05/03/2022
Categories: Access and Conservation
You’ve heard it before—America’s climbing areas are deteriorating at a rate roughly equivalent to the explosive growth of climbing. So how do we restore these areas, avoid closures, and make crags sustainable? And what does sustainability even look like?
If you haven’t been climbing at the same area for decades, it can be hard to notice the problems as problems. Or the solutions as solutions. Here are some visuals to help you recognize an unsustainable situation versus a sustainable one.
The existing approach at Sparks Wall went straight up a wash was continually eroding after major storms, leading to significant soil and vegetation loss on either side of the gulley. By rerouting the trail to take a more sustainable path with gentler grades, drainage dips, and switchbacks, water will run off the trail without causing erosion.
Moss Rock has long been one of the Deep South's best and most historic climbing areas. But years of high visitation caused extreme erosion and soil loss, and conditions got so bad that climbers all but abandoned it. The Access Fund Conservation Team began a total restoration of the area in 2016, and it's well on its way to recovery.
This popular, moderate crag outside Mazama has been drawing more and more climbers every year. The belay area was supported by a set of rotting timbers, installed decades ago, which were collapsing and quickly destabilizing the hillside and threatening trees. The Access Fund Conservation Team restored this area earlier this year.
The famous Bridge Buttress at the New River Gorge is stacked with classic routes with easy roadside access. And it's also a classic example of climbers loving an area to death—severe erosion, beat down belay areas, soil loss, the list goes on. The Access Fund Conservation Team is actively working with the National Park Service to restore the area.
Most crags were developed decades ago, when the sport was still fringe. A few adventurous climbers parked on the side of the road and took the most logical path through the woods to discover climbing opportunities. More climbers followed, cutting those trails and belay areas deeper and deeper over the years. Maybe a parking area was put in, but probably not. More than likely, cars are lining the side of the road.
“None of these crags were designed as recreation sites—and yet that’s exactly what they’ve become,” says Access Fund Stewardship Director Ty Tyler. “Climbers are flooding to these crags at a similar rate to that of an urban park where families go to picnic. The difference is that those parks were designed to handle the traffic. Climbing areas weren’t.”
Many of the issues climbing areas are facing can be solved with proper planning and infrastructure that is designed to manage visitors and protect the climbing environment.
Think of it this way:
These are just a few examples of the kind of work that is necessary to protect many of our most popular climbing environments, so that the animals and plant life we share these areas with can thrive—and we can enjoy access for generations to come.
This type of infrastructure is expensive and requires highly technical skills. Few land managers actually have the budget or resources to make it happen. And when faced with overwhelming impacts and not enough budget to mitigate those impacts, a land manager’s only answer is often to restrict access or shut an area down.
This is where climbers come in. Access Fund is already doing this work all across the country. But even with six full-time trail-builders/conservation specialists on the road, we’re barely scratching the surface. We need your help to make bigger investments in car-to-climb infrastructure at popular crags and boulders before land managers shut climbers out.