Newsletter Feb 2005

Newsletter Editor--Bruce B. Junek

 Our next meetings will be Tuesday, Feb 15, 7:00 p.m. at the Gaslight in Rockerville.  The March meeting is set for Tuesday, March 15 again at the Gaslight.

 About 30 people showed up on a cold and snowy night for our January meeting.  A number of topics were discussed and resolved, at least for now. A couple of students from the School of Mines asked if the coalition would be interested in putting together some kind of event in conjunction with the Hardrocker Climbing Club, which has about 45 members.  Sue Scheirbeck and Eric Sutton had already been talking of organizing an April climbing event that would include rope work, safety and gear usage, which might fit perfectly with what the Hardrocker Club was hoping to put together.  It was also suggested that students at BHSU should be informed and given a chance to participate.  Sue and Eric are willing to coordinate and spearhead this effort, but they will certainly need help.  Volunteers will be much appreciated!  Please contact them if you can help.

 A discussion was held on ramification of certain Forest Service policies being implemented to restrict and control off-road vehicle and ATV use on Forest Service land.  A number of people expressed concern how these policies might affect other user groups.  James Berry spoke about problems that have arisen for X-C skiers, and Duane Martenson talked off issues affecting mountain bikers.  Many feel that climbers could also be affected by such policies.  (On Jan 20 there was a meeting at the Mystic Ranger station in Rapid City regarding these issues, with more than 60 people--mostly mountain bikers--attending.  Kudos to all who showed up!)  The only way we can protect our access to public lands is by actively taking part in the whole political process.

 Also discussed at the coalition meeting were several options in the Devils Tower management pipeline that might negatively affect climbers down the road.  By strong consensus it was agreed that the BHCC needs to be active in working to protect climber interests at Devils Tower.  It has been a few years since any official meetings between the BHCC and Devils Tower rangers or management.  Everyone felt this spring would be a good time to reestablish a working relationship.

 A discussion was held regarding the pin that was replaced with a bolt on Old Man’s Face during a Needles workday last fall.  Rich Barry told how the pin basically fell out in Larry Shaffers hands, and that there was no place for good pro nearby, so that is why the decision was made to place a new bolt on the climb.  The big concern was not whether that particular bolt was needed or not, after hearing the whole story most everyone felt placing the bolt was probably the right decision.  The concern was that we establish and follow a process for making such decisions.  The process that everyone felt would be best is to list such route repair on the website, allow a period of at least a few months for comments, and then to replace such hardware if there are no concerns raised by other climbers.  It was also suggested that we might have a scheduled climbing day when concerned climbers could come together, climb the routes that are listed as needing repair, and then make their opinions known to the coalition at large.  Hopefully we can implement a process that will give everyone a chance to speak out about what is being done, and yet have a system that is not so cumbersome that it impedes the ability of volunteers to do the work.

 It was pointed out that the coalition by-laws requires, and the State of South Dakota requires, that our organization have an official board of directors with both a chair and co-chair position.  Christian Baird stepped forward and was nominated and voted to be our new co-chairperson.  Congrats to Christian and welcome aboard!  Also, it was discussed that the BHCC needs to vote on the members at large positions.  Since neither John Walker nor Dave Springhetti was at the January meeting it was felt that the vote should be at the Feburary meeting to give them a chance to say whether they wanted to be nominated or not.  Ron Yahne was nominated, so if anyone else is interested in the position, please come to the February meeting and get out the vote!

 Got opinions and can’t make it to the meetings?  The BHCC website at bhclimbers.com is the place to let other climbers know what you think!  Know a route that needs new bolts or anchors, put it on the website!  Want to help the coalition save a buck?  Email the website with your email address-- rather than send you a printed newsletter we will email the newsletter to you and save printing and postage costs!

 CLIMB HARD AND CLIMB SAFE!!!

BHCC BOARD OF DIRECTORS:

Bruce Junek, Chair 348-3432
Christian Baird, Co-Chair
James Berry, Secretary 722-2608
Jim Slichter, Treasurer 574-4838
Duane Martenson, Web Master 721-9475
John Walker, Member @ Large 722-0081
Dave Springhetti, Member @ Large 348-1383
Black Hills Climbing Coalition

PO Box 2103

Rapid City, SD 57709