About the New River Alliance of Climbers
(Excerpted from their newsletter)
Climbers as a group have had the good fortune for about 15 years of enjoying a great relationship with the National Park Service (NPS) here at the New River Gorge and with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) at Summersville Lake. This is probably due to several reasons. First of all, neither agency ever thought that climbing was on the list of possible activities here and have been busy for years focused on silly human tricks like fourwheeling, jetskis, firearms, arson, theft, etc. Secondly, even today with world-class status as a climbing destination, this area still has higher priority management issues than climbing impacts and climber behavior. The third reason is that ever since climbing exploration began in earnest in the late 80's there have been climbers advocating climbing to the NPS and Corps.
Last year was a great start for NRAC with completion of several ambitious trail projects and the pulling together of the organization into the recognized voice for climbers in the New River area. The local governmental authorities are behind the formation of NRAC and have been impressed by the level of commitment shown by the organization and climbers in general.
Climbers do not need trails, but the land does. This notion that trails are a tool for mitigating human impact while providing a quality visitor experience is fundamental to the principals that guide public land management in the U.S. Here at the New, it is no different. Almost all of the climbing in this area is either on National Park Service (NPS) or U.S. Army Corps of Engineers land. These agencies allow us to climb on these lands that they are in charge of and could try to run us off if they felt that such action was in the best, long-term interest of the land. This is where NRAC and Access Fund supported volunteer climber trail projects come into play. We are demonstrating to the land manager that climbers can be responsible for themselves. It is working. It is not about climbers, per se, but about the land and cliff areas, how we treat these places, and the safety and resource protocols that guide land management decisions.
What we need to do now. Rip rapping the shoreline under Orange Oswald -- help preserve this shoreline, which is being rapidly eroded by powerboat wakes. Finish the relocated trail begun last fall. So, please come pitch in and help. We have three weekends planned for trailwork this year. The first two are the weekends of April 14-15 and April 21-22. Please meet at the Summersville Parking area at 9:00am on these days. Bring a lunch. The plan is to finish the trail to Orange Oswald at Summersville and stabilize (rip-rap) the shoreline in front of the Orange Oswald Wall. In one place there is only six feet of ground left between the lake and the cliff. Some of you may say that you don’t climb there, so why help. But aren’t you glad that so many people do choose to go there instead of where you go? Hmmm? The third weekend is scheduled August 25-26. More on that later. Please contact Leslie Riehl
leslieriehl@hotmail.com or Gene Kistler, (304) 574-2021.On May 12 join us for our annual meeting and party held at Class VI starting at 6:00 PM.
Kurt Smith slide show and DJ dance party, cash bar and dinner. Shoe demos and other climber events held throughout the weekend.