From the AAC Policy Desk

Photo by AAC member John Glassberg.

The past few months have been a time of transition for the AAC policy team. We are excited to announce that Byron Harvison has taken over for Taylor Luneau as the AAC policy director. Despite this transition, the small-but-mighty policy team continues to punch above its weight.

With the support from members and donors, we look forward to supporting climbers and protecting public land this year. Specifically, the AAC is concerned by an increasing number of land use restrictions and changes to liability practices that negatively affects guide services, volunteer organizations, and land managers.

Given the outsized effects land use and liability changes have on guiding companies, we have organized Summit Register 008 as the “Guide Issue” to further highlight these topics. Read “From the AAC Policy Desk” for a complete policy and advocacy update on these issues and more!

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Summit Register 008

Photo by AAC member Calder Davey.

Are you up to date on the climbing policy world, and how it could shape climbing as we know it?

In this edition of the Summit Register, we surveyed key guides in the community to understand the obstacles they are facing with permits and climbing access. We broke down the potential implications of two transformational pieces of federal legislation: AORA, which is poised to modernize the permitting system on our public lands; and the PARC Act, which will ultimately determine the fate of bolting and fixed anchors in our nation’s Wilderness Areas. To get a fresh perspective, we also interviewed the manager of the Wyoming Office of Outdoor Recreation to understand how AORA could impact recreationists of all stripes, not just climbers. 

Make sure you’re in the know about the hottest topic since the bolting wars, with this edition of the Summit Register.

1. From the AAC Policy Desk
   Updates from your policy team.
   

2. Voices from the Guiding Community
   Tune in to hear straight from guides from across the country about how permitting is impacting the guiding landscape.
   
   
   

3. Lay of the Land: How Two Bills Might Dramatically Change the Guiding and Climbing Landscape
   Two pieces of federal legislation that will impact our climbing spaces have been introduced to Congress. Here’s what you need to know about them.
   
   
   

4. Interview with Phil Powers: Former AAC CEO and Owner of The Mountain Guides
   In this interview, we take an in-depth look at the guiding landscape to understand how critical legislation is to shaping our climbing community.
   
   
   

5. Interview with Patrick Harrington: Manager of the Wyoming Office of Outdoor Recreation
   In this interview, we dig into why AORA is imperative legislation to pass for the outdoor recreation industry at large.

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Lay of the Land: How Two Congressional Bills Might Dramatically Change the Guiding and Climbing Landscape

It’s the hottest topic since the bolting wars, but most climbers don’t know about it yet. Are you fully in the know? The lay of the land is changing—climbing access is changing—and you can help us change it for the better. Two pieces of federal legislation have been introduced in Congress: AORA, which will modernize the permitting system on public lands and increase access and opportunity for guides of all recreational backgrounds; and the PARC Act, which aims to protect the traditional use of bolts and other fixed anchors in Wilderness areas, like Yosemite and Joshua Tree. But don’t rely on hearsay. Get the full breakdown on the implications of these pieces of legislation here, and find out what you can do to get them over the finish line and protect and modernize climbing on our public lands.

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Voices From The Guiding Community

Photo by Jeremiah Watt.

Guides are often the unsung heroes of the climbing community, and being able to offer guiding services is not as simple as it seems. Tune in to hear straight from guides from across the country about how permitting is impacting the guiding landscape. 

Among others, AMGA guide Dale Remsberg weighs in: “For me as an AMGA/IFMGA guide, access to varied terrain is what gives the ability to work and have a successful career. Some of the new legislation could greatly help with guide mobility and the ability to take our guests to terrain that is best for them or the conditions. Currently with access being so restricted it’s difficult to navigate poor conditions and provide quality experiences for our guests.”

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An Interview With: Phil Powers

Photo by Jeremiah Watt.

Phil Powers is the former CEO of the AAC, owner of The Mountain Guides in Jackson, WY, and has 40+ years of guiding experience. He’s seen guiding change and grow, and he knows what’s at stake with the passage of legislation like AORA and the PARC Act. We sat down with Powers to get a more in-depth look at the guiding landscape, and to understand how critical AORA and the PARC Act are to guides and the climbing community as a whole. His tangible details are a really compelling look at why all climbers should be activating to advocate for these bills!

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An Interview With: Patrick Harrington

Patrick Harrington is the manager of the Wyoming Office of Outdoor Recreation. We sat down with Harrington to dig into why AORA is imperative legislation to pass for all outdoor recreationists, and for sustaining the outdoor recreation economy at large. With his experience managing and advocating for recreation in one of the most sought after locations for US sport and adventure climbing, we learned a lot about how legislation like AORA can have a reverberating impact: on rural getaway communities, on the accessibility of climbing, on the economics of guiding, and more. 

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PROTECT: The New Bolt Wars? Protecting America's Rock Climbing in Wilderness

Are you up to date on what’s at stake in American Wilderness climbing?

Climbing in America’s Wilderness areas—places like Joshua Tree, Yosemite, the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, and so many other iconic climbing areas—is under threat. The bolting wars of old have been revived, but with a new inflection. It’s no longer sport climbers and trad climbers duking it out. Federal land managers feel cornered by increased usage on our public lands...and are arguing its necessary to ban the use of fixed anchors. But this is in conflict with climbers, who know that fixed anchors have always been allowed in Wilderness and prohibiting them will not resolve this issue, but only present new ones. While normally climbers and land managers are partners, this disagreement over fixed anchors in Wilderness is a strong threat to our ability to work together. So what exactly is this bolting war about, and what’s at stake here?

In this episode, the AAC sat down with Erik Murdock, the Vice President of Policy & Government Affairs at Access Fund, to talk about the nitty gritty details of this critical conversation about bolting and fixed anchors in Wilderness. We also cover the Protect America’s Rock Climbing Act (or PARC Act), which will help climbers preserve climbing in Wilderness as it has been historically protected, and continue to partner with land managers to conserve the public lands we all love.

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American Alpine Club Podcast · PROTECT: The New Bolt Wars? Protecting America's Rock Climbing in Wilderness

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Take Action! Help us protect Wilderness Climbing!

Get your legislators to support the PARC Act and protect Wilderness climbing!

The American Alpine Club Announces 2023 Cornerstone Conservation Grant Recipients

A trail worker from Save Mount Diablo. Photo provided by Save Mount Diablo.

April 2023

The American Alpine Club and REI are pleased to announce the 2023 Cornerstone Grant recipients. The AAC Cornerstone Conservation Grant was formally launched in 2011 to fund projects to improve, conserve, and protect local climbing resources nationwide. Seven local climbing organizations (LCOs), land managers and agencies, nonprofits, and individuals have been awarded a total of $25,000 for this grant cycle, for projects such as building or improving trail networks to climbing areas; establishing new toilet facilities and signage at trailheads; and deploying a variety of community groups for clean-up and graffiti removal at local crags. 

Summersville Lake, West Virginia.

New River Alliance of Climbers will receive $5,000 for the Whippoorwill Restoration Project in Summersville Lake, West Virginia. All funds will go towards purchasing materials needed to complete the project: gabions, stone stair treads, split rail fence, and seeds for re-vegetation.

Carolina Climbers Coalition will receive $4,000 for the Table Rock Climbers Trail Rehabilitation in Table Rock, Linville Gorge, North Carolina. Funds will be used to rehabilitate the Table Rock Climbers Trail, a new NEPA-approved trail to a historical climbing area.

Northwest Montana Climbers Coalition will receive $1,000 for the Stone Hill Signage Project in Lake Koocanusa, Montana. Funds will be used for signage materials and installation tools.

Workers from the Stone Hill Trail Network Project doing restoration work. Photo provided by Stone Hill Trail Network.

Black Folx Rock will receive $5,000 for the Diversity in Conservation Project in Papago Park, Arizona. Funds will be used to create a trail, restoration, clean-up, signage, bridge creation, and erosion reduction for a heavily used rock climbing area. 

Save Mount Diablo will receive $5,000 for the Pine Canyon Cleanup & Mount Diablo Adopt-A-Crag at Mount Diablo State Park, California. Funds will be used for equipment rental, fuel for equipment, PPE for volunteer participants, materials and tools for graffiti and litter removal, and limited staff time.

Upper Peninsula Climbers' Coalition will receive $2,000 for the Slugg's Bluff restoration in Palmer, Michigan. Funds will be used for gravel, road grading, trail work, and fencing for the community garden.

Mount Diablo State Park, CA

Western Massachusetts Climbers Coalition will receive $3,000 for a trail steward program in Farley Ledges in Erving, Massachusetts, Hanging Mountain in Sandisfield, MA, and other locations in Western MA. Funds from the AAC Cornerstone Grant will pay for training for trail leaders and volunteers, cover the cost of a volunteer tracking and waiver system, buy miscellaneous tools and materials, and pay the cost of a part-time paid operating executive to manage the program.

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Applications for the Cornerstone Grant are accepted each year from October 1 through December 31. 

Contact:

Shane Johnson, Chief Marketing Officer: [email protected]

Eddie Espinosa, Community Programs Director: [email protected]

From the AAC Policy Desk

This brief update from your AAC policy team covers lobbying on The Hill, the new make-up of Congress due to the midterms, and some bills that we’re prioritizing in our policy work this year. If you ever wonder….what is the AAC doing in the federal policy realm to help support public lands? This article gives you a quick update on our most recent efforts.

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From Active Duty to Activism

The AAC’s New Government Affairs Liaison Flips the Script on Advocacy

By Gov’t Affairs Liason, Byron Harvison

“My journey to activism wasn’t really about me but rather about continued service to others. Climbing, a “past-time” that helped me discover who I was, became a passion. That passion enabled me to help other Veterans overcome hardship and ultimately led to a career in working on policy matters that impact climbers throughout the country. “ —Byron Harvison

Introducing our new Government Affairs Liaison! Joining the AAC’s policy team is Byron Harvison—a veteran, lawyer, and long-time volunteer with the American Alpine Club. In this article, he shares how he got involved with climbing advocacy, and how he’s seen it grow and explode throughout the years.

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The Power of a Name: Protecting the Dolores River Canyon

by Sierra McGivney

PC: AAC Member John Fitzpatrick (Grumpyhighlander Photography)

“There’s a saying in Colorado that whiskey is for drinking and water is for fighting over,” says Widen.

The AAC sat down with Jeff Widen, an advocate behind the efforts to preserve Colorado’s Dolores River Canyon, to learn about the climbing, fishing, whitewater rafting and so much more that happens there, and why it needs to be protected as a National Conservation Area. This article delves into the complexities of preserving public land in a way that is helpful for all stakeholders, and what you can do to help preserve the Dolores River Canyon.

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Gathering Place: Tommy Caldwell Reflects on Protecting Oak Flat

by Tommy Caldwell

PC: AAC Member Dawn Kish

“Climbers slipped on tattered Gramicci pants and duck taped down jackets, unzipped themselves from tents or crawled out of the back of pickup trucks. Like cattle coming in for their morning feed, everyone wandered down to the start line. It was 1994, and this ragtag crew represented America’s cutting edge. Despite its scrappy appearance, The Phoenix Bouldering Contest was the biggest bouldering competition in the world and the energy was buzzing. “ —Tommy Caldwell

In this article, Tommy Caldwell remembers the early days of outdoor comps at Oak Flat, AZ, and what it means to take action to protect the places we love. Tommy’s article explores what’s at stake in losing Oak Flat to copper mining, and what we as climbers can do to ensure Oak Flat is protected for the San Carlos Apache Tribe, for the sake of the environment, and for the classic boulders and climbing there.

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Summit Register 007

In our most recent issue of the Summit Register, the AAC’s policy zine:

PC: AAC Member William Woodward

1. Tommy Caldwell reflects on the old days of boulder comps at Oak Flat, and why climbers need to take action to permanently protect Oak Flat from a devastating mining operation;

2. We cover the efforts advocates are taking to preserve the Dolores River Canyon for climbing, whitewater, fishing, and much more;

3. And finally, Byron Harvison (the AAC’s new Gov’t Affairs Liason!) reflects on his journey from active duty to activism within the climbing community.

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Economic Impact Report: 2020 Ouray Ice Festival

PC: Laurel Myers. Climber: Taylor Luneau

Climbing, and outdoor recreation in general, has important (and often positive) impacts on local economies that are near destination climbing areas. Quantifying our economic impact as climbers can help us replicate these impacts across the country, and make sure recreation has positive impacts, even for those who aren’t outdoor recreationists themselves. Finally, economic impact studies like this one allow the AAC to communicate our political power to lawmakers when we are advocating for issues that matter to climbers.

Our Policy Director, Taylor Luneau, teamed up with leading researchers Dr. James Maples and Dr. Michael Bradley, who conduct economic impact studies and outdoor recreation research across the nation, to identify tangible impacts of ice climbers traveling to Ouray county. The AAC worked with Ouray Ice Park, Eastern Kentucky University, and The Center for Economic Development, Entrepreneurship, and Technology, to conduct this study. Dive in here, to explore this research that quantifies the economic impact of the 2020 Ouray Ice Festival on Ouray County.

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Summary of Findings

This study examined the economic impact of the 2020 Ouray Ice Festival which occurred in Ouray, Colorado on January 23-26, 2020. In all, 5,000 persons participated in the event. Major findings of this study include:

1. Participants living outside Ouray County spent an estimated $808,359 in Ouray County while at the Ouray Ice Festival.

2. Participants living outside Ouray County generated $349,843 in labor income in Ouray County as a result of the Ouray Ice Festival.

3. Participants living outside Ouray County spent around $130 on day visits, while persons staying overnight spent an additional $96 on motels/hotels or $25 on cabin/AirBnB use.

4. Participants focused nearly all of their expenditures inside Ouray County rather than the surrounding area.

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PROTECT: Vote the Crag this November

We’re sending it to the polls this midterm election….are you? In this mini-episode of the podcast, we sat down with the AAC’s Policy Director to discuss voting in the midterms this November, including important issues for climbers to consider, like public lands bills, climate change legislation, and judicial appointees. We keep it short and sweet since we know it can be overwhelming. So sit tight for the quick hits!

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American Alpine Club Podcast · PROTECT: Vote the Crag This November

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Summit Register 006

In this issue of Summit Register, we give you beta on voting as a climber in the 2022 midterms; the Climbing Wall Association reflects on policies and legislation impacting climbing gyms; and the AAC explores the big question: Should climbing be political?

It's In the Air: On Politics and Climbing

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AAC member Dawn Kish

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A Climber's Voter Guide

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Vote the Crag: The Beta for the 2022 Midterm Elections

by AAC Policy Director, Taylor Luneau

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AAC member Jeremiah Watt

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Vote the Gym: The Climbing Wall Association Reveals the Policies that Impact Indoor Climbing

by Director of Standards and Regulatory Affairs at the Climbing Wall Association, Garnet Moore

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AAC member and Twin Cities BIPOC Initiatives Chair Rodel Querubin

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