By Emma Castleberry
Blaikley Thompson. Cultivate Climbing. Photo by Andy Wickstrom
Cultivate Climbing, Asheville’s only indoor climbing gym, has partnered with NC BIPOC Climbers and Southeastern Queer Climbers (SQC) to create a welcoming, accepting climbing environment and encourage access to the sport. “Improving accessibility and inclusivity in the gym improves the experiences for all climbers because it creates an environment for everyone to take up space in,” says general manager Blaikley Thompson. “It allows anyone to walk through our doors and know and feel that they belong. It helps eliminate these previous assumptions of what rock climbing is and who ‘should’ be doing it. Rock climbing is not meant for one type of person or body—rock climbing is for all bodies.”
Cultivate Climbing will host meet-ups for both groups with discounted passes and gear rentals. “These meetups go a long way in making a historically homogenous sport more diverse, and greater diversity ultimately enriches the experience for everyone,” says Jamar Woods, a member of the NC BIPOC Climbers Leadership Team. “We have members driving in from hours away to climb together, but also brand-new climbers coming to share their first experiences in the vertical world with a group of like-minded individuals. Not only are there financial barriers for sports like climbing, and a lack of diversity in representation, there are also many added risks of entering a new, unknown space as a person of color.”
Photo by Catalina Rose
A BIPOC woman herself, Thompson is a newly named ambassador for Ladies Climbing Coalition and is also developing her own nonprofit with a mission of getting more Indigenous youth outside to learn about rock climbing. Thompson, who was a member of the gym for four years before becoming general manager, says she could previously sense a disconnect in the gym community and didn’t understand it. “When we took over,” she says, “I realized it was because there was no inclusion in the community there and I wanted to build that connection back up. It felt like more of a priority to me than any of the other projects we were working on. It felt like something we needed and it was a non-negotiable for us.”
The NC BIPOC Climbers meet-ups will be held on the second Wednesday of every month at 7:30 p.m. and SQC meet-ups on the third Wednesday of every month at 7:30 p.m. “The partnership with Cultivate Climbing showcases that they value the creation of queer spaces and then creates access through discounting day passes,” says Ethan Chandler, founder of SQC. “This really furthers the mission of the SQC as it currently stands to unapologetically hold space for queer climbers by creating a space of mutual care and discourse, minimizing stigma, and promoting stoke among queer-identifying climbers of all abilities.”
Other efforts to improve inclusivity at Cultivate Climbing include an Intro to Climbing course that is free for existing members. New members who sign up for the course will receive their first month free. “We also wanted to make sure we created more accessibility in our routes and our training options,” says Thompson. “We purchased a ton of new holds, a Kilterboard, treadwall, Peloton bikes and new weight equipment. We didn’t want to just be this strong, dirtbag gym. We want new climbers, injured and rehabilitating climbers, advanced climbers, all climbers, to be able to use our gym in a way that feels good for them.”
Cultivate Climbing’s main public facility is located at 173 Amboy Road in the River Arts District. There is also a downtown location available for private events, youth programs and climbing teams. For more information, visit CultivateClimbing.com.
