The Hidden Subculture of Southeastern Rock Climbing

Image Courtesy: Strike Magazine Tallahassee

Living in Florida, rock climbing is not something that we frequently come across, but there has been an explosion of popularity in the sport of rock climbing lately. This is mainly due to the sport being included in the Olympics and a slew of popular documentaries featuring climbers (namely Free Solo). New rock gyms have been popping up all over the country, which makes climbing more accessible for people who don’t have the gear or skills to climb outdoors.

Image Courtesy: Aesthetics of Design

But when you climb outdoors, it’s an entirely different world with unique culture, standards, and skillsets. There are little spots throughout the southeast where climbers meet to learn the routes. There is a tradition built around staying in your car or tent at some remote campground in the woods with other climbers you haven’t met before.

Image Courtesy: The New York Times

Some places are for weekend trips, and some are more permanent (although to climbers, permanent only means a few months). Instead of years or semesters, time is separated by seasons. Where you stay is dictated by the change of the weather. You migrate with the birds, sometimes with others, sometimes alone, but you always meet more climbers.

One of the most interesting aspects of the culture intersects with van life. It is a mix of escapism, minimalism, and survivalism. Many of these people stay in cars that are not even vans, but they can still have enough room to store their possessions and sleep. Some examples might be a hatchback Prius, an HR-V, a Toyota Forerunner, etc. So, the emphasis is more on the lifestyle and less on the van. Some parts of the life include possibly showering only once a week and not being able to clean your sheets as often as they get dirty, but just kind of accepting the filth. One of the other negative parts is that in warmer weather, the car heats up and you cannot stay in it in the daytime, which is very inconvenient if you live in it.

Image Courtesy: Cosmopolitan

There are still lots of positives, though. Some of the highlights of outdoor climbing culture include being in tune with nature and feeling like you’re accomplishing incredible feats of humanity. Climbers often feel that they need to push themselves and do something even harder each time so they can get the same rush of adrenaline by pushing themselves to the limits. Once they get that rush, it creates a hole that can only be filled with topping out and clipping anchors.

There has been a call to consciousness in recent years in the climbing community, and the outdoor industry in general, for the protection of the land and making it a more BIPOC friendly space, because there haven’t been resources for the outdoors handed to BIPOC as they have been for white people. Also, some of the rocks and cliffs are on Native American lands that might have spiritual importance for them, so there has been a need for a serious reconsideration within the climbing community if people should climb there at all, especially if climbers are littering in the woods and putting up hammocks scratching the trees and having their dogs dig and use the restroom. Places that have a lot of traffic have this problem especially. People who are new to the outdoors might not know the rules of LNT (Leave No Trace) and have only climbed in gyms so they think they can act the same as they do in the gym, which creates a mess for the climbing coalitions to clean up. Climbing coalitions are non-profit organizations that take care of the land, build trails, and keep up the hardware on the rocks to maintain a level of safety. Overall, there may be problems with the land as the popularity of the activity grows, but also there could be more acceptance for all types of people outside and more people get to be in tune with nature.

Strike Out,

Writer: Marena Benoit

Editor: Breanna Tang

Tallahassee