Interrupted and Incomplete

Imagine this…

A new climbing gym opens in a new market.  For founding members, the registration fee is waived.  It takes some time, but with a steady influx of climbers and growing membership, eventually equilibrium is attained.  The gym makes money, employees are compensated, and members are satisfied.  Increased membership allows for new hires which in turn means continued growth.  Registration fees are the norm across most climbing gyms and so in time they are implemented in our now bustling gym.

Climbing can be a tight knit community, and so there are times when the staff will allow some climbers to attain a membership without paying the registration fee.  These members still pay the monthly dues despite getting around the initial signup fee. 

The gym continues to grow which means more members and thus more new hires allowing for continued growth.

The busyness of the gym does make it feasible for some climbers to sneak in undetected; these folks make no monetary contribution to the growth and upkeep of the gym despite reaping the benefits of the climbing.  These undetected climbers however may contribute very positively to the community perhaps through sharing beta, encouragement, and various other forms of social exchange.

Growth carries all types of advantages and disadvantages.  One advantage in the case of our hypothetical gym is the economic gains.  Gains that help the owners, the employees, and the climbers.  A disadvantage is that sometimes growth can be followed by an increased opportunity for illicit actions.  In my actual gym, there have been several climbers who have had their cars broken in to, their gear swiped, or their wallets stolen right from their packs.   I’ve had chalk brushes disappear on more than one occasion.

There are times when members are the culprit, times when the employees are the culprit, and times when non-climbers are the culprit.  

If theft in a gym were to run rampant, it would have a negative effect on the entire ecosystem.  Members would stop coming, employees would lose hours, and potentially, the gym would have to close.  Thus, all parties have a motive to minimize/eliminate theft.

There are a vast number of ways in which to reduce and prevent theft at our hypothetical gym.  Just off the top of my head, I would imagine that including lockers as part of the membership fee could be a start.  The implementation of a zero-tolerance rule for employees and members who are caught stealing seems to be a reasonable step as well.  Rewarding employees who take time to get to know the members isn’t a bad idea.  Strong communities have been proven to reduce crime at nearly all levels.  These ideas simply just came to mind, and with enough people thinking critically about a solution, I’m sure we could come up with a truly ideal way to solve the issue of theft at our hypothetical gym.

Let’s consider another option.  

Despite illicit actions coming from everywhere, the focus can be on the climber who snuck into the gym.  Afterall, sneaking into the gym is an illicit action.  Targeting these climbers wouldn’t address the problem of theft in any significant way, since these individuals make up only a small minority of the climbing population, and while removing these climbers would certainly impact the climbing community negatively, the owner of the gym might feel better about it.  Speaking of community, there are other members who consistently pay their membership fees, members of the community who were revealed to have not paid their registration fee.  This act doesn’t have anything to do with the theft that has been going on at the gym, but we’ve moved from theft in particular to illicit actions in general, and so we might as well remove them as well.  

Now that we’ve moved from theft to the removal of all non-members, it would make sense to once again organize rational possibilities leading to a resolution.  One idea would be to grant membership forgiveness to all those members who didn’t pay the registration fee but continue to pay member dues.  This is just one idea that comes to mind, but with enough people thinking critically about a solution, I’m sure we could come up with a truly ideal way to solve the issue of theft illicit membership at our hypothetical gym.

Let’s consider another option.

What if, instead of contemplating the issue from all sides, we just hire a group of unqualified goons in cosplay to round up anyone who doesn’t fit the description of a stereotypical climber, we can call the program Insurgent Climber Elimination (ICE). Pretty much anyone not wearing a beanie, gets tossed out and sent away.  Since not all climbers look the same, there will be some legitimate climbers who get canned along with all the others.  We could give the goons unmitigated power to carry out the stated mission and carte blanche to achieve their goals in any way they wish.  What could go wrong?

Well, as studies such as the Stanford Prison Experiment (SPE) have shown us, a lot could go wrong.

Although by no means conclusive, and at times suspect, The SPE does offer some key takeaways.

1. Situational factors (the prison setting, roles) were more powerful in shaping behavior than individual personality traits.
2. Participants quickly adopted their assigned roles (guards or prisoners), internalizing stereotypes and acting in ways consistent with those roles.
3. The anonymity and uniforms helped guards shed personal responsibility, leading to more aggressive behavior.
4. Authority figures (guards) could become abusive and healthy individuals could experience mental distress (prisoners) in a dehumanizing environment.

With minimal thought and limited research, nearly anyone considering the issue of theft illicit membership at our hypothetical gym would immediately and without hesitation reject ICE.  Such an implementation would be irresponsible, negligent, and downright dangerous.  I cannot imagine any rational climber at any climbing gym (hypothetical or not) would ever support such a reckless dodgy move in their community.

The thought of using ICE to stomp out theft at our gym is nearly unimaginable in any rational setting.  It’s like bringing a gun to put out a fire.  It just serves no purpose.

Unless it was never really about theft or illicit membership

This piece was interrupted on Saturday January 24, 2026 I can’t bring myself to complete it, none of the words seem to fit.  Alex Pretti was one of us, he was an outdoorsman, a hiker, a biker!