Hello good people of the world. I am back on Rock Rose Blog to say what’s up and to give you a few updates about my activities; things for the future. I know when I left my affinity group that I helped to build, I had a lot of questions. Actually, we can start there.
This whole article is just going to be about me reminiscing about where I’ve been, where I’m going, where I think I’m going, where I’d like to end up ideally, and everything in between. So buckle up. We are just going to have a one-on-one chat, you and me, where I talk at you. And hopefully at the end of it, you’ll get to know me a little bit better.
Let’s start at the beginning. The beginning of my affinity work actually started in the industry that I currently work in, which is aviation. And I actually put together a women and minorities group at a local school over here in Seattle. And we did a bunch of volunteer work. And it was really my first time organizing in an affinity space, if you will.
And some of those relationships I have still to this day, and they’re fantastic people. We’ve lifted each other up. We’ve really supported one another. And that was the first time that I felt like I had kind of a community around me in a space that is not reflective of my demographics. And so the interesting thing is when I started doing climbing, I saw a very similar thing.
As all you know, my partner, Keith, got me into climbing. My first time outdoor climbing, in fact, was at exit 38 at Right Off Rock. And after that, the rest was history. I was just so intrigued with the entire thing. But as we traveled around and started seeing different crags and even crags around the Seattle and Washington area, we would rarely see other people of color and if we did they were definitely not black folk usually. And I think one of the crags that sticks in my mind for also not seeing a lot of people of color would especially be Smith Rock, a place that we would frequent quite often. And so throughout the years we just looked around and we were like, we want more people of color in the sport. We want more black people to enjoy this. Like, where is everyone? And how can we help?
So Color the Crag1 came around. And when we went to that the first time, it was incredible: seeing all people of color at a crag, I had tears in my eyes. It was something I’d never seen before and something I was thinking to myself that some other people would never have the privilege to see again either.
And so Color the Crag went on for three years and then of course COVID hit. There were talks of us being involved with an affinity group here and there and a lot of affinity groups had split off and started doing their own thing after Color the Crag, especially after the first couple of years. And Keith and I really wanted to be involved in something. We were just ripe for the picking and just waiting to plunge headfirst into something.
And so we found the affinity group that was local to here that started in 2017, but Keith and I weren’t involved until about 2018. And by the end of 2019, him and I were certified to teach outdoor rock climbing. Now at the time, scope of practice2 was not a thing. Yes, you could get along with just taking your single pitch instructor course and then go out and fly: you just started teaching. And that’s exactly what happened. And so the whole motivation for us getting that certification, and then I went on later to get fully certified and took my exam after my rock guide course in 2021, was to teach people of color; to diversify and include people of color and minority demographics in the climbing, in the sport that we love.
And so, like I said, we dove headlong into that. The last five years have really been just a hyper-focus on this group and the communities here in Seattle and how to build them and maintain them and just really make sure that everyone is taken care of as much as possible. So about the end of 2019, beginning of 2020, I also took over the affinity group’s social media. And I have a lot of experience with that because I did it for almost two years and I grew the following from, about 250 people to 10,000. I’m very proud of that. I didn’t quite get it to 10,000. It was very close and I handed it off to a social media coordinator and then it hit 10,000. But it sounds cooler if I say it was just 10,000. It was about that. Give or take a couple hundred people. And I learned a lot. I have to credit first and foremost my old coach, Emily Taylor3, with being the first person to really educate me in a lot of DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) work first and foremost, always. She is my foundation and she is my base, always.
But I really also have to thank the climbing community in general because the things that I was posting were really centered around me and my own identities and how I saw things as well. But then also there were call outs, right? I messed up. I admit it. It happens. And all you can do is apologize, learn and grow from it. And there were also relationships that have not been mended to this day due to my mistakes. And that also happens, unfortunately. And if anyone that I have hurt in the past would like to come forward and talk to me about it, my door is always open. Please come and contact me.
There was just a lot that was going on for me during the social media stuff. It was 2020, we had a lot of social things going on and I think it was just the right place and the right time for social media to be the place where a lot of people had first contact with the affinity group, even though they weren’t in Seattle, even though they weren’t in Washington.
A lot of people were watching the stories that I was putting up and the human rights stuff that I was putting up and the political stuff and just the things that I felt were important to humanity at that time. And a lot of people followed it. And that’s when I first saw the power of social media. It can be anything from really terrible: helping to commit certain genocides like we’ve seen in the past to building community and the way that I was using it was to build community and to really have these interactions that were meaningful. As time went along, Keith and I also very quickly became the directors of rock instruction. And with that, it meant there was a completely blank slate. I made that stuff up, yo. Like, the whole thing. The whole thing was made up. Yes, sometimes I take inspiration from a guiding company for applications or something, because guiding companies do all collect about the same information, right? Name, address, phone number, emergency contact, et cetera.
But on top of that, we honed applications very specifically for people of color and even dipping a little bit into some Disability questions so that we were able to guide the demographics in all of their different ways that they show up physically, mentally, emotionally. And a lot of it stemmed from my personal experiences: just because of certain ways that I show up in the world. Not to say that I understand all of them, but I understand a certain amount. And then it just grew from there, listening to feedback from participants or people who wanted to be involved, but saw certain things in our applications that they were like, “I feel like this is prohibitive for me.”
And so in a way we, the person that also would work on this application year after year with me, we also pioneered ways in which to collect information for people of color demographics specifically, for scholarships, for running programs and everything. I would keep very close tabs on a lot of other applications just to see what other people were doing because inspiration comes from all different places and of course if I ever use anything that is someone else’s I would credit them if it’s something unique. After honing all these applications and everything I was also working on a lot of curriculum. And this is curriculum for outdoor climbing was everything from bouldering to multi-pitch. Now bouldering; I was more of like a fly on the wall because I brought in someone who was more knowledgeable than I, because if you know me, I don’t really boulder that much. Not enough that I actually want to teach it and I probably would enjoy teaching it a little bit less than the other person that we employed. But we ended at multi-pitch.
I ended up getting certifications all the way up to Apprentice Rock Guide back in 2021 in order to teach multi-pitch. And so not only was I running all the paperwork and scholarships and then doing social media on top of it for a couple of years, I was also running programs and that slowly morphed into guide trainings as well, because as people were stepping forward to be leaders, we realized that they also needed training. In order to run a successful program, I feel like you do need to have certain baseline expectations. And then, you know, you can throw in your own style and own flavor in after that. So for about three or four years I was also running guide trainings that was coupled with inclusivity training as well.
Yes, it was a lot. I did a lot for this affinity group. And the reason I’m reminiscing over all this experience is because I want to continue working in affinity spaces, but I’m also branching out. Which comes to my next announcement.
So if you have listened to Rock Rose Blog for any amount of time, you will probably recognize it as a platform that started with callouts. The very first article that I did started as an Instagram post and quickly went to a very detailed, researched, fact-checked article, right? And this article is called Hip Hop in Climbing4. And Hip Hop In Climbing was about an 11 part series where I just talked about the culture of climbing, the history of it, the lack of black representation of it, and the kind of ridiculous things that white folks can get up to when there’s a lack of black folks in a particular space. And I think climbing has kind of been in that void for a while now. We’re starting to see change with that due to affinity groups and due to individuals/organizations that have been working so hard over the years to change that.
And so I kept writing after that. There was just some things that I would see online or there was experiences that I was having that I wanted to talk about.
One of them was black hair. I also did an article on black hair5 as well. And that one, I actually interviewed a couple of people. You won’t see any videos of it though, because basically, my strongest suit is in writing. I can admit that. Like talking, it’s just okay, but my strong suit is in writing. So a lot of the earlier podcasts that you have heard were simply adapted so that if people didn’t want to read the article, then they could listen to it. Now, I think I’m going to keep that format in the future. I’m going to continue to research and write articles, and you can find them at rockrose.blog. And then I think I will also keep them as an audiobook style as well in case people don’t like to read it because I want to recognize that everyone does absorb information a little bit differently and I like to have a little bit of variety in there myself.
The other thing though is that I would love love love love to have more guests on the podcast. I have a few guests lined up already. We’re going to be talking about some exciting things that I would love to share in the future.
But that’s not all. In the time that I had to think after having left the affinity group that I had donated so much time and effort, energy and resources to, that I decided to make Rock Rose Blog an LLC (Limited Liability Company). It’s official. As of this month, I am a small business owner. Rock Rose Blog, LLC is going to be a consulting company. I already have a few contracts lined up and based off of some of the experience that you’ve heard that I have expressed of what I’ve done in the past, I think I’m very well suited to be able to at least be a sounding board off of some people: for their ideas, for their programming, etc. With that being said, even though Rock Rose blog is currently a for-profit company, if there’s any affinity groups out there or non-profits that are very small, I am open to pro bono work. And that is part of the volunteerism that I want to continue. In the past, I have had a number of affinity group leaders come forward and ask me for advice or just want to again be a sounding board for some of their ideas or navigate negotiations with trying to get funding, etc. And so I know it’s going to feel a little formalized but listen y’all: for the past five years affinity work has been something I have ate, slept, and just been immersed in. And so my new boundary is that I will need, even if it’s pro bono work, people to go through Rock Rose blog so that I can have some boundaries around it. I am more than happy to help out and to give any wisdom if I have any, but it’s going to have to be a little bit more formalized so that it’s more sustainable for me and, of course, for the people in my family as well.
So that’s it! That’s the big news. Small business owner, consulting, up for hire, and a lot of good podcasts coming your way, hopefully. In the meantime, I hope you can enjoy some of the other podcasts and articles that I have as well. There are a number of them, so feel free to go to Spotify to take a look at the podcasts or if you prefer a written format here on this website.
It’s topics ranging everywhere from when the minority becomes the majority6 to other podcasts such as my experience with leaving the affinity group7 as well. In the future, I do have some plans for my guiding. I’m not going to announce it yet, or course.
I am still going to be striving for my multi-pitch instructor certification. If you’ve been following the story at all: I did try for a higher certification than the Rock Guide course and I did not make my movement days due to health issues. But I have since decided I am going to try again. I have a certain timeline that this has to happen but for a while there, I was uncertain that I wanted to keep guiding. I do love it. I love teaching. I love guiding. I love the beginner level. I love the more advanced level. I just love it all. I do. But I was also exhausted at the end of 2024. I wasn’t sure I wanted to continue anything. And so I think the key is just having good boundaries and just make sure that it feels rewarding and fulfilling for me. And towards the end, due to some conflicts, I don’t think it felt fulfilling and rewarding for me anymore. And that’s okay. Change has to happen sometimes. And I’m leaning into it and making some changes myself for the future.
Currently, I also sit on the Washington Climbers Coalition Board. This is not an official message concerning them, but it is part of my journey of my work and my breadth of work as well. And I have some exciting projects that I’m working on with them too. That will come into play later with one of the podcasts that I’m going to do with a guest speaker. So you’ll have to stay tuned for that as well.
With that being said, thank you everyone for listening in the past and hopefully the podcasts and articles in the future will be of interest to you and hopefully we can have more candid conversations like this, just you and me one on one.
Rock Rose Blog is a for profit consulting company specializing in people of color, climbing, policy, and guiding. I offer a number of consulting services including but not limited to outdoor programming, community building, community maintaining, policy writing/overhauling, team trainings, individual trainings, event planning, and marketing visions. Or customized services. I am also a free lance guide up to multi pitch rock terrain.
For consultation services questions, schedule a free 30 minute discovery call, or pitch a podcast topic, please submit a request here or email crystal@rockrose.blog.
30 minute Discovery Calls free of charge
- Discovery Call Info Sheet
- Discovery Call for Affinity Groups (sliding fee scale or pro bono)
- Sending in Color. “Color the Crag.” https://sendingincolor.com/index.php/color-the-crag/ 09 Jan 2025 ↩︎
- American Mountain Guides Association. “Scope of Practice Resource Center.” https://amga.com/scope-of-practice-resource-center/ 09 Jan 2025 ↩︎
- Taylor, Emily. “Welcome.” https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.tayloredfitsolutions.com/&ved=2ahUKEwiF7sLRq-mKAxWzHTQIHafCB7AQFnoECCUQAQ&usg=AOvVaw0h3k_yS5Pgntmqk3I0JcGz 09 Jan 2025 ↩︎
- Hudelson, Crystal. “Hip Hop in Climbing.” https://rockrose.blog/2021/04/27/example-post-2/ 09 Jan 2025 ↩︎
- Hudelson, Crystal. “Black Hair and Climbing.” https://rockrose.blog/2023/01/02/black-hair-and-climbing/ 09 Jan 2025 ↩︎
- Hudelson, Crystal. “When the Minority Becomes the Majority.”https://rockrose.blog/2021/11/14/when-the-minority-becomes-the-majority/ 09 Jan 2025 ↩︎
- Hudelson, Crystal. “Hidden Figures in POC Spaces.”https://rockrose.blog/2024/01/08/hidden-figures-in-poc-spaces/ 09 Jan 2025 ↩︎
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