I would call it a stretch to describe the approach to Chaos “grueling” but if anyone isn’t feeling the love at 10,000 feet, they should slow down, admire the scenery, and they will arrive with plenty of energy and the satisfaction of knowing they are not ruining the environment or the access for other climbers.

Peter- I feel as though i just picked on you, didnt mean to, and i think i agree with your core issues Happy 4th Everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Paul Robinson

Last year there were two Adopt-a-Crag events in CO for alpine bouldering areas, and while most of the pads were removed beforehand, they left an indelible mark with the rangers at both as to the maturity and ownership of the front range bouldering scene.

Unfortunately, the organizer of those events was so personally scarred by the “licking” she took online she has no plans to do those events again. She saw a side of some people she once respected and looked upto that left her disillusioned and frustrated. The aggression, selfishness and ignorance of the pro-stashers was too much, and today the future of stewardship in RMNP and Evans is unknown.

We as a bouldering/climbing community need to rally behind locals at the NCCC and new Denver group to revive these stewardship efforts, if only for the self-interest of maintaining access to the resource.

Cheers
CB@AF

after talking with rangers, i am satisfied that this is fact: rangers at both evans and rmnp were well aware of pad stashing and had been slowly brewing an administrative response to stop the practice. in fact, evans rangers mentioned that if it was not for the self-policing of climbers, more formal administrative measures would have been implemented to stop stashing. if such measures proved ineffective, limitations on access may be implemented.

the conversation with the rangers was casual and specific plans were not discussed, but the impression i was left with was crystal clear: self-policing and stewardship would preserve our access to the climbing at evans.

while gearing up for my first session at rmnp this year, a ranger stopped in the road when he saw us and drove into the lot to ask if “all those pads” would be accompanying us back out in the evening. unlike grief from many of the bus drivers last year, the rangers were quite pleasant when asking me this and they wished our session well before driving off.

bottom line is that the administrative posture is equally clear at rmnp, perhaps even more so since the rangers have been carrying pads out themselves.

so, this year the question is not whether the rangers knew before or not. they clearly did. the issue is not whether the rangers care. they clearly do.

the only question is whether stashing your square of foam for the spurrious benefit of sending your proj is worth causing access restrictions.

for the record, despite carrying many times more paddage into alpine areas than average, i have found that the main factor to influence whether is send something i’ve worked out or not is how much i’ve slept the night before and how much i drank, not how much i’ve carried in.

furthermore, though i have good friends on both sides of this fence, if any of you in favor of stashing do not carry a pad in to the boulders, but pull out radios, jars of peanutbutter + jelly, utensils, and loaves of bread to make a sandwich in situ while listening to some beats, i will most certainly throw you into the nearest lake.

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_xclick&business=bsolano514%40yahoo%2ecom&item_name=The%20Life%20SALE&amount=4%2e95&no_shipping=0&no_note=1&currency_code=USD&lc=US&bn=PP%2dBuyNowBF&charset=UTF%2d8

however to quote that cheesy song…”I want more, more, more…”