{"id":61095,"date":"2021-08-02T17:15:00","date_gmt":"2021-08-02T15:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpinemag.com\/?p=61095"},"modified":"2024-10-02T10:07:46","modified_gmt":"2024-10-02T08:07:46","slug":"going-towards-green","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alpinemag.com\/going-towards-green\/","title":{"rendered":"Going towards green"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_margin=”||||false|false” custom_padding=”0px||7px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.24.2″ header_font=”|on|||” text_orientation=”center” module_alignment=”center” header_font_size_tablet=”” header_font_size_phone=”16px” header_font_size_last_edited=”on|desktop” header_2_font_size_tablet=”” header_2_font_size_phone=”20px” header_2_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” global_colors_info=”{}” header_2_line_height=”1.2em” text_orientation_tablet=”center” text_orientation_phone=”left” text_orientation_last_edited=”on|desktop”]

French climber Caroline Ciavaldini shares her thoughts on travel (and airplanes). While she loves these experiences and meeting a lot of different people, even beyond climbing, they also pose a problem for the environment. Caroline and James ask themselves: Why do climbers travel so much? And what’s the solution… stop travelling all together?<\/strong><\/h2>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_margin=”||||false|false” custom_padding=”4px||3px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ max_width=”800px” use_custom_width=”on” custom_width_px=”800px” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.24.2″ text_font_size=”18px” global_colors_info=”{}”]

J<\/span>apan, USA, Chile, Morocco, China, and Tasmania; the more little flags we add on our world map, the more gaps we notice in between.\u00a0<\/span>James and I began travelling because there were climbing destinations we wanted to discover: Ha-Long bay, Rocklands, Indian Creek\u2026 <\/span>Climbing is a sport that makes you travel, and from your very first travelling experiences, you keep wanting more and more. Climbing often begins as a sport, or a hobby, but it soon becomes a way of life, and every 3-day week-end begins with a map and a travel.<\/span><\/p>\n

Why do climbers travel so much? Because every crag is different: from the rock and the style, to the people you\u2019ll meet along the way.<\/span><\/p>\n

You love the sport, the opportunity to get out there, to try your hardest, to learn. Climbing changes you. It changes the way you know yourself.\u00a0 You learn that you are capable of trying hard, fighting fear, and passing boundaries.\u00a0 You learn that you can handle difficult situations, and you start re-define things that seemed so clear and certain before.<\/span><\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ _builder_version=”4.16″ max_width=”1200px” use_custom_width=”on” custom_width_px=”800px” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/alpinemag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/08\/DSC1112.jpeg” title_text=”_DSC1112″ show_in_lightbox=”on” show_bottom_space=”off” align=”center” _builder_version=”4.24.2″ width=”100%” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.24.2″ text_font=”Merriweather|900|||||||” text_font_size=”16″ custom_margin=”||||false|false” border_style=”solid” saved_tabs=”all” global_colors_info=”{}”]

\u00a9Coll. Ciavaldini\/Pearson<\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/alpinemag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/08\/cp6d.VoiePetit_CruxPitch_Caro0263-scaled.jpg” title_text=”cp6d.VoiePetit_CruxPitch_Caro(0263)” show_in_lightbox=”on” show_bottom_space=”off” align=”center” _builder_version=”4.24.2″ width=”100%” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.24.2″ text_font=”Merriweather|900|||||||” text_font_size=”16″ custom_margin=”||||false|false” border_style=”solid” saved_tabs=”all” global_colors_info=”{}”]

\u00a9Coll. Ciavaldini\/Pearson<\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_margin=”-1px|auto||auto||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_testimonial quote_icon_color=”#000000″ quote_icon_background_color=”#ffffff” _builder_version=”4.16″ body_font=”Oswald|700||on|||||” body_text_align=”center” body_text_color=”#000000″ body_font_size=”30″ use_background_color=”off” custom_margin=”||||false|false” saved_tabs=”all” global_colors_info=”{}”]

James and I travel for the rock, but also for the place.
We travel for the projects, but also for the rest days.
<\/strong><\/p>\n[\/et_pb_testimonial][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ max_width=”800px” custom_margin=”||||false|false” custom_padding=”0|0px||0px|false|false” use_custom_width=”on” custom_width_px=”800″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.24.2″ text_font_size=”18px” global_colors_info=”{}”]

Little by little, the things around the climbing become more and more important: Coffee in the morning or the after-climbing beer, the community you get to meet, the stories you hear. You hear of adventures in far away lands, and before you know it you\u2019re waking up in Antalya, Kalymnos, or maybe Bangkok!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

You become friends with climbers from Turkey, climbers just like you.\u00a0 One day you meet them again somewhere out there, or perhaps you invite them to visit you and discover your home\u2026 Your world opens up, and it gets bigger, yet smaller at the same time. Being climbers makes our connection obvious, but that connection is just one of many that we share\u2026 first and foremost, despite creed or colour, we\u2019re all human after-all.<\/span><\/p>\n

James and I travel for the rock, but also for the place. We travel for the projects, but also for the rest days. We travel for the friends we will make, and the strange, surprising things they will show us along the way. A real Turkish hamam, women in flowery trousers selling pomegranate juice at a market behind Istanbul, the desert landscape behind the cracks of Indian creek, the delicious and spicy Thai soups that never taste the same in Europe. We have a myriad of random memories that have nothing, and everything to do with climbing.<\/span><\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_margin=”||||false|false” custom_margin_tablet=”” custom_margin_phone=”” custom_margin_last_edited=”on|desktop” custom_padding=”4px||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_testimonial quote_icon_color=”#000000″ quote_icon_background_color=”#ffffff” _builder_version=”4.16″ body_font=”Oswald|700||on|||||” body_text_align=”center” body_text_color=”#000000″ body_font_size=”30″ use_background_color=”off” custom_margin=”||||false|false” saved_tabs=”all” global_colors_info=”{}”]

our luck to be born in the EU is unquantifiable<\/p>\n[\/et_pb_testimonial][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ max_width=”800px” custom_margin=”24px|auto||auto||” custom_padding=”0|0px|22.796875px|0px|false|false” use_custom_width=”on” custom_width_px=”800″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.24.2″ text_font_size=”18px” global_colors_info=”{}”]

We have discovered a world most people only know through their TV, and the reality has little to do with the distant, detached information you see on a screen.\u00a0 It is one thing to know that the Philippines is a 3<\/span>rd<\/span> world country, it is another one to go there and live with the locals, to realize the struggle people live everyday, and that your new friends dream of travelling just like you do, but for them, most likely they will always remain dreams.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Our luck to be born in the EU is unquantifiable, and with it we have the financial and political freedom to travel the world. Sure, we can find plenty of things to moan about at home, but the reality is we can trust in our judicial, educational and health care services, and in general if we\u2019re in trouble we wont be left to die in the street – not something that can be said for everyone, everywhere.<\/span><\/p>\n

Whilst these are all things we \u201cknew\u201d before, we didn\u2019t really \u201cknow\u201d them until we travelled. There\u2019s something about sitting down face to face with someone and hearing these things first hand that makes them real. Perhaps it\u2019s the emotion behind the words, the eye contact or the body language.\u00a0 Communication and compassion are intertwined.<\/span><\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ max_width=”1200px” use_custom_width=”on” custom_width_px=”800px” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/alpinemag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/08\/philippines_0960.jpeg” title_text=”philippines_0960″ show_in_lightbox=”on” show_bottom_space=”off” align=”center” _builder_version=”4.24.2″ width=”100%” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.24.2″ text_font=”Merriweather|900|||||||” text_font_size=”16″ custom_margin=”||||false|false” border_style=”solid” saved_tabs=”all” global_colors_info=”{}”]

James Pearon in the Philippines. \u00a9Francisco Taranto JR.<\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_testimonial quote_icon_color=”#000000″ quote_icon_background_color=”#ffffff” _builder_version=”4.16″ body_font=”Oswald|700||on|||||” body_text_align=”center” body_text_color=”#000000″ body_font_size=”30″ use_background_color=”off” custom_margin=”||||false|false” saved_tabs=”all” global_colors_info=”{}”]

Climbing makes travelling easy!
To this day I can\u2019t say I\u2019ve ever had a bad experience
when reaching out to a local climber for help or advice<\/strong><\/p>\n[\/et_pb_testimonial][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ max_width=”800px” custom_margin=”12px|auto||auto||” custom_padding=”0|0px|22.796875px|0px|false|false” use_custom_width=”on” custom_width_px=”800″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.24.2″ text_font_size=”18px” global_colors_info=”{}”]

It seems quite ironic to be writing an article on the subject of how reading about something doesn\u2019t quite cut it, yet here I am, doing it anyway.\u00a0 Perhaps I\u2019m lying to myself, and this is only an excuse to put words on paper, but I like to believe it\u2019s with the genuine hope of planting a seed that might one day have the chance to grow.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Climbing makes travelling easy! To this day I can\u2019t say I\u2019ve ever had a bad experience when reaching out to a local climber for help or advice. We might have only a few words in common, but something connects us deeper than that, and somehow it always works out.\u00a0 If I had to give one piece of advice to anyone anywhere, it would be to get out and see the world. I mean really see it. Not from some hotel room or all inclusive resort, but from the eyes of the people who call that place home, for it is only when you understand their lives that you will understand them.<\/span><\/p>\n

Never has it been easier or cheaper to hop on a plane, and with 24 hours of travel there are few places on this planet one couldn\u2019t be. What an opportunity we all have to get out there and explore, to open our minds, question our pre-conceptions, and perhaps even shift our brains into a different gear. \u00a0So what are we waiting for\u2026 lets get out there and rack up those air miles!\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ use_custom_gutter=”on” gutter_width=”2″ _builder_version=”4.16″ width=”100%” max_width=”1200px” use_custom_width=”on” custom_width_px=”800px” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/alpinemag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/08\/philippines_1351.jpeg” title_text=”philippines_1351″ show_in_lightbox=”on” show_bottom_space=”off” align=”center” force_fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”4.24.2″ global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.24.2″ text_font=”Merriweather|900|||||||” text_font_size=”16″ custom_margin=”||||false|false” border_style=”solid” saved_tabs=”all” global_colors_info=”{}”]

James Pearson in the Philippines. \u00a9Francisco Taranto JR.<\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.24.2″ text_font_size=”18px” global_colors_info=”{}”]

Sadly, like most situations, traveling is not always rosy, and the ugly downsides are becoming harder than ever to ignore. 10 years ago global warming was only a vague threat, an other subject. Or at least one we didn\u2019t worry about too much, didn\u2019t feel too guilty about. It just didn\u2019t seem that \u201cbad\u201d to take a plane.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet we can no longer ignore the signs of damage, as anyone who spends time in the mountains can see the results of global warming first hand.\u00a0 I can no longer take a plane without feeling guilty, visualizing all that diesel burning because of me.<\/span><\/p>\n

5 years of biology studies leave me in no doubt. Global warming isn\u2019t just a theory, and even if it\u2019s easier to moan at the industries that pollute way more than individuals, we can all make efforts, big and small. I know there are many ideas out there, and that a climbing magazine is not the right place for a scientific debate, but things are changing faster than species can evolve, fact, and if we want our children and grandchildren to enjoy the same beautiful planet that we have, we need to move our ass!<\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_testimonial quote_icon_color=”#000000″ quote_icon_background_color=”#ffffff” _builder_version=”4.16″ body_font=”Oswald|700||on|||||” body_text_align=”center” body_text_color=”#000000″ body_font_size=”30″ use_background_color=”off” custom_margin=”82px||||false|false” saved_tabs=”all” global_colors_info=”{}”]

things are changing faster
than species can evolve\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n[\/et_pb_testimonial][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ max_width=”800px” custom_margin=”4px|auto||auto||” custom_padding=”0|0px|22.796875px|0px|false|false” use_custom_width=”on” custom_width_px=”800″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.24.2″ text_font_size=”18px” global_colors_info=”{}”]

For the last few years James and I have been off-setting all our carbon from our climbing trips by planting trees through a company called Mossy Earth, and together with the sustainability department at The North Face<\/em>, we helped them come up with a calculator to offset the carbon footprint of all The North Face\u2019s athlete run expeditions. It\u2019s a step in the right direction and (provided you trust the organization providing the service) brings a lot of good, on many different levels, but ultimately remains a fix to damage already done.<\/span><\/p>\n

So what\u2019s the answer\u2026 stop travelling all together?\u00a0<\/span>As professional athletes with a large part of our careers based on exploration, travelling is an integral part of our jobs.\u00a0 It would be professionally very complicated for us to stop travelling, and even if it wasn\u2019t, for all the reasons listed in the beginning of this piece, I don\u2019t think it\u2019s something I\u2019d like to do.\u00a0 We\u2019re back to irony here, but without travelling I\u2019m not sure I\u2019d be so aware that this world of ours was worth fighting for.<\/span><\/p>\n

We thought long and hard about this over the last year or so, about if there was a solution, and what exactly we\u2019d be prepared to do. The more we looked into things the more we were surprised how many options and possibilities there were, and how many different solutions to the same problem there seemed to be. Technology in this area is moving fast and solutions are becoming more viable and accessible by the day, yet at the same time on closer inspection they often bring with them other problems<\/span><\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_testimonial quote_icon_color=”#000000″ quote_icon_background_color=”#ffffff” _builder_version=”4.16″ body_font=”Oswald|700||on|||||” body_text_align=”center” body_text_color=”#000000″ body_font_size=”30″ use_background_color=”off” custom_margin=”||||false|false” saved_tabs=”all” global_colors_info=”{}”]

we knew we wanted to continue travelling,
but where the option presented itself,
perhaps consider doing things in a different way<\/p>\n[\/et_pb_testimonial][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ max_width=”800px” custom_margin=”5px|auto||auto||” custom_padding=”0|0px|22.796875px|0px|false|false” use_custom_width=”on” custom_width_px=”800″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.24.2″ text_font_size=”18px” global_colors_info=”{}”]

We knew we wanted to continue travelling, but where the option presented itself, perhaps consider doing things in a different way. Sometimes we felt like we\u2019re going around in circles, and when we though we were close to a solution, we were actually only discovering a whole new set of questions! At the end of the day, we realized that (for the moment) there is no right or wrong, only educated compromise.\u00a0 Living and breathing by its very essence creates CO2,\u00a0 and all we can do is to try to be aware of the problems and solutions and try to do things in a slightly better way than we would have before.<\/span><\/p>\n

To summarise in a few words, here\u2019s a few sentences shamelessly stolen from Matt Davies, one of the founders of Mossy Earth:<\/span><\/p>\n

We are of the firm belief that travel can unlock the key to world peace, breaking down that ‘them’ and ‘us’ attitude. We hope that one day, all transports will be cleaner and that carbon offsetting will be a thing of the past.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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