How Northwest Arkansas is Revolutionizing the Rock Climbing World | Pedro Somarriba of Lacaida Ropes

Show Notes

(1:12) Introducing Pedro Somarriba

(2:21) Pedro’s Passion for Climbing

(7:42) The Climbing Scene in Arkansas

(12:14) Introducing Lacaida Ropes

(17:02) Lacaida Ropes Product Launch Announcement

(18:10) All about Tarps and Their Upcoming Interform Collaboration

(22:02) Plug for GORP: Greenhouse Outdoor Recreation Program

(23:31) Pedro’s #BecauseBentonville Moment

(29:16) Superpowers and Closing Thoughts

Links

James Bell 

Pedro Somarriba

Lacaida Ropes

Arkansas Climbing Coalition

GORP

Quotes

“You have organizations like the Arkansas Climbers Coalition, so the development, adding new routes, making routes safer by rebolting and putting up new cleaner, more safe hardware attracts more people to the state, people come to the state and see what it has to offer in terms of climbing, and ideally they spend dollars here.” Pedro Somarriba, (10:27)

“[We’re] making a life-saving device here. This is something that people will trust their lives with. [we] need to lean into that. How do you make a lifesaving device safer and not just more aesthetically pleasing by putting cool designs on it? So that’s why we leaned into the metered ropes.” Pedro Somarriba, (13:12)

“These outdoor rock climbing routes are within a 15 minutes drive of downtown Bentonville. The accessibility is a game-changer.” Pedro Somarriba, (23:47) 

“We realized that the same trail we hiked in on is a mountain biking trail. So [we] have mountain bikers zooming past the rocks that we’re climbing on. Where else are you going to find that, like back-to-back rock climbers and mountain bikers using the same natural resources and just enjoying the outdoors?” Pedro Somarriba (24:38)