Climber Crush Wednesday featuring the Founders of Thicc Climbing
Happy Climber Crush Wednesday #lccxccw! Today we have a special double feature. We’re excited to introduce y’all to climbing friends and Co-Founders of the @thicc_climbing community: Melaney and Jeremy
𝟏) 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐬
Melaney: She/Her @theregoes_mel
Jeremy: He/Him @sleepeatclimbrepeat
𝟐) 𝐓𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐮𝐬 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬, 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐞𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐜 𝐂𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐠?
Jeremy: We met through our friend and trainer Bri @gnarlygirlfitness she asked me if I could meet her friend at Austin Bouldering Project, show her around and the basics of bouldering. About half way through the session I had a feeling we'd be homies. Mel has since become a pillar of our climbing group. I remember one session Mel said she was a Thicc climber because the normal image of a climber is thin. It became kind of a joke and at one point because I was selling Sleep. Eat. Climb. Repeat. stickers we talked about having some Thicc Climbing stickers printed up, but nothing really happened. Then one day on a kind of a whim (I got a digital coupon) I had some THICC Climbing stickers printed. One Saturday after they had been delivered Mel was running a 5k. I went to cheer her on and afterward, while we waited to be seated for brunch, I gave her some, she asked how much we were going to sell them for, I suggested we give them away, the response was amazing, and things have been a whirlwind ever since.
𝟑) 𝗪𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐜 𝐂𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞?
We are excited to be working on an educational-based social media platform, inclusive merch, meetups! We are also building our THICC allies of businesses and business owners and our THICC Ambassador crew.
𝟒) 𝗪𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐜 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐭?
One of the more common adversities thicc climbers face pertains to physical appearances. In our ambassador group, we talk about “myth busting,” and what that looks like as a whole in our community. Things like strength to weight ratio and climbing grade to weight ratio are frequently discussed.
𝟓) 𝗪𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐜 𝐂𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐠'𝐬 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧?
THICC’s mission is to help the climbing community evolve into a community that believes and supports the idea that climbing is for everyone.
𝟔) 𝗪𝐡𝐨 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 (𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐨𝐧-𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬) 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐣𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐲𝐬?
Mel: We just onboarded close to 40 ambassadors; one has only climbed once, and another is a route setter. These people, because they are so relatable, have been the most inspirational to me thus far. Before THICC, my climbing crew saved my soul and still inspire me to this day. I honestly don’t watch climbing videos often because I want to discover the sport for myself and with my friends.
Jeremy: @kyria_condie @emilyharrington @tommycaldwell
𝟕) 𝐂𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐝𝐚𝐲. 𝗪𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲?
The face of climbing has evolved, and we are highlighting the demand for inclusiveness in the community. We want to deconstruct the social myths that have been built around a specific climbing “type” as being the only successful “type."
𝟖) 𝗪𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐠𝐨𝐚𝐥𝐬?
Mel: Not pop a tendon in my first year!
Jeremy: Climb V5 and hone my skills as a climbing photographer.
𝟗) 𝗪𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐨𝐛𝐛𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨?
Mel: Grad school sucks up a lot of my time, but I also love being on trails whether I’m running or riding. Frequently testing out my survivor skills when I can lol.
Jeremy: What is this time you speak of? j/k I like listening to music, especially, live or on vinyl (not because I think it sounds better it's just an experience).
𝟏𝟎) 𝐀𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲? 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐯𝐞!
The way we evolve the climbing community is to help change the algorithm. The algorithm impacts what clothing (sizes and features) are available and what content you see online. This in turn creates a social norm. We change the algorithm by showcasing the need for inclusiveness and increasing the diversity content people see online. Help support us in changing the algorithm.
