I started out as a climbing photographer and its still one of my favorite things to shoot. Recently I signed on as a contributing photographer for Climbing and Urban Climber magazines and part of that gig is writing an industry related blog for their sites. Here is a bit from my first ‘Problog’:
The new year is coming so its time for resolutions. For me one of them is to help those athletes that have sacrificed in many different ways over the years so we could get the story or the shot.
I can probably count the number of pro climbers that are making a living off of climbing on two hands, and I don’t think that number has really changed too much over the past ten years.. and when I say “making a living” I mean at least 30k a year. That ain’t much by today’s standards and it kinda irks me sometimes, climbing is big, every city has a climbing gym…. So what’s the problem? Being a photographer that has grown to shoot all different types of outdoor sports all in different stages of their maturity I have some unique insight.
What climbing needs to do, to progress to the next level, is to make being a pro climber on a team cool and realize that this sells product:
And that marketing has evolved a lot since the print ads of the 80s and the web banner ads of the 90s :
If a brand stepped up to the plate and grew some cojones … a la Burton,
Or if a new brand stepped in and did these things, they would reap the rewards. Then they would be able to expand the team and make being a pro climber even more viable, thus growing the youth market and in turn climbing for years to come. Its all about the 5 year plan, not the this year plan. I hope I can be involved with people and projects in the new year that are trying to do these things.
Whattaya think? Hit me with some feedback, hopefully we will get a comments section rolling in here. Happy Holidays! tk
10 Comments
This sort of mentality - guerrilla marketing and edgy mass appeal is something that could be done and I have had a few ideas rattling around in my head… The real issue and I feel the thing that has stopped it from already happening is the resistance from the existing community. You’re from New England, you know a lot of the issues with access there. 5.8crag and the Parking Lot Wall are busy enough on the weekends as it is, I think everyone is afraid of what would happen to these areas if climbing was truly mainstream(not just crowds but real problems like erosion and vegetation damage)?
The worry that new people won’t have the same respect for out door ethics is also huge. Could you imagine if Brett and co. had gotten more then a slap on the wrist when they built the trails out to Blair with out permission? Could you imagine if it was done by a group of people with half the ethics and respect?
These issues, combined with how hard it is for non-climbers to understand the blood, sweat and tears that go into progression are all challenges to main stream marketing of climbing. In skydiving we have a term for people who don’t jump: wufo. It’s a joke that comes from the most common question we get, “Wut fo you jump outa dat plane?!” It’s just hard to explain why to people who don’t get it already. The same is true for climbing.
Look at the progression of sanctioned events at the X-Games and you can see a clear picture of what sells to Americans. Snowboarding and Skateboarding are the flagship events for their respective seasons. Rock climbing and skydiving were previously on the bill but not anymore. Speed sells. Speed you can stand next to. …but does the climbing community want it to?
Good points.
What is happening is that the climbing companies are letting the customers tell them what’s ‘cool’ when it should be the other way around, right?
My point is, if you want to progress and move beyond fighting over that same small pie you need to stand behind a team that shows how ‘cool’ you are.
hi,
i just read your blog on climbing.com but i couldn’t find a place to comment over there.
i really enjoyed the photo’s on your site though, your midnight selfportrait is stunning.
But i was going to comment on your blog.. i’ve only been climbing for four years, after spending twelve years skate and snowboarding, and was wondering about the lack of funds and sponsership deals going round. some thoughts: it’s hard to sell anything to grownups (including climbing and skydiving), they think they know what they need. but the climbing industry is completely un-creative with the stuff they offer to those willing to consume.
this could change when climbers themselves decide they want to change their community (or just their finances). as i think happened in skateboarding, though they have to because their professional life is usually a lot shorter.
young people will want anything, if it’s marketed right.
starting with shoes!! the most replaced equipment. Sell signature models, that should be easy. would the average consumer buy “model x” or pay three dollars/euro more for “chris sharma”…
there are at least ten climbers out there right now who’se names are bigger than any climbing brand’s name. use that and pay the climbers.
who won’t buy “graham-chalk” in stead of the generic stuff. the price doesn’t need to go up, because the stuff is already overpriced, and it would sell loads more.
also, getting a little more creative, i would like to see “lisa rands nail-polish packs”(, in expensive outdoor packaging?).
and how about colored chalk, different for each color stone.
this type of change is already taking place, but way too slow. snowboarding has gone from underground to millionaire-breading-ground in fifteen years, and it’s not about speed, most punters don’t go fast. it’s about the image. and fit climbers will sell.
and of course, some crags are full, but most young climbers (the market) (will) spend most of their time in gyms. not saying that’s good, but they may not make an immediate impact on “the crag”. in the time it takes for them to get a car, we might fix up paths into crags, to stop erosion. clean up, take out trash, to set examples. make reusable “robinson-rubbish-bags”
This is an amazing topic and I gotta say…It’s good to see this kind of thing on the table.
I am a professional climber. I am making a living out of climbing, and I have always battled with how low-balled climbers are compared to the big shots bombing down hills on snowboards or skis.
I always ask myself why the hell didn’t I become a snowboarder? Its rad looking, it has dope fashion, and dope style…
To kick it off on a positive tip, I must say that our present generation of climbers and the climbing industry is a great one to be a part of. We are opening our minds a little more and there is a transition into a new-school mentality. For example, EMS/Mammut competitions, Kinglines, Sharma on NBC, Timberland sponsoring climbers…these are small but notable progressions that do mean we are moving forward. But there is still fear in the companies…
For climbing to grow and be recognized by the populous is a generational “waiting period”. Our people that work in the industry (to generalize) are from the past gens’. We cannot forget that rock climbing as a “sport” is very traditional and keeps true to its ethics and sub-culture. (Royal Robbins, camp 4, Gullich, Sharma, and the now). Hopefully it’s only a matter of time for the past-existing generations to let go of its clutches and put climbing in a new light. Why NOT??!!! It’s got the potential and just SHOULD BE. Is it such a RISK????
The ball is rolling now, but slowly.
It is surely a concern when it comes to the deterioration and erosion of climbing areas. This happens…NO MATTER WHAT. Any decent climbing area will receive traffic. Why not educate the young bucks in the gym about respecting and maintaining the climbing areas. This is about ALL you CAN do. Areas turn into little ghettos, but MAAAAN…Evolution is inevitable and change will automatically persist…whether now or later.
Personally I am a huge advocate of climbing becoming mainstream. If it’s not to see the next generation of professional climbers live a decent lifestyle, then JUST for people to enjoy it. Climbing seems to have always been and still is about a huge sacrifice to live the life and play the game. I really don’t see why it has to be this way…
It takes exposure, companies willing to make a move, and the proper players to play the game.
That’s my two cents.
Word up as always my mang, way to put the uphill battle we fight into a clear argument.
Ironically I was just touring the Burton factory over the weekend and learning many of the lessons you used that company to illustrate. Burton learned, that first and foremost they do not in fact sell snowboards or any other gear. First and foremost they sell a lifestyle and that lesson is lost on much of the climbing industry, most of whom are living hand to mouth anyways.
The interesting thing to see in the coming years is whether or not those of use working in the industry will be able to bring in the type of investment necessary to do what we think is good for climbing from outside of traditional sources. You’re on it, Joey K sure is and NE2C is awake at night making it happen, will we get what we need to keep our work alive before we decide to apply our talents elsewhere? Each of us has already branched out when we have to…
Keep writing shit like this, imma copy and paste and send it off to Coca-Cola
Psyched on this topic, a discussion I’ve had a million times over.
I think you guys in the “industry” have a skewed opinion because one of your main goals is to make money through the climbing lifestyle. But what about stepping back and remembering when you didn’t depend on climbing to pay your bills. Were things easier or harder?
Do you spend more time climbing these days or distorting climbing and yourself into a more financially viable image?
Just saying I think making climbing marketable like board sports could be a Pandora’s Box, once its mainstream it might never be the same.
Which is great for you guys, but the purists will lose an idealic micro culture that the mainstream tards never understood anyways…
Who wants to see NBC/FOX/ESPN make climbing trendy so Pros and Photographers can drive “pimp” rides?
Is that really why you guys got into climbing?
Egos aside just my two cents.
-Ben
This is in response to TENDON…
HAAAH…its great because there always HAS to be the guy like you to never think of progression and want a stagnant aura to persist…LAME.
Let me just say KID…you are DEAD wrong to assume I climb LESS because I am “in the industry”. DEAD WRONG. And you know why someone in the industry would feel like progressing the sport of climbing???? To set a bar for the next generation of professionals. There will always be people making money in climbing…ALWAYS….it’s the best activity to do in the world and it is also a business for some.
And yo…I’ve been wanting to drive a pimp ride since I could walk….WHUDDUP??!!!!
And don’t get me mistaken for a sucker….I love climbing for climbing….NO OTHER REASON… Understand that???? IT’S LOVE man….nothing but.
Tendon, I’m not sure why you are putting the word industry in quotes. Are you trying to suggest that while some may call climbing an industry, you feel that it doesn’t exist? Are you mocking the idea of the sport making money in your first line? Just asking, anyway…
There seems to be one glaring assumption being made here:
Kids won’t give a shit about nature and will trash crags.
What the hell? I didn’t need a Hey-don’t-throw-waste-on-the-ground and-trample-shit-101 class to teach me how to act at a crag. If the next generation of climbers is chalk full of ignorance (pun intended) with respect to crag preservation, then areas will get blown out. BUT, I don’t see how this possibility somehow becomes a certainty, and how it is directly related to climbing becoming cool, and being sold to younger kids.
People seem to have this image of kids sprinting directly from the TV (they were watching King Lines or something) into the woods en masse, without direction, and intent on destroying everything in their path, leaving an endless trail of snickers wrappers and loud rap music in their wake. Awesome, way to deny them any common sense credibility at all. Since when do we feel the need to attribute mongoloid status to the kids coming up?
If you are simply talking about sheer numbers doing the damage to outside areas then it is a different issue. I still think the debate is out on that though. There are plenty of examples of well managed areas that receive tons of traffic every year.
People with this argument just come off as scared/afraid of change in general. I can understand the feeling, but I need a little more direct linkage to prove to me that what Tim and many others in the “INDUSTRY” want is a bad thing.
p.s. I welcome a response tendon…
Just a little comment on this subject : there is a huge difference betwin climbing and 2 sports/activities we could compare it to (and be jealous of for aspiring professional climbers), ie surfing, and snowboarding…
Surfing takes place on the beach, with hundreds of people watching, wanting to look as cool as those surfing dudes to impress the chicks, etc. Hence easy to do the transition from sport to lifestyle and big bucks (even thoug it is nothing compared to golf, which is by now way a mainstream sport… not a sport btw).
Snowboarding takes place mainly in terrain parks in ski resorts. With thousands of spectators… Mostly teenagers whose parents are wealthy, hence the market for companies.
As for climbing (when we talk outdoor) : most areas are remote, involve a long walk, and you get dirty (so no real use for those cool looking outfits); with NOBODY watching except other climbers.
And if we talk indoor climbing, most climbers consider it not real climbing. And anyway, even if you consider it part of what climbing is, you have to agree that most climbing gyms suck (ugly warehouses far from downtown, dust, no real locker, shitty bathrooms, no showers…) which makes it hard to go mainstream.
As for comps (except maybe the NE2c ones), even I as a climber find them boring…
Finally, re. gear companies, Nike and Reebok thought about getting in the climbing shoes business a while ago, but the potential was too small for them. And I am note sure it would have been good as far as quality is concerned (see how Five Ten or Red Chili shoes got worse since they are manufactured in China, and they didn’t get cheaper as far as I know).
Basically, I mean that both the surfing and snowboarding companies make $$ thanks to people who don’t practice the sport but think it’s cool because they can see it easily. (we can say the same for skateboard). Those people wouldn’t walk 45 minutes to get to a cragg where you cannot sit, will get covered by dust, cannot have a drink and have not that many girls to watch either…
This is the topic I dream about. The very first day that I topped out on a boulder I felt like I just busted a huge N*t.(excuse the language, but that is how I really feel). Climbing is my passion and I just want to spread it. I think that some of you on here know what I mean. We must spread and share our passion with others. Thats what we are talking about here; spreading passion and seeking progression. Thats it. So lets do that.
-B
“Sticky Fingers Climbing Crew”