(Rain dates: Sunday April 11 or the following weekend, April 17/18.)

Join SWOCC at Emigrant Lake on Saturday, April 10 to learn how to become a good steward of the outdoors as you make the transition to climbing outside.

The event begins at 11am; more details will be emailed to registrants.

This event will cover elements of being a respectful and responsible climber in the outdoors: what to bring (and not to bring), safety on the ground and on the wall, ethics at the crag, Leave No Trace principles, and more.

After the event, climbers are welcome to take advantage of the location and climb at the Emigrant Lake crags. 

Registration is free, but limited to 10 participants for this event. Questions can be sent to info@sworegonclimbing.org.

Click here if unable to access the registration form below.

• Consider being monogamous in your climbing partnerships.
  • Climb exclusively with your housemates if possible.
  • Otherwise, find someone with similar schedules and goals to climb with. The less people you climb with, the less germs you spread. 
• Try to stay within 50 miles.
  • Avoid stops at your destination; gas up & snack up in your local community first.
  • Good to go: Emigrant Lake, Greensprings (private land – be respectful!), Rattlesnake, Lover’s Leap, Umpqua National Forest crags, Mill Creek
  • Possibly too far depending on your location, or already explicitly closed: Smith Rock, Honeycombs, Promontory, Lost Rocks, Redwood Coast, Castle Crags
  • Closed for raptors (usually no later than July 15): Honeycombs, Terra Nova, Rabbit Ears, Pilot Rock, Acker Rock
• Be prepared if it’s crowded. 
  • “What? Oregon crags, crowded?!” With gyms at limited capacity and distant trips discouraged, more people are out than ever.
  • Hand sanitize before and after you get on the rock, verbally queue up if there’s a line & then spread out.
  • Have an alternate plan: hike, bike, raft, meditate. 
• Now more than ever, be an upstander, not a bystander. 
  • People haven’t climbed or spent a lot of time outside. They don’t know to bury their poop, or how to rappel, or any number of lessons from outdoor climbing. Tell them what they can do better (without being mean).
• Practice Leave No Trace (LNT) principles.
  • More people at smaller crags means more impact. Learn how to lessen your impact. 
• Consider not spraying about your climbing on social media until everyone is able to get out, and travel is fully open. 

Other news & resources:

• Rogue Rock Gym is reopening on May 18 for members-only and punch-card holders. There is a 50-person limit at a time. Find more information here.
• Smith Rock is essentially open to locals only. 
• American Alpine Club recommendations
• Rock & Ice: Climbers Cautiously Return to the Rocks As States and Countries Relax Stay-At-Home Orders

SWOCC member Matt Money put in some work to write an Access Fund Climbing Conservation grant application for 2020 &mdash: and we need you to vote on it! (BTW – thanks, Matt!)

This grant would go towards the installation of a vault toilet at the Honeycombs crag outside of Roseburg, OR. The Honeycombs contain over 50 routes, including several multipitch adventures. It was purchased in 2019 by Forest Edge Investments to maintain it as an accessible climbing and recreation site.

As the crag’s popularity has grown, so has the need for facilities. This grant would help – along with in-kind donations from FEI – to get a toilet installed to handle the current and future traffic from climbers. As we all know, disposing of human waste responsibly is really important out in nature, so this makes things a lot easier at the Honeycombs.

Vote and spread the word!