RunOut #112: America’s First Climbing Gym Owner Sounds the Alarm

Our guest today is Rich Johnston, the president and owner of Vertical World in Seattle, known as America’s First Climbing Gym (TM). He’s also the founding chairman of the Climbing Wall Association, where he served for 16 years, and a board member on The Mountaineers. Rich tells us about the earliest days of the climbing-wall industry, why he never thought climbing gyms would succeed, and how important culture and philosophy are to creating a community of climbers that abide by the inherent risk doctrine. All of this is a prelude to discussing an important bellwether lawsuit that was just settled involving a climber who didn’t clip himself in properly to an auto belay, and still came away with a whopping settlement in his favor. But first, your favorite climbing podcast hosts talk about the nebulous rules and etiquette for passing people on a multi-pitch climb. When should you let people play through? And is it ever OK to just pass without permission? Last but not least, our Final Bit comes to us from listener, climber, fellow dad, and self-proclaimed “normal guy” from Boise, Idaho, Alan Keller. HIs band is called Prairie Mountain Plain and this new song “North Bound and West” is from their latest album While They Sleep. Show Notes Climbing Mag: Gym and Auto Belay Manufacturer to Pay $6M in Settlement for Auto Belay Accident Evening Sends: Will Climbing Gyms Survive the Lawsuits? The plaintiff’s attorney’s press release. Vertical World’s response Vertical World Andrew Megas-Russell on Instagram Prairie Mountain Plain on Spotify