Winter Posted October 20, 2004 Share Posted October 20, 2004 Don't know if anyone will be interested in this, but I just got notice from the FS that they will start the public process for improvements French's - retaining walls and belay platforms and new segments of trail. Contact Mary Ellen Fitzgerald - 503-622-3191. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sketchfest Posted October 20, 2004 Share Posted October 20, 2004 Just curious, but do they really need to make any "improvements" up there?? The rock just isn't that big and most of the belay stances are already leveled out and clean. My guess is they just want to do some work up there so that they can have better reason to enforce the NW park pass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbw1966 Posted October 21, 2004 Share Posted October 21, 2004 I disagree Paul. Last time I was there, there was some serious erosion issues along the east side of the rock leading downwards. I've been belaying before and had rocks coming rolling down that hill that are dislodged by dogs, adults and kids. I've seen a lot of people take diggers there too. It was as bad as some of the more popular areas at Smith. Improvements there will be welcome, at least by me, I just wish it was the access fund or some other independent group doing the work rather than the deforest service. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattp Posted October 21, 2004 Share Posted October 21, 2004 I have not been there and I know nothing of the climbing or the situation at the base of the routes, but I'm curious: do either of you mean to suggest that it is a bad thing for the Forest Service to approve of this crag or to invest some maintenance efforts there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sketchfest Posted October 21, 2004 Share Posted October 21, 2004 Rob, you are NOT allowed to disagree with me! Anywhoo, granted I only make it up to French’s about once maybe twice a year, but when I was there on Labor Day weekend, I saw some new trail work had already been done, by whom I don’t know. This work included some trail improvements and a few “climbing is dangerous…” signs. I guess my thought is that the area is pretty small, the parking sucks and any improvements that might be made could have some negative impacts on the area. A few could be: increased usage of the area/overuse/environmental impact, (again, it’s a small climbing area) another reason for The Tool to issue tickets for lack of NW Park Pass participation and I’m sure I can think of some others later, but it feels so damn early right now I’m having a hard time focusing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbw1966 Posted October 21, 2004 Share Posted October 21, 2004 I have not been there and I know nothing of the climbing or the situation at the base of the routes, but I'm curious: do either of you mean to suggest that it is a bad thing for the Forest Service to approve of this crag or to invest some maintenance efforts there? Matt-- I'm not sure what you are referring to when you ask if I mean to suggest that its bad for the Forest Service to "approve" this crag. I'm not aware of any approval process for climbing areas in the NW. What I mean to suggest is I think it would be in our (the climbing communities) best interests to take a more proactive role in protecting this area rather than relying on the Forest Service to make any improvements. Frenchs Dome is a pretty small crag, a volcanic plug with maybe 15 routes total. I don't think its bad, per se, for the Forest Service to make improvements there, but I would prefer it be more of a grassroots effort. I fear the same thing Paul alludes to, that is a paved parking area, bathrooms, paved trails and increased enforcement of Forest Pass requirements. All this would really be overkill. The approach to the crag itself is maybe 500 yards and the trail itself is just fine. Its the area surrounding the plug that is heavily eroded and could use some work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattp Posted October 25, 2004 Share Posted October 25, 2004 I called the Forest Service person and it sounds like Frenchies Dome is a roadside crag that is often used by large groups. The parking area for Frenchies Dome IS a NW Forest Pass site and, yes, the new "standards" for those sites include the provision of amenities like an outhouse or something. The Forest Service built the trail to the bottom of Frenchies Dome about ten years ago, and now they are concerned about a serious erosion problem at the bottom of the crag. NW Forest Pass funds are going in to the maintenance and the Access Fund has also provided some funding as well. Overall, this sounds to me like the kind of partnership that most of us climbers should support. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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