A Word From our Executive Director, Kate Beezley:
This November the BCC hosted its 7th Annual Soirée. It was an amazing evening celebrating the community and all the BCC has accomplished over the past 14 years.
One of the many things we celebrated, was the 10th anniversary of the trail crew, and 5 years of the Anchor Replacement Program scaling up. Just 5 years ago we only replaced 90 bolts a year. For the past 3 years, we have replaced over 1,000. The trail crew completed 21 unique projects in 10 years, many multi-year. Our longest project was the Third Flatiron at 35 weeks. In total, the value of the trail work is over 2.7 million dollars and over 22,000 volunteer hours.
These accomplishments are staggering!
While the accomplishments speak to our impact, one thing I talked about at the Soirée and want to reiterate right now is the power of community-powered change. Sometimes we get stuck in our mindsets that change needs to happen in Washington DC or the state capitol. But, the BCC is changing society for the better. As a supporter of the BCC, as a volunteer, or financially, or both, you are part of the solution.
Here is where the BCC’s work is having an impact for the greater good:
The eagle volunteer monitoring eaglets ensures biodiversity, one component of a thriving and resilient ecosystem.
The human waste we mitigate via wag bags and porta-potties keeps our watersheds free of e-coli and other diseases, a health benefit for all.
By building trails we create climate change-resistant recreation environments, stone steps and walls cannot be undone by floods. The BCC’s trail program originated to address the 2013 floods.
Humans need the essentials, food, water, and shelter, but we also need community, physical activity, and spirituality to be our whole selves. The BCC provides.
We come together as a community, to participate in physical activities, and we wonder at the sublimeness of nature while being physically active. The work the BCC does is part of an ecosystem of change.
Please join the community in ensuring our work continues to thrive. We hope after reading this almost end-of-year update you will join the passionate community of Colorado Give’s Day supporters.
2024 Anchor Replacement: 5,000 Bolts Replaced, 1,000 This Year
You don’t have to clip any of these anymore thanks to our Anchor Replacement Volunteers and Staff
BCC’s anchor replacement has steadily grown over the years. This shows compounding numbers where each year adds to the previous.
In 2024 BCC volunteers replaced another 1,000 bolts across the Front Range, and we will continue to see that number rise as we finish our 2024 scope of work. Since BCC started working to replace old bad bolts, we have replaced almost 5,000! Of these, a full 40% have been in the last two years. Through our engaged community, we have created a national model for community-driven bolt replacement that preserves the routes and rock.
In 2024, we focused heavily on Boulder Canyon, where we completely rebolted Dream Dome, and made significant progress across Lost Angel, both at Upper Dream Canyon. While Boulder Canyon got some extra love this year, we continued working across other Front Range areas including Clear Creek Canyon, Shelf Road, North Table Mountain, the South Platte, and the Flatirons.
As BCC checks off more of our highest-density crags, our approaches get longer, and the work to replace bolts increases. In 2024, BCC and FCC collaborated to replace the rap anchors on the Matron in the Flatirons. This Rossiter top 10 Classic had rap anchors that were 20 years ago, and “suspect”. What we mean by “suspect” is sporting self-drilling anchors held in place by only a mix of superstition and silicone. Today these anchors are strong sustainable stainless glue-ins that will outlive us and offer a secure means of descending from this remarkable summit.
2024 Before and Afters
2024 Trail Season
2024 was another stellar year for the BCC trail crew. Four main projects were completed: The Narrow Gauge Slabs Top Access Trail, the 3rd Flatiron Repair Project, The Saddle Rock Reroute Trail, and the self-funded Blob Rock Climbing Access Trail. A highlight of this year's trail work revolved around the Narrow Gauge Slabs Project as it's the first project of its kind where proactive trail work was done before the impacts of human and natural erosion could take place. This project can be used as a model for what new climbing access areas can achieve in the future.
2024 Two Eaglets
We all know baby animals are adorable, and baby eaglets are no exception! From their awkward fuzzball stage, all the way to the day they fledge, our BCC Raptor Monitoring volunteers watch as our resident Boulder Canyon eaglets develop into full-fledged (no pun intended) Golden Eagles. Aside from providing volunteers the opportunity to observe tender moments (like this photo of one of the parent eagles feeding the two little fuzzballs), our monitoring efforts help to protect Golden Eagle nesting habitat and bolster the population of these majestic eagles. Both of these lil eagles ended up fledging and taking to the skies, the first time since 2015 that two eagles have successfully fledged in one year!
The mama and her white fuzzy baby.
Celebrate Our Newest Wag Bag Station: Lucky #16 Blob Rock
We have distributed over 2600 wag bags free of charge to Front Range climbers/hikers this year; that represents almost 2000 lbs of human waste that has been prevented from marring the beauty of our crags and the quality of our watersheds! That’s a lotta poo!
You can find our newest trailside station (our 16th across the Front Range!) when you’re headed to Blob Rock/Bitty Buttress! The new box is located right on the approach trail and is there to help when the coffee kicks in at the wrong time. Grab yourself a bag next time you’re out there to enjoy some sunny south-facing climbing this winter!
Wag Bag Station #16 on the Trail to everyone’s favorite, Young and the Rackless