Environmental Statement

Rock/Creek Outfitters, parent company of RockCreek.com and ClimbingGear.com, is a specialty outdoor retailer with two decades of brick and mortar experience. We are committed to personal and professional leadership in the outdoor industry and the larger community, especially with regard to environmental initiatives.

We use outdoor retail as a platform to encourage all people to get outside and become active. We know that in order to make a positive impact on the environment, we need to share our own love of the outdoors with others. For this reason, our sponsorship and environmental efforts are aimed at permanently improving access to the backcountry.

As a critical element of our environmental mission, we sponsor various charitable foundations (The Southeastern Climbers Coalition, The Access Fund, the Cumberland Trail Conference) and host two major outdoor events each year (the StumpJump 50K trail race and the Triple Crown Bouldering Competition).

In the last year, we built a parking and camping area at the Tennessee Wall, one of the best sandstone climbing areas in the nation. We also rebuilt a bridge at the Lula Lake Land Trust to restore access to a trail system running along Rock Creek on Lookout Mountain. We remain committed to the Land Trust’s mission to preserve and restore the Rock Creek watershed on Lookout Mountain. We have also joined prAna’s Natural Power Initiative, and 100% of the power used by Rock/Creek Outfitters has been offset by certified green-e natural wind power.

At ClimbingGear.com, we work with vendors such as Patagonia, prAna, and Chaco, who constantly strive to reduce the environmental impact of their business model. Our employees have visited Patagonia's environmentally innovative factories and have brought home new ideas for the conservation of energy and the promotion of a healthy work environment. We participate in Chaco's sandal recycling program, offering discounts to customers who elect to have their old sandals refurbished and donated to Nepalese children. We also partner with Patagonia to facilitate their baselayer recycling program.

We do our best to reduce the impact of our operations by eliminating waste. For example, several years ago we approached our box maker and together designed a box especially for shipping Chacos; the new box uses about 20% less cardboard than the old box. In addition, we are currently experimenting with shipping bags for items that do not need the protection of cardboard boxes. We are well on the way to a paperless warehouse fulfillment system, and we continue to seek new ways to reduce waste.