What make's a successful crag?

Nov. 29, 2021, 3:22 a.m.

#Development #General

 

A rock with the perfect features, unlike a man made indoor gym, it's a gift from the mother nature. But does a perfectly narutally carved ancient stone it's enough to make a crag popular? That's a question that's been inside my head ever since I began outdoor climbing.

 

Over the years I’ve realice that climbing is as much about the social experience as it is for the action of climbing itself. Outdoors crags come to follow the rules of capitalism in the same ways it does for nature. A shaddy crossroads where the two of them coexist together.

 

In the same way business increase the chances of success by being closer to the customers and being close to different facilities & services (parking lots, restaurants, accomodations, camping sites). Climbing spots thrive when they are within an easily accessible place for people. The farther the crag is from roads and services the harder it would be for people to go, even when the rock is gorgeously good.

 

Of course there will always be bolt persons looking for the next big thing, so the demand will decrease but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a market. So crags need to have both in order to become popular, the more the better, good quality rock and accessibility (E.g. Margalef & Magic Woods).

 

Most of the places have one or the other, in bigger or lesser magnitude. But the real problem is when one of those two are completely missing. Whether it’s a place forbidden by the owner or country (like some crags of europe) or its a perfect wall far beyond our reach (like the Tepuis)… until some wild spirit come to break the rules.

~luis