About Us

Why do we do what we do?

Climbing in the US has exploded in popularity over the past decade, with an estimated 9 million people participating in it each year. Today, there are 6 times more climbing gyms than in 2000, and the sport continues to multiply. While rock climbing is not a new sport, its exponential growth is already impacting local crags and leading to a greater risk of losing access to our local climbing areas.

As climbers, it is our collective responsibility to minimize our individual impact through responsible climbing and help restore these areas through environmental stewardship. Together, we can protect the natural beauty of and ensure long-term access to climbing areas across the Mid Atlantic region.

What are stewardship and access?

Stewardship is the responsibility all people have to protecting and valuing our public lands. Whether we are climbing, hiking, swimming, or camping, we all have the responsibility to leave the crag, trail, river, or campsite better than we found it.

Access is the ability for individual climbers to physically and legally utilize climbing areas. When recreation areas become overused (creating erosion issues, damage to habitats, water contamination, etc.) or abused (caused by graffiti, excessive trash, etc.), access to those areas may be cut off or restricted by the land owners. As environmental stewards, we work to promote the sustainable use and restoration of our climbing areas to avoid reaching the impact where access may be lost.

In other cases, access to recreation areas may be restricted for other reasons, including protecting nesting sites of local species or to restore habitat destroyed by overuse. In these cases, MAC works to educate local climbers to learn about and respect these closures and protect long-term access to these areas when they are reopened.

In rare cases, there may be initiatives to close access to recreation areas permanently, and MAC works to prevent and protect access to public land for all recreationists. By working to build positive relationships between landowners and the climbing community, as well as sharing opportunities for public comment, we want to be sure the entire climbing community has a voice and to advocate to protect responsible access to public lands for all.

Learn more about how the 7 Principles of Leave No Trace apply to you as a climber and how to be a more responsible climber.

Our Officers