I would like to sincerely thank you for the Douglas K. Candland Undergraduate Research Fund that supported my research this past summer. I was honored to receive this funding and to be able to carry out research on a topic and issue that I am so passionate about. It is an incredible opportunity to conduct independent research like this as an undergraduate student and I am very grateful that I was awarded the opportunity to do so under your support. I hope that the impact from this research that affects climbing and guiding is portrayed. I think that it is merely a glimpse at what this issue is, but it is a step in the right direction for combating the disparities that are present.

Like any employee in any industry, rock climbing guides must learn the skills that make guides successful if they are to make a living. The way that knowledge is often transferred in rock climbing is through mentorship relationships, typically informal ones. Mentorship can serve as both positive and negative to diversifying climbing and guiding. It has massive potential to open up climbing as a sport for many different kinds of people by bridging gaps in demographic disparities. On the opposite end of the spectrum, it can be a huge source of inequality that reinforces the homogeneity present in climbing  and guiding.

With that in mind, this research looks at many of the ways in which mentorship in climbing creates, exacerbates or dismantles barriers in diversifying rock climbing. Through interviews with established climbing guides and participant observation of rock climbing in California, I identified themes that represent how mentorships function in the guiding world. I drew on past connections of climbing friends and guides to interview and used snowball sampling beyond that in order to expand my network    of interviewees.

The beginning section of the analysis outlines the ways in which mentorship exists in the climbing world. What follows are ideas that discuss common barriers to receiving mentorship as a new climber, and guide perceptions of mentorships in relation to the broader society. What I found holds value in thinking about the general culture of mentorship in the industry of guiding and its potential to shape access to climbing and guiding careers.

Thank you once again for enabling me to explore this meaningful topic.