~ Brady Robinson, Access Fund Executive Director

Last fall at the Future of Fixed Anchors conference the Access Fund hosted in Las Vegas, a climber from the Black Hills in South Dakota gave me a little feedback on my opening talk. He noted that I used the words “style” and “ethics” synonymously when, in fact, they have different meanings.

Apparently, I’m not alone—in his experience, when climbers talk about ethics they’re often referring to matters of style. In the Black Hills, traditional areas like the Needles coexist in close proximity to the sport crags near Rushmore and Spearfish Canyon. In his view, the differences between ground-up trad climbing and sport climbing are stylistic and don’t rise to the ethical plane of right and wrong. By reminding people that they’re really talking about stylistic differences, he finds he can facilitate more productive discussions among climbers who might not see eye to eye.

This really got me thinking. In climbing, which issues are stylistic vs. ethical?  Ethics deals with concepts of right and wrong, which have a certain timeless quality. Style has more to do with personal preference and the prevailing trends.

Is placing a bolt on rappel wrong? Well, that depends. It’s perfectly fine in some climbing areas, but what about a place like the Needles of South Dakota where bolts have always been placed by hand from natural stances? Of course, many of the rules governing an area may be defined not by climbers but by a third party, such as a land manager, who has clearly defined what is or is not allowed on the property.

Is a stylistic deviation sometimes an ethical violation when there is consensus on what is an acceptable style in a given area? Again, that depends. Style changes over time. Not too many years ago, just hanging on a rope to work out the moves on a climb was a serious faux pas. Nobody cares about that anymore. On the other hand, some alpinists are willing to risk their lives to climb fast and light, and may even reject other styles of ascent as invalid. So where do we draw the line? These are the sorts of questions that keep philosophers in business and make many climbers want to throw their hands up and just go climbing. But we shouldn’t give up so fast.

One way to evaluate a particular action or behavior is to imagine what would happen if every climber followed suit. What if all climbers violated Wilderness regulations, stashed equipment on public land, cut trail switchbacks, treated the outdoors as their personal rock gym, and left big, chalky tick marks on their routes and problems? Well, that would be bad. So these issues are probably ethical issues rather than matters of style.

Think about the questions and perhaps the controversies surrounding your local climbing or bouldering area. What are people talking about? Are they talking about style or matters of right and wrong, and are they sometimes mistaking one for the other?

If we climbers don’t stand up for what is right, we put our climbing areas and access at risk. But standing like a rock on matters of style is sometimes a mistake—it could mean you’re being a jerk.

~ Eddie Wooldridge & Claire Wagstaff, Conservation Team Crew 

It had been five years since the trail leading around Baldy Point (or "Quartz" as is it referred to by the local climbing community) had any repairs made to it. This huge slab of granite lies within the Quartz Mountain Nature Park near Lone Wolf, Oklahoma. Quartz is the crown jewel of granite domes found in the Wichita Mountain chain in southwest Oklahoma, hosting nearly a hundred one and two pitch climbs on its three hundred foot high, half-mile long south face. Renowned California climber Doug Robinson once referred to Quartz as the "Tuolumne of the Midwest", a testimony to the quality of the climbing opportunities found there.

Many changes have occurred at Quartz since legendary Access Fund trail builder Jim Angell worked on these trails nearly 12 years ago. But it wasn’t difficult to feel his presence. Whether it was an old friend telling stories of him on the trail or seeing what his own two hands had built, it was clear the local climbers cherished him and this rock.

Trailboss Jim Angell leads his bridge-carrying platoon of volunteers down the Baldy Point Trail in 2001. (Photo courtesy of WMCC)

The energy during the Adopt a Crag was contagious. The local climbers here share a passion for improving their local crag, and their eagerness to learn from us was evident from the start. As we walked, Claire and I highlighted the briar and graffiti to be removed, the bridge that would be replaced, and the erosion in need of repair. Working our way back, we taught the volunteers how to properly trim branches away from the trail and how to dig dip drains to divert water off the trail. Based upon individual experience, comfort, and curiosity, each volunteer chose the section of the trail they wanted to work on.


As the day progressed, boulders slowly became exposed, water was diverted, and trash picked up. And we even managed to squeeze in a few climbs before the sun went down! The day ended with a group dinner at Luigi’s, the local pizzeria, where climbing stories are exchanged, local problems are addressed, and connections are made.

The next day everyone was quick to get back to work. As the dip drains were finished and landscaping resumed near the boulders, volunteers put some elbow grease into the graffiti removal. All of the graffiti was successfully removed from caves, rock faces, and signs—by no means an easy endeavor.

Our final task was to replace the bridge, which had previously been constructed out of the old Quartz Mountain State Park sign that had seen better days. We're grateful to the folks at Wichita Mountains Climbers Coalition and the staff at Access Fund headquarters for providing funding for the graffiti removal supplies and new planks for the bridge.

Although Jim wasn’t there to give us a hand, his legacy lives on in the community. It was a pleasure working alongside such open and welcoming climbers. This place is a perfect example of why conservation awareness needs to continue from generation to generation. Leaving Baldy Point was a little bittersweet, but we hope that we left behind some knowledge to help the volunteers continue to maintain their trails long after we are gone—something Jim would be proud of.

Yosemite’s granite walls are home to some of the most iconic climbing routes in the world. The same cliffs where climbers push human boundaries are also where the Peregrine Falcon, a special status raptor, nests and raises young.

This once endangered species has begun to flourish in the Sierra, partially because of the cooperation between climbers and the National Park Service. Over the last 35 years, climbers have been front row witnesses as falcons have repopulated the Yosemite region. To see a raptor capture its prey in mid-air while on route is truly one of the special qualities of the Yosemite climbing experience. Check out this video of a peregrine falcon hanging out with climbers on Ahwahnee Ledge on the Leaning Tower.

This extraordinary example of a peregrine’s success, however, is not assured. Nests can be easily disturbed by humans and young chicks have died because people have ignored closures. Those who have ignored closures have been cited and fined—but that’s not the solution. The peregrine’s continued success is only possible when everyone does their part to provide a safe and respectable distance for this beautiful raptor.

As we move into spring and the park service initiates temporary closures to protect peregrine nests, we remind all climbers to do their part to ensure that peregrines have their place preserved on the iconic walls of Yosemite. Become familiar with closures, observe them, and pass the word.

For more information about peregrines and how climbers helped in their recovery at Yosemite, check out page 8 of this Vertical Times story by Park Biologist, Sarah Stock. And next time you’re in Yosemite, keep your eyes peeled for a peregrine and enjoy one of the truly unique and memorable experiences of climbing.

~Mike Bishop

Last summer, a young girl was critically injured by a falling rock while on a guided trip to Hawaii's finest crag near Mokuleia (MOE-COO-LAY-EE-AH for you mainlanders) on the fabled North Shore of Oahu. Coming on the heels of a $15 million settlement against the State for the wrongful deaths of two hikers, the State shut down climbing access at Mokuleia due to fears of another massive lawsuit. The closure was enacted overnight, with no community input. The climber's trail accessing the wall was closed to all users, and a sign at the trailhead announced a $2,000 fine for trespassing. This was more than a little alarming to the island of Oahu's 500+ climbers.

Almost immediately, a group of respected/dirtbag climbers (including Mike “Bugman” Richardson, Deborah Halbert, Sayar Kuchenski, and me - Mike Bishop) began to pursue every avenue we could think of to negotiate the reopening of our beloved crag. Initially, this consisted of calling, emailing, and setting up camp at the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) offices to attempt negotiations with them. Sadly, these attempts were rebuffed due to their “ongoing investigation” of the incident.

Lobbying Hawaii style: Mike Bishop, Sayar Kuchenski, Robert Anderson

The long and the short of it was that nothing helped, and 6 months went by with no progress.  Two other climbing areas were eventually shut down, and climbing was banned within an entire State Park, leaving Oahu without a single developed crag that could legally be climbed. As a result of DLNR's accident investigation, it was determined that they couldn't reopen any of our climbing areas without first passing legislation to limit their liability. They urged us to start contacting our Senators and Representatives.

Rallying again, we began  making last-minute appeals to legislators and succeeded in getting half a dozen bills introduced on each side of the legislature. Four months of endless lobbying ensued, causing stomach-churning anxiety and uncertainty as we challenged a lobbyist for Hawaii's consumer lawyers who'd been the puppet master of the Hawaii legislature for 20 years. We had reached the point where we were officially in over our heads, and none of us really had any idea what we had gotten ourselves into. While we’d managed to do pretty well for ourselves during the first round of hearings, we knew that once they made it to judiciary committees full of lawyers, we'd be hopelessly outgunned in the legalese department. 

I made a panicked last-minute call to the Access Fund’s policy director/climbing lawyer, R.D. Pascoe, who boarded a plane to Hawaii for the showdown.

R.D. showed up with a badly sprained wrist and a thirst for justice and waves. We quickly gathered up our team of respected/dirtbag climbers to strategize with our newly arrived ally. After a couple days of making the rounds at the Capitol and the Attorney General's office with “our lawyer who flew all the way here from Colorado,” we were ready for our big Senate hearing. Our opposition (the Consumer Lawyers of Hawaii) had grown tired of our irksome progress and the support we had generated around the Capitol, and they came out swinging. They attacked the climbing community with a cornucopia of misinformation, attempting to panic the committee into stopping our bill. R.D. was called up next to testify, and he easily laid to rest the outlandish rumors propagated by our opposition. The bill was well-received and we picked up a handful of valuable Senate allies—a decisive victory for climbers, but the battle is still far from over.

Access Fund’s RD Pascoe testifying before Senate committee.

Two of our bills are still going strong. The legislative process is painfully protracted, but the monumental effort we've all been putting in cannot be ignored. We will either pass a bill to eliminate landowner liability stemming from rock climbing, or we will succeed at negotiating some other arrangement to reopen our crags. Throughout the process, Access Fund has been prodigiously helpful and I daresay we couldn't have made it this far without their council. So, from all the climbers across the Hawaiian Islands, here's a giant 'Mahalo' (thank you) to all the folks at Access Fund and all of the climbers across the country whose membership makes their work possible!

RD and the Climb Aloha crew.

 Help support the fight to re-open climbing access in Hawaii by making a donation today!

~Brady Robinson, AF Executive Director

In many ways, running the Interior Department means you must intimately know the culture, landscapes, and industries of the American West. Being able to credibly wear cowboy boots or lobby for oil companies was once a job requirement for Interior secretary, now a backpack and climbing shoes are also suitable credentials. Next month the U.S. Senate will vote on Sally Jewell’s nomination as Interior secretary. Jewell brings extensive experience as CEO of Recreation Equipment Incorporation (REI), where under her leadership REI grew to 127 stores in 31 states with sales exceeding $1.8 billion annually.

Outdoor recreation experience is increasingly important for managing the millions of public land acres that support world-class recreational activities while also serving as economic assets for communities across the country. America needs an Interior Secretary that prioritizes the protection and enhancement of the recreation assets while also presiding over the record level of energy projects across the West.

Economies across the country that rely on public lands recreation are not only increasing in volume and number, but have outperformed most other communities that lack this sector. The Outdoor Industry Association reports that outdoor recreation generates $646 billion in consumer spending each year supporting 6.1 million direct jobs, three times the number of jobs in oil and gas. Sally Jewell’s nomination as Interior secretary acknowledges the importance of outdoor recreation as an economic driver for communities across the United States. Jewell’s professional experience has prepared her to oversee energy production on federal lands as well.

Sally’s detractors try to make her out as an extremist who steered REI to be an agent of her radical environmental agenda. But before heading to REI, Sally worked as an engineer, in the banking industry, and for Mobil Oil in Oklahoma’s oil fields. At REI Sally not only worked to protect the places that make outdoor recreation possible, thereby advancing REI’s business interests, she also created jobs and supported a growing economic sector in the process.

Jewell’s experience in the oil and gas industry, as well as at REI, means she has an acute understanding of the balance that must be struck on public lands. If confirmed as Interior secretary, Jewell would be one of the few to actually share the passions of the majority of people who use the 500 million acres of public land under that department’s control. We believe she is up to the task.

As if reliving its own personal Groundhog Day time loop, Resolution Copper managed to have its 12^th land exchange bill since 2005 (H.R. 687) introduced into the US House of Representatives last week, seeking to acquire land at Oak Flat, Arizona. A companion bill was also introduced in the US Senate.

And it’s no surprise that this 12^th bill is identical to its predecessor.

The Oak Flat area has been protected from mining exploration for over fifty years because it contains fantastic recreational resources for rock climbers, hikers, birdwatchers, bikers, campers, and others. It is also a historically sacred site to many Native Americans, including the local San Carlos Apache tribe.

All twelve of these bills that Resolution Copper has introduced have been remarkably similar and have all failed to become law. Perhaps Resolution Copper would benefit from taking a page out of Phil Connors’ book (famously depicted by Bill Murray in the classic comedy Groundhog Day), and rethink its priorities, considering a more socially responsible plan for the Oak Flat mine.

Much of the current opposition to their new mine would disappear if they would simply propose a non-subsidence mining technique that protects the recreational and cultural resources at Oak Flat.

RCM likens the scale of eventual subsidence caused by their mine at Oak Flat to Meteor Crater near Winslow, Arizona.

Resolution must fundamentally change its way of thinking in order to get a land exchange bill passed. And economic modeling by PhD mining experts indicates that non-subsidence mining by Resolution would be financially viable. It’s simply untrue that destructive mining techniques such as block caving must be employed to profitably mine the copper ore under Oak Flat. Resolution should be willing to compromise on this point in exchange for being allowed to mine beneath this valuable piece of land that was specifically set aside for protection. 

Only then will they escape this perpetual loop of failed land exchange bills.

Learn more about the fight to save Oak Flat.

1. Saved Holy Boulders in Southern Illinois from development by securing temporary ownership of the property while locals fundraise to secure permanent access. You can help permanently protect the Holy Boulders by making a donation here.
2. Conservation Team tours 19 states, putting blood and sweat into 30 climbing areas by building 23 stone staircases, constructing 16 retaining walls, installing 15 drainage structures, eliminating 1,500 feet of social trails, cleaning 5 cliffs of graffiti, and picking up lots of trash.
3. Put Hueco Rock Ranch in climber-friendly hands by partnering with the American Alpine Club to purchase this iconic climbing resource.
4. Convened the Future of Fixed Anchors conference, bringing together the most prolific and knowledgeable first ascentionists, route equippers, advocates, and industry representatives to help proactively develop an American consensus for best bolting practices and to discuss the future of our sport.
5. Partnered with the Southeastern Climbers Coalition to save Hospital Boulders from being auctioned to the highest bidder.
6. Helped lift a 9-year climbing ban at Auburn Quarry by partnering with Climbing Resource Advocates for Greater Sacramento to negotiate access with local government and fundraise to cover critical services for the climbing area.
7. Awarded over $45,000 in grants to support local access and conservation projects across the country—from climbing access trails, toilet installation, stewardship events, and climber education brochures to funding that kept climbing in our State Parks open amidst rampant budget cuts.
8. Expanded joint membership program to 14 partners, giving climbers the option to join the AF and their local group with one membership, sending much needed dollars directly back into local climbing communities.  
9. Opened a regional office in Chattanooga, TN to assist local climbing organizations in the Southeast with a myriad of private land access issues and opportunities.
10. Completed fundraising for Access Fund Land Conservation Campaign with $1.6 million, enabling the Access Fund to move quickly to save threatened climbing areas.

Please consider making a special, tax-deductible, end-of-year donation to the Access Fund. Your contribution will help us continue to expand the work of the Access Fund and protect America’s climbing into 2013 and beyond.

~ Fitz Cahall

On paper I probably had the worst climbing year since I bought my first pair of high top climbing shoes at the REI garage sale 15 years ago.

Guest blogger Fitz Cahall, creator of Dirtbag Diaries. Photo by Jeff Johnson.

I was fortunate. I broke a few bones in the foot. The fall’s force left my spleen bruised and swollen. Doctors compared it to being in a car accident. My stomach swelled making sitting difficult. In the two months following the accident, the best part of my day would come in the morning when my nine-month-old son would crawl into bed and we would listen to music. For the first time in my life, I had no interest in physical activity.

And yet this year, I made a leap as a climber.

For 15 years, I’ve harvested from climbing. Through time spent on the sharp end, I grew into the person I thought I could be. I learned that success for me would be a function of tenacity, commitment and creativity rather than talent. Climbing introduced me to lifelong friends. It provided a lifetime of memories. I collected stories. I crafted them for my community. It became my career. It is and always will be an undeniable part of who I am.

I decided to start giving back this year. As some climbers age, they invent new gear, go on to work in the industry, or coach the next generation. Their tasks are unique to a skill set, just like some climbers like crimps and others are offwidth fiends. I decided that my path would involve giving back to the places that left an impression on me.

When the Access Fund’s Executive Director Brady Robinson contacted me about creating a video series highlighting the organization's recent efforts, I had to pinch myself. Thirty-four years into my life I can still proudly say that I’m an unrepentant fan of climbing. By default that also makes me a fan of the Access Fund.

Why did I take the time to volunteer? Because I can’t help myself. If you love something, you look forward to giving back. Some people, like Joe Sambataro (Access Director at the Access Fund), know how to finance a complicated land trust deal. Others, like Brady, are gifted in beginning conversations and quietly influencing on a large scale. Affiliate Director Zachary Lesch-Huie is good at shaping connections and fostering alliances. I bring storytelling to the table. Mikey is a wizard behind a camera. Austin Siadak makes it rain in the edit suite. We brought our skills together to work towards a common goal. And so I hobbled out. First to Jailhouse, then to Rumbling Bald and finally on to Red Rocks.

It’s been a year since I’ve embarked on creating Open Access and I can honestly say that many of the people at the Access Fund have become friends.  They’ve shown me the products of their multi-year efforts. I’ve seen them smile like proud parents as they point to a cliff line. For a guy who spent the last year listening to music and telling stories about when he used to climb, it felt so good to be a part of that enthusiasm.

With Open Access we could have warned you that the Access Fund won’t make it without you. It’s easy to present membership or volunteer hours as dues we pay or even as overly reactionary “If you don’t do ‘Y’ immediately, than ‘X’ will happen.”

Yes, the Access Fund is better off with you as a member or volunteer, but the truth is—if climbing has shaped who you are as a person, what you do with these moments, days and years of free time, and who you spend your time with, the Access Fund has played a small part in your life.  If you’ve shared the warmth of a campfire at Indian Creek, called Camp 4 a temporary home, or looked up in amazement at the Elephant’s Perch, the Access Fund has played a part in your experience. 

Please take a moment.  Get to know the people who power the Access Fund. Even if you don’t know them personally, they are your friends. Check out these areas. When you plot your next road trip, put Jailhouse, Rumbling Bald and Red Rocks on the tick list.  Be grateful that you found climbing. And when the time comes when you are asked to give back, take stock of those skills you’ve developed whatever they may be. Swing a pickaxe. Write a check. Volunteer with your local climbing organization. 

I don’t know if I will always need to climb and I’m not entirely sure if my body will grace me with that pleasure, but I will always be a climber. And I will always be an Access Fund member.

I hope you enjoy this first installment of Open Access. Stay tuned for the next two videos this spring.