(calm jingle) (calm music) - [Cecil] When I'm climbing, it is 100% meditative for me.

I am completely calm and relaxed, I'm not like looking for an adrenaline rush or anything like that.

It's an emotional and physical puzzle, a puzzle that no two people are going to solve the same way.

(rhythmic music) (upbeat music) - If you're anything like me, that is terrified of heights, you've seen movies like "Free Solo" and thought to yourself, nope, never.

In addition to that, representations of rock climbers in the media tend to feature thin white men and women.

Cecil Sherwood is a Mexican American rock climber living in Washington who's committed to changing images of who a rock climber is.

Today, I'll be rock climbing and facing my fear of heights right here at Little Si on the traditional lands of the Snoqualmie people.

Hi.

- Cecil.

- So nice to meet you.

- Welcome to Little Si and the British Isles.

- Thank you.

This is, it's gonna be interesting.

- Are you ready?

- Let's do it.

- Let's do it.

(upbeat music) - How long have you been a guide and an adventurer?

- I've been adventuring in the outdoors pretty much my whole life and I grew up on a farm, very rural Minnesota, pretty poor.

I was the only person of color for I don't know how many miles, so the outdoors became a place where I could find some solitude and just enjoy being outside in nature alone.

First set of skis I ever bought when I was like 12 years old was at a rummage sale for like five bucks, and I taught myself how to ski.

And I taught myself how to cross-country ski and how to mountain bike.

Only thing I could do in the outdoors that was not the status quo for someone like myself or that was for more privileged people, I would find a way to get myself into that space.

Let's go with the helmet first.

- [Alison] Okay.

- Make sure you fit good, yep.

- Okay.

- Come under the chin, buckle it up.

Next thing is we're gonna put our harness on right there.

Grab onto that, yep, slide your legs right through the loops.

You're gonna bring the harness all the way up over your hips and then grab both sides of the buckles there and pull.

What we wanna be able to do is take our hand like a flat knife, slide it between the harness, make a fist, and you can't pull it out.

(calm music) - [Alison] When did you decide to start guiding and teaching other people?

- So I decided to become a guide two-three years ago.

Ledge, ledge, and then you can place like a black totem in a pocket over there.

Living in Colorado, I rock climbed a lot, and I saw there was still a lack of POC in the outdoors, there was a lot of obstacles, gear and equipment.

It was very expensive.

You generally can't find it hand-me-down or used or anything.

And then the knowledge and the resources to do it.

It's always been a little gatekeepy.

It can be very intimidating walking into a new environment like that, not knowing what's going to happen, how it's going to happen, the gear, the rock, is it safe?

I decided that I wanted to put myself in that space and give more of an opportunity for other people of color to enjoy the outside the way I did.

Do you want me to bring you up?

- [Alison] Yes.

- Okay, that's what we wanna do?

- [Alison] I have no preference on how it happens.

I just wanna be safe.

- Okay.

This is a top rope set up.

So it goes up there through an anchor, comes back down to this side.

The line you're actually gonna be climbing is right here with these steps and these big jugs up this cracky face.

Once you get up around that flat edge, you'll see the anchor and everything, that's where we're gonna call the top.

Follow through, going back up, up through the anchor, coming back down, here's the other side to me.

Gonna wrap.

(calm music) Perfect, first time, awesome.

Lots of chalk, don't be shy.

- [Alison] Okay.

- [Cecil] Get those toes in.

There you go.

- [Alison] Oh yeah.

- [Cecil] There you go.

We're confident in the system, the climb.

Come on, nice.

- Okay.

Climbing with you was so special because I had no idea whether I could do it, but you were so confident that I did it.

Where do you get that from, like where does that leadership and sense of confidence come from?

- I always felt that I've had good leadership and sense of confidence, because being a person of color in the outdoors and starting as early as I did in life, I would have a lot of times where I would feel like I had imposter syndrome, like I shouldn't be there because of the way I looked or where I was from or, you know, financially, I didn't have the money for new gear and things like that.

So I would just knew that I had to be confident no matter what and know that I deserve to be there and I belong there.

My proudest moment climbing is every time I take someone up a rock face, especially people of color that might feel very scared, out of place, and they get the look in their eye.

And every person that has that experience and I see that on that face, that makes me so proud because I know they will never forget that experience.

- Oh.

Oh my gosh.

It's always that last little part, although I'm not in the clear yet, ugh.

Oh gosh.

That wasn't elegant, but.

- Nice, good work.

- This is so cool up here.

Cecil, I did it.

- Awesome.

- [Alison] Now how do I get down?

- Oh, you wanna get down?

(Alison laughs) - [Alison] Yes.

- I'm gonna have you stand up on that ledge and turn around.

- There was three times that I said, "I'm done.

I have finished climbing.

This is it."

And you just said, "Take a pause or move your foot around."

You just weren't having it and not in a mean way.

You just were like, no, you're not.

- Wait, step down.

(calm music) Keep those legs nice and spread, yep.

There you go, nice.

Whenever someone wants to stop or to quit like that, it's normally not because they don't want to keep going or they don't think they can keep going or that they actually can't physically keep going.

No, shake it out.

You deserve to be here.

- [Alison] Ugh.

- There we go.

Good job.

Keep going, like I'm there with you, and we're going to finish it together.

And then what happened?

- Oh my God, I'm gonna cry, I finished it.

- You finished it, right?

- Now you're a climber.

(Alison laughs) I want to see more people of color in the outdoors, becoming instructors, becoming guides, becoming ski patrol.

- Thank you so much, that was so cool, and I would not have done it if it weren't for you.

- No, it was great to have you come out.

You absolutely crushed all those climbs.

That last one, way to push through and top it out.

It was good.

So good.

- Should we eat now?

- Yes.

- Finally.

- I'm starving.

- [Alison] Good.