In the wake of the new documentary Valley Uprising, Clif Bar has dropped 5 of it’s top tier athletes, including wonder boy Alex Honnold.
The casualties were: Alex Honnold, Dean Potter, Timmy O’Neill, Steph Davis, and Cedar Wright.
Clif Bar was a leading sponsor for Sender Film’s new movie Valley Uprising, which showcased many of these athletes.
This is a new path for us and we haven’t been perfect in the way that we’ve communicated or executed the change in sponsorships
“This is a new path for us” acknowledged Clif Bar in their open letter to the climbing community “we haven’t been perfect in the way that we’ve communicated or executed the change in sponsorships.” Though this letter was addressed specifically to the climbing community, the athletes who were fired are also BASE jumpers and highline slack liners.
It seems Clif Bar is beginning to scale back their support of dangerous activity that can influence those looking to reach ‘the new bar’ of the sport. Check out Outside Online’s post for an interesting anecdote from a recent climbing trip with Honnold.
There seems to be a mix of emotion from the athletes. Honnold is taking it in stride: “Maybe they just didn’t like us,” Honnold told the New York Times. “That’s fair. It’s their prerogative.”
After the announcement many people seemed to be personally offended by the firing, internet trolls took ahold of the situation quickly. Those less creative defaulted to calling Clif “pussy bar” and pointing out hypocrisy in that Clif’s own logo has a rock climber. Ahem… He is wearing a rope.
Funny enough, the end of the story is actually a get-back-together one. Apparently, Clif reapproached a few of the athletes asking to re-sign their contracts. “I was like, definitely no,” Cedar Wright said to the New York Times. “It’s like your girlfriend who breaks up with you and wants to get back together. But she’s not really that loyal.”
