The Boulder Climbing Community wants climbers along the Front Range to have the best cared for crags in the country!

What does it mean to have the best cared for climbing areas in the country? And how do we accomplish that as an organization? It all starts with our stewardship efforts. BCC staff has put a lot of work during this cold and snowy winter to make sure that we hit the ground running once the sun comes out and it becomes t-shirt weather again.

Trail Program

BCC’s Trail Program is entering its 10th season of working on improving our Front Range climbing areas. Over the last decade, we have established positive relationships with various land managers to make us the go-to organization for climbing area related trail work and are excited to have some amazing projects for 2023. This year, BCC will be working at the following areas:

Dome Rock, Boulder Canyon
Avalon, Boulder Canyon
Saddle Rock, Flatirons
Lower Tiers of Zion, Clear Creek Canyon

Our Trail Program is offering lots of ways to get involved, with 16 weekend volunteer and opportunities as well as over 100 weekday volunteer trail days. If you or your organization wants to come out for a trail day, check out our Volunteer Calendar.

Anchor Replacement Program

BCC’s Anchor Replacement Program (ARP) went above and beyond in 2022 replacing 906 aging bolts! We were able to accomplish this due to our awesome community of volunteer rebolters. For 2023, we aim to replace 1,000 bolts all along the Front Range. This will be a lot of work so we are working on teaching new volunteers to become BCC rebolters via our 3-Part Anchor Replacement Clinics. BCC will also be hosting monthly crag rebolting events at popular climbing areas such as:

Contest Wall, Shelf Road
Little Eiger, Clear Creek Canyon
Plotinus Wall, Boulder Canyon
Jurassic Park, Estes Park
And more!

If you are interested in becoming a rebolting volunteer click HERE

Raptor Monitoring

Climbers have been instrumental in the success of Golden Eagle nesting in Boulder Canyon and we want to continue to grow this program by training new volunteers to become Raptor Monitoring volunteers. Via BCC’s monitoring and documentation, Blob Rock, Bitty Buttress and Security Risk have all opened early for climbing.

BCC is also getting involved with Raptor Monitoring in Rocky Mountain National Park, working with NPS staff to monitor nests at Lumpy Ridge.

Human Waste

BCC will continue to provide wag bags to climbers via wag bag stations in the Flatirons and Clear Creek Canyon, and gym kiosks at Front Range climbing gyms. BCC is also looking into alternatives at popular climbing areas such as port-o-potties or composting toilets in order to make sure that wherever you are climbing in the Front Range, you will have access to a restroom option within 20 minutes.

Advocacy Program

The BCC’s Advocacy Program is our newest program and is quickly becoming one of the best ways BCC works to protect and improve climbing in the Front Range and beyond. In 2022, the Advocacy Program spent 725 hours on initiatives to maintain and bolster Front Range Climbing Areas. You can reach our advocacy team, via our Executive Director, Kate Beezley.

Here is some of what the BCC will be keeping tabs on on behalf of Front Range climbers in 2023:

Clear Creek Canyon:

The BCC team is working with the Frei Family in Clear Creek Canyon, west of Tunnel 5, to secure climbing access long term. (Includes local treasures like the Primo Wall and the Dog House.)

United States Forest Service:

Currently monitoring the St. Vrain Forest Health Project to assure climbing north of Boulder will not be affected by Forest Health projects.
Monitoring and actively commenting on what is happening in the NPS (see below) because the NPS will drive the direction of USFS land management.

Boulder County Open Space:

The BCC continues to have a positive working relationship with them and is seeking out opportunities to partner more closely in the future.

National Park Service:

RMNP- our backyard national park.

The BCC continues to work with the park to build a more robust and flexible raptor monitoring system, especially to get closures lifted if nesting has not occurred.
Monitoring reservation and parking policies to ensure climbers have a voice.

Bolts in Wilderness-the BCC is actively weighing in on management plans, to date the Black Canyon and Joshua Tree National Park, to ensure the spirit of recreation in the Wilderness Act is maintained. (Learn more about Access Fund’s work on this below)

Protect America’s Climbing Act (PARC)- The BCC partners with, and supports, Access Fund’s work on the PARC Act–the BCC actively engages with our local members of Congress to garner support for PARC.

There is a good summary of PARC in a recent episode of the Runout Podcast.

City of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks:

Flagstaff Parking Permits: BCC is working with the city to find a solution to the nighttime parking closures on Flagstaff so climbers can continue to use the resource in the late evenings.

State of Colorado:

Eldorado Canyon State Park-reminder that permits are needed to park on weekends and holidays starting May 15th.
Colorado Recreation Statue (CRUS)- In March the BCC went to the state Senate Judiciary Committee to testify on behalf of the Front Range and Colorado climbing communities on a bill to change language in the CRUS to increase protection for land owners who let us recreate on their lands, it died in the committee but the BCC is supporting a coalition focused on reforming CRUS over the next 18 months.

Jefferson County:

Monitoring the plans for the Plains to Peak Trail, to minimize any effect on climbing.
Closely following parking developments at North Table Mountain to assure that resident complaints do not result in any loss of access.

We hope you all are as excited about the work the Boulder Climbing Community will be doing this year as we are! If you want to get involved, consider volunteering, becoming a member, or donating to our fundraising campaign.