"Here to Climb" -- Sasha DiGiulian Doc on HBO

Sometimes I eat the crow  

Not Not MP Admin wrote:

Pretty good synopsis of what happened. Though it should be emphasized the whole “private account” thing. 

It wasn’t a private account. I saw it before the whole thing blew up, thought it was a garden variety troll account that seemed everywhere at the time. 

But you raise a good point, albeit unintentionally—some people appear incapable of allowing others to learn from their mistakes and move forward, a rather unbecoming trait, wouldn’t you say?

If I get fired for harassing/bullying a colleague methinks HR won’t much care that I learned anything valuable. They’ll likely wish me luck on applying those lessons with a new employer.

People (including his sponsors) are entitled to their opinion about whether his actions towards her outweigh his route development achievements, and no one is putting him in jail for it. And as an aside, I’d imagine deciding to ridicule someone with a massive online following probably isn’t the best way to maintain your good name.

Per the rest of the discussion, I do think the history is valuable and I really enjoy reading about it. I also have a friend that climbs super hard that doesn’t know what or who the Stonemasters were. We all approach our hobbies differently! 

What is the story behind Vamos Las Chicas becoming Lynn Hill and Sacha DiGuilian’s route to bolt, send and name Queen Line?

As I recall three CO based climbers of local renown had applied for a permit to bolt that line.

That segment was one of the film’s high points, but left me wondering was the permit dropped and reassigned.

A person figured out how to make a living climbing.  She can't do it without doing self promotion, serious sponsorships, and weird stuff like this.  Just like everyone else she's said some dumb things and those things get amplified.  I'm speaking out of turn because I can't believe people would watch this hour long puff piece.  Can't hate her for trying to get paid while so many of us are paying to play. 

“Speak softly, but carry a big stick clip”

Patrick T wrote:

If I get fired for harassing/bullying a colleague methinks HR won’t much care that I learned anything valuable. They’ll likely wish me luck on applying those lessons with a new employer.

People (including his sponsors) are entitled to their opinion about whether his actions towards her outweigh his route development achievements, and no one is putting him in jail for it. And as an aside, I’d imagine deciding to ridicule someone with a massive online following probably isn’t the best way to maintain your good name.

Per the rest of the discussion, I do think the history is valuable and I really enjoy reading about it. I also have a friend that climbs super hard that doesn’t know what or who the Stonemasters were. We all approach our hobbies differently!

Spoilers, sponsors don’t give two shits about route development. You ever seen an actual route developer making money from sponsors?! His sponsors gave him enough to make a living because they deemed him as someone who got people to buy shit he was wearing. Did you even read about the whole Eddie Bauer climbing team debacle?! 

But to piggyback off of your HR comparison, let me genuinely ask this question/scenario; if your colleague is being harassed and doesn’t report anything to HR and then one day provides a meme from their colleague (whom everyone thinks that, at least superficially, they get along and share mutual friends) and that meme is making fun of their weight, what do you think HR’s reaction will be? I am not in in HR but I would think the individual who creates the meme doesn’t get immediately fired on the spot and lose all benefits from the company. I very well may be wrong and hope someone with actual HR experience chimes in but I would think that there would be a process involved. In many cases that person might not even lose their job when it’s all said and done. I think that’s the difference when we try and compare real world jobs and influencers like Sasha and Joe’s situation whose job/livelihood is largely dependent on the viewing public.

Sure, the point is well taken. There are a lot of reasons that a “real job” is a bad analogy for a sponsorship. One of which is probably that your sponsorship constantly hangs by the thinnest of threads if you’re at the margins, and there is no defined process for appeal or probation when getting cut loose (although I’d be happy to be corrected). The story of Nik Berry losing some of his because he wasn’t posting enough content comes to mind. Note that it was because he was too busy with his job in nursing…during a pandemic. However, I’d still advocate that not teasing someone for their weight in a sport with a well known history of disordered eating is by far the safer choice if you want companies to think others emulate your fashion choices.

Point of clarification: DiGiulian did reach out privately to Kinder at the time, but he kept going with the memes, according to reporting at the time: https://www.theinertia.com/news/pro-climber-joe-kinder-dropped-by-sponsors-for-cyber-bullying-sasha-digiulian/ Also, it was not a one-off, but a pattern of behavior that went on for years.

Nkane 1 wrote:

Point of clarification: DiGiulian did reach out privately to Kinder at the time, but he kept going with the memes, according to reporting at the time: https://www.theinertia.com/news/pro-climber-joe-kinder-dropped-by-sponsors-for-cyber-bullying-sasha-digiulian/ Also, it was not a one-off, but a pattern of behavior that went on for years.

Point of clarification: Kinders account made fun of numerous pros and “friends”. Sasha was not the only victim…though it does make you wonder why it took her 8 years of hanging out and maintaining a relationship with that dude for her to come forward…

I doubt I could make it through the first 10 minutes of this.  Based on her past media, hard pass.  I wonder if she is even one of the top 10 female climbers in Boulder these days.  

gumbotron wrote:

I doubt I could make it through the first 10 minutes of this.  Based on her past media, hard pass.  I wonder if she is even one of the top 10 female climbers in Boulder these days.  

She’s definitely not top 10, but she has a pink treadwall so who’s really number 1?!

Not Not MP Admin wrote:

Point of clarification: Kinders account made fun of numerous pros and “friends”. Sasha was not the only victim…though it does make you wonder why it took her 8 years of hanging out and maintaining a relationship with that dude for her to come forward…

I've heard rumblings there's bad blood between them because of Sasha's ex or something. It seemed oddly personal. 

Chris Ham wrote:

I've heard rumblings there's bad blood between them because of Sasha's ex or something. It seemed oddly personal. 

The meme that broke the camels back involved her ex iirc. In any regard, Sasha is smart and pounced at the right time to further herself while also decimating Joe. 

All of the drama associated with these ‘professional climbers’ really underscores how detached they seem to be from the core experience of climbing.

apogee wrote:

All of the drama associated with these ‘professional climbers’ really underscores how detached they seem to be from the core experience of climbing.

Thats probably because Sasha is more influencer than climber these days….

apogee wrote:

All of the drama associated with these ‘professional climbers’ really underscores how detached they seem to be from the core experience of climbing.

I mean there's absolutely zero fucking chance that anyone could ever agree on what the "core experience of climbing" even is

PWZ wrote:

I mean there's absolutely zero fucking chance that anyone could ever agree on what the "core experience of climbing" even is

IT IS LIVING IN A CAVE, CLIMBING EVERY DAY, AND FORSAKING ALL ELSE.  

PWZ wrote:

I mean there's absolutely zero fucking chance that anyone could ever agree on what the "core experience of climbing" even is

Whatever the hell it is, IG, influencers, and social media sure seem to contribute at least as much harm as good.

Is Sasha an evil-doer?