Rock climbing is one of the fastest-growing outdoor activities. Climbing documentaries like “Free Solo” and “Dawn Wall” have helped the sport break into mainstream media conversations and in 2020 climbing debuted at the Tokyo Olympics. Now, whether it’s bouldering or rope climbing—in the gym or outdoors—people are flocking to the challenge.
However, as more and more get into the sport and try scaling natural rock formations, these climbing areas are starting to feel the effects of increased foot traffic, from trail erosion to trampled plants and litter.
That’s where groups like the Bay Area Climbers Coalition come in. The coalition was formed in 2013 to help protect climbing areas, known among climbers as “crags.” The group is the only Bay Area-based climbing organization that is an official partner with Access Fund, a national organization focused on sustainable access and conservation in climbing.
The coalition has sparked a movement of local climbing and environmental enthusiasts who are helping keep recreational areas protected and beautiful.
Reaching towards eco-conscious climbing
Climbing’s place in the environmental movement is complicated. When climbing first started taking off in the 1960s, climbers primarily used a method called “aid climbing,” which involves climbers using mechanical equipment like pitons, bolts, and aiders to essentially pull themselves and their gear up a wall. The anchor points for this type of climbing—hammered or drilled into the rockface— caused problems like decay and erosion.
After years of hammering pitons—the metal spike that is driven into the rock that acts as an anchor for the climber—into rock walls, climbers in the 1970s began to campaign for less destructive techniques. Harmful anchors were largely left in the past as aid, sport, and traditional climbers opted for gear that had little to no permanent effect on rock walls. The sport has come a long way since then and climbers have become increasingly aware of the impact they have on their favorite crags.
The trails and land around crags were impacted too. Climbers would find their own paths to a rock wall, and some of these paths would later become a route others followed. However, as more people have come to the sport, climbing areas that were traditionally frequented by just a few people have seen considerably more foot traffic.
“A lot of access to climbing has been user-created, so there wasn’t always a plan in place to designate access to climbing areas,” said Andrea Hassler, stewardship manager for the Access Fund. With increased foot traffic, trails to climbing areas can quickly become prone to erosion. Compression of soil and crushed or broken vegetation can make trails susceptible to water damage.
Hassler noted that after years of climbers making their own routes to climbing areas, those paths now have to be properly maintained in order to keep that access safe for both climbers and the ecosystem around them.
Additionally, as more people hike to popular crags, litter and vandalism of rock faces have become growing problems. Locally, this can be a significant issue. Graffiti, broken glass, and trash are some of the items that can be found at climbing areas in the bay.
And every place that’s popular with climbers poses its own unique challenges. This is especially true across the country where environments differ enormously. Certain places have specific rock types, like fragile sandstone, or the local environment is particularly at risk from certain kinds of activities. Additionally, some states have fewer environmental protections in place.
The Access Fund works with local groups across the United States to address these problems while also taking their policy work to Washington D.C. Hassler said that one of the biggest challenges to the organization is the sheer scale and diversity of climbing communities and locations across the U.S.
“We’ve got millions of climbers and 10’s of thousands of climbing areas across the country and we’re a small team,” said Hassler. “We are taking a comprehensive approach to preserve access to climbing and preserve the climbing environment.”
Serving the communities that come together outdoors
One of the ways that Access Fund maintains such a wide reach is by working closely with local climbing organizations like the Bay Area Climbers Coalition. The fund offers regional climbers grant funding for equipment they may need to maintain climbing areas, and sometimes it even finds ways to help communities purchase land that includes popular crags.
Patrick Lerchi is the Bay Area Climbers Coalition’s stewardship director. He works with a team of around 30 to 50 volunteers from across the Bay Area helping organize and facilitate stewardship events like “Adopt a Crag” days. “From the very beginning, our stewardship team will go out climbing, and envision, ‘hey, like, what can we do to make this area better,’” said Lerchi.
Once they’ve assessed an area’s specific needs, they will work with land owners, land managers, or parks officials to discuss what needs to be done and how the organizations can work together to achieve it. Then they’ll assemble their group of volunteers and head out to a site.
Lerchi said that a big task that is often needed at crags is graffiti removal. The team will use biodegradable soaps and pressure washers to clean the rocks. He also said that invasive species removal and trail maintenance are common tasks.
Apart from the physical work, a large part of keeping climbing areas clean is education. Both the Bay Area Climbers Coalition and the Access Fund emphasize the importance of proper pre-climbing education.
Lerchi often talks to climbers about ways they can properly protect themselves, the environment, and other people out enjoying the land.
“All these parks that we love to go climb in, they are the way that they are because of the decisions of people who go there,” said Lerchi. “And every time you go outside climbing, you have a responsibility to act in the way that you want this place to stay and serve the common community that takes joy in going out to that place”
One of the biggest principles in the outdoor recreation community is “leave no trace,” which means leaving an area as you found it and having as small of an impact on it as possible. This idea is one of the core principles that the climbers coalition instills in their volunteers, said Serafin Garcia, the community director for the coalition.
For Garcia, being able to climb outside is a privilege, and he takes that privilege seriously. He sees the coalition’s work as a way to not only maintain equitable access to climbing locations but to do it in a way that is not exploitative and keeps the Bay Area’s environment safe and healthy for everyone.
“This is a sport in which if you’re not careful you can, in fact, cause harm to the environment in a variety of ways,” said Garcia. “I feel there is a duty to give back to the land that we climb on.”
