Climbing Toward Inclusivity

WORDS BY JAMIE MCCRARY

When Andrea Vega Yudico moved to D.C. a few years ago, she struggled finding a sense of belonging. Living in a predominantly white community, Mexican-born Vega Yudico felt disconnected from her Hispanic roots and missed speaking Spanish with family and friends.

When Vega Yudico — who is also an avid rock climber at DC Bouldering Project — discovered ¡Escala! though, she knew she’d found the type of community she was looking for.

A bilingual, multicultural climbing organization, ¡Escala! organizes weekly meetups for Spanish speakers at climbing gyms throughout the D.C. area, with the goal of making climbing more culturally and linguistically accessible. The organization is one of the many affinity groups hosted by DC Bouldering Project.

“Connecting with others in my native language through the sport I love has been really meaningful,” Vega Yudico says. “¡Escala! members are from all over Latin America and Spain, so the group also connects different Spanish-speaking cultures. This isn’t something I get through work or other hobbies.”

Inclusivity is one of DC Bouldering Project’s core values — and a guiding principle for how the group builds community.

Each week, the gym hosts a different D.C.-based affinity group, which bring together climbers of similar cultural, racial or gender-identifying backgrounds. Each group is sponsored by a local grassroots organization and receives free entry to the gym for the evening — a $30 per person value.

Current participating groups include ¡Escala!, Stonewall Climbing for the LGBTQIA+ community, Soul Trak for BIPOC climbers and Climb Deaf DC for hard-of-hearing people.

“One of my biggest passions is bringing movement and climbing to communities that have been historically excluded from fitness spaces,” says Tyler Brent, DC Bouldering Project’s community marketing manager. “I’ve found so much power in different forms of movement and believe everyone should have access to them.”

The gym’s inclusive approach is one small but significant step toward creating greater equity in climbing, a sport that’s majority white. Only 3% of climbers are Hispanic and 1% are Black, according to a recent report by The American Alpine Club.

“When there are so few Hispanic climbers, it’s important to reduce barriers, one step at a time,” Vega Yudico says. “Our affinity groups are an inclusive way to do so.”

DC Bouldering Project’s financial inclusivity also helps lower barriers for minority climbers. Grace Thompson, a member and coordinator for Stonewall Sports, says free entry for Stonewall’s affinity group has been key to growing a community of LGBTQIA+ climbers.

Stonewall Climbing, a subsidiary nonprofit of Stonewall Sports, also offers a pay-as-you-can membership, helping make climbing more accessible to BIPOC, queer and neurodivergent people. The organization, which hosts meetups at seven D.C. area climbing gyms, aims to be an inclusive space by addressing financial, geographic and sociocultural barriers to entry for people historically excluded from climbing.

“Climbing gyms can be really expensive, which is just another barrier,” says Thompson, who is also a personal trainer and owner of Embody Pure Fitness. “This highlights the difference between equality versus equity. It’s important to find ways to uplift people who aren’t on the same footing.”

As a community hub, DC Bouldering project also offers non-climbing fitness options, including daily yoga and HIIT classes, a traditional gym space with weights and a dry sauna.

Its open office co-working space and member lounge are added community benefits.

“This helps build community in different areas and provides yet another space where people can see and interact with others who look like them,” Thompson says. “I think that’s an important feature of any community.”

Even the gym’s grading system is inclusive. Rather than using the traditional V scale, which ranks climbing course problems in order of increasing difficulty, DC Bouldering Project employs a circuit system. Circuit grades group problems according to range of difficulty, encouraging climbers to navigate boulders with an open mind.

Brent says this approach is especially helpful for beginners — the gym’s primary type of climber — who may feel intimidated by more advanced problems.

“We want our routes to feel accessible and easy to navigate,” Brent says.

As Brent continues growing DC Bouldering Project’s community, she envisions building in-house groups of different climbers to help shape the gym’s culture. She hopes this can create a diverse, consistent community that helps model inclusivity for newcomers.

To do so, she’s planning to continue hosting weekly affinity group nights, as well as regular DC Bouldering Project-sponsored events like DJ nights, which feature $10 gym passes as an incentive for entry. Most of all, she wants to continue building an inclusive community where climbers like Vega Yudico and Thompson feel welcomed and at home — and empowered to invite others to join, too.

“There’s a lot of power in forming a space where people feel welcomed and can get out of their comfort zone,” Brent says. “We hope we can help facilitate meaningful connection and encourage people to try something new they just might fall in love with.”

Climb Deaf DC: fb.com/groups/climbdeafdc

DC Bouldering Project: 1611 Eckington Pl. NE #150, DC; dcboulderingproject.com // @dcboulderingproject

¡Escala!: escalaclimbing.org // @escalaclimbing

Soul Trak: soultrak.com // @soultrakoutdoors

Stonewall Climbing: stonewallclimbingdc.leagueapps.com // @stonewallclimb

Upcoming Affinity Group Nights

June 7: Soul Trak Climbing Night (BIPOC community)

June 13: Ladies Climbing Coalition Affinity Night (women + nonbinary community)

June 14: Climb Deaf DC Affinity Night (deaf + hard-of-hearing community)

June 21: Queer Climb Night with Stonewall Climbing (LGBTQIA+ community)

June 27: Dyke Night (queer femme + nonbinary community)

June 28: ¡Escala DC! Climbing Night (Spanish-speaking community)

July 5: Soul Trak Climbing Night

July 11: Ladies Climbing Coalition Affinity Night

July 12: Climb Deaf DC Affinity Night

July 19: Queer Climb Night with Stonewall Climbing

July 25: Dyke Night

July 26: ¡Escala DC! Climbing Night