FEATURE: LGBTQ-plus rock climbing club Queer Ascents provides community and promotes accessibility 

Editor’s note: Queer Ascents is made up of people who are close friends with the author.

Cricket Pihl spent a lot of their time growing up climbing on everything they could find; eventually, they started rock climbing in 2019 when they moved to Washington state and got a job at a local rock climbing gym. 

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• PHOTO COURTESY OF JESSE CABACUNGAN
• PHOTO COURTESY OF JESSE CABACUNGAN

“I just fell in love with the movement, the community of it. Everything about it was so good,” said Pihl, who uses they/them pronouns. “It’s the most inclusive and enthusiastic sport I feel like I’ve ever done.” 

In September 2023, Pihl moved from Washington state to SLO and immediately found social media accounts for The Pad, SLO’s climbing gym, but it took them about a month to decide to climb again, they said. 

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• PHOTO COURTESY OF JESSE CABACUNGAN
• Queer Ascents Fundraiser and Event Coordinator Leah Smith belays a fellow climber during a meet-up at Bishop Peak.

“I kept putting it off because I didn’t know anyone, and I never loved climbing by myself because it feels more like a workout, and it’s like the community isn’t there necessarily,” Pihl said. 

At the four-week period, Pihl saw a post on The Pad’s Instagram feed that advertised Queer Ascents: a SLO-based rock climbing club for the LGBTQ-plus community that hosts indoor and outdoor meet-ups on a regular basis to allow people to rock climb with fellow LGBTQ-plus climbers.

Pihl went out to Morro Bay’s Cerro Cabrillo for an outdoor Queer Ascents meet-up, where they met Mackenzie Shuman and Jesse Cabacungan, the founder and current president and treasurer of Queer Ascents, respectively. 

“And then I started hanging out with you guys more,” Pihl said to his fellow Queer Ascents climbers during a conversation on May 22. “Everyone would always say that it felt like I’d always been here. … But I also think that’s because we all climb, which makes it easy.” 

Pihl volunteered to make posters for Queer Ascents after the meet-up and became more involved over time. Now, they serve as the marketing coordinator where they run Queer Ascents social media accounts and help fellow board members with tabling at local events and planning meet-ups at The Pad and SLO’s outdoor climbing spots. 

“I think here, too, specifically, … it feels like a very small community for queer people,” Pihl said. “At our last meet-up, [someone] came, put their stuff down, and the first thing they went into was just the things they were struggling with at home and with their family and gender. It was like the climbing was so secondary to being able to have that conversation, and that’s very powerful.” 

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• PHOTO COURTESY OF JESSE CABACUNGAN
• Mackenzie Shuman, Queer Ascents founder, on her way down from a climb at Bishop Peak.

Alongside providing LGBTQ-plus people a community space, Queer Ascents works to break down any barriers that first-time climbers face when wanting to try the sport by having free gear people can borrow, covering day pass costs, and providing a discount for memberships at The Pad. 

“The way I wanted to structure it was very much to show that Queer Ascents was for all levels of climbers—it doesn’t matter if you’ve never climbed before or are super experienced and climbed the biggest mountains. Whoever can and wants to join can join,” said Shuman, Queer Ascents’ founder. “It’s very much a sport where if you have that little community, it makes it more enjoyable. We provided that space for people to find a community—going to a set place, a set time where they know there’s going to be queer climbers.” 

Shuman launched Queer Ascents after she couldn’t find a rock climbing club to join, she said.

“I particularly wanted to make it queer because I am queer and it’s really important to have that community around me,” Shuman said. “They make me feel safe, loved, and supported, especially in an area like SLO where it’s not always easy to be safe and loved as a queer person.” 

SLO County has few dedicated LGBTQ-plus spaces and offers minimal events curated to LGBTQ-plus people. If there are events, they can often be affiliated with nightlife, said Cabacungan, Queer Ascents current president and treasurer.

“When you think [of] queer culture, [the] majority of people will be like, ‘Oh dancing, clubbing, you know that type of lifestyle,’” Cabacungan said. “She [Shuman] kind of wanted to show that, ‘No we aren’t only found in those spaces.’”

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• PHOTO COURTESY OF JESSE CABACUNGAN
• Queer Ascents hosts a meet-up at Cerro Cabrillo.

Shuman added that she wanted this club to help break down stereotypes of queer people.

“We can be athletes, drag queens, students, we can be whoever we want to be,” Shuman said. “Queer Ascents shows people that queer people are rock climbers.” 

Shuman said she started the groundwork for Queer Ascents by creating social media pages and a website and had a logo designed by a friend. She met with the owner of The Pad, who said they’d be willing to support the organization and provide a space for meet-ups, she said. After ticking the initial boxes, Queer Ascents launched in June 2023 with its first meet-up at Bishop Peak—and about 15 people showed up, with several people Shuman had never seen before, she said. 

Queer Ascents continued hosting meet-ups each month, where Shuman said she saw familiar faces and new ones. The group also held a few fundraisers to help raise money to buy gear and cover day pass fees at The Pad. 

“It’s really incredible. It’s also something I didn’t know would stick. I expected it to be really small, like one or two of my friends. To see several people show up—and as each meet-up happened, we had this little family start growing—it was really cool,” Shuman said. “People came up to me after meet-ups saying, ‘I’ve never interacted with LGBTQ people outside of a party, drag show, or bar.’ … People liked it and we never got any hate whatsoever, which was cool.” 

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As Queer Ascents gained momentum, Shuman got a new job in New York and had to relocate in April 2024, she said. 

“I was really nervous about moving away—that nobody was going to take over and [Queer Ascents] would die as this passion project that I started,” Shuman said. “When I told people that I was moving, the first thing they asked was, ‘What’s going to happen with Queer Ascents?’” 

Once Shuman accepted the job and moved to New York, the organization established a board of directors to delegate the work—making it an easier transition to continue planning meet-ups and events. 

“It was really hard to let it go, step back and step away from it. I think the thing that comforted me and convinced me that it would be OK was that several people stepped up to the plate and [said], ‘We are going to help you and take this thing over for you,’” Shuman said. 

Alongside Pihl and Cabacungan, Leah Smith, Bec Fouts, and Levi Stafford continue Queer Ascents’ mission with the hope of bringing more of the LGBTQ-plus community together, taking more trips to nearby outdoor rock climbing spots, and encouraging more people to try a new sport. 

“I still really miss it. … I wish I could be there, but to see it so successful makes me so happy to see something I created can continue in the world without me,” Shuman said. “It’s really cool and really awesome to see it continue, and I know it’s in good hands; that’s the best part.”