The Sliding Scale
Tufas offers pricing based on a sliding scale.
A sliding scale is a tool for building economic justice, and it requires your active participation. If a sliding scale is implemented effectively, everyone pays a similar percentage of their income for the same products or services, while also taking into account the impact that systems of oppression have on their long term financial stability.
Sliding scales are often based on individual income levels, with people of higher incomes paying more in order to acknowledge and address the ways that their privileges have resulted in relatively quicker and less-obstructed paths to financial stability.
Tufas offers a sliding scale because we know that systemic oppression has done long-lasting harm to many marginalized individuals and communities and that these injustices are intersectional. Our community has repeatedly demonstrated trust, support, and integrity as we attempt to address these nuanced financial dynamics and we all impact efforts to continually shift our culture toward one that is more proactively accessible. We recognize that the rock climbing community represents and magnifies many of the inequities still rampant in society, and in order to affect change, we must engage with uncomfortable self-reflection and concrete action. We hope that this sliding scale both offers expanded financial opportunities and sparks conversations and personal reflection about the larger issues that have ensured such vastly unjust disparities in wealth.
We have limited capacity to offer rates more discounted than those currently listed while also still keeping our business viable. These further discounted rates are generally reserved for community organizations focused on empowering marginalized communities and this is arranged on a case-by-case basis.
Consider paying the base rate or higher on the scale if you:
travel recreationally
work part time by choice
can afford to take time off
regularly eat out, buy new clothes, attend leisure events without worrying much about your budget
own the home you live in
have investments, retirement accounts, or inherited money
own a car
own your own climbing gear
have access to family money and resources in times of need
have a relatively high degree of earning power due to level of education (or gender and racial privilege, class background, etc.) Even if you are not currently exercising your earning power, we ask you to recognize this as a choice.
Consider paying less on the scale if you…
are not always able to meet basic needs
rarely buy new items because you are unable to afford them
are supporting children or have other dependents
have been denied work due to incarceration history
have faced employment discrimination
have immigration-related expenses
are an elder with limited financial support
have medical expenses not covered by insurance
are an unpaid community organizer
make under $18,000/year (not because you are working part-time by choice)
The scale is intended to be a map, inviting each of us to take inventory of our financial resources and look deeper at our levels of privilege. It is a way to challenge the classist and capitalist society we live in and to work towards economic justice on a local level. While our deep care for our community is infinite, running a business is costly; there is rent, liability and other insurance, continuing education fees, licensure fees, the huge upfront financial commitment to gear and equipment, and a myriad of other expenses. We reserve 10% of our slots for people who can not meet the low end of the sliding scale, and we are dedicated to providing subsidized services for people who come from historically marginalized communities and who struggle to find full and fairly-compensated employment due to racism, transphobia, sexism, ableism and other forms of discrimination.
