Climbing ropes are super strong, but the nylon they're made of degrades over time. Since your life depends on them as part of the sport, ropes eventually need to be retired, every 10 years at a minimum and every year if they're used frequently.
But that doesn't mean they have to go to a landfill. While some old ropes end up as rugs or art pieces, the Teton Climbers Coalition (TCC) is passing the material along to Indigenous-led projects focused on land stewardship and conservation.
As TCC Executive Director Christian Beckwith explained, the recently-launched Re-Roping Project gives old ropes a new purpose while also building connections across communities.
" We all retire our gear out of necessity and the idea of throwing away ropes seems so wasteful, especially when we know that they still have use, even if it's not for climbing," he said.
There's now a 30-gallon bucket set up at the climbing gym in the Teton County Recreation Center for folks to drop off used ropes, slings and other nylon gear. The gym has around 50 roped climbing routes and is starting to pass some of its own retired ropes to the program.
TCC has been collecting ropes since February and just shared a load with Indigenous Led, which supports Native conservation efforts, traditional knowledge and cultural practices. The group is going to use the ropes to hold down teepees in desert windstorms, according to Beckwith.
The next set of ropes is heading to the Wind River Tribal Buffalo Initiative, which has worked to restore over 100 bison to the Wind River Reservation and is also focused on community revitalization and youth education.
Eastern Shoshone tribal member Jason Baldes is the initiative's executive director. He's working on building a youth leadership horse-packing program and said the ropes will be recycled as lead ropes and pack ropes for those trips.
"I spent a good share of my childhood on horseback in the wilderness with my biologist father," said Baldes. "It was very formative, and is important for our own tribal youth to have similar experiences to understand what we are working to protect."
Some climbing ropes can be as long as 260 feet and typically cost a couple hundred dollars. According to Baldes, the recycled ropes will save the initiative hundreds to even thousands of dollars in horse equipment.
"Partnering with other organizations is an important way to raise awareness for our collective efforts, especially if they align to restore, protect and care for the land, people and animals we work with," he said.
Beckwith called the project a "win-win" and sees a lot of opportunity for this model to be expanded or replicated on a more national level.
"This is a program that has scalability," he said. "It could serve as a bridge between climbers and communities and tribes throughout the country."
For now, TCC is working on a partnership with Shoshone and Arapaho Fish and Game for a future load of ropes. The coalition is also talking to local guiding companies, Teton County Search and Rescue, and the Jenny Lake Rangers about ways to recycle more roping going forward.
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