Adventures, thrills are endless for local climber

By Sean T. McMann
Poughkeepsie Journal

How important is it for there to be adequate natural resources for climbers?

In this country, there are more closures than there are openings, for one reason or another. It's one of the natures of bureaucracies. As it gets more popular, you have to have more cliffs. The indoor thing is not going to replace it. It's a different thing.

How does the sport of climbing affect the local economy of, say, New Paltz, which is near the Gunks?

The town supervisor here wrote to the governor about possibly more climbing at Minnewaska because of how important climbing is to the local economy. It fills hotels. It fills restaurants. Even more interesting, it fills the time of realtors. A lot of people I know have moved up here. They've become part of the community. There's that level of commitment. Climbing has a broad impact on the community.

Rich, you've been climbing for 30 years. What keeps you motivated as a climber?

It's a lot of fun; and most of the time, it offers an adventure. You don't just go to the same golf course all the time and play the same holes. Or you can, but there's also that desire to go experience new things. There are always going to be new challenges. There's always something to learn. The thrill seems non-ending at first, then it's more of a craft. There will always be climbing areas that are too scary or too long of a walk. There's great diversity. Climbing is a very, very diverse activity. It really is.

To some non-climbers, the sport of climbing may seem expensive to take up. Is it expensive?

It's relatively inexpensive. Some of the gear lasts a long, long time. The expense is in the commitment. You have to do this because you want to do it. You can go to places that cost you hundreds and hundreds of dollars a day to stay in a hut. And then there are people who go to South America and go mountaineering, which is very risky, but they spend less money in their travel and stay than if they were just home, going to the movies and eating out. If it didn't totally destabilize their lives, they'd stay there for six months.

What's the future of climbing, both here locally and around the world?

Climbing is a brilliant activity. With no growth or negative growth or positive growth, it still has a brilliant future. It's always going to be there, and it's always going to be very important and a very good thing. No matter how bad the economy gets, and the pressure in our society gets, people need honest releases. This is as honest as one can get ... it really and truly is.