Sunday I stopped by the rock climbing world cup event in Chamonix. The atmosphere was good and the organization looked stunning, but one thing caught my attention: a little booth called Climbing-Attitude. Climbing-Attitude is a website sponsored by Beal that promotes a responsible attitude for rock climbers and features names like Patrick Edlinger among its supporting members. The idea is that to keep free climbing "free" from rules, we must act responsibly and suggests a set of actions we should all take to share our outdoor climbing resources. Of course this applies to all mountain activities, but the site is specifically targeting rock climbers who go at local crags.

At first I thought I would register. Then I read carefully some of the texts and I decided not to for several reasons:

1) The site lists Michel Beal as the first high level climber! While M Beal is certainly a responsible person and a great entrepreneur in the world of rock climbing (he probably deserves a mention honoris cause) he hardly qualifies as an elite climber. This sounds to me as marketing (look who is sponsoring almost all the athletes in the "membres d'honneur" section).

2) I was taught respect from the environment from my parents and mentors and I think I am already very responsible. I think that the best thing I can do is to give the good example. I don't see much use in signing up for a site that suggests taking steps that are so basic that whoever does not respect them, will not do so because of a website.

3) The site is only in French (this might change in the future, I don't know). Although the site is not targeted to crags in France only, its content is exclusively in French. I speak and read French fluently, but I think it is an act of stupidity not to publish a site first in English. This is a very limiting factor that will isolate ideas and not promote them across the Alps and Europe (and maybe the world). We live in the European Union, we should act as EU citizens and try to share information and goals.

Maybe I will make up my mind, but for now, this sounds like a lot of marketing supported by only one good idea: that climbing should be free and we should be responsible for our own freedom