If you don't mind me digging up the past, I was hoping to pick your mind regarding a number of points you made in this post. As you mentioned, you may not yet know how to fix a number of these issues, however some months have elapsed since you originally wrote this and your opinions would be insightful nonetheless.

I decided to write after reading the article 'Squeezing Blood from Dry Fingertips' in the last issue of Deadpoint magazine, which again addresses the somewhat dysfunctional relationship that exists between climbers and industry sponsors here in America.

Particularly interested in your thoughts regarding #8:

More climbers=more people buying climbing shit=climbing companies making more $$$=more climbers climbing full time=progression

From the standpoint of a climbing gear company, the sponsor-sponsoree relationship seems a simple one: We give you: money & gear. You give us: more climbers who want to buy our gear.

But how exactly do pro climbers increase the total number of climbers? It sounds fun and easy to take the free gear, travel the world, and be seen using the gear–but how much does this really help the gear company?

How much of an effect would the same company see from sponsored athletes who regularly put together and participate in climbing outreach programs through schools and other youth organizations?

How many more youths would join local climbing teams if the same stars and starlets whose faces appear in the climbing media were coaches, or were on some sort of rotating schedule to drop-in and work with numerous climbing teams throughout the season?

As a climber myself, I agree with the general sentiment that climbing is a selfish pursuit. However, for a sponsored athlete I believe it becomes the person's responsibility to their sponsors to open themselves up to the community and actively share their time and resources — discovering ways to inspire those who have already taken up the sport, and discovering how to effectively leverage their image and reputation to reach non-climbers.

All this talk of course begs additional questions:

Should it be the responsibility of the sponsor or of the climber to organize such events?

Should a schedule of events for the coming year be drafted by the sponsoring company and offered as a condition of sponsorship to the climber?

Or should a company simply stipulate a total number of 'community hours' or such and leave responsibility to the climber?

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This post is already longer than I expected it to be, but any thoughts would be appreciated.

I think Dave, Fitz, Justin and Chance for Real all made super solid points.

Something related to things other posters said, I think climbing blowing up could be a bad thing in terms of attitude. One of the great things about climbing and differences from surfing is how much more chill and welcoming the vibe is. People who get pulled into the climbing community individually are more likely to absorb that good-natured vibe and transmit that to others, the culture remains intact. If people come from the outside in gobs(i've seen this happen in other scenes) I think its more likely that they will bring mainstream culture intact, which is more competitive, people defining themselves by emphasizing their differences from others, rather than what they share.

As far as progression, I'm curious as to what your take on the role of progression is, for both proclimbers and climbers who will never climb 5.13+. Personally I love that we have pro climbers that I can watch travel around the world climbing dream routes that I will never get a chance to get on; it doesn't matter if every year things jump up a letter grade. Pros continually raising the bar is something that ultimately plateaus and not something you can stake the meaning of climbing on. The hardest routes are not always the most inspiring, (or worthwhile to climb I imagine) and an individual's personal progression and their attitude and philosophy about it is vastly more important and interesting to me than what Climbing's max progression is.

I think the best way proclimbers can give back is 1. by doing what they need to do to stay stoked (If that means having reservations about having to travel to a comp I think thats natural because from the onset we aren't climbing for money, and some days you don't feel it and I notice this with the young rippers in the gym that they don't always seem stoked and I think it says something that I may never be as good as they are but I am allowed to choose my own terms and create my own personal meaning for climbing rather than have to force myself to climb when it feels wrong thus making it seem hollow. Money and Competition have perverted so many of our social relations I think we will all rue the day when(if) climbing becomes a money sport, or an olympic sport(people climbing to make a(n irrelevant) statement about their nation rather than because they love it)(think about russian and chinese gymnasts.).
2. For people who take advantage of the outdoors to the extent that climbers do I don't notice much of an emphasis on the priority of maintaining the environment. Its really easy and self-serving to say don't leave your trash in front of the crag but true environmental stewardship goes much deeper than that. A lot of climbers are lucky to not live in places where the consequences of our society's ignorance of whats on the other side of everything it consumes are facts/features of daily life. As climbers we know how simple it can be to find happiness, just need a rock, some trees, and a sky, we are so close to enlightenment, being taught these unknown potentials in our bodies by the oldest things on the planet. We get stronger, weaker, we die, the rock remains. What do we leave behind? Thats our choice.