DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.

If desired in a Word file format, my Introduction can also be downloaded here: Action for Social Change - Part 2.docx

 

Theory and Practice

   

What is climbing for social change?

   

Protests, marches, rallies, or sit-ins are some of the more common popular reference points when one thinks of methods to affect social change.  But while these might be the commonly known tactics often reflected in popular history, there are upwards of 200 chronicled and described actions that social movement historians often point to. (Sharp, The Politics of Nonviolent Action, Vol. 2: The Methods of Nonviolent Action, 1973) But even this list falls short, and doesn’t fully capture the myriad other possibilities of social change actions. As society continues to evolve, we see modern social movements embracing technology and immense creativity to find new ways to voice concerns, express dissent, communicate their issues, and organize for change.

  

Action Climbing is the term commonly used to reference the use of technical climbing techniques in the pursuit of social change. Typically, this is a hybrid of technical skills that combine elements of rock climbing, mountaineering, caving, arborism, and industrial rigging – and apply them to the pursuit of social change via activism or campaigning. This might include activities such as hanging giant banners, creating access to hard-to-reach locations (for protest or research), or for direct actions such as tree-sits. While perhaps a bit unconventional to many, climbers have used these skills in all sorts of creative ways, pioneering some new climbing techniques, while often serving as a literal voice in the sky for many different social movements.

  

The specialized nature of these skills (as well as the safety concerns and risks involved) has now led to the development of a small sub-culture of activists. Some of these Action Climbers entered this world through recreational or professional climbing avenues; while others are more conventional activists who were drawn towards climbing as a creative way expand their activist toolbox.

 

Many of these activists lend their skills (as action participants or trainers) to many campaigns that they may not traditionally work with, recognizing the specialized nature of their knowledge, and the relatively few people who have such skills. Some organizations (such as Ruckus) serve a unique role in social movements by simply training and sharing these skills with existing campaigns and movements, rather than leading their own campaigns or organizing drives themselves.

  

 

The origins and history of climbing for social change

 

There is some debate over the first clear merging of climbing skills and social activism, but it is generally agreed that this originated in the modern environmental movement.  Many recreational climbers were naturally appreciative of nature and wilderness, and as a culture and lifestyle many climbers tended to have a disdain for authority, or share a degree of an anti-establishment ethic. As the burgeoning ecology and conservation movements of the 1970’s gained popular attention, social activism was on the rise and reaching beyond the urban centers that fueled much of the 1960’s social movements. At the same time, rock climbing was becoming increasingly popular, and climbers were growing aware of the threats to their sport and to the many wild places they came to love and appreciate.

 

 

The 1980’s saw the growth of organizations like Earth First!, Greenpeace, and Rainforest Action Network who used increasingly creative and bold tactics to win their campaigns. (Kitchell, 2012) Greenpeace’s founding entailed using bold direct actions to physically confront nuclear testing, and then illegal whaling operations, and they recognized that using dramatic, courageous, and seemingly dangerous actions could capture public attention in powerful ways. As the movement was growing appreciative of the effective power of bold actions, all sorts of creative tactics were being explored, from Greenpeace’s exploits on open oceans, to bold actions on land. It was only a matter of time before aerial options were explored.

  

Tree-sits were perhaps the first application of these skills, and reports of a 1978 tree-sit in New Zealand are perhaps the first example of this (New Zealand Native Forests Restoration Trust). While a noble, and ultimately effective action that led to the protection of the Pureora Forest, what little is known of these actions doesn’t make clear if they included the use of technical climbing systems.

What is generally seen as the first technical tree-sit (and the birth of Action Climbing) was in 1985, when rock-climber Mikal Jakubal found inspiration around an Earth First! camp fire in Oregon. (Fountain, 2006)  Using skills honed from the granite cliffs of Yosemite, Jakubal realized that the sit-ins the group had been doing could perhaps be more dramatic, and more effective if done from 60 feet in the air, with a giant banner hanging below him.

  

As Earth First! began to embrace and develop this skills in the trees, other organizations saw the power of using these skills to gain access to physical locations that were previously unimagined. Greenpeace brought these ideas out of the forests and began hanging giant banners on buildings, scaling industrial structures, and even finding ways to gain access to giant ships at sea. My casual research (as a former staff member, and Senior Action Climber for Greenpeace) has not been able to find a definitive answer to the organization’s first use of technical climbing in its mission, but the late 1980’s certainly saw increased adoption of these innovative, and unconventional tactics in dozens of environmental campaigns.

  

Other organizations took Greenpeace’s lead, and Rainforest Action Network (who shared many early members and staff with Earth First! and Greenpeace) began using these tools as well.  In 1995, The Ruckus Society was born from many of these same people, devoted to training and supporting environmental and social justice movements who embraced direct action, climbing in particular. While The Ruckus Society sprang from forest-defense and environmental movements, in the late 1990’s they began branching out to broader progressive campaigns. They began sharing these tactical skills with organizations focused on human rights, economic inequality, and social justice. Starting with their 1998 Human Rights Training Camp, and then their 1999 camp against the World Trade Organization meetings in Seattle, Ruckus helped bring Action Climbing outside of the environmental movement, and into the hands of groups like Students for a Free Tibet, and the anti-globalization movement broadly.

  

Interestingly, popular lore holds  that Action Climbing served to coin the term “tree-hugger” – as the climbing techniques to ascend giant redwood trees literally entailed hugging the circumference of the tree. While these tactics may have branded the term with the largely-derogatory meaning it has today, the term was actually coined decades earlier, unrelated to such activism. (Peters, 2006) However, it still makes for a good laugh.

  

There are two primary schools of technique used in the Action Climbing community, though different tools and systems overlap and are adapted for specific contexts. Greenpeace uses a system based on the Industrial Rope Access Trade Association (IRATA), which is the standard used by many professional rigging companies, or other work-at-height professions. Due their international nature, they have standardized this system and equipment so that any activist trained in one country can easily work with another international office and have the same expectations of understanding and safety.  This system is fairly expensive, and requires specialized equipment that is less available to the average consumer.

  

The Ruckus Society is largely responsible for developing a simpler, lower-cost climbing system that is based more on recreational climbing techniques, and is a hybrid between rock climbing, caving, and mountaineering techniques. (National Speleological Society Vertical Section, 1997) This system is much more affordable to grassroots activists, and relies on equipment that can be found at nearly any consumer store that sells climbing equipment. Earth First!, Rainforest Action Network, Students for a Free Tibet, and most grassroots climbing groups use this general system.

  

 

How can climbing be used effectively in campaigns and movements?

In less than 30 years, Action Climbing has been used hundreds, if not thousands of times in myriad campaigns, movements, and actions.  Climbing actions have ranged from symbolic actions that simple broadcast a message (via a large banner for example), to actions that directly intervened in the process of injustice (such as a tree-sit that prevented bulldozers from operating). 

  

As outlined in Part 1 above, climbing should largely be viewed as a tactic that can serve a role to implement a given strategy. However, there is no doubt an element of empowerment and personal transformation that many people experience both by being a climber, but also in witnessing climbing actions. The personal risks, courage, and technical skills used by climbers are inherently dramatic, and this dramatization itself can be part of the rationalize for choosing a climbing tactic. The often-spectacular nature climbing actions can serve to be an inspiration to the public and a call to action, regardless of what the specific message or immediate goal the tactic was meant to achieve.

  

While climbing actions often are a form of civil disobedience (and often include potentially breaking laws), media-engaging arrests are often overshadowed by the nature of the activity itself. There can be a challenge to keeping resulting media stories focused on the issues rather than just the activity, which is why it is common for climbing actions to include strong visual components such as giant banners. Invariably – the success of a climbing largely relies on the context and timing of the action. The same tactic taken in different locations or in different moments of a campaign can have dramatically different impacts.

  

Here are a few examples of climbing actions (including some that I have been directly involved in), and a short summary of how they were used effectively.

  

 

1997: Julia Butterfly Hill tree sit: For 738 days, Julia maintained a tree-sit of an ancient redwood in Humboldt, CA. Her commitment during that time greatly inspired supporters, and reflected a serious commitment and concern about the issues..  The long duration also allowed her story to grow over 2 years, and she did countless media interviews while in the tree. After finally negotiating a compromise to protect the tree with a logging company, she came down and continues to work as a motivational speaker and activist. (Hill, 2001)

 

 

 

 

 

1999: WTO/Democracy Banner. For the World Trade Organization protests in Seattle, climbers with Rainforest Action Network hung a massive banner on a construction crane. Only two words were needed to create a powerful iconic image that captured a tremendous amount of media coverage, and helped shape a narrative of the broader. While the team of climbers was small, since it was directly viewed by thousands of activists who were preparing for the upcoming protests it served as a major source of inspiration for the movement as well. The image has since been featured in Hollywood movies, books, and magazine articles over the past decade.

 

 

 

 

 

2008 – Free Tibet banner on San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge. As part of global protests surrounding the Olympics being held in China (and the continued refusal to acknowledge Tibetan sovereignty), climbers scaled the famous Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco as the Olympic Torch was in town. By choosing one of the most iconic structures in town, and perfectly timed with the Torch relay, activists were able to dominate American news coverage of the Torch run, and even earned a front-page story on the New York Times, something that millions of advertising dollars cannot even buy.

 

 

 

 

 

2009 – Greenpeace hangs Obama banner on Mount Rushmore – Challenging President Obama to follow through on bold campaign commitments, Greenpeace climbers outsmarted $3 million in security upgrades to gain access to the Monument and hang a massive banner next to the faces. Greenpeace had attempted a similar action 22 years prior, but were stopped by security.

 

 

 

2011 – Greenpeace paints coal smokestack in Chicago. As part of a decades-long campaign to close a coal-fired power plant, Greenpeace climbers chose to not just hang a temporary banner with a message, but instead to paint their message on the smokestacks. The image remained even after climbers left, and dominated local media, and public discourse for days. This action forced the issue out into the open. Later that year, local activists worked with the City and brokered a deal with the plant operators to retire the plants early.

 

 

 

 

 

Life Experience and Learning Outcomes

Due to the logistical and safety concerns, most climbing actions involve some degree of planning, specific training, and sizable teams to effectively accomplish the action. There are some examples of individuals using climbing for social change, such as the infamous “Spiderman”, who scales skyscrapers with no ropes to raise awareness about various social issues (Robert). But typically most such actions take weeks, if not months to execute and involve a group, organization, or team to do them effectively and safely.

 

My experience in the world of action climbing comes almost entirely through lived experience. In fact, there is sadly little written history or overview of this world. Due to many concerns (liability being a primary one), most of this knowledge is shared directly through structured training programs, rather than in written or documented form.

 

My first foray into this world was by attending a Ruckus Society training camp in 1999 as a participant. I had no previous climbing experience, recreational or professional, but was drawn to these workshops out of a curiosity. Being naturally athletic, and enjoying the technical/physical challenge climbing presented, I excelled in this skill. After the week-long camp ended, I continued to build my skills by reading every climbing manual I could find (recreational/rock climbing, as well as industrial rigging books), and continued to mentor with Ruckus Society climb trainers. I continued my work with The Ruckus Society as a student trainer in 2000, and became a full-fledged trainer later than year. As my skills developed, I have since become one of the Senior Climb Trainers, and Senior Action Coordinators with them.

 

I have been directly involved in well over two dozen technical climbing actions, either as a climber, support person, technical coordinator, or as a trainer. In addition to specific actions, I have acted a trainer in dozens of instances, ranging from week-long training camps, to shorter one-day training sessions. I have led the development of training curriculum for many of the groups mentioned above, as well as led the development of advanced trainings (Training-for-trainers) to help build the skills of up and coming action coordinators and trainers. I have acted as safety coordinator for training programs, as well as designed the physical climbing systems (such as scaffolding, or permanent structures) in numerous training environments.

 

Through my experiences with Ruckus, I continued to expand my skills by working with other climbing communities. This included learning recreation climbing skills (such as rock climbing, caving, and mountaineering), as well as working as a Stagehand and Rigger in the theater and entertainment industry. Gaining insight from these other disciplines was invaluable, in being able to bring broader insight into the Action Climbing community. And in working with groups like Students for a Free Tibet, I helped bring these skills, and the resources of The Ruckus Society to new movements and campaigns.

 

I  began learning the Greenpeace / IRATA system, as well advanced rescue techniques. Starting in 2007, I began working with Greenpeace as one of their climb trainers as well, and joined their staff in 2009, acting as a Lead Climb Trainer and Action Coordinator since. I helped design and build their San Francisco climb training facility, led workshops around the country, and co-facilitated an International training program with senior staff from the U.S. and International offices.  

 

In addition to the technical skills that I have gained through these experiences, I actually find my greatest strength to be in the conceptual development and strategic planning related to such actions. While technical coordination and training has been a component of my work, I have largely focused on identifying and creating campaign opportunities to effectively use climbing actions. This role necessitates a technical understanding to assess safety and feasibility, but also requires the ability make much broader assessments about the strategic application. This includes a knowledge of the broader political landscape, extensive research skills, logistical coordination, communications savvy, and of course creativity in order to apply these skills in new and interesting ways.

 

To demonstrate an example of the skills I have acquired through this process, I have attached an outline of a standard, introductory climb training session. This is both a curriculum that I have used in training hundreds of activists, but also a curriculum that I have developed and refined based on the experience and feedback from these sessions, and in consultation with other leading trainers. This training is focused primarily on the technical aspects to introduce someone to Action Climbing. While a 1-day session can get someone up and down a rope safely, to be prepared for even a simple climbing action typically takes a week or more of training and development. And of course, to be in a role as a trainer, or in coordinating an action (where safety, and ultimately lives depend on you) requires years of experience, and a commitment to constantly learning and re-evaluating systems and protocols.

  

 

Basic Action Climbing: 1-day Training Session

 

9:00 – Group Circle

 

  • Introduction
  • Discuss objectives/agenda for the day
  • Physical space rules and safety
  • Personal safety (appropriate shoes, clothes, jewelry, hair, hydration etc.)
  • Why we climb – in the context of activism
    • Concepts, theory, history
    • Practical examples of climbing used effectively

 

10:00 – Safety and Gear

 

  • No Smoking or eating food near gear
  • If you drop gear let a trainer know, don’t step on rope, etc.
  • Gear review and care – hand out kits, cover basics on construction, damage etc.
    • Soft gear (slings, rope, cord)
      • Physics of nylon (heat, UV damage etc.)
  • Hard Gear (Carabiners, rappel devices)
    • Physics of aluminum and steel
    • Technical safety standards
      • Buddy systems
        • Always have a partner checking your safety and monitoring you
  • Points of Safety (always more than 2)
  • General gear strength guidelines and strength ratios
    • Breaking strength vs. Working Load Limit (WLL)
    • Legal standards (Recreational, vs. industrial, vs. National Fire Protection Association requirements)
  • Friction & Abrasion – Climbers’ best friends and worst enemies
  • Safety checks

  

  • Basic knots and hitches – teach and practice tying
    • Overhand Knot
    • Figure 8 (and 8-on-a-bight)
    • Double Fisherman
    • Butterfly Knot
    • Water Knot
    • Girth Hitch
    • Prussic Hitch
    • Identify training groups (~2 participants per trainer)
      • Similar body/physical abilities
      • Similar prior experience in climbing

 

11:00 – Ascending/Descending on Prussics

 

  • All gear up, put on kits
  • Prussic  Demonstration – prussic hitches
  • Participants practice ascending/descending
    • Safety check w/ trainer, and w/ buddy
    •  Allow participants to go to low height and back down, then full height
    • Can observe anchor basics once people are at height and can inspect their anchors
    • Switch partners
    • Repeat at various heights, and interrupt participants to make them redo safety checks.

  

1:30 – Lunch break

 

  

2:30 – Prussics and Rappelling

 

  • Participants each ascend/descend on prussic to shake off any food coma
  • Rappel demonstration as people are ready (by each trainer, or in small groups)       
    • Using Figure 8 device
    • Discuss friction concepts
    • Participants practice rappelling
      • Low height then full height
      • Switch from prussic, to rappel, back to prussic (Ascending)
      • Whistle-tests (blow whistle – and all hands must drop anything they are holding – while maintaining all safety standards – i.e. – nothing gets dropped)
      • Problem solving
        • Passing a knot
        • Obstacles in a rope
        • Adding friction

  

4:00 – Misc.

 

  • Continue with general practice and problem solving
  • How to create point of safety with a Figure 8 device (lock-off)
  • Controlled rappel (starting/stopping)
  • Rappelling over edge (mid/high anchor)
  • Go to park to explore climbing on trees (stirruping, or throw-line over a branch/crotch)
  • More knots
    • Butterfly Knot
    • Bunny Figure 8 Knot
    • Clove Hitch
    • Figure 8 Follow Through
    • Barrel Knot

 

5:00 –Debrief and Clean-up

 

  • Pack kits away
  • Debrief
  • Training evaluation
  • Next steps and how to continue learning

 

DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.