Climbing has a long, quirky, sometimes hilarious, and often vulgar history of naming routes. Inside jokes, digs at other climbers, shock-value verbiage, and linguistically creative ways of sticking it to the man are the norm—all reflective of the counterculture spirit that has long been emblematic of the climbing world. Many climbers still celebrate this independent ethos as a means of keeping that counterculture experience alive and setting the climbing world apart from other sports. But our community has been asking some tough questions around the route-naming legacy.

City of Rocks National Reserve, Idaho. Shoshone-Bannock+ lands. | © Nikki Smith

Is it possible to take names too far? Can some names damage the climbing experience? Should the community do something about it, or is that a slippery slope toward censorship that runs contrary to the spirit of climbing? Does the first ascensionist have a right to name a route whatever they want, or is it ultimately up to community consensus?

How Route Names Can Hurt Individual Climbers

What is sometimes lost in these endless online debates, is why and how route names can hurt individual climbers and impact their experience at the crag—just as much as a dangerous runout or uneven landing. We’d like to share some of those stories, in hopes of facilitating discussion and reflection on route names.

What You Can Do to Help

Although blatantly bigoted or cruel route names may be an easy call for revision, many route names fall into a gray area. But there is a line—there is no place for racism, misogyny, homophobia, or other forms of bigotry within our community. And if we want to build a climbing community that is truly welcoming to all, then it is up to all of us to have tough conversations within our local communities. Route names are just one part of a much larger journey toward an inclusive climbing community—but they matter. We hope you’ll engage in these conversations, giving your fellow climbers the benefit of the doubt and assuming good faith.

Moving Forward Together

We can maintain climbing’s counterculture roots and celebrate our independent spirit without using language that harms fellow climbers. Our legacy as climbers does not need to include cruel, bigoted, or biased route names—however unintentional that harm may have been. The words we use hold the power to hurt people or to lift them up. Let’s do the work to correct this harmful language and create a just future for the sport we love. Access Fund is here to support our fellow climbers as we push forward in this work together.

Many of the route names referenced in this article have since been redacted by Mountain Project, along with 700 other routes names that have been deemed problematic. Mountain Project has stated that it is in the process of implementing further changes and route flagging technology across the site.

Want to continue the discussion? Reach out to [email protected] with thoughts and questions.