Finding Community and Protecting Our Crags

By Seth Jackson, WMCC Member

After college, I was craving a sport that ticked all the boxes for me. For twelve years I had been a swimmer, training every day, chasing times. When that ended, backpacking alone wasn’t enough. I wanted something interactive, something that felt challenging and fun. The first time I stepped into my scrappy Nashville gym, I remember the smell of chalk and feet, plywood walls worn down by decades of climbers. Soon after, I was slapping up sandstone at Stone Fort and the Obed, camping, sharing meals and beers with friends. More than grades, it gave me community, and that was what hooked me.

By 2021 I had moved to Western Mass, but two years later I packed my car, grabbed my dog, and drove south to the Red River Gorge. I was looking for something to anchor me again. My first partner there, Emma, took me to the Zoo. On my very first day, I nearly onsighted 5.11. I fought for twenty minutes, found a hidden jug too late, and whipped on the second-to-last move. Instead of discouraging me, it lit me up. I fell in love with the place—the movement, the challenge, the friends I shared it with.

That fall, my favorite memories were post-work sends at PMRP, cold nights trying hard projects at the Zoo, and fall afternoons with Emma and our friend Dan. We’d climb until dark, then head to Miguel’s to swap stories in the pizza pavilion or pile into basement game nights. That season I sent my first 5.12 at another crag, but two of my proudest projects were at the Zoo—the style fit me perfectly. Which is why, when the crag closed, I was devastated.

I learned of the closure while with my family. I was angry, frustrated, and sad all at once. I had raised concerns about erosion and impact to board members of local coalitions, but they hadn’t thought much of it. Without a written agreement in place, and without enough care from the climbing community, the landowners pulled access. Overnight, we lost one of the most vibrant corners of the Red. A place full of my favorite memories—night climbing, crisp fall sends, laughter with friends—was simply gone. And the hardest part was knowing it was our own fault.

That experience didn’t come out of nowhere. Before the Zoo closed, my mentor Mauri had already taken me to Rumney and shown me firsthand what stewardship looks like—how to stay on trails, protect fragile cliff bases, and minimize our footprint. Around the same time, I attended an SCC “Ask Me Anything” night at REI, where I learned why landing zones matter and how erosion and waste can shut down access. Those lessons stuck with me.

So when the Zoo closure happened, it hit harder. I had already been taught how much these places need care, and losing one of my favorites made the consequences real. Since then, I’ve doubled down—being vocal about impact at the crag, and putting money into the coalitions I care about to make sure they can keep doing the work that protects our climbing.

When I came back to Western Mass, the fragility of access felt sharper than ever. New England climbing sits mostly on private land. Guidebooks aren’t always allowed. Bradley in Connecticut is already closed for good, and Farley in Massachusetts has faced threats of closure for half a century. Here, the line between access and loss feels razor-thin.

These days, I feel lucky. I have Reservoir Rocks, Farley, Hanging Mountain, Mormon Hollow, and summer evenings at Sunbowl all within reach. But I also see how many climbers stream in from Boston and New York without knowing the history of these crags or how precarious they are. For me, the Western Mass Climbers’ Coalition is not just about membership or access. It’s about spreading awareness, building stewardship, and making sure we don’t lose the places that mean the most to us.

Climbing makes me feel at home no matter where I go. WMCC is how I help protect that home here in New England.

Seth Jackson is a strong supporter of the WMCC. To make a donation and do your part to keep your favorite crags open, consider making a donation or becoming a member of the WMCC.