The Eastern Trade
In October of 1971, John Stannard published the first issue of The Eastern Trade, a climbing newsletter dedicated to "the improvement of climbing and the preservation of climbing areas." The purpose of the newsletter was to advance the concept of "clean climbing," i.e. without the use of pitons for protection. Doug Robinson's essay in the 1972 Chouinard catalog, The Whole Natural Art of Protection, showed the limits of what was possible at the time without pitons, but many climbers of the felt that nutcraft was just a game to amuse the elite. Some felt that advocating climbing without pitons was dangerous and would lead to more injuries and deaths. The Eastern Trade was created to illustrate to climbers that climbing with nuts was as safe as climbing with pitons and was far less damaging to the rock. Have a look at a few of the issues below. They give a unique insight into the zeitgeist of climbing in the 70s. Thanks to The Mohonk Preserve for the loan of John Stannard's Eastern Trade archive.
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