Episode #35: Felipe Proaño
Our guest for today’s episode is Felipe Proaño. Felipe is a professional climber based in Quito, Ecuador and is the founder and former president of Fondo de Acceso Andino — the equivalent of Access Fund in Ecuador. Fondo de Acceso Andino is a community-focused organization that works with members of rural communities in Ecuador to discuss opportunities for climbing development and how it can support the community and its people.
Felipe has led collaborative efforts to help diversify these communities’ economies to include tourism and has found ways to ensure that climbing development can benefit everyone. He is dedicated to showing just how impactful climbing can be in helping to alleviate the challenges rural communities face and providing resources that they might lack.
Follow along as Felipe shares some of the trials, tribulations and success stories in advocating for a sustainable future for climbing in Ecuador.
Timestamps
5:29- Banter
7:20- Felipe’s intro
13:00- Columns of Tangan & the E35 Area
16:33- Advocacy in Ecuador
20:06- The Towers of Simiatug
27:07- The health and economic challenges in rural communities
32:41- Reinvesting capital in the communities
35:00- Finding a leadership role
42:39- Land management in Ecuador
53:11- Felipe's favorite place to climb in the U.S.
57:44- Fondo de Acceso Andino
1:05:20- Promoting climbing & guidebooking
1:10:47- Similarities in access & advocacy
1:16:36- Felipe's definition of advocacy