community to connect with others;

  • If the area has a local climbing organization, find ways to support their efforts. Some rural climbing organizations have limited resources (both people and finances). In addition, they are often the most intune to the local developments, areas of need, and perceptions of climbing in the area;

  • Support local businesses. More of the money that is spent in local businesses stays in the local economy, benefiting the community. Find new shops, businesses, and restaurants that might not be climber spots.

  • Be sensitive to local etiquettes and differences in rural communities and their environments. There can be unique cultural differences in certain areas and you may not know if the people you are talking to are local residents or not. Reserve judgement and practice respect for the homes of others. Be open to new experiences, and learn and listen while visiting the places that others live their lives in.

Local Government Officials

  • Prioritizing investments in the local community to improve the lives of local residents will strengthen liveability of the area and boost satisfaction of locals. A happy and healthy community creates appeal and can become an attraction for both visitors and prospective new residents.

  • Boosting destination marketing budgets could help increase visitation. However, without the underlying conditions and infrastructure to sustainably handle the impact that visitation brings, destination marketing alone will be a depreciating investment. A sustainable recreation plan (or climbing management plan) for managing impacts of visitation on climbing areas could help to ensure the ecological and environmental longevity of these areas, ensuring more people can enjoy them well into the future.

  • Assessment of current housing/infrastructure is strongly needed if a community is going to pursue bringing a large population of climbing residents to their destination. If prioritizing climbing residents is a key focus you will want to have the communities consider their current infrastructure.

  • An assessment of housing development policies in the region could support the community for the long-haul, limiting the squeeze of housing supply by outside property and vacation home investors. Unchecked vacation homes and short-term rental properties can create a strain on housing supply for local residents as well as those looking to genuinely relocate their residence to the area and become a part of the community. Planning the region with a perspective of ‘local community first’ could help to prevent the pitfall of becoming another generic tourism town that favors big tourism and vacation property investors over the needs of the local population.

 

Conclusion

Rural gateway communities to climbing destinations need to decide how they want to embrace climbing visitation. Moreover, beyond considerations of climbing tourism, the proximity of rural communities to climbing areas presents a big and sometimes overlooked opportunity: attracting new residents who bring new professions, skills, perspective, and experience that can benefit rural areas and their communities for the long-run.

Not sure where to start? Climbers can find out about (non-climbing) community events and attend as well as reach out to any community associations to get involved.

 

About The Global Climbing Initiative

The Global Climbing Initiative is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit equipping climbing communities worldwide with the knowledge and resources to thrive. We are the bridge connecting emerging climbing communities to the funds, gear, and skills they need to grow safely, inclusively, and sustainably. By investing in local community leaders, we are uniting the global community to build a more sustainable and equitable world through climbing.

 
 

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