Episode #16- Paul Guarino & Hilary Harris

The Climbing Advocate

This month’s episode features two advocates from the indoor climbing world, Paul Guarino and Hilary Harris. Both Paul and Hilary are founders of their indoor facilities, Paul with Ascend Pittsburgh and Hilary with Evo Rock + Fitness gyms. In addition to their entrepreneurial spirit, Paul and Hilary sit on the boards of directors for the Southwestern Pennsylvania Climbers Coalition and Access Fund, respectively. We run through what their motivations were for starting their gyms, their takeaways from Access Fund’s latest educational campaign, and the role of indoor facilities in relation to climbing advocacy. Both of them are moving the needle in the right direction and highlight the opportunities gyms have to educate and communicate effective messaging around this topic. Enjoy! Ascend Pittsburgh: https://www.ascendclimbing.com/ Evo rock gyms: https://www.evorock.com/ Southwestern Pennsylvania Climbers Coalition: http://www.swpacc.org/ Access Fund's inside education campaign: https://www.accessfund.org/news-and-events/news/access-fund-challenges-indoor-climbing-gyms-with-new-insideout-education