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Toxic Masculinity is Embedded in the Outdoor Industry

Ambient Dominion: How 'Free Solo' Points to An Epidemic of Toxic Masculinity

Ahistorical narratives are constantly being pushed in the outdoor industry because there are those in power who wish so badly to be exempt from politics. A recent example of this is the film Free Solo, which documents Alex Honnold’s ropeless ascent of El Cap in Yosemite. The film glorifies climbing, a sport that continuously leaves out the historical, social, and economic significance of being in sacred spaces like Yosemite. The film, as well as the larger climbing community, puts Alex Honnold on a pedestal for doing what every person who shares his identities has access to do. The glory Honnold receives for “staring death in the face” dulls when you consider all of the lives that have been taken for him to be able to be in the position he is in today -- to be able to risk his life in this way.

 The Paiute reservation in Payahüünadü and neighboring Manzanar are so close to such popular destinations like Yosemite and the Buttermilks, and yet are too often left out of the conversation around campfires, at industry events, and in the media. Even when Indigenous leaders like Varela are there to speak up and educate folks, they are not receiving the respect, payment, and credit they deserve for their tireless emotional, physical, and intellectual labor. We have seen this over the past two years as the American Alpine Club dropped the ball with its shallow efforts to include Indigenous voices. It’s not enough to give Indigenous and marginalized leaders the mic at an event just for the sake of inclusive optics. You also have to be willing to work on the organization’s systemic racism and adherence to supremacist ideology at the same time. Because any organization built in America is informed and influenced by these systems. Until organizations and individuals learn how to take anti-racist action, any effort towards inclusion and equity will come up empty.

 Settler co-optation didn’t stop with taking the land. It continues in forms that are hiding in plain sight. Giving credit where credit is due, as well as honoring the land through land acknowledgements, are simply places to start. It’s where the work begins. For big name climbers like Alex Honnold, Jimmy Chin, Tommy Caldwell, and the rest of us who spend time in these sacred places, we need to be interrogating our identities, our histories, and grappling with how structures of oppression are hurting us and those around us.