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Thanks to Mike Doyle and La Sportiva.

It’s not always about the send and clipping the chains in our game of redpointing.  It’s the process, the journey along the way and what we do to get there.  This is my effort to showcase that using Mike Doyle who is a climber I have a deep respect for.  Mike works full time and makes sacrifices to climb his hardest.  This is his story thus far with his project Necessary Evil 5.14c.

As with anyone we find comfort in what we know.  We always resort back to our home, friends, and familiarities.  Branching out and trying other things is good for the soul and allows us to appreciate the contrary.  So, going back to some of my favorite sport climbing destinations has been rad.  It’s like going back home to those comforts and stability.  We all need that feeling and in my spastic life of travel and instability it’s KEY for your climbing and focus.  That’s why I am back in the desert.

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The primary use of my blog lately has been to showcase videos and small snippets as to what I have been up to.  Lots has gone on since I posted a real blog and as they say, “life gets in the way”.  I can’t wait to get back on the blogging ball.  YES!

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And at the bottom is the last one of the series which is Lindsay. Thanks so much for everyone’s participation and insights into your unique lives. This was a lot of fun to make. Thanks to Gregory Packs and Colette for the support and guidance on this. Enjoy everyone…

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I think the video pretty much speaks for itself, but I should detail a few things that make it special to me.

After shooting video throughout the Summit I was loaded with footage and ideas and honestly didn’t have a clue how to present it all. My goals were to get people to think and talk about it. Sure, it’s simple really, the topic is about the lack of education in the new breed (or old breed) of climbers, but how could I personally deliver this? I knew it needed to correlate with the “junipergate” topic as that is the reason I was there. I reworked the video so many times that it makes me sick to think about. All I know is that I wanted the viewers to understand how serious this conversation is and what our modern concerns are as climbers in the USA. It’s not about pitons, or if someone is using a kneepad, or starting on the wrong holds. It’s about etiquette and ethics that need to be part of a climbers introduction to the world of USA climbing. For example, the person from the gym who has never been to the cliff or the group of kids that climb in the gym and are out for a weekend to the boulders. These folks are the biggest threat to access and may put our freedom to climb in jeopardy. There are major questions as to how education can be delivered and who can do it.

I don’t have answers as to how we can execute, but I do know that so many climbers out there do not know the specific rules and regulations of where we are climbing. I’m talking about pro climbers, older climbers and anyone in between. Knowing is the first step and this is something I will follow through with expressing as long as it takes. The Access Fund is forming a program in 2014 to carry this out and I will be a part of it.

Please give the video a watch and take note of the statistics and data that was shared during the conference. Also, share with someone who might benefit from this topic and have a conversation about it. Those are my goals.

Thank you everyone for the support and the psyche.

Educate For Access from Gregory Packs on Vimeo.

Have a great weekend friends. I hope you all get out to the cliff or boulders or have a great gym session. 2014 is gonna be great everyone. I know it.

The Climber’s Culture – Joe from Gregory Packs on Vimeo.