Black Coloradans who are changing the face of outdoor recreation

On a Saturday evening in March, Djanne Smith tried rock climbing for the first time on a corner wall of CityROCK climbing gym in Colorado Springs.

“It’s harder than it looks!” she said, before trying again.

Smith drove down from Denver for this, despite a fear of heights, despite not knowing anyone here and despite a density of rock-climbing gyms closer to where she lives. She was here to join an excursion organized by Blackpackers, a Colorado nonprofit that works to expand access to outdoor recreation.  

Smith has lived in Colorado her whole life but “there’s a lot of the state I haven’t seen.” She describes herself as the person in her friend group who tries new things, and part of her motivation in trying rock climbing was to inspire other…