Rock Climbing in Washington State Parks

[mattp]

WAC 352-32-085 Technical rock climbing. (1) Whenever used in this section, technical rock climbing shall mean climbing while using such aids as pitons, carabiners or snap links, chalk, ropes, fixed or removable anchors, or other similar equipment. Technical rock climbing includes bouldering and free soloing (respectively low and high elevation climbing without ropes).

(2) Technical rock climbing will be allowed in state parks except it is:

(a) Not permitted in natural area preserves;

(b) Conditioned in heritage areas, natural areas and natural forest areas;

© Not permitted where the director or designee has closed the area pursuant to subsection (3) of this section;

(d) Limited in state park areas without climbing management plans pursuant to subsection (6) of this section to the use of routes with established fixed protection, new routes that do not use fixed protection, nor require gardening/cleaning with any type of cleaning tool;

(e) Not permitted in state park areas closed to public use.

(3) The director or designee may, permanently or for a specified period or periods of time, close any state park area to technical rock climbing if the director or designee concludes that a technical rock climbing closure is necessary for the protection of the health, safety and welfare of the public, park visitors or staff, or park resources. Prior to closing any park or park area to technical rock climbing, the director or the designee shall hold a public meeting in the general area of the park or park area to be closed to technical rock climbing. Prior notice of the meeting shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the area and at the park at least thirty days prior to the meeting. In the event that the director or designee determines that it is necessary to close a rock climbing area immediately to protect against an imminent and substantial threat to the health, safety and welfare of the public, park visitors or staff, or park resource, the director or designee may take emergency action to close a park area to rock climbing without first complying with the publication and hearing requirements of this subsection. Such emergency closure may be effective for only so long as is necessary for the director or designee to comply with the publication and hearing requirements of this subsection.

(4) The director or designee shall ensure that any park area closed to technical rock climbing pursuant to subsection (3) of this section is conspicuously posted as such at the entrance of said park area. Additionally, the director shall maintain a list of all parks and park areas closed to technical rock climbing pursuant to subsection (3) of this section.

(5) The director or designee shall establish a committee of technical rock climbers, to advise park staff on park management issues related to technical rock climbing for each state park area where deemed necessary by the agency.

(6) Each state park area with an established advisory committee of technical rock climbers will have a climbing management plan which will specify technical rock climbing rules concerning overnight stays on climbing routes, bolting, power drills, stabilization of holds, group size and activities, gardening/cleaning of routes pursuant to chapter 352-28 WAC and RCW 79A.05.165, chalk, special use designations for climbing areas, protection of sensitive park resources, and other such issues required by the director or designee. Climbing management plans that relate to natural forest areas or heritage areas must be approved by the commission. The director or designee shall ensure that any technical rock climbing rules contained in a climbing management plan are conspicuously posted at the entrance of the affected park area.

(7) Bolting will be allowed as specified in climbing management plans.

(8) The use of power drills will be allowed only if the park climbing management plans specifically permit under specified conditions for bolt replacement and bolt installation on new routes. They are otherwise prohibited.

(9) The addition of holds onto the rock face by any means, including gluing, chipping, or bolting is prohibited.

(10) Except as provided in WAC 352-32-310, any violation of this section and rules contained in the park management plan and posted at the park is an infraction under chapter 7.84 RCW.

 

[statutory Authority: Chapter 79A.05 RCW, including RCW 79A.05.030, 79A.05.035, 79A.05.055, and 79A.05.070. 00-13-070, § 352-32-085, filed 6/16/00, effective 7/17/00. Statutory Authority: RCW 43.51.040. 98-04-065, § 352-32-085, filed 2/2/98, effective 3/5/98. Statutory Authority: RCW 43.51.180. 96-02-015, § 352-32-085, filed 12/21/95, effective 1/21/96.]

 

[Beck]

sounds like they are covering all the bases, Matt... when did that get into the RCW?

does this affect many places like, Frenchmans' Coulee? Or Darrington? I can never keep track of the land jurisdictions. I am of the opinion that the more climbers following the OTHER rules of state land; I.E. parking passes, no litter, no nuisance, no illegal camping (right!) the better picture to the community we present of climbers. "can't we all just get along?" kind of cordiality can go a long way, and look what happens when it goes the other (I.E. Coulee access)

[Uncle_Tricky]

Some WA climbing areas that are part of the state park system and could be affected by these rules:

 

Beacon Rock

Peshastin Pinnacles

Mt. Erie

Larrabee

Potholes

Some of Banks Lake (Steamboat State Park)

Exit 38 (Ollalie SP)

Horsethief SP (fun bouldering on the columbia river gorge)

Palouse Falls SP area north of Walla Walla along snake river (crap rock)

 

NOT state parks: Index, exit 32, Darrington, Frenchmen's, Leavenworth, Tieton, mazama area, and some of the areas near and north of Spokane. Still, some of these areas are partly state land, such as DFW, so ???

 

So Mattp, is this new stuff? What is your take on it and what it might mean?

[Beck]

If it's a new addition, perhaps the legislature is gearing up to close all climbing areas under their jurisdiction to cope with the burgeoning budget crisis! SCARY!!!

 

[DCramer]

I believe most the umbrella regulations governing rock climbing were developed in the 1990's. Early in the decade the State Parks Dept. held a series of meetings with climbers (and other interested user groups)at several locations around the state. The umbrella regulations were developed out of these interactions. Several meetings directly concerning climbing at the Town Walls have been held with the Parks Dept. staff responsible for their managment. They have all been very congenial. My impression is that events like the annual clean-up have continued to maintain this relationship.

 

The Index Town Walls with the exception of most of the Lower Wall and possibly the Lower Lump is essentially an undeveloped state park. The Parks Dept. is interested in acquiring the remaining privately owned parcels as part of the Skykomish Scenic River Rec. Corridor. Development of the area is contingent upon the Parks Dept. acquiring land that could be used to safely access the crags. That is to say the RR crossing isn't up to their code right now. I spoke with the staff that manage the Town Walls and specifically asked if the Walls would be closed to climbing due to budget reductions. I was told that that given the undeveloped nature of the area a closure didn't seem very likely at all.

Edited December 22, 2002 by DCramer

[pope]

I spoke with the staff that manage the Town Walls and specifically asked if the Walls would be closed to climbing due to budget reductions.

 

That is presently a real concern. I can recall having purchased a ticket to fly to SoCal for a post-Christmas Joshua Tree trip one year. A couple days before my departure, the national parks and monuments were closed due to congressional budget trouble. I flew down, assuming the situation couldn't last more than a couple of days. Oooops.

 

Also, Exit 38 has been listed in a previous post as being under state management, and the RCW posted above seems to prohibit gluing. Yet, I recall reading on the Exit 38 welcome sign that gluing of weak holds was encouraged (there were other strange rules, dictating rules for the removal of "begetation" (sic) and such. This seemed ridiculous to me, as did finding a typo on such an expensive sign.

[Dru]

I was in Josh that year and the rangers kicked us out. We planned to sneak in and climb for free, but theRanger told us none of them were actually going to stop working, they were just going to be patrolling keeping people out. He patted his shotgun as he said this. The only monetary saving was they didnt have to keep replacing the toilet paper, i think.

 

So we all went to Red Rocks, where the loop road was closed to cars, but you could still walk in, and had a great time for our remaining week of holiday.

[Uncle_Tricky]

Regarding the index town walls, what does the state do there that costs them a bunch o money? There's no bathrooms, no facilities, no signs (aside from the "call 911" sign) no ongoing trail work that I'm aware of (didn't climbers volunteer to build and then unbuild the "new" trail to the lower wall?), no parking fees to collect, and I've never seen any sort of state employees working there, so how exactly is it costing them money to let people climb there?