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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Nov 11, 2017 - 12:24pm PT
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Let’s be honest, eh? The dirty little secret that keeps a lot of guys in the guiding game is the hope of hooking up with Da Shugga Daddy! I only guided on the side. Then I ‘inherited’ my Shugga Daddy when my homie bought the farm. One Christmas Mr Shugga gave me a nice little present of ‘some’ shares in his company. We’re not talking 2 shares and his company wasn’t the espresso shack down at the strip mall. 😜
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AP
Trad climber
Calgary
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Nov 11, 2017 - 01:33pm PT
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There was the Canadian guide who led a prominent mutual fund guy. He got the guide set up in the financial biz.
The guide made millions.
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mikeyschaefer
climber
Sport-o-land
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Nov 11, 2017 - 04:04pm PT
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I’ve more or less made my living on climbing for the last 17 years. I’ve been involved in almost every aspect of the sport besides competition climbing. I started out working at the Mountain Shop in the Valley, moved on to working for YMS as a guide, then as a climbing photographer, as well as a sponsored athlete for Patagonia. I’ve been involved with marketing, field testing, designing, public speaking, rigging/rope access and even the talent in photoshoots (still hard to imagine why anyone wants photos of a short hairy dude…) I’d say my story as a professional climber is pretty similar to a lot of people in the industry, it has been pieced together. There might be some professional climbers that get paid solely to just go climbing but there are very very few of them. There are so few that I can’t actually think of any that just climb. If you are sponsored by any of the major brands part of your job is to be a marketing asset and a face for the brand. Some brands incorporate their athletes into the design and testing process and some don’t. As a Patagonia ambassador it is a big part of our job. It is usually awesome but occasionally we freeze our asses off in products that weren’t as warm as expected..
I definitely can’t comment on any specific incomes but there is a huge range. Most people start out with a simple product budget and then the occasional plane ticket. If you stick it out for long enough this might turn into a very small salary (think 5k or less). Eventually given enough time, energy, climbing talent, and charisma sponsorships can and do lead to six figure salaries. This is obviously the very top tear and probably only a handful of climbers. So basically there is everything between a free pair of shoes and enough money to buy a 2nd home somewhere nice.
Lots of people are quick to say that most pro climbers are trust funders, this just isn’t true. I do know a couple that are fortunate enough to have been left with some support from their parents but I know just as many non pro climbers that were left with nest eggs.
Personally I have been able to make it work over the years but am slowly trying to transition away from basing my income around climbing activities. I’ve always lived a pretty frugal life, living in my van for 12 years, eventually saving enough to buy a house in Central Oregon. I rent out the house and live in a small studio on the property though I still spend more time on the road in the van. I’ve got health insurance, a 401(K) and have made some small investments here and there.
Obviously my story is anecdotal and there are others that have had varying results.
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Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
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Nov 11, 2017 - 04:07pm PT
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Only a select few can afford rent....
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Bad Climber
Trad climber
The Lawless Border Regions
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 11, 2017 - 05:12pm PT
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Nice to hear you're making it, Mikey! Even some retirement stuff. You are way ahead of many of your peers even thinking about that stuff.
BAd
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limpingcrab
Trad climber
the middle of CA
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Nov 11, 2017 - 08:37pm PT
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Nov 11, 2017 - 09:04am PT
I don't understand the skateboarding thing - where's the money?
Skateboards are cheap, their clothing t-shirts.
Seems like a fringe sport with a few low tax bracket participants who generally live at home with their parents.
Skiing, motocross, video games, I get that - skateboards - no - fuk no...
X-games + do tour + tons of participants = advertising $$$$$$ (lots!)
Also, Mikey, you sound like you're wise and gonna be just fine. Sweet!
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SilverSnurfer
Mountain climber
SLC, UT.
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Nov 11, 2017 - 11:42pm PT
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The Twitch streaming service was started in 2011 and sold to Amazon in 2014 for 970 million dollars.
The top Twitch video game streamers are pulling up to high 6 figure incomes on subscriptions and ad revenue. At any given time these players can have upwards of 10k viewers online-and that's with no team play or travel required.
A player can start streaming their own channel for a few hundred bucks in equipment. I work with a lot of millenials in the tech world and my experience has been that their interest in viewing, or paying to view, traditional sports is very low.
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hamie
Social climber
Thekoots
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Nov 12, 2017 - 12:41am PT
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"No one's gettin' fat,
'cept Mama Cass"
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ryankelly
Trad climber
Bhumi
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Nov 12, 2017 - 10:05am PT
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My take on the corporations that profit off public land and young athletes is this:
return value to the land and to the people you leverage for your brand
Corporations (the dominant institutions of our time) are legally obligated to primarily return value to owners / share holders
(with B corporations being somewhat of an exception)
Bears Ears inspired some activism but the "corporate climbing world" mostly resembles the rest of sports industry = leverage talent for sales, then discard in favor of younger talent
"pro-climbers" are just another example America's disposable work force at play
Owners, share holders, decision makers: invest in the land and the people for the longterm
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JLP
Social climber
The internet
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Nov 12, 2017 - 11:46am PT
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The more important way to look at income is to ask how sustainable is it? What will life earnings look like?
What is the length of the pro climbers's career? With age and incoming talent, how long can you stay at the top? Whoa - I'm making 6 figures - buy a fancy car - 10 years later you're lucky to get a job spinning around a brass pole.
I've seen this pattern play out my whole career in every possible way - if you're not busy creating true economic value in some way, things will likely change for you soon enough, the economic forces will eventually play out.
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jgill
Boulder climber
The high prairie of southern Colorado
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Nov 12, 2017 - 12:43pm PT
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10 years later you're lucky to get a job spinning around a brass pole
Good point, but I'm having trouble visualizing Honnold with dollar bills in his undies.
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ryankelly
climber
Bhumi
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Nov 12, 2017 - 01:00pm PT
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@BJ
my idea of a compensated climber would be a "climber steward" position (similar to what happen in Yosemite by NPS) where they intentionally join the legacy of climbers advocating for the earth and for wild place like John Muir, David Brower, Yvon Chouinard, etc...
In some ways Patagonia's concept of a "Climbing Ambassador" approaches this but could be developed more fully
Anything to move away from the single minded focus on athletic achievement or Instagram likes
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Mike Honcho
Trad climber
Glenwood Springs, CO
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Nov 12, 2017 - 02:00pm PT
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These days, for my 'High Angle Rescue" services, my Wife and I get our airfare and hotel paid for a few times a year. All over the globe, but this is for BASE jumping and I'm also an EMT, though emergency medical services while you're hanging from a parachute on a cliff is not something I'm really doing.. just get to them, secure them, and deliver them to the real pros on the ground ASAP.
BITD, I made about 400bux per competition just as an appearance fee, If you did well it went up. Getting a picture in a magazine with a logo presented properly was also a sliding scale. TV or movie incentives didn't really play a factor unless you actually got on TV or a movie.
To be clear, I never have or never will consider myself a pro climber, just a regular yutz.
Caylor
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k-man
Gym climber
SCruz
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Nov 13, 2017 - 07:40am PT
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There's tons of professional musicians, but only a handful of rock stars. For the most part, professional climbers are happy to get gear, plane tickets to far-away places, any some spending cash for grub.
On the other end of the spectrum, the real rock stars get a bit more. I knew Sharma when he was at his peak (in terms of press). Man, I was jealous! That guy got flown to the most exotic places in the world and got paid handsomely on the side.
When you constantly put up the hardest routes in the world, you get to call some pretty good shots. When you're on the second rung of the climbing ladder, the wages are not so much monetary.
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nah000
climber
now/here
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Nov 13, 2017 - 08:02am PT
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yeah, thing about the size of the skateboarding “industry” is that i’d assume it’s not the hardware thats’s being sold that drives the profits.
guaranteed, it’s mostly the fashion [read especially shoes] that is consumed by a much wider segment of the population than those who actively skate.
think patagucci vs black diamond in the climbing world...
and so in that sense the highest paid skaters [and climbers as well] are more models who are athletes in regards to what they are actually being compensated for...
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WBraun
climber
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Nov 13, 2017 - 08:07am PT
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Yah all way too busy talking to be pros.
Now git to work ...... :-)
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Hubbard
climber
San Diego
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Nov 13, 2017 - 08:36am PT
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Tom Curren said it long ago that he wasn't so much of a pro surfer as a shoe and sunglasses salesman.
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c wilmot
climber
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Nov 13, 2017 - 11:03am PT
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Without the generous donations by the Royal Robbins company the valleys trails would be in rough shape.
Slightly OT- I used to go through skateboard decks faster than I would my shoes. It only takes one bad landing to break em in half. You can skate with a hole in your shoe- not so much with a broken deck
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Dave
Mountain climber
the ANTI-fresno
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Nov 13, 2017 - 01:00pm PT
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My wife is a wedding photographer, and after years in the industry she is giving up on it because it is so hard to make money - actually turn a profit. She made decent top-line revenue, but it worked out to like $4/hour after expenses and taxes.
The people who make money in photography are suppliers - those who sell to the photographers, or the top 0.1% who also educate the rest.
Why? The market is saturated by people who want to be photographers and who will underprice themselves and the market to get "in", the public doesn't know the difference (and doesn't care) so the only ones hurt are those who make quality product.
Climbing is somewhat similar - every young hotshot wants to make a "career" climbing, whether guiding or with sponsors, or whatever. So unless you happen to be Sharma or Alex Honnold or Peter Croft (i.e. the top 0.1 or 0.01%), you are not going to actually make a career out of climbing.
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rwedgee
Ice climber
CA
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Nov 13, 2017 - 03:02pm PT
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Much better to be a Jackass;
Johnny Knoxville has a total net worth of $75 million
Bam Margera's net worth at approximately $45 million
Wee Man net worth $12 million
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