“The climbing culture is rich and deep with history [...] There aren’t too many activities that have such a sense of belonging like rock climbing.”
These are Phillip Stone’s thoughts while reflecting on what rock climbing and mountaineering has provided him.
Since Stone is so involved with community building and publishing, it should come as no surprise that he, with the help of Anthonie PJ and Tak Ogasawara, has been actively developing routes on Chinese Mountain on Quadra Island for the public to utilize for recreational climbing/hiking, educational purposes and tourist attractions.
Stone will be hosting a weekend outdoor adventure/climbing event on the weekend of June 4 and 5 on Chinese Mountain “to celebrate West Coast climbing.” Attendees will have access to more than 150 established routes with a wide range of difficulty, from easy to challenging.
Stone has been climbing on and off since he was 12 years old, introduced to the sport by his father’s side of the family while he was still living in Europe.
Little did his family know the implications of introducing Stone to climbing and outdoors culture would have on the Campbell River and Quadra Island climbing community and on tourism accessibility to the outdoors.
Stone has written and published multiple guidebooks, such as Island Alpine and Coastal Hikes.
Having grown up in Europe where the outdoors tourism and guidebooks are readily available, he was shocked at “how far behind the West Coast [was]” in comparison.
Stone has always been passionate about photography and adventure and has a knack for publishing.
He saw the guidebook situation on the West Coast as a great opportunity for him to pursue something that he enjoys while “providing people with info to explore and make [a] livelihood.”
Overall, Stone has been an asset in providing tourists the information they need to be able to properly appreciate and understand the “beautiful West Coast.”