Liz George was at her local gym in听Michigan听in June when she saw something deeply off-putting. One of the holds on a top-rope route she was climbing was shaped like the听 (a monk who attained enlightenment after the original Gautama Buddha, also known as Budai and Hotei). The hold was set in a place where both grabbing it and stepping on it would assist a climber on their way to the top of the wall.听George, a climber of Indian descent who grew up Christian and doesn鈥檛 鈥減articularly follow any religion anymore,鈥澨齛voided the Budai hold, which made the route more difficult. 鈥淚f there was a crucifix up, it would be weird,鈥澨齭he says. 鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 step on anything that鈥檚 sacred to anyone.鈥
While Budai is typically depicted wearing or holding prayer beads, the climbing hold鈥檚 necklace included an unusual addition: an logo. On the climbing hold company鈥檚 website, George found that the hold was available for $63. A description from the company read,听鈥淥mmmmm? What more can we say? The archetypal image of amazing eGrips artistry is perhaps the most recognized theme hold among fine routesetters.鈥 The Buddha hold has been made since 2003 and was听part of a 鈥淐haracters鈥 series, which includes sea monsters, fictional character Mr. Smiles, and jungle animals. There are no Christian or other religious characters on sale.
George saw the hold as emblematic of the callousness of white climbing culture. 鈥淭o be honest, it鈥檚 been a lot of things adding up at the gym and in the climbing community where I keep staying quiet because I don鈥檛 want to be the person to upset people,鈥 George says. 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 gotten to a point where it鈥檚 just so frustrating. So I reached out to eGrips.鈥
She found the company鈥檚 response equally troubling. George shared her concerns with eGrips over a phone call. Soon after, she received an email from a company representative saying the hold was a comment on the calm people feel in climbing听and was not outside the realm of common use for the image: 鈥淲e feel it is appropriate and respectful to sell this hold.鈥
Klinke is not Buddhist, although he says he has a deep respect for the religion, which he formed during mountaineering trips in the Himalayas.
George was not convinced by the response, which she said felt like a hollow excuse. She wrote back: 鈥淢y main point is that eGrips and other American/Western companies should not find it appropriate to sell something just because someone before them commodified and misappropriated a culture outside of their own.鈥听She took to social media after emailing back and forth with the company. Addressing people of color in the climbing community, George wrote,听鈥淗ow do you feel about stepping on Buddha?鈥 As her posts spread, other climbers deluged eGrips with complaints. The company eventually discontinued the hold, but the process left a bad impression with many climbers of color. Catherine Tao, a rock climber and mountaineer,听was visiting her ailing grandmother in Taiwan when she saw posts about the hold on Instagram. 鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 surprising, but I guess it was extra insulting given the circumstances of where I was. My grandmother鈥檚 Buddhism was a big part of her life,鈥 Tao says. 鈥淚 had just finished praying at a Buddhist altar听and turned on my phone and saw this, and I鈥檓 like, 鈥楢h, that sucks.鈥欌
George was confused by the company鈥檚 defensiveness about a hold she doubts was a top seller. , president of eGrips, confirms it was not. When I asked him if he saw how the hold could be off-putting to Buddhists, he responded, 鈥淵ou鈥檙e assuming my religion isn鈥檛 Buddhism.鈥 Klinke is not Buddhist, although he says he has a deep respect for the religion, which he听formed during mountaineering trips in the Himalayas.听Klinke says the person who designed the hold听had been practicing Buddhism in Boulder, Colorado, for 鈥渟everal years鈥 when he created it.
鈥淚t was a hold that people treated with respect and reverence,鈥 says Klinke, citing conversations with gym owners and setters. 鈥淢ost people, most gyms, and, again, I can鈥檛 say it was everybody, have treated the Laughing Buddha as a finish hold or put it as a blessing on the wall.鈥
George says the root of the issue is the commodification and appropriation of Buddhism听and how it impacts people from cultures for whom Buddhism is a central part of life and tradition. She doesn鈥檛 buy the hold鈥檚 spiritual intent.
Klinke says the company鈥檚 response was appropriate听and that he wasn鈥檛 aware of George鈥檚 complaint until after the company鈥檚 first response. He says the first representative was acting out of the limits of his authority in his response to George.听鈥淭he concern was raised.听It was raised by multiple people within a short span of time,鈥 he says. 鈥淲e鈥檝e listened. It took a week. I don鈥檛 think that鈥檚 a long time to make a decision on anything.鈥 George maintains that from what she could see, an eGrips employee initially said they would keep producing the hold, and the company changed its position only after pressure increased.
George maintains that from what she could see, an eGrips employee initially said they would keep producing the hold, and the company changed its position only after pressure increased.
The appropriation of Eastern religions is a common trend in the West. Tao says it鈥檚 common to see pieces of Buddhism taken out of context and used to sell products. Many companies sell T-shirts featuring an image of Budai along with a catchphrase like 鈥渄on鈥檛 be a dick鈥 or 鈥渓et that shit go.鈥 The elephant-headed Hindu god Ganesh has been used to market听,听, and听.
George and Tao say they have a complicated relationship with the climbing community. 鈥淚t feels really painful to love a sport where not all of the corners of it are safe,鈥 Tao says. The climbing gym is where George most feels at home, so it feels doubly painful when she hears something racist听or is slighted because she鈥檚 Indian. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a community that I鈥檓 willing to fight for,听because it has given me a sense of home, and I know that it can be better,鈥 she says. George notes that her local gym took the hold down after she raised her concerns.
George sees removing the Buddha hold from eGrips as one way to make the community a better place for climbers of color. While Tao is happy they鈥檝e taken the hold down, she wants to see more.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 a great first step, but I think that if that鈥檚 the only step, that鈥檚 kind of a cowardly step. I want them to make a public statement that includes an apology but also explains why they took it down,鈥 Tao says.听(Klinke says that after the negative outcry, the company decided making a statement wasn鈥檛 in the best interest of its employees.) 鈥淚 also want them to send some kind of other statement out to gyms that have purchased this hold and to tell them not to use it. Without that, it just gets swept under the rug.鈥
Lead photo: Stocksy/Jovana Milanko/Art by Petra Zeiler