Is Climbing Eco-Friendly?

Is climbing an eco-friendly activity? Or do we, as climbers, unwittingly help trash our fragile planet? The answer is a little bit of both. Climbing has a big impact on our outdoor environments. Boulderers trample and harden the ground beneath problems. Bolts are often placed unnecessarily and carelessly. Even our high-performance climbing equipment, which we view as eco-friendly, as well as our clothes and packs, are often made of petroleum-based products, toxic solvents, and other pollutants.

A lot of equipment and clothing manufacturers realize the dichotomy of this situation—that we think we’re eco-friendly when we’re actually not. Accordingly some manufacturers now make sustainable products that are designed and produced with less environmental impact. We need to buy these products when our current gear wears out.

Of course, that leads to a different angle: that climbing and the outdoor industry is eco-friendly. Yes, companies are making green products, but they’re also by spending a lot of cash developing, producing, and marketing these new high-tech gadgets and clothing. They want us to toss our old stuff and buy new gear—to keep profits up. That’s not being exactly eco-friendly. Instead it really is all about the money. Our money.

For climbing to be eco-friendly, we climbers need to do our part. We need to adopt the mantra—Reduce, Reuse, Recycle—to lessen our environmental footprint. We need to not buy into the concept that we’re being responsible green citizen-climbers by not buying the latest eco-friendly product. We’re not saving the planet by doing that. We don’t need new equipment when most of what we have is serviceable. It’s great to buy eco-friendly gear but it’s also important to buy stuff that lasts a long time. Like rock climbing shoes for example.

Climbing shoes are expensive. Resoling and repairing your rock shoes is cheap in comparison. A pair of La Sportiva Mythos, which I bought in 1994 in France, was resoled for the sixth time last November. Last April, after a 28-pitch day, the tongue came out of the right shoe. I wear them for training now, but those shoes took me up a couple thousand pitches around the world. I got my money’s worth from those old Mythos. They were good friends.

Keep your rock shoes climbing and do your part to reduce your environmental impact by looking after and resoling your shoes. Here are some articles I wrote this week to help you get the most from your rock shoes.

Rock Shoes Wear Out Rock shoes eventually wear out. The more you climb, the faster your shoes get trashed. Follow these shoe-care tips to keep climbing in your rock shoes.

Taking Care of Rock Shoes To ensure that your rock shoes last, follow these 3 tips every time you go climbing and your shoes will have a long life.

Resoling Your Rock Shoes Good climbing shoes are expensive. Resoles are inexpensive. Get your rock shoes resoled and you’ll be surprised how much life they have left.

When Should You Get Resoles?
When should you get new soles on your rock shoes? Should you wait until your rock shoes are almost worn out? Follow these tips to determine when you need a resole.

Getting Your Rock Shoes Resoled
You've been climbing all summer and your rock shoes need new soles. What work needs to be done and who's going to do the job? Read this guide to rock shoe resoles, repairs, and cobblers to make the right choices.

Photo above: Be eco-friendly—repair and resole your rock shoes and keep the planet happy.
Photograph © Stewart M. Green