Forest Service Ban on Climbing Safety Anchors Will Eliminate Roped Climbing in Wilderness Areas
Imagine trying to climb without leaving any kind of safety anchor in the rock or snow, ever, even for rappels. That's what the US Forest Service has decided is the law in wilderness areas. This unprecedented ruling means that climbing will be eliminated as a use of many historic mountain areas, unless all climbers react immediately.
On June 1, 1998, the Forest Service ruled that any climbing equipment, when left in place, becomes an "installation" equivalent to roads, dams, and aircraft land strips, and is therefore prohibited under the 1964 Wilderness Act. This novel interpretation of the Act bans every type of climbing anchor, including "metal bolts... whether camouflaged or not," "pitons left in the rock" and "slings or ropes left wrapped around trees or rocks." The Forest Service says climbing is still allowed in national forest wilderness, just not the tools which are often essential for the experience.
This action means that climbers could be cited or arrested simply for clipping in to an existing rap station in a wilderness area, such as Pingora in the Wind River Range. Local national forest managers will decide if it is feasible to remove existing in-situ climbing anchors.
The Forest Service also says that climbing "is not a wilderness dependent activity," since it is possible to climb in non-wilderness areas. But this same argument holds true for every other accepted use of wilderness, including backpacking, fishing, or even bird-watching.
William Supple, President of both the Access Fund and Charlet Moser/Wild Country USA, said "The Access Fund will work with Congress, the outdoor recreation industry, the environmental community, and the numerous climbers groups in this country to block enforcement of and reverse this example of extreme government over-reaction."
"This decision is a slap in the face to the recreational and environmental groups that have come together to help wilderness managers develop an effective framework for managing technical climbing," added Sally Moser, Access Fund executive director. "It alienates a user group that has a long heritage of championing wilderness, and imperils political support for pending wilderness legislation and agency funding for wilderness management."
The Forest Service's decision is unprecedented. While the Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and National Park Service all have been developing new rules or guidelines for management of climbing in wilderness, only the Forest Service has taken the position that any type of climbing anchor, if left in the rock, is illegal and never can be permitted.
Forest Service officials in Washington went out of their way to make clear that the decision applies to all national forest wilderness. Thus, the ban affects such historic climbing areas as Tahquitz and Suicide Rocks in California; all east-side High Sierra routes, including Mount Whitney and the Palisades; the Cirque of the Towers in Wyoming; Lone Peak Cirque in Utah; the Elephant's Perch in Idaho; and Prussik Peak and the Snow Creek Wall in the Cascades Range of Washington.
As all climbers know, technical climbing requires a system of ropes and anchors for belays, lead protection, and descent. Since the early part of this century that system has included removable protection devices as well as tools which are, by necessity, left in place. It's a rare wilderness climb that can be descended without leaving some type of rappel anchor, usually just a short length of nylon sling.
Even Washington, DC bureaucrats at the Forest Service recognized the ruling would effectively shut down climbing in national forest wilderness, estimating that some 40 wilderness areas "with major climbing opportunities" are affected by this decision (the Access Fund believes this figure is low). Their advice to climbers: go climb in non-wilderness areas. But it is impossible to replace the experience of climbing Lizard Head Peak or Prussik Peak with roadside cragging. So much for the Wilderness Act's purpose of providing opportunities for "primitive and unconfined recreation."
Technical climbing is one of the oldest uses of wilderness lands, which under the Wilderness Act are established "for the use and enjoyment of the American people." In the 34 years since the Wilderness Act was passed, not once has Congress expressed concern about the effects of climbing equipment on wilderness, and not once has any wilderness management agency found that climbing anchors cause significant impacts to wilderness resources or values.