Due to the effects of COVID-19 we’ve had to totally rethink this year’s Arc’teryx Climbing Academy. Unfortunately it's proven necessary to cancel our physical event, however we are excited to announce that the Climbing Academy is going digital!
Join us online August 24-28, 2020 to celebrate mountain culture and continue to learn in a safe and responsible way. We'll be hosting a week of inspiring speakers, films, clinics and more.
Created specifically for the Arc'teryx Academy, we have created six complete online clinics built to educate students on how to take their mountain skills to the next level. From backcountry camping to moving fast in the alpine, we have teamed up with industry leading ACMG guides, combined with our very own team of elite athletes, to share their knowledge. Learn at your own pace, in your own space, on your own schedule.
The sailing boat «Maewan» arrives in 2018 in Makatea, a unique island of Polynesia. A circle of coral raised about a hundred meters above a turquoise sea, a large variety of fauna and flora, a dream landscape... but also an exploited and abandoned island in the middle of the remains of the phosphate mines. As Erwan Le Lann and Marion Courtois discover the incredible limestone cliffs that the island offers right beside the sea, they discuss the possibilities of equipment and development of the site with the locals. 6 months later they come back with a team of twenty enthusiasts, climbers, speleologists, rescuers, educational and environmental managers, photographers, cameramen, journalists...to set up the “Makatea Vertical Adventure” project. The goal being to develop eco-responsible tourism, which is respectful of the biodiversity of the atoll and its inhabitants through the practice of climbing.
When a young climber infatuated with climbing history meets an old legend,
he commits to helping him accomplish his lifelong goal of free climbing El Capitan.
Free As Can Be will only be available for you to watch during the Digital Academy so be sure to check it out and don't forget to tune into the live Q+A taking place on Friday Aug 28 @ 1PM PST.
In the face of a global pandemic and the tightening of restrictions on “loose night out bar trivia,” our resident comedian, Katie Burrell, rounded up some of the most elite members of our global athlete team in an attempt to have a bit of fun with one of those “indicative of the times” zoom trivia nights. With players from all over the world, Katie did her best to get answers out of the athletes, but the questions were a little different than they expected. Did they have fun, nonetheless? Well...turns out the Arc’teryx global athletes are as serious, competitive and ruthless as one might expect.
Nestled deep in the beautiful Kootenay mountains of Western Canada lies the home of Moontricks, a duo whose timeless sound captures the essence of their rugged roots. Combining their love of folk, blues, and electronic music, Nathan Gurley and Sean Rodman are blazing their own trail, merging musical worlds previously unacquainted and capturing audiences along the way. Using the land as inspiration and their surroundings as a recording studio, the Moontricks have put together a very unique performance exclusive to the Digital Academy you wont want to miss.
"There’s a huge difference between 'all are welcome' and 'this was created with you in mind'." - Dr. Crystal Jones
Often times, sharing one's feelings of exclusion from a community illicits a somewhat defensive response that everyone, anyone, is welcomed to join so the choice is on them. However, as the Crsytal Jones quote above alludes to, being welcomed is not enough. In this panel, we will discuss the difference between the “all are welcome” and “this was created with you in mind” and why the former is insufficient to create long-term meaningful change. We'll also talk about how non-BIPOC and companies can work in ways to support the latter part of that quote to create real change in the Outdoor industry and community."
Arc’teryx Global Ambassador Shelma Jun has been working in community building and organizing for over ten years. The founder of the Women’s Climbing Festival and a current Board Member of the Access Fund, Shelma was named one of 40 women who’ve made the biggest impact in the outdoor world by Outside Magazine in 2017. A leader in our community, she has written, spoken and presented on the importance of creating a climbing community that reflects and welcomes everyone who identifies as a climber. Based in Brooklyn by way of Southern California and Seoul, South Korea, Shelma can often be found plugging widgets into horizontal cracks at the Gunks or getting scared on granite highballs in Bishop.
Kareemah Batts was born in New York City, and grew up in the Flatbush area of Brooklyn, New York. She describes herself as a life-long outsider who has gotten used to “inviting” herself to every space she has entered. After college she worked with companies in marketing and publishing till she was diagnosed with Synovial Sarcoma in 2009. Her amputation due to cancer led her to Colorado Mountain School in 2011 where she fell in love with climbing and founded Adaptive Climbing Group, the largest climbing program for people with disabilities in the country. She is currently its Program Director while serving on committees across the outdoor industry for diversity initiatives. Past and present organizations of service include: Access Fund, Brooklyn Boulders Foundation, American Alpine Club, USA Climbing, and others
Ashleigh Thompson (she/her) is a member of the Red Lake Ojibwe Nation and a PhD Candidate in archaeology at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona. Ashleigh is a climber, runner, and snowboarder, who finds healing and happiness outdoors. She is passionate about everything Indigenous and has given many public presentations on topics such as climbing on Indigenous lands, Indigenous archaeology, and Indigenous food sovereignty.
Grace is a network weaver and community organizer based on Ohlone Territory in Oakland, CA. Currently, as the Strategic Partnership and Operations Director with PGM ONE, Grace co-directs the largest racial affinity organization for BIPOC working towards environmental justice. PGM ONE envisions a world that centers, values, uplifts, and empowers those who are most impacted by environmental harm and climate change—and in particular black, indigenous, and people of color/of the global majority—to lead the way toward environmental justice and collective liberation.
Forrest Ubuntu Zola Mbali (pronouns: they, elle, ki, kin) is a passionate rock climber, mountaineer, outdoor enthusiast and community advocate born and raised on the Southside of Chicago. Ki's mission is to celebrate diversity in outdoors and collaborate with communities to encourage, promote and amplify the stories and narratives from People of the Global Majority, women and Transgender individuals, the LGBTQ2IA+ community and folks with disabilities; to inspire our fellow sisters, brothers and siblings to venture into and engage with wild spaces. Ki has worked alongside the American Alpine Club, Chicago Mountaineering Club, Sierra Club, Access Fund, Outdoor Research and NOLS to help find ways to make adventure sports and outdoor communities more equitable, inclusive and welcoming to all. Forrest is the Co-founder of Sending in Color and a Coalition Member at Diversify Outdoors. You can usually find them exploring abandoned buildings, talking with friendly strangers, or reading a million books about a billion things.
Faith is a creative producer passionate about sharing contemporary stories from diverse communities. An avid runner who has always loved spending time outside, she left Discovery Channel in 2016 to travel the world with Columbia Sportswear. During a year of new experiences and adventures, she developed a sense of responsibility for the protection of our public lands. Faith works with brands, non-profit organizations, institutions and individual creatives - behind and in front of the camera - to create media representative of the world we live in and the better one we are working together to create. She has produced three short films aimed to share stories of diverse people in the outdoors, Brotherhood of Skiing, This Land, and We Hike to Heal.
The Climbing Grief Fund (CGF) is a resource hub connecting individuals to effective mental health professionals and resources. CGF is working to evolve the conversation around grief and trauma in the climbing, alpinism and ski mountaineering community. Over the course of the Academy, CGF will conduct a series of seminars and workshops focusing on resilience and nature, stress and healing and aim to provide a foundation of common language and terms related to grief, trauma, resilience and the intersection of grief and trauma.
For any inquiries regarding the Arc'teryx Climbing Academy, please contact climbingacademy@arcteryx.com and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
The Arc'teryx Climbing Academy Team