Lifestyle Mobilities: A Politics of Lifestyle Rock Climbing

Abstract

The conceptualization of ‘lifestyle mobilities’ has yet to fully account for the diversity within and across mobile communities in terms of leisure, travel, and identity. Lifestyle rock climbers, for example, maintain minimalist, hypermobile lifestyles in the full-time, non-professional pursuit of the sport. In an effort to interrogate lifestyle rock climbing within the broader conceptualization of lifestyle mobilities, this paper applies mesotheoretical ‘politics of mobility’ framework. It begins by tracing constellations of mobility and historical contexts within the rock climbing community more broadly. This is followed by an examination of the facets of a politics of mobility: motive force, speed, rhythm, route, experience, friction, turbulence, and remove, which together offer more nuanced understandings of the movement patterns and travel decisions of lifestyle climbing. However, to account for the community dynamics of lifestyle mobilities, there is a need to delve deeper and attend to the social relations that result from collective performances.

Key words:

• Lifestyle mobilities
• Rock climbing
• Politics
• Leisure
• Sport

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank the reviewers for their constructive critique and thoughtful comments. Further, I wish to extend my appreciation to Lisa Braverman and Daniel Knudsen for their insights on earlier drafts of this paper, and to Todd Lindley for the maps used here. Any remaining errors are the sole responsibility of the author.

Notes

This paper was present ed at the 2014 AAG Annual Conference in Tampa, Florida.

1. One of the fundamental divides in rock climbing is between aid climbing and free climbing. Whereas free climbing means only hands and feet are used to propel the climber up the route (the rope, harness, and other gear are used only as protection in case of a fall), aid climbing places gear (stirrups, ladders, and slings) by which the climber ascends the rock face. Free climbing is further divided by several styles – traditional climbing, sport climbing, and bouldering, most prominently. In traditional climbing, temporary protective gear (cams and nuts) are placed in natural rock features (usually cracks) by the lead climber and removed as the second climber ascends. Sport climbing developed in areas where, because of the type of rock or overhanging cliff lines, traditional climbing was not possible. So, as opposed to traditional climbing, it utilizes permanently placed protection, usually bolts that have been drilled into the rock. Bouldering, then, takes place within a shorter distance from the ground so that no ropes are used, just a ‘spotter’ and ‘crash pads’ for landing.