Longtime California Climber Arrested on Rape Charges
Warning: This article discusses sexual violence.
On October 30, longtime Bay Area climber Jason William Crist, 38, was arrested in Pacifica, California, and charged with nine felonies for alleged events that took place around the state between March 2019 and October 2023.
He faces 29 counts associated with sexual violence, a result of four police reports describing interactions with him in Pacifica, Presidio, Joshua Tree, and Yosemite. The felony charges include forcible rape, sexual battery, and assault. He posted bail for $500,000.
Climbing spoke with three women who’ve made accusations against Crist. They describe how he, a former Arc’teryx NorCal ambassador and former Movement Climbing, Yoga, and Fitness employee, had a consistent pattern. At the climbing gym in San Francisco’s Presidio park—formerly Planet Granite, now Movement San Francisco—Crist would befriend young female climbers, generally novices who didn’t know many people in the community and didn’t yet have the skills to take themselves outside. Then he would “act as a mentor or their ‘keys’ to outdoor climbing,” one woman told Climbing.
“He was teaching at the gym,” said another of Crist’s complainants. “He was teaching women and men. He had the option to teach children. It just seemed like he had a rapport from the gym and there was safety there.” But once he got the women outside, Crist would “cross established boundaries in ways that are not OK.”.
“He uses climbing trips as the perfect time to hurt people,” said another complainant. “It’s a real repeat thing.”
According to this climber, there are currently 10 women who have claimed to have similar confrontations with Crist.
Crist’s arrest comes on the heels of former professional climber Charlie Barrett’s February 2024 conviction for raping a woman in Yosemite National Park—and one of Crist’s complainants said that Crist’s case was eerily similar for one major reason:
“Everyone knew,” she said. “But none of the other guys in the community would tell a girl, ‘Hey, Jason’s creepy, don’t hang out with him.’ They only told me after the assault, like, ‘Oh yeah, I knew he was a bad person, I was worried for you.’”
According to all three complainants, managers at Movement Climbing, Yoga, and Fitness were made aware that Crist—an employee of three years—had allegedly assaulted multiple employees and members, and, after those women filed police reports, launched a months-long investigation. As a result, Crist was fired this past summer and banned from all 29 Movement properties.
While one of the women with whom Climbing spoke expressed appreciation for Movement’s decision, and for the support that the Movement community has provided, others are frustrated that the information uncovered by Movement’s third-party investigators was not widely publicized.
“If Movement knew more about the assaults than anyone else,” says Kimbrough Moore, a philosophy professor at San Francisco State University and the author of Golden State Bouldering Guidebook, “I’m disappointed that they sat on the information rather than sharing it with the climbing community. I don’t understand how someone could make that choice.”
(In response to Climbing’s request for comment, a Movement spokesperson assured us that “Movement Climbing, Yoga and Fitness prioritizes the safety and well-being of all community members, and we take any allegations of misconduct very seriously.” But they added: “As this is an active investigation, we are unable to comment.”)
Moore was made aware of the police reports against Crist when the complainants reached out to him this summer. Knowing that sexual assault cases often take years to lead to an arrest, he began actively working with the Bay Area Climbers Coalition, but they had not yet taken any action when Crist was unexpectedly arrested.
“I’m inspired by the overwhelming support from the climbing community,” Moore added. “This hasn’t always been the case. Two years ago, the women who spoke out against Charlie Barrett were met with hostility and skepticism. There is more awareness about sexual assault today, and with it, climbers are better able to stay safe by looking out for each other.”
Still, the women we spoke with noted that, while Crist and Barrett are extreme cases, they aren’t the only bad actors.
“When all the Charlie Barrett stuff came out,” said one woman, “everyone pointed at him and was like, ‘That’s terrible. Don’t be that guy. Good thing we got him. That guy’s gone.’ And I think a lot of people missed the point that it’s still happening under our noses. I don’t want this story to be ‘Got another one; good thing we got him.’ I want it to be an ongoing conversation. I want dudes to talk to their friends about how they’re treating women. … I want people to know that sexual assault is a reason that women leave climbing. Everyone deserves to feel comfortable and safe when they’re at the crag. I could have left climbing. And if I could have left, then I think other women probably have. And I hate that.”
This is a developing story. We will update it as more information becomes available.
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