Leave the kids alone!

community warningmentions of inappropriate boundaries with minors/grooming*

The other week a local mountain influencer with a name that rhymes with “Camden Heddes” posted on his personal fb page asking to be directly connected to a minor he encountered on a mountain climb so he and another adult could take the minor on another private climb and provide “mentorship.” To my knowledge both of these individuals have no guiding/professional credentials/liability insurance that would protect all parties involved, please correct me if I am wrong.

As a professional courtesy, I mentioned that it’s kinda weird for an adult to solicit a minor to recreate in the backcountry and hoped that would be the end of the conversation. The influencer took offense to my use of the word “weird” and doubled down on his belief that his actions were reasonable. I responded that it is not okay to solicit minors for backcountry recreation and ceased my participation in the conversation.

The influencer deleted his original post and made a second post asking for feedback from “professionals” (because my extensive list of certs and resume isn’t enough I guess 🤷🏼‍♀️) his second post garnered a surprising amount of support from people that it is okay for random adults to take minors aline into the backcountry for “mentorship”and multiple disappointing assumptions about my character were made.

It is industry standard for operators to run background checks on any guide they hire.

It is industry standard for guides, coaches, climbing instructors, outdoor educators… anyone who works with youth to NEVER be alone with minors or contact them privately through text. 

Per a presentation at the Climbing Wall Association Summit last week: The number one SafeSport violation is 1:1 digital communication with minors. This is a problem because minors don’t have a fully developed sense of self/boundaries and it’s the easiest way grooming can start to happen. The challenge is that much 1:1 communication with minors happens with no ill intent. It’s so easy to send a text and say you’re running late to practice… and then conversations can develop without supervision or appropriate boundaries. Asking a community mentor for feedback on a climbing technique video can turn to the mentor talking about how nice the kid’s shoulders are looking in that shirt and that can turn into worse stuff happening. Since it’s often innocent and so easy to do, it’s often overlooked and not taken seriously.

When people overlook one case because it appears innocent, it makes reporting incidents harder for victims. When people develop patterns to overlook cases that appear innocent, it means that people develop patterns of overlooking potentially dangerous situations. When you train your eye to look away, you train your mind to not believe victims when they do come forward.

SafeSport exists for a reason. For too many, tragic reasons.

I am not saying that this influencer has ill intent. By appearances he seems stoked on being outside and sharing that experience with others. What I am saying is that it is never appropriate to reach out to a minor to recreate with them privately in the backcountry.

Climbing has a mentorship tradition, and it is really cool to pass on skills that empower folks to live their wildest dreams, but it is essential we protect our children. If you really care about “the climbing community,” then you need to leave the kids alone.