After the departure of former executive director Chris Winter, Access Fund’s rock-solid staff is stepping up to meet the moment while our board of directors runs a national search for our next leader. Erik Murdock, PhD, Access Fund’s vice president of policy & government affairs, will fill in as interim executive director until the position is permanently filled.

Murdock’s experience includes 30 years of work on public lands policy and nearly a decade at Access Fund. Read on to learn more about his climbing advocacy background, the unique perspective he brings to the role, and how he’ll ensure Access Fund’s work continues uninterrupted.

Murdock deep water soloing in Rocky Mountain National Park. Ancestral lands of Tséstho’e (Cheyenne) and Núu-agha-tʉvʉ-pʉ̱ (Ute). © Lynn Hill.

How did you get started as a climbing advocate, and how did that lead you to Access Fund?

Many of the areas I first visited in Indiana, Ohio, and Arizona are now closed to climbing. That opened my eyes early on to the fact that access is a profound privilege that needs to be protected. Later, I discovered during a Bureau of Land Management geology gig in Winnemucca, Nevada, that there was a need for people to research and manage recreation on public lands. I enrolled shortly thereafter in a doctoral program studying natural resources with a focus on recreation management, geographic information science, and environmental psychology. I wanted to improve climbing access and management through data and science, but I quickly discovered you need more than numbers and facts to effect change.

That’s what attracted me to Access Fund—inspiring climbers to take action and demand smarter climbing management practices, backed up by facts and data from studies like mine. Since I first joined Access Fund, I’ve put everything I know about recreation management on public lands behind the policy we advocate for at the local, state, and federal levels.

What are you most excited about for your time as interim executive director?

I’m really excited to try something new. That’s one of the things I love about climbing—there’s always a new route to try, a new experience to seek out in the mountains, a new way to challenge myself. That’s how I’m looking at this opportunity—a new challenge that I can step into to provide some leadership for the organization while we search for a new executive director.

What will your primary focus be during your tenure as interim executive director?

First and foremost, I’ll be representing Access Fund with our partners, members, and supporters who allow us to do this work in the first place to keep the organization moving forward. And then our mission remains the same: to protect and conserve the land, fight for sustainable access, and build a community of inspired advocates. Over the next few months, that means supporting our on-the-ground stewardship work, continuing to advance national policy to protect climbing access, and working with nearly 150 local climbing organizations around the country.

What aspect of climbing advocacy are you fired up about right now?

I’m fired up about the untapped potential I see when I look around at the work our community is doing. From stewardship efforts to land protection to enacting smart climbing management policy, there’s so much blue sky ahead. That’s what has me fired up the most—the potential I see for the future of climbing advocacy and the role that the climbing community can play in improving the world—from climate change to public health to local economies.

What unique strengths do you bring to the role of interim executive director?

I’ve been a part of the climbing community as a climber and an advocate for over 30 years, and I’ve been working on America’s public lands since the mid-1990s. That experience provides me with a unique perspective that will help me keep Access Fund on track as we find the right person to lead us into the future.

When did you start climbing and what are some of your favorite places to climb?

I’ve climbed all over the country since getting my start as a college freshman in Indiana in 1989. Some of the areas that had a big impact on me are Oak Flat, Mount Lemmon, and Cochise Stronghold in Arizona, as well as Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. But one of my all-time favorites will always be Joshua Tree National Park in California. I conducted what was, at the time, the most extensive study of Wilderness climbing for my doctoral dissertation, and I had so many incredible climbing experiences there while working in the park.