Fall 2012 Adopt-a-Crag Recap

For ten years, Mid Atlantic Climbers and the Access Fund have been hosting Adopt-a-Crag events in the Greater Washington, D.C. area.  This year, the climbing community showed once again that they are seriously committed to stewardship. At four events this Fall, taking place in Maryland and Virginia, more than 160 volunteers came and gave back to climbing areas that have given us so much. In total, more than 613 hours of service.

Ilchester Adopt-a-Crag, Patapsco State Park, MD.
- Over 30 volunteers.
- Significant trail work and erosion controls above and below the Ilchester Cliff.  These improvements will slow erosion and help preserve the anchor and plant life at the top of the cliff.

National Public Lands Day and Carderock Adopt-a-Crag, Caderock Recreation Area, C&O Canal National Park, MD.
 - Over 50 volunteers.
 - Mulching along the top and base of the cliff to help control erosion.
 - Social trail brushing.

10 Year Anniversary Great Falls Adopt-a-Crag, Great Falls National Park, VA.
 - Over 30 volunteers.
 - Trail work near Cow Hoof Rock to help control erosion as well as provide a safer slope for hikers.
 - Social trail brushing.
 - Trash pickup.

Northwest Branch Adopt-a-Crag, Northwest Branch Park, MD.
 - Over 30 volunteers.
 - Trail repair due to fallen tree from storms earlier this year.
 - Installation of water bars to divert water off trails and control erosion.
 - Invasive species removal.
 - Trash pickup.

Thank you to everyone who came out both in the Fall and earlier this Spring to help give back to the areas we love and to show that climbers are committed to our outdoor communities.

We've already begun planning for 2013.  If you have any thoughts, comments, suggestions, or would like to get more involved with Mid Atlantic Climbers, please e-mail us.

Ilchester Time Lapse

Our good friend and photographer Indy put together this great video high-lighting the trail work completed at our September 8th, 2012 Ilchester Adopt-A-Crag.



Ilchester Trail Work Weekend (9/8/12) - a Time-lapse/slideshow view. from Mark 'Indy' Kochte on Vimeo.

Makes you want to attend an Adopt-A-Crag, doesn't it?

Good thing we've got three more lined up this Fall.  Check out event page for all the details.

Hauling Rocks and Building Trail at Ilchester

The first Adopt-a-Crag of the fall season at Ilchester was a huge success! Mid Atlantic Climbers' volunteers proved once again that they are some of the toughest, most committed volunteers around!  

Thank goodness for climbers and their rigging skills!

More than 40 volunteers came out on a warm Saturday morning September 8th to combat erosion at the Ilchester Cliff in Patapsco State Park. Volunteers moved rocks, logs, and earth, and built new structures designed to stop the erosion at the cliff top. Volunteers even rigged a high line designed to move the heaviest logs, boulders and other materials to the desired location.

Dropping the rock into place.

The logs and rocks were positioned to stop soil from eroding off of the cliff top. The new trail re-route will benefit all park visitors; it connects the stairs down to the cliff top and the trail leading away from the cliff.

After a morning of hard work and pizza lunch courtesy of of REI, MAC raffled off some climbing gear and gym passes thanks our generous sponsors: The Access Fund, Earthtreks, Patagonia, Solid Rock Climbers for Christ, Eastern Mountain Sports, Sport Rock, Osprey Packs and Friksn.
Because of the efforts of our generous sponsors, the folks at Patapsco State Park and volunteer coordinators this event was a HUGE SUCCESS!
 
Events like the Ilchester Adopt-a-Crag truly demonstrate climbers' commitment to the Patapsco State Park and show how much DC and Baltimore area climbers really care about our climbing resources. By cultivating a healthy relationship between the user group and the land owners, MAC is proactively working to keep climbing areas open in DC, MD and VA.

Mid Atlantic Climbers has 3 more Adopt-a-Crag events coming up this fall. Anyone interested in coming out should RSVP HERE and anyone interested in getting involved in planning or leading future events should feel free to contact midatlanticclimbers@gmail.com 

All experience levels welcome.

Rockfest 2012 a success!

This year's Rockfest event at Rocks State Park was a huge success! We had over 60 volunteers who worked all day to complete multiple projects that massively improved the park for all visitors. Despite the dreary forecast, folks came out excited to pitch in and the forecasted rain held off until after our projects were complete!

Thanks to everyone who helped with the projects which included trail work including installing steps on the purple trail and clearing out an ATV emergency access trail, invasive species removal (only one reported case of poison ivy), trash clean up, and construction of a nature center play area.

Building stone steps on the purple trail.

Construction of the natural play area.

Trash clean-up crew getting ready to beautify the park.

We'd like to report that the rangers at Rocks State Park are very happy with the work we were able to accomplish and were very supportive of our event overall. Be sure to thank them for their work the next time you climb at the park!

Lunch was provided by Earth Treks!

Thanks to our generous sponsors, meals for the day were provided to volunteers, and at the end of the day we had raffle prizes for everyone who participated!

Solid Rock Climbers for Christ generously provided dinner for our hungry volunteers!

In addition to the raffle, we normally give a prize for the most unique piece of trash cleaned up. Luckily, the park had less trash than we expected, so we gave the prize of a clean Mid-Atlantic Climbers T-shirt for the dirtiest volunteer. Here's our winner:

We were very grateful that the rain held off during the day on Saturday, but its eventual arrival sent most people home on Saturday night instead of enjoying camping. For the few hearty souls who stayed the night, we were treated with a sampling of short climbing films and good company around the campfire.

Thanks to Mark "Indy" Kochte for taking all of the photos in this blog post. You can see even more photos from the event on Facebook here.

Keepin' The Hits Coming - Ilchester Cleanup Recap

Thank Goodness for Good Weather

Hot off the heels of last month’s epic Rockfest 2011, Mid-Atlantic Climbers enjoyed beautiful weather Saturday May 7th at the first ever Adopt-a-Crag at the Ilchester Crag in Patapsco State Park.

Twenty-five volunteers came together and scoured the hillside beneath the cliff, removing a ton of broken glass and trash. Not content with this, volunteers then trekked down to Bloede's Dam and up Hilltop Road for more; finding such gems as a car door, a filthy mattress and creepy children's toys.

Where and What is Ilchester?

Located just outside of Ellicott City, Ilchester is a popular after work spot. And its preeminent route, Blue Rose 5.8+ is a classic sandbag that is famous in the DC area for spitting people off. Unfortunately, the same accessibility is what has lured late-night partiers, trash dumpers and weak-sauce grafitti 'artists' to the cliff.

So Why are Climbers Picking Up Trash?

Events like this are a way for the climbing community to show Patapsco State Park and other land managers that climbers invested in the outdoor resource. It helps to establish a positive relationship between the park and our user group.

Mid Atlantic Climbers would like to thank our sponsors: Earth Treks and Osprey, our team leaders and of course, everyone who gave up a morning of climbing to give back to the community.!

ROCKFEST Recap

It was amazing; 33 MPH wind, 18 hours of rain, 2 tornado warnings. Despite these extreme conditions, Rockfest 2011 was a great success. As one enthusiastic volunteer put it, "Rockfest, not just a service day but an adventure." Rockfest 2011 ranks as one of the most memorable events in Mid-Atlantic Climbers history.

Nearly 50 volunteers arrived Friday evening and Saturday morning, dressed to the nines in rain gear, committed to the cleaning up Shenandoah National Park. Together we managed to brave the weather and scour 12 ares for trash. Teams spread out to cover overlooks and parking areas along Skyline drive, as well as various high traffic spots on the White Oak Canyon, Little Stony Man and Stony Man trails.

Thanks to all our amazing volunteers, our more than 20 sponsors and a special appreciation to Mark from REI, the Solid Rock Climbers for Christ crew, Leave No Trace and Chuck from Long Trail Brewing Co. Your encouragement, support and dedication really shined.

Service projects like these are not only good for the environment but also for relationship between park users and land managers - ensuring continued access for climbers and non-climbers alike.

Best wishes,

The Mid-Atlantic Climbers

PS - We've got more events already in the pipe, so be sure to stay informed through our blog, Twitter and Facebook.

Fall 2010 Wrap-up

Fall 2010 has been busy!
Here is some info on what the climbers of the Mid Atlantic region were doing!

Great Falls, VA Adopt-a-Crag 9/25/10
Thanks to everyone who came out! We had over 100 volunteers work to complete many different projects throughout the park. Including:

• Building an historic fence
• Invasive species removal
• Trimming of trails
• Building a turnpike and erosion control measures on a popular trail
• Hauling out lots of trash from the gorge

Some people have asked, "Why are climbers trimming a horse-trail?" The answer is simple. By being good stewards of the land, it shows the park service that climbers are committed protecting these precious resources, not just climbing. Maintaining a good relationship between climbers and land managers is ultimately what keeps climbing areas open.

UPDATE: Check out our friend Jeremy Bradford's Flikr album from the event!

Earth Treks Gear Swap 9/25/10
Earth Treks Columbia, once again showed their commitment to the climbing community by hosting a Gear Swap. Climbers we invited to bring in their used gear and sell it consignment style; donating 10% of the gear swap sales to Mid Atlantic Climbers and the Access Fund. Their efforts raised over $100 which will be split between the two organizations for the purpose of preserving climbing access; locally and across the country.

A big thanks to Earth Treks for continuing to be so supportive of the local climbing community and caring about preserving the climbing resources!

Access Fund Summit, Fayetteville, WV 10/2/10 and 10/3/10
Representatives from Mid Atlantic Climbers attended this two-day conference with other Local Climbing Organizations (LCOs) from across the country. The goal of this conference was for LCO's to share information on how to preserve climbing resources. The topics of presentations, panels and workshops ranged from Conservation Easements and Land Acquisition, to liability and recreational use statutes, to membership and fundraising for LCOs.

There was also time for a little climbing, and networking with other LCOs:

• Red River Gorge Climbers Coalition (RRGCC)
  
• Carolina Climbers Coalition (CCC)
  
• Climbing Conservancy of Central Pennsylvania (C3PA)
  
• Climbers Resource Advocates for Greater Sacramento (CRAGS)
  
• Washington Climbers Coalition (WCC)
  
• New River Alliance of Climbers (NRAC)
  

Here is a comprehensive list of Local Climbing Organizations from the Access Fund.

The Summit was sponsored by the Access Fund and the New River Alliance of Climbers with the help of the National Parks Service and local businesses.

UPDATE: Check out this very detailed trip-report written by our friend Renee Ross from CRAGS - also has a couple good pics!

Northwest Branch Adopt-a-Crag 11/13/10

Our last Adopt-a-Crag of the season was another HUGE success. On a perfect fall day and under a beautiful blue sky, 79 volunteers from all over came together to show a local bouldering spot some love.

In the end, we hauled more than 30 big bags of trash and over a dozen bags of recyclables out of the woods. Not to mention: four tires, a big pipe and a couple of chairs. After the cleanup, we had an interesting presentation on the geology and flora/fauna in the park from Montgomery County Park Commission biologist Doug Redmond. And of course, the obligatory bouldering sesh.

Thanks to all our great volunteers who gave up their Saturday morning to work hard and give something back to the community.

Thanks also to our sponsors- we couldn’t have done it without you!

• Patagonia
  
• Eastern Mountain Sports
• Earth Treks
  
• REI
• Whole Foods Markets
  
• Starbucks
• Alice Ferguson Foundation

Fall Adopt-a-Crags - Another Huge Success For MAC!

7th Annual Adopt-a-Crag

For the past 7 years, local climbers, outdoor enthuasists, the Access Fund, Earth Treks, Sportrock and the National Park Service have come together to support our local crags with a day of volunteer work that aims to unite the outdoor community and preserve our precious natural resources. This fall, Mid Atlantic Climbers organized well over 100 volunteers and completed more than 10 individual projects.

At Great Falls Nat'l Park, VA:
On Sept. 5th, 2009 more than 50 volunteers came out in support of Mid Atlantic Climber's mission for the first Adopt-a-Crag event of the season. Four teams of volunteers tackled projects identified by National Park Service.

Projects included:
-brushing-in of a major social trail

-trail maintenance in a high-traffic area

-building a slit rail fence and,

-re-grading the path to Overlook 1

After the projects were completed volunteers were treated to a BBQ compliments of Sportrock Climbing Centers and a gear raffle from Mid Atlantic Climbers and the Access Fund.

Carderock, MD

Completed Projects from 2008 and 2009

At Carderock Recreation Area, MD:
On Sept. 26th, 2009 more than 70 volunteers including climbers, hikers and many from the Armed Forces took on several projects in prominent areas of the park. paying special attention to long term park preservation. In collaboration with the US Navy and the National Park Service's Volunteer Coordinator Kyle Anderson,

Projects included:

-Trail maintenance

- re-mulching of heavily trafficked trails

- Erosion control

- Brushing-in of significant social trails

- Replacing the retaining wall below Hades Heights.

After projects were completed, volunteers were treated to a BBQ hosted by EarthTreks Climbing Centers and a gear raffle from Mid Atlantic Climbers and the Access Fund.

A Huge Success deserves a Huge Thank You!

Mid Atlantic Climbers would like to thank this years Adopt-a-Crag partners including:

the Access Fund

REI

Eastern Mountain Sports (EMS)

Sportrock Climbing Centers

Earthtreks Climbing Gyms

Mid Atlantic Climbers would also like to extend a very special thank you to REI for their continued support of the Adopt-a-Crag events throughout the last 7 years! Definitely committed to the outdoor community!

Lastly, none of this would not have been possible without the dedication and enthusiasm of the individual volunteers.

To everyone who has ever participated in the Adopt-a-Crag series, Mid Atlantic Climbers would like to thank you for helping, and to say that we look forward to working with you in the future!