How do you build on a program with more than a decade of great results? For the 2023 Access Fund Conservation Teams, the answer is rooted in community.
Access Fund Conservation Teams work with local climbing communities across the country to rehabilitate popular climbing areas and equip them with smart recreation infrastructure that minimizes our impacts and protects natural and cultural resources. This technical trail building and conservation work is designed to set climbing areas up for long-term sustainable access that protects the environment. Thousands of climbers around the country participate in this work each year by volunteering with our Conservation Teams or through their local climbing organization (LCOs).
Our work with local communities and local climbing organizations doesn’t just restore beatdown belay areas or repair deteriorating trails—it also helps build a community of inspired advocates everywhere they go. This season, the Conservation Teams will build the same stone staircases, retaining walls, and sustainable trails they’re known for, but they’re going bigger than ever on something else, too—inspiring local climbing communities to dream big.
Crags in Need
Our most popular climbing areas are seeing more and more traffic, and the effects compound with every passing season. What many might not know is that there’s something we can do about it, even in the most dire cases.
Ten Sleep Canyon, Wyoming. Ancestral lands of Eastern Shoshone, Apsáalooke (Crow), Tséstho’e (Cheyenne), and Očhéthi Šakówiŋ. © Kris Ugarizza.
Many of these areas need more than a new switchback or belay pad. They need major overhauls to handle the traffic they’re seeing. “One of the early goals of the stewardship program was spreading awareness of the importance of stewarding our climbing areas,” says Andrea Hassler, Access Fund stewardship manager. “In a way, I think we can check that box—people get it, and they know how important it is. Now, we’re going to give local climbing communities the tools they need to go bigger on their stewardship projects.”
Thinking about the crag as a whole, imagining the use cases, and planning a system that can handle the impact of hundreds or thousands of climbers every year is no small feat.
Thinking about the crag as a whole, understanding the use patterns, and planning a system that can handle the impact of hundreds or thousands of climbers every year is no small feat. And bringing it to life is even more work. That’s where the Access Fund Conservation Teams—and their ambitious 2023 schedule—come in.
A Bigger Ambition: Whole-Crag Health
This year, the Conservation Teams will be spending up to 10 weeks in some of the nation’s most heavily trafficked crags. “Projects like these take knowledge, they take technical expertise, they take volunteers, but most of all, they just take time,” says Hassler. “Putting our teams in the field for weeks at a time takes their effect on the crag—and the community—from fleeting to profound.”
Indian Creek, Utah. Ancestral lands of Navajo, Ute, Ute Mountain, Hopi and Zuni. © Access Fund.
The Conservation Teams will equip areas that need the most attention with whole-crag infrastructure designed to withstand the growing numbers of climbers. That usually looks like a combination of stone staircases, retaining walls, durable trails, and appropriate drainage in a configuration that varies from crag to crag. “If we did it one retaining wall at a time, coming back year after year to do one more small piece of the bigger project, it would take decades,” says Ty Tyler, Access Fund stewardship director. “When the Conservation Teams invest longer periods of time into climbing areas, they can get a spot done and leave it ready for generations of climbers to come.”
If the Conservation Teams are headed to a crag near you, mark your calendar and come out to lend a hand.
Strengthening Community Capacity
Every crag is seeing the impacts of climbing’s growing popularity and deserves restoration. But the Conservation Teams can only visit so many crags in a year. That’s why it’s vitally important that their work not only restore the crags they visit, but also strengthens the capacity of local communities to carry this work forward and take on big restoration projects on their own.
Local communities won’t just get the inspiration to dream bigger from their time with the Conservation Teams—they’ll also get the skills and knowledge they need to make those dreams a reality for their local climbing areas.
Local communities won’t just get the inspiration to dream bigger from their time with the Conservation Teams—they’ll also gain the skills and knowledge they need to make those dreams a reality for their local climbing areas. “Our goal is to build capacity everywhere we go,” Tyler says, “and the longer we stay in an area, the more time local advocates have to see how the work is done and pick up the skills they need to carry it forward after the Conservation Teams leave.”
Pictured Rocks County Park, Iowa. Ancestral lands of Ioway, Sauk, Fox, Očhéthi Šakówiŋ, and Kickapoo. © Raud Kashef.
LCO staff and local volunteers will spend weeks in the field with the Conservation Teams during their 2023 season, picking up some of their professional trailwork knowledge and technical expertise. “Every community of climbers is unique, and we’ve had so much fun over the last three years discovering so many of them,” says Conservation Team member Loryn Posladek. “This year, we’re really looking forward to settling into a place for a bit longer, getting to know the local climbers and helping them tackle bigger projects.” LCOs will also see how those skills enable large-scale infrastructure projects that support a crag’s long-term health. Kyle Leihsing, fellow Conservation Team member adds: “It’s just a lot of fun to get to dig our teeth into a big project and leave behind some cool structures that’ll be there for generations of climbers.”
How you can help
Tools and equipment are critical to the Conservation Teams’ work. From gloves that protect their hands to pickaxes for breaking up hard dirt, they couldn’t get the job done without them. The easiest way to chip in and support them is to donate to Access Fund today—here’s what your donation can fund: