Part II: Black Hairstyles in Climbing Culture
Where has Black hair or Black hairstyles shown up in climbing culture?
In the early 2000’s, around the time of the first Black climbing ascents of Too-tok-ah-noo-lah7, a climber named Chris Sharma was on the rise. He had started climbing around 1983: only 16 years after the last edition of the Negroe Travellers Green Book published. His parents most likely witnessed and/or participated in the hippie movement. To read more on the connection between the hippie movement and climbing, read Hip Hop in Climbing Part III: “Counterculture”
With 2005 came a video of Chris Sharma sporting locs in his hair, climbing a boulder roof problem dubbed Witness the Fitness, rated V158. As he climbs, the song for which the climb is named blars an electronic shockwave, diving into Roots Manuva’s hilarious rap about going back to his elementary school as an adult to win a physical fitness event against children. The video alone is hilarious, while Sharma’s use of undeniable appropriation of hairstyle is not. His sporting of locs clearly shows an insensitivity to Black Americans and we will talk about why…
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