WA Climbers Coalition

[chelle]

Attention WA climbers!

 

The first general meeting of the Washington Climbers Coalition (WCC) will be held on July 20, 2004. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss current climbing access issues in WA and to guage interest in the WA climbing community for developing a group to address climbing issues with the Forest Service, other land management agencies, and private landowners.

 

Who should attend:

All climbers interested in maintaining climbing access in WA

 

When: July 20, 2004

Time: 6:30 - 8:00 p.m.

Location: The Good Shepherd Center, Room 221

Address: 4649 Sunnyside Avenue N., Seattle (Corner of Sunnyside Avenue N and North 50th Street in the Wallingford neighborhood)

 

We look forward to good discussions about how to preserve climbing access for WA climbers!

Edited July 15, 2004 by chelle

[Greg_W]

Is the location dog friendly?

[lancegranite]

That's my birthday, can we party afterwards?

[minx]

i will be busy w/other things that day and therefore not able to attend.

 

hopefully there will be future meetings or perhaps an e-mail list for minutes of the meeting?

[Spliffy]

I have never heard of this group before, until I started checking out this sight. I'm all for maintaining access and good relations, but I'm curious how this group can claim to speak for the entire WA climbing community, when it seems that it's only base is this website. No one that I've run into lately in the hills, and none of the local climbers that I know, have mentioned anything about the "WCC", so it's knid of a surprise to hear that the group exists already.

[JayB]

Hey Michelle:

 

Will this be an informal "open mic" sort of a meeting, or will there a specific agenda? I plan to attend in any event, but if there will be specific issues on the table it would be helpful to get a sense of what they are so we can think about them a bit in advance and provide more constructive input.

[Spliffy]

What's up with the anger and insults? I hope that you're not part of this whole thing, because I don't htink I'd want someone like you speaking for me, even if you do have a claim as someone who speaks for a "broad base of WA climbers". And why would I want to affiliate myself with someone who lashes out in such a way at someone who asked a basic question about a new group that claims to speak for "WA climbers" like myself? Is this how you drum up support? You sound like a real jerk.

 

And jsut beacuse I only have four posts, doesn't mean that I'm ignorant about the issues.

[JayB]

Also - Spliffy - this is a very new group - the idea is only a couple of months old and this will be the first public meeting - so that is probably why you haven't heard of it. My sense is that the WCC is/will be an independent entity that will work with/make use of the site to further its objectives.

 

From what I understand, some of the people involved in setting this up are frequent contributors to the site, some are not. The impetus for forming this group came from a very recent threat to climbing access in this state, the nature of which prompted a number of people to conclude that climbers needed to form an effective lobby of their own to work with land management agencies, etc.

 

Anyone directly involved with the WCC should feel free to chime in and correct this info if I am off base though.

[Greg_W]

No, but the fact that you're whining like a third-grader entering a sugar coma makes it obvious. Your post smacks of indignance about an organization that you have little knowledge of, but are convinced can't be effective as advertised. Just sit back and listen for a moment; attend the meeting and withold judgement.

 

By your own admission, you ARE ignorant of THIS issue and its association with cascadeclimbers.com (of which there is almost none, from what I gather). I also never claimed I was associated with the group, but I do know several people who are and they DO have a good handle on the issues and the community in Washington.

 

I sound like a jerk? Well, maybe. However, again, you are jumping to conclusions without all the facts. Aren't you? I'll be at Pub Club tonight; you can gather more facts there.

 

Greg_W

[pindude]

This east-sider is very much interested in this brand-new group, but find it difficult to attend west-side meetings (or I wouldn't still be a Pub Club virgin )

 

As minx suggests, I would like to be on some sort of email/contact list: sreynoldsaticehousedotnet.

 

Spliff,

Not sure what the commment toward GregW is all about, but don't let one person get you down. This is a brand new group: the intentions are honorable, and I'm sure will represent the climbing community well if we give it a chance...and especially if climbers from a variety of backgrounds and interests get involved. I'm not as well informed, perhaps Chelle or others could take the time to spell out in more detail exactly what the WCC is all about.

 

Cheers, Steve

[jon]

Although I currently don't have any involvement with the WCC I thought I'd help clear up some confusion, but first a little history. The Access Fund, based in Boulder, is a national level non profit agency that protects climbers right by working with land managers and property owners. The agency itself only consists of less than a dozen employees, with the rest being volunteers. There is a board of directors, which you can find more out on their website, but at one point local climber Mark Kroese was the president. There is typically one or two coordinators for each state. Wa state is represented by Andy Fitz, who has done an incredible job with the limited amount of time he has (he is also an assistant state attorney general).

 

The problem with the Access Fund is that they don't have the resources with their limited number of employees to give much attention to things that don't have serious access implications. It makes more sense financially for the AF to have a few employees that give out grants and such than to have more employees but no money to give out. It was suggested by the Access Fund, considering the size of WA, the number or climbers and areas, and the number of growing issues, that we form our own coalition to coordinate climbing issues and WA with guidance from the AF.

 

What needs to be made clear is at this point the WCC is an idea, it is a handful of people trying to get it organized who are route developers and/or have experience dealing with access issues, and that's why many people haven't heard about it. There is no membership yet because there is no organization. This meeting is the first opportunity for people to get involved in the formation in this organization and have a say in how it may develop and may serve the climbers of WA.

[slaphappy]

try: www.washingtonclimbers.org

[Lambone]

Although I won't be able to make the 7hr drive up for this I'd like to be supportive, way to get things rolling! Speaking for an entire group of people with many different opinions about ethics and access will be very chalanging, good luck to you.

 

Seems like ther have been some deleted posts and negativity going back and forth in the post above. It also, seems to me like Spliffy is asking a perfecly legitimate question, one I am sure many are also curious about. In my opionion your commentay is inappropriote and destructive here Greg, but thanks for chiming in.

[Alpinfox]

try: www.washingtonclimbers.org

 

Cool!

 

Thanks to slaphappy or whomever for getting the website up.

[slaphappy]

I merely posted the link, the thanks goes out to Mr Sell.

[chelle]

Thank you Jon and JayB for spelling out a little more detail while I was at work with no access to the thread. And to others thanks for the endorsements. As Jon said this is still in the very early formation stage and people who are interested in participating should attend the meeting if possible. Spliffy, the WCC's goal is to maintain climbing access in WA state, which is a little different than representing WA climbers. If you are interested in being a part of the effort please come to the meeting and bring your friends.

 

There is an agenda in the works and there is time scheduled for discussion, but it is not yet final enough to post. The purpose of this first meeting is to be informative about the issues and the reasons behind the idea of forming an organization, and to gather information about people's interest in participating and trying to get commitments about what people can do. Right now there are about a half a dozen people who are a core group behind the idea. Many have been very active in the climbing community and in working with land managers about access over the years.

 

The WCC is not associated with cc.com, although as has been mentioned several of us are active on this board. We posted this notice on cc.com and a couple other online bulletin boards because we want to reach climbers in WA and the Internet is an efficient medium. There are also notices going into stores and climbing gyms in the next couple days.

 

On a final note for tonight, I have a simple request. Please do your best to hold off on criticisms and personal attacks in this thread. What is really needed is cohesiveness and cooperation. There is a lot of work to be done and we would like to keep things positive and remain focused on what matters...maintaining access to the areas we like to climb in here in WA state.

 

Thanks.

[chris]

I'm hoping that the meeting on 20 June be used to ratify the WCC, create a leadership structure, and create a mission statement. I believe that the WCC needs to be "legitimized" by such a ratification - a majority vote by the people present. I believe this should be done BEFORE the WCC can take any action on any issues. In fact, this hopefully was considered at the preliminary meeting two months ago, and a representative of that meeting will hopefully have a proposal to offer for consideration and a vote.

It would be great if several other people could take the initiative to write up proposed structures and mission statements for the "committee of the whole" - everyone present - to consider, debate, amend, and vote upon. With multiple proposals, the most favored elements of each could be combined.

I'm disappointed to not be able to attend, because I'm working in California for the summer. But we NEED an organization to represent CLIMBER'S ACCESS statewide to land managers. Smaller local groups are valuable for small, local issues and events, but land managers seem to take them less seriously when considering policies larger than the local climbing club's crag.

Even if you disagree with the premise of the WCC, you should attend and make your opinion heard!

[To_The_Top]

Tonight!

[Dane]

be there

[jimclimb]

Does anyone know who the core group of wcc is?

[Alpinfox]

 

There are no elected officers at this point. What do you want to know?

[Greg_W]

Does anyone know who the core group of wcc is?

 

Lawyers, student revolutionaries, and other such personages. Actually, the ones I know who ARE involved I greatly respect.

[jimclimb]

Was looking for names and maybe contacts.

[Alpinfox]

Jim check your private messages (little flashing envelope icon at the top of the page).

 

Edit:

Here is the "meat" of the PM I sent to Jim:

 

If you would like to get involved with the WCC, please stay tuned here, or at the WCC website for the next scheduled meeting. At that meeting, officers will be elected and we will organize some groups to handle certain projects like trail maintenance, trailhead signage, etc. I believe you can now register as a WCC member on the website and recieve email updates about WCC events.

 

We really haven't done anything yet except discuss the direction and mission of the WCC, but have big plans for the future. Thanks for your interest!

Edited July 22, 2004 by Alpinfox

[Lambone]

Are you able to discuss with us what happened/came out of the July 20th meeting? For instance, what those "big plans for the future" are?