This year’s North Face Climb Festival, the first held in , delivered on its promise of an adrenaline-bound community. With a 55-foot climbing wall anchored into the pier waters, onlookers watched as leading climbers, including two recent Olympians—raced to the top in various tests of bravery and agility. The event was a testament to the growing curiosity surrounding the gravity-defying sport that is quickly expanding worldwide.
As the outdoors and mountaineering community expands in visibility, incisions with the fashion and community programming spaces are changing who will become the face of climbing’s future. Between the popularization of gorp-core, the utilitarian fashion style, and the infusion of city-scapes with climbing walls, bouldering zones, and hiking clubs, it seems that the sky is the limit for the curious outdoorsman or woman. Just weeks ago, , now a silver medalist at 23 years old, became the first U.
S. woman to claim an medal in sport climbing. The bouldering and lead athlete is among the foremost athletes expanding the conversation around rock climbing and the outdoors sporting world at large.
“It’s been great to see people expressing their interest in the sport for the first time,” she tells ESSENCE, speaking to seeing the sport grow from an outdoorsy niche to an opportunity zone for more young people interested in engaging the natural. “Our sport is so unique and has so much joy to give and I’m glad more people get to experience and watch i.