Access Fund announced that it will be hosting an annual event celebration over the weekend of May 15-17, 2015, in partnership with Patagonia. The event, Solid Protection: Tools and Strategies for Protecting the Places We Love to Climb, will bring together climbers, pro athletes, advocates, and industry leaders in Colorado to discuss the role of climbing in the greater conservation movement. The event is open to the climbing public, and all are encouraged to attend one or more of the weekend’s events.
The main event will be a celebratory dinner on the evening of May 16, with keynote address by climbing legend Doug Robinson and a special presentation of the Access Fund 2014 Sharp End Awards. Attendees are invited to arrive on Friday and join us for a happy hour screening of Moving Over Stone with Doug Robinson. Saturday morning will kick off with an advocate summit, featuring a full day of workshops, panel discussions, and training on techniques and strategies for protecting climbing areas and joining the greater conservation movement. An open Access Fund board meeting on Sunday morning will close the weekend’s events.
“We come to deeply love the wild areas where we climb. But climbing is only one part of why we love a place, and often the desire to climb grows into an equal desire to defend,” says Patagonia global alpine marketing manager, Jimmy Hopper. “This event will empower climbers with the tools and real-world strategies to steward and protect their climbing areas.”
With the huge influx of new climbers and the subsequent impact on climbing areas, stewardship of our wild places is more critical than ever. “Visionaries like Tom Frost, Doug Robinson, Yvon Chouinard and Royal Robbins addressed the important climbing questions of their day, head-on,” says Access Fund Executive Director Brady Robinson. “It’s our turn to address the questions of today: What does it mean to be a responsible climber? How do we model the behavior we hope to inspire in this generation of climbers and the next? How can we pass on a sense of accountability and responsibility to the climbing environment, well beyond the rock itself?”
Access Fund and Patagonia invite you to join this unique event. Reserve your spot today at www.accessfund.org/SolidProtection.
