Greetings, fellow stewards, and welcome to our 13th season of stewardship! We’ve got big plans for 2024 and we’re psyched to share them with you. And when you’re finished reading, you can help us keep up the best-maintained crags in the country by volunteering or becoming a member today. (Or you could do that now and then read the blog, we’re not picky.)

Did you know:

The BCC stewards over 500 square miles of climbing landscapes and represents the entire Front Range corridor
Over the past six years, we have facilitated more than $1.75 million in volunteer labor
Out of our thousands of volunteers, we have 13 who have worked more than 100 hours!

2024 is also the 10th anniversary of the BCC Trail Crew. The BCC’s Trail Crew is a one-of-a-kind operation that provides up to 32 weeks of technical trail work annually. We take on big-scale rock projects for seven local land managers.

In ten years, we have moved over 16,000 rocks by hand and rigging
Had over 21,400 volunteer hours valued at over $600,000

Volunteers move rocks to build new stone stairs

Here’s what’s coming up in 2024.

The BCC Trail Program

Over the past 10 years, the BCC’s Trail Program has done amazing work building and maintaining trails all over the Front Range. We’ve serviced trails to the Royal Arch Trail in the Flatirons, Castle Rock Overlook in Boulder Canyon, Upper Dream Canyon, Avalon in Boulder Canyon, and various other climbing areas across the Front Range. We’ve even done work in Utah!

The BCC Trail Program was created in 2014 as a joint effort between the Access Fund and the BCC, founded by Roger, Bill Briggs, Mike McHugh, Ty Tyler, Mark Hesse, and JB Haab. These climbers worked together to develop the concept of a trail stewardship program centered on a professional trail crew managed and supported by the climbing community.

After the 2013 floods in Boulder and the tragic passing of Mark Hesse, the BCC’s Trail Program led an invigorated community to carry on his admirable legacy. In 2019, the BCC fully took over the program from the Access Fund.

Former BCC Stewardship Director, Ryan Kuehn, walking the re-route of the Royal Arch Trail. One of the BCC’s first trail projects was rebuilding the Royal Arch Trail after the 2013 flood. In 2021 the BCC rerouted the trail to make it even more sustainable to climate change, including erosion, flooding, and fires.

Since 2013, the BCC’s Trail Program has worked closely with seven different land managers over the past ten years and has placed over 5,000 stone steps along the Front Range. We have logged over 40,000 labor hours and over 20,000 volunteer hours from the community. Chances are, if you are a climber on the Front Range, you've walked on a trail built by the BCC’s Trail Program. Learn more about our 10-year history here.

This year, the BCC will create an access trail for a to-be-developed crag in Pine Valley Ranch. This is the first project of its kind — we have a unique opportunity to put in the work and mitigate climber impact before it ever becomes an issue!

Thanks to Jefferson County Open Space for being a great partner in this project. After the Pine Valley Ranch project, the BCC heads back to Boulder to pick up where we left off on the new Saddle Rock re-route trail in the Flatirons in partnership with the City of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks.

Our highlighted project of the year is at Blob Rock in Boulder Canyon. This crag sees thousands of visitors, when not closed for nesting eagles, and the need for a stable trail is high. Popular Routes at Blob Rock include The Young and the Rackless, The Ticket, and Vasodilator. This project is self-funded by the BCC via grants, membership, and donor support. A big thanks to the Rocky Mountain Conservancy Conservation Corps for joining us for the first few weeks of the project.

Find some time this season to come volunteer with us or celebrate the tenth year of the BCC’s trail crew at our events this summer!

Our Trail Crew this year is made up of these awesome individuals:

Trail Program Manager: Jeremy Pacheco
Trail Crew Lead: Grace McMahon
Louisa D'Amico-Erlandson
Mike Salmon

2024 Schedule:

Project in Pine Valley Ranch (April-June)
Saddle Rock Trail in the Flatirons (June-August)
Blob Rock in Boulder Canyon (August-October)
Boulder Area OSMP (October-November)

Bolt and Anchor Replacement Program

BCC is going into our 11th year replacing bolts across the greater Front Range! In that time, BCC has emerged as a national leader in bolt replacement. We replace more bolts annually than any other group and have developed a unique volunteer-driven model that is now being shared with and replicated by other local climbing organizations (LCOs) around the country. In 2023 alone, we replaced over 1,000 bolts while maintaining a 90% success rate of reusing the original hole!

In the early years, tools and systems to cleanly remove and replace old bolts were still in their infancy, and many of the bolts were chopped and new holes drilled. Through our ongoing work, BCC members helped develop custom tools that could be used to cleanly extract a variety of old bolt types. In 2020, BCC launched the Anchor Replacement Program to organize and facilitate rebolting efforts and train volunteers on the specialized skills to cleanly replace old hardware.

Year after year we have increased our capacity. From 285 bolts replaced in 2020 to 1,098 in 2023, our capacity continues to increase! As we gear up for 2024, we are again planning to replace over 1,000 bolts across the Front Range with a special focus on our home areas of Boulder and Clear Creek Canyon.

We have lots of opportunities to get involved and would love your support as we continue to grow this program. To become one of our rebolting volunteers, check out the Anchor Replacement Program page.

Eagle and Raptor Nesting Season

Spring is the heart of Raptor season, and the BCC is proud to be once again working in conjunction with the USFS and wildlife biologists Rob Ramey and Tim Meehan to provide accurate information about Golden Eagle habitat and nesting in Boulder Canyon!

Recently, Tim and Rob hosted a volunteer orientation for the Raptor Monitoring Program where 21 aspiring bird nerds joined us to learn about the history of Raptor monitoring efforts in the Front Range and how they could help. Volunteers will be the driving force that helps us gather information on which nests are actively being used and compile detailed reports as the eagles work to increase their numbers and fledge new eaglets!

Our efforts to provide real-time data on eagles in Boulder Canyon also help to avoid blanket closures for recreation purposes while protecting areas critical to the eagles’ well-being. Last year, one eagle successfully fledged in the Canyon, and we hope conditions will allow for successful fledging again this year!

Keeping the Front Range Clean with Wag Bags

As the weather becomes warmer and skis start being traded out for harnesses, our Wag Bag program will be revving up into high gear. Last year we dispensed over 2,500 wag bags to local gyms and free distribution boxes across the Front Range! Our aim remains the same: keep our crags and watersheds free from human waste! So far in 2024, we’ve dispersed 160 wag bags to field stations and 225 to restock local gyms. As the crags get busier, we’ll need volunteers to help us get this valuable conservation resource out to the public! If you’re interested in lending a hand to restock our wag bag stations, send an email to aaron@boulderclimbers.org for all the details.

Advocacy and Legislation Updates

The BCC started the year with a big win. SB-58, which we supported, passed both houses of the state legislature and was signed into law by the Governor on March 15th, 2024. This bill was a critical step to fortifying the Colorado Recreation Use Statue to better protect private landowners who allow free use of their land.

Chaos Canyon in RMNP is open again to climbers after a major landslide in 2022. This interesting report reveals that the area was unstable and beginning to move well in advance of the actual event.

The BCC is also working on several other issues, including fixed anchors in wilderness areas, which we will keep you up to speed on as we move through the year.

BCC Events in 2024

The BCC has two signature events this year:

Backyard Climbing Festival 2024

A weekend of climbing clinics, an outdoor volume climbing competition, and a mega-after party at the Boulder Rock Club, thanks to our partnership with Denver Mountain Guides.

When: the weekend of May 31- June 2nd; tickets launch early April.
Where: various locations across the Front Range for clinics and the comp; after block party at the Boulder Rock Club; TBD site for stewardship-trail work
Why: to build community, teach technical skills, improve safety, foster volunteerism, and educate the community about stewardship opportunities.
Who: 200 + climbers
Fundraising Goal: $10,000

7th Annual BCC Soirée

Our signature gala! It’s the only climbing-centric gala in Colorado in 2024, and it sells out every year!

When: November 14th, 2024
Where: Rembrandt Yard, Downtown Boulder one block from Pearl Street.
Why: to celebrate the BCC’s 2024 achievements. It is also a celebration of community during which we recognize super-stars in our community for their achievements in climbing, philanthropy, and volunteering.
Who: 150-200 who’s who of local climbers.
Sponsorship: See here for all sponsorship levels for this event and others.
Fundraising Goal: $45,000