Under a cerulean September sky, I found myself gripping the side of a cliff, searching shakily for my next handhold as a voice called out from below:
“You’ve got this, T!”
It was Dominic Lucero, founder and executive director of Colorado Treks (COTREKS), who had invited me to attend a rock climbing clinic event hosted by climbing volunteers at Staunton State Park. Lucero’s energy and encouragement were infectious; it was just the thing I needed to try to go a little higher on the climbing route.
Below me, a dozen or so COTREKS members, mostly Latinos like Lucero, ranging in age from 6 to their early twenties, were gathered at the base of the crag known as The Raven. Some were new like me. Some already knew the group through outings like a horseback riding trip through the Flat Tops Wilderness earlier in the summer.
They joined Lucero in shouting encouragement to me. Earlier, I had watched most of them as they climbed. I had marveled at how brave a lot of these kids and young adults were, many of whom had never been climbing before.
Lucero formed COTREKS in 2016 with a mission to inspire life-changing confidence in marginalized youth, families and communities in Colorado through cultural experiences and outdoor educational treks.
I reached out to Lucero after learning of his efforts to diversify the outdoors and what he describes as “racially and economically segregated outdoor spaces of Colorado.”
Lucero said he doesn’t typically see minorities out recreating at state parks and he aims to change that by getting kids from metro Denver out into the high country of Colorado.
“Growing up, I had access to the outdoors because my uncle was the creator of the outdoor rec program for Denver Parks and Recreation,” Lucero said. “But transportation can be a barrier for a lot of (minority) people, and the space is so racialized. That’s why I say the hardest part is showing up.
“My family, my friends, my community trusts me to take them into these spaces.”
They really trust him as he puts them in helmets and harnesses, ties them to long ropes and coaxes them up steep rock faces in Staunton. Not only is he introducing his group to the outdoors, he’s immersing them in wilderness adventures in hopes of igniting a passion that will bring them back with their families and friends.
“I teach Chicano studies and we introduce those spaces and how they influence the communities they serve,” Lucero said. “We understand that for hundreds of years, the outdoors have been a racialized space. Once fences are put up, then opportunities are not presented equally for everyone to reap the benefits of the medicine that the mountains have to offer.”
Lucero got involved at Staunton after an early COTREKS outing there led to positive interactions with park staff.
Jessica King is a seasonal ranger at Staunton State Park who helps in leading and hosting climbing events. King worked with Lucero to set up a special activities agreement to run outdoor programming for COTREKS.
“Dominic and I got on a collaboration phone call and we began working together to iron out details on how COTREKS events could look at Staunton,” King said. “The events are typically filled with closely knit family units, where no one has climbed before. The participants begin hesitantly, unsure if they are capable of conquering the rock in front of them. They place their trust in us and find they are able to do so much more than they thought they were capable of.”
Rock climbing on September 25 was the third event COTREKS has held at Staunton and King said the park has a few special activities agreements with other groups that visit the park as well.
“Depending on how many volunteer instructors we have signed up, we can take between 15 and 30 participants climbing,” King said. “At these events, the group learns gear functionality and proper use in climbing: essential knots; intro to body movement on the rock pertaining to hand and foot placement; lowering stance; belay technique; and understanding the risks associated with climbing.”
But for King, it’s about more than just teaching these groups to be safe on a cliff.
“We seek to empower diverse communities with confidence in their capabilities,” King said. “We’re showing them that the outdoors are a welcoming, safe and fun place for them to be.”
As I was being belayed (lowered) down the cliff by one of Staunton’s climbing volunteers, I ended up beside 17-year-old Kaylee Chacon, climbing for the first time and halfway up a route next to mine.
She was struggling with the critical concept of “trusting the rope.” Climbers need to feel comfortable sitting back in the harness and put their feet flat against the wall in front of them while being lowered down.
I did my best to show her how to change her body position. It was a fun feeling, going so quickly from being encouraged to being the one providing encouragement to someone else.
That feeling is exactly the kind of spirit that Lucero cultivates in COTREKS.
While their friends were climbing, I talked to some of the attendees about why they liked coming to COTREKS. For Natalia Ramirez, 21, it was her second time climbing with the group at Staunton and she almost made it all the way up a route on the right side of the wall.
“The first trip gave me my confidence boost,” she said. “I made it to the top of that one and I feel invincible now, like I can rock climb anything. I’m a spider monkey. I was up at 5am this morning ready to go.”
Alan Prehmus has been volunteering at Staunton for four years and climbing for more than 40. He helped develop many routes at the park, including on The Raven. Throughout the day, he provided great tips on climbing, places to search for a good handhold, and other tips to our group.
He showed me a great spot near the top of The Raven where I could get some photos of Natalia as she neared the top of the route.
“For me, it’s fun to go climbing, but I’ve been climbing for 40 years,” Prehmus told me as we watched Natalia make her way up the rock face toward us. “It’s way more fun to take kids out like this and teach them how to climb. That’s where it’s at for me.”
At the end of the day, Lucero gathered everyone in a circle for a check-in, giving everyone a chance to talk about their intentions and their impacts.
“A lot of us might intend something, but the impacts are totally different,” Lucero said. “My intentions are to create space and break down barriers. At the end of the day, is that the impact I had?”
Park ranger King was one of the last to speak.
“This is a dream that Dom and I share,” she said. “My part in that is to help create a space for people who might not feel comfortable here and let you know this is a place to grab those good vibes, grab those good feelings, and strengthen your connections with each other and with new people.
“And also to find some part of yourself that you don’t know is there. Based on the time I got to spend with you today, I’d say that was accomplished. I watched a lot of you put trust into us and into each other, the person on your rope, quite literally holding your rope and your life in their hands.”
When it was my turn to speak, I thanked everyone for including me and making me a part of the COTREKS adventure. Today, I was the outsider and I’d been welcomed like a friend. As a caucasian, I’d never seen our parks through this lens before.
I know the discrimination is there, it’s just that I don’t see it as much because it hasn’t been directed at me. Dominic and the COTREKS kids made me see our parks differently. It made me wonder what CPW can do as an agency to be more welcoming?
I don’t have the answers, but Dominic’s system of gathering his group in a circle before and after outings seemed like a pretty good method for ensuring everybody has a voice and a chance to talk about their intentions and impacts in the outdoors.
For more information about rock climbing routes at Staunton State Park, visit their page on Mountain Project. More information on Colorado Treks is available at https://www.coloradotreks.org/.
CPW is committed to representing the passion people of all races, ethnicities, abilities and experience levels have for outdoor recreation and natural resource conservation by spotlighting your story and mission to diversify our outdoor spaces. If you have a story you’d like to share, reach out to me at travis.duncan@state.co.us.