For all of the dangers that their sport presents-steep ascents, daunting overhangs, and heart-dropping rappels-rock climbers fear two words more than anything else: “No Trespassing.” Many are tired of unexpectedly finding them on signs obstructing entrances to places they have been climbing for years. Crags that have been popular since the Nixon Administration are blocked with electric fences or an overall-clad hillbilly with a shotgun. So climbing groups in the Blue Ridge find themselves engaged in a constant battle to preserve or re-open some of the best spots in the region.

A lot of climbers feel they have been branded with an unfair stigma. To many it’s a mystery. After all, how can climbing really have any more social or environmental impact than much more accessible outdoor sports like hiking or mountain biking? Unfortunately in many cases a few bad apples have ruined it for the majority of respectful rock hounds that don’t leave behind litter or graffiti. Take Hidden Valley-a revered crag in the Southwest Virginia Highlands. It was a hidden gem that a select few climbers knew about until the late 90s. Eventually a group of dedicated rock hounds developed the area into some of the best sport climbing in the Blue Ridge. A couple years ago the area was purchased by a private couple, both climbers themselves, who made it even more friendly to access. But unfortunately repeated problems with trash and violations of a posted no dog rule angered the owners enough for them to close the area indefinitely.

“A lot of the mistakes are out of ignorance,” says Steve Matous, executive director of The Access Fund, a nonprofit advocate for climbers. “The majority of climbers these days are learning in gyms and don’t develop outdoor ethics and etiquette.”

The public also jumps to view climbing as overly dangerous, generally equating the sport with a summit of Everest. In reality, high school football kills more people than rock climbing. The misperceptions about the dangers of climbing also cause landowners to cringe at liability issues.

Climbers feel so unfairly pegged in fact that every year they attempt to make up for those that give the sport a bad name with an annual Adopt a Crag program.

Throughout the fall climbers, give back to the areas surrounding their favorite rocks by doing cleanups, removing graffiti, and building and maintaining trails. Last year the program grew nationally to include more than 100 events across the country with the help of over 3,300 volunteers. It also helps cash-strapped public parks with needed renovations.

“It’s positive relationship building,” says Matous. “It also instills a real ownerships and responsibility in climbers. They’ll be less likely to tolerate people abusing the land where they built trail. We’re trying to teach new climbers that they need to protect the resources for future generations."

To fight for their right to climb, many find themselves entangled in political squabbles, dealing with the bureaucratic headaches of land agencies or raising money to buy pieces of private land, all in the name of access. The climbing community’s best method of preservation has been working with government agencies to purchase and therefore save land from development and closure. In the face of strife, the hard rock community of the South has been reaching high, and for the last few years proactive climbing organizations have helped set a new precedent on the access front.

BIG WINS: LAUREL KNOB, JAMESTOWN, AND BOAT ROCK

In 2002 Southeastern climbers were crushed-literally-with the news that eight granite boulders on the popular Boat Rock bouldering field had been demolished. Boat Rock held one of the first bouldering competitions in the region back in the mid-80s-a historic landmark on the underground scene. But the eight-acre plot southwest of Atlanta had been zoned for development, and one of the most beloved urban playgrounds was set to be lost forever. Instead of staging a protest or passing out fliers, the proactive Southeastern Climbers Coalition (SCC) took matters into their own hands and-with help from The Access Fund-purchased the land from the developer and turned it into a public park.

Climbers notched another victory in 2005 with the long-awaited reopening of the Jamestown climbing area in Alabama. The crag, which was on privately-owned land, had been closed since the early 1990s due to an access dispute with surrounding landowners. But the SCC started negotiations and with grants from the Access Fund and other fundraising efforts was able to purchase the land now known as the Jamestown Climbing Preserve-one-mile of 100-foot tall sandstone climbing cliff in Northeastern Alabama, just above the town of Jamestown. The climbing community rallied to pay the $18,000 land price in just 28 days. The SCC even worked out an easement with Alabama Power to provide an easy entrance to the property, as long as anyone who uses the path is a coalition member.

The news of the purchase wasn’t well-received by all. Last year, just after the SCC had the land under contract and were a few weeks away from closing, some members of the organization were out scouting the terrain for their new climbing grounds, when one of the adjacent landowners suddenly made it know he wasn’t happy about the sale.

“He fired shots over the top of the cliff,” says Brad McCleod of the SCC. “It took a little bit of perseverance, but we were able to open up a crag that had been completely closed for so long. Seeing 50 climbers out there on sunny day makes all of the hard work worth it.”

One of the biggest victories the climbing community has ever won was the 2005 acquisition of Laurel Knob in Western North Carolina near Cashiers. The Carolina Climbers Coalition (CCC) stepped up as the little nonprofit that could-purchasing a sacred slab that could’ve gone for top dollar to another fair weather vacationer with too much money in the bank. For $250,000 the CCC bought 50 acres on the tallest cliff in eastern America, 1,200 feet from the lowest to the highest point, with 25 routes between 5.8 and 5.12. The cliff was purchased from a retired doctor from Savannah, Ga., named Tom German, who amicably sold the property at a reasonable price in an effort not to see his land peppered with further development. It came with access points that connect to Panthertown Valley.

“We just went to him, brought his wife flowers, and started a dialogue until we came upon an agreeable price,” says Sean Cobourn, who recently took the reins as president of the Carolina Climbers Coalition. “You can’t buy a garage in Cashiers for a quarter-million.”

After closing on the property in February, the CCC has already raised over $180,000 toward the total sale price, receiving donations from 35 states, nine foreign countries, and six continents.

“The buzz has turned this into a global project,” Cobourn continues. “This is something that has never happed before.” Flowers and small talk don’t sound like strong bargaining chips, but it is often simple stuff that helps people to warm up to a sport that is often seen as an enigma.

“Climbing is not that different than fishing,” says McCleod. “It’s just a different medium for getting outside to relax and forget about everyday life. When you explain that to people, they start to understand that you’re not an outside enemy. A lot of it is just breaking the ice.”

THE FIGHT FOR CHIMNEY ROCK

Chimney Rock is a 315-foot granite monolith that rises as a landmark of North Carolina’s Hickory Nut Gorge, predominantly a tourist trap of connecting villages 25 miles southeast of Asheville. Chimney Rock is currently the centerpiece of a private park that has been owned by the Morse family since 1902. But now the property is for sale, and it couldn’t come at a better time for recreation enthusiasts, as North Carolina is currently developing the new Hickory Nut Gorge State Park in the area. The state has been negotiating with the family with the overall goal to make Chimney Rock the centerpiece property for the new park. The prospect excited climbers hoping for open access to the park’s paradise of open multi-pitch slabs that are currently only available through limited guided tours. But the $20 million offered by the state is far from the $55 million desired by the Morse family. The Morses have now listed the park with Sotheby’s International Realty, though negotations with the state continue. Still, many are concerned about that one of the most important natural icons of North Carolina may fall into the hands of a private developer with unknown intentions. The fear level escalated from orange to red when a representative from Tennessee amusement park Dollywood came to take a look. Groups like Friends of Hickory Nut Gorge have been encouraging the state to stay at the table.

Spearheading a grassroots movement called Save Chimney Rock is none other than the mayor of nearby Lake Lure, Jim Proctor. A former climber, Proctor gets excited when he thinks about opening up the climbing opportunities at Chimney Rock, which he says is surprisingly similar to the rock at Yosemite.

“If Chimney Rock Park is opened to climbers it would open up some of the best climbing on the East Coast,” says Proctor. “Climbs that have been closed to climbers all these years could be explored. But if it is sold to a developer or theme park operator, the natural heritage would be forever ruined.”

The state says they are not giving up on Chimney Rock, even though they are bound by the offered price, which was the appraised value of the park. Charlie Peak, spokesman for North Carolina State Parks, says negotiations are continuing and active, and an increased offer with the help of land trusts and conservancies (none of which could be named) is on the way.

“We’ve had some encouraging signs that we can come back with a stronger proposal,” says Peak.

Climbers do have reason to celebrate, though, as nearby Rumbling Bald has already been acquired and is set be a main piece of the new Hickory Nut Gorge State Park. The mountain and its famed World’s Edge area has been a favorite crag since the 1960s, despite being on private land until recently. It’s treasured for the wide range of options from cracks to face climbing to overhangs and slabs.

“It has probably the best variety of anything short of Looking Glass,” says Cobourn, who’s been climbing for over 30 years.

But access in the area has been a revolving door, as certain areas of the land were juggled between different private owners and threats of development. So the CCC and other local grassroots groups like the Rutherford Outdoor Coalition and the Foothills Land Conservancy have helped ensure that it stays open forever. In the last few years major help has also come from The Nature Conservancy, who has purchased most of the land that holds Rumbling Bald’s great cliff faces and boulders and started transferring it over to the state. With or without Chimney Rock, the park should be well over 2,000 acres by the time it opens within an estimated five years.

“We have acquired some outstanding property,” says Peak. “We will have a world class park in that area, and Chimney Rock is not dependent on that.”

GREAT FALLS AND THE IMPACT DEBATE

D.C. climbers love Great Falls National Park-it’s a quick idyllic escape to some tasty top-rope treats. But last year a new plan proposed by the National Park Service threatened to severely limit the favorite riverside climbs on the banks of the Potomac.

The General Management Plan and Environmental Impact Statement for the park evaluated two alternatives for the park. In one plan the NPS proposed to limit climbing by permit only. The document suggested that climbers were a main problem with impact on native plant species, when in reality they make up a small percentage of the thousands of daily park visitors that come to day hike and gawk at the falls in the 800-acre park located just 14 miles upriver from the nation’s capital.

Nearly 300 climbers voiced their opinion in the public comment period, raising a voice for the preservation of access in favored areas like the Mather Gorge without the limitations of permits and anchors.

The impact of climbing on the environment has come up before in the Southeast. In places like South Carolina’s Table Rock and even the revered New River Gorge in West Virginia, climbers have seasonal restrictions due to the endangered peregrine falcon nestings.

With the strength of public reaction, the Park Service surprisingly took the voice of the climbing community seriously and has decided to work with the Friends of Great Falls-an advocacy group formed by local climbers-to understand the source of most impact in the park.

“We’re pleased that they’ve taken our comments seriously, and after meeting with them, I can see they are trying to produce a revised plan that takes into account what the climbers have said,” says Friends of Great Falls Chairman Simon Carr. “We’ll remain to be nervous until we see something in print, but the Park Service has reached out to the climbing community and included us in meetings.”

But concerned eyes are turning South, as the Park Service is now calling for impact assessments on some of the other climbing gems in the Commonwealth, including revered spots like Little Stoney Man and Old Rag Mountain in Shenandoah National Park.

“We’re understanding when an area is especially sensitive,” says Carr. “But we’re glad it’s been recognized that climbers are not as much of an issue as day hikers.”

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

There will always be private land for sale that climbers want to buy, but how much of it can they actually afford? To set some focus to the climbing community’s priorities last month The Access Fund hosted the first-ever Acquisitions Summit, inviting every climbing organization in the country to its headquarters in Boulder, Colorado, to figure out the best way to use a limited pool of resources and not step on each other’s toes.

“We need to organize the climbing community as a whole,” says Matous. “Different groups are always fundraising in different places, but we want to have more of an overall strategy and focus on things that will have national importance. If you look at the amount of land out there that people use for climbing, it would be impossible to buy it all.”

The Access Fund wants the focus to turn to approaches like more conservation easements for recreation and transferring land to the public. They also encourage climbers to raise awareness at the local level, exposing to small businesses the beneficial economic impacts of recreation.

The SCC, though, is determined to keep protecting as much rock as they can. The nonprofit is about to purchase more land to expand the climbing park at Boat Rock and has three new additional tracts of land in its scope for purchase. The organization doesn’t want to reveal the locations, because McCleod has heard that landowners watch the SCC website.

“If there is an area that is worth being saved, we’ve shown that climbers will leap off the couch to help,” says McCleod. “They’ll find a way to donate that money. When we buy a crag, we own it forever and our grandkids will climb there.”

ADOPT-A-CRAG IN THE BLUE RIDGE

Jamestown-Jamestown Climbing Preserve, Ala. November 11. Trail maintenance and anchor installation will prepare the crag for the winter climbing season.

Castle Rock Trail Day-Jasper, Tenn. November 18. Southeastern Climbers will pick up trash and fix anchors, followed by a benefit party.

Boat Rock Adopt-a-Crag Mini Trail Day-Atlanta, Ga. January 6, 2007. Climbers will be picking up trash, performing some small arbor work, adding mulch to bare areas beneath the boulders, and generally sprucing up the area for the big Boat Rock Bouldering Competition on January 14.

More information: www.seclimbers.org.