Colour Up

Words by Carlos Casas Pictures by Lena Drapella and Colour Up A couple of years ago, my friend asked me to join her for an indoor climbing session. It was the first time in my life that I came into contact with this sport, and it made me believe in love at first sight. I was immediately hooked by how fun it was, incredibly challenging but equally rewarding. I even enjoyed the super tight shoes and the unbearable pain in my forearms the next day. Who knew that grabbing onto pieces of plastic to go up a wall could be this good? I wish this was just a short and happy story, but as any person from a global majority or mixed race background, I started to see things from a race perspective: my fellow climbers were all friendly and helpful, but they all looked the same, and they didn’t look like me! After doing a bit of research (mostly to prove myself that I wasn’t overreacting), I found out that climbing in all of its variants, as most outdoor-related sports, suffers from a major problem of underrepresentation. After mulling it over for a few months, I dragged my best friends along into setting up a climbing club for those who, well, look like us. Colour Up was born, as a sports/social group to increase diversity in this niche activity, and a way for us to climb with like-minded peeps.

Going Up

We teamed up with our local wall, Flashpoint, and started working together to knock down barriers between non-white population and climbing. Through our meet-ups and our social media we do our best to educate about the issues around us, and offer a welcoming space for those who might find a climbing wall a bit daunting, especially when you might be the only person of colour in there! We’re still taking our first steps and learning every single day, so please read this piece as an open invitation: if you want to be a part of our group or think you might be helpful/need our help, we’re here with open arms. No matter what your background or your skin colour is, this is a place for everyone that shares our goal of making the climbing/outdoor community more diverse, and therefore safer and more welcoming. If you want to know more about us, or join us when our meet-ups are back (Tier 2 we’re looking at you!), find us on Facebook and Instagram as Colour Up Bristol.