Guide Services and Institutions

As of August 2020, the following guide services and educational institutions are authorized to use the Unaweep cliffs owned by Western Colorado Climbers' Coalition. These organizations are insured and have official permission to guide on our lands, and we urge folks seeking a guide to support these entities. Please report violations; unauthorized guiding puts us all at risk and is not fair to the guides who have been diligent in securing legal access. WCCC thanks them for their ongoing support of the Western Colorado Climbers' Coalition. If you feel your organization has been left off this list inadvertently, or to report violations, please contact evetallman [at] gmail.

• Jose' Iglesias, Summit Ridge Guides, 970-216-2953  
• American Mountain Guides' Association (AMGA)
• National Outdoor Leadership School,  Rocky Mountain www.nols.edu
• Colorado Mountain College
• Kris Hjelle / Colorado Alpine & Desert Adventures, LLC/Desert Crags & Cracks, LLC 970-245-8513 www.coloradoadventures.net
• Glenwood Climbing Guides www.glenwoodclimbingguides.com Contact: Mike Schneiter 970-319-0656 climb@glenwoodclimbing.com
• Peak Mountain Guides, LLC / 970-325-7342 (Peak Office) 405-388-5738 (Direct Line) www.peakguides.com
• Skyward Mountaineering www.skywardmountaineering.com

Access Fund Joint Memberships Make a Difference!

 A big THANK YOU to the 37 Access Fund members who are also joint members of the Western Colorado Climbers' Coalition. We are thrilled to accept $15 for each joint membership.  It really makes a difference to our shoestring operation and helps to pay for our Colorado state tax-exempt land ownership fees (for our Unaweep crags), our insurance and our nonprofit organization expenses. If you'd like to contribute, go to accessfund.org and donate, and specify Western Colorado Climbers' Coalition for your joint membership. We're also very happy to receive donations by clicking on the donate link here on our website.

THANKS!

Eve, Secretary of WCCC

Draft Minutes of March 4, 2020 Annual Meeting

DRAFT MINUTES

March 4, 2020 Annual Meeting

5:30 PM / Colorado Discover Ability offices

In attendance:

Board Members Eve Tallman (secretary and minutes taker), Marc Kenney, Randall Chapman, Matt Lisenby, Paul Stoner.

Also in attendance: Rich Connors, Ashton Johnston, Bradley Edwards, Jim Black, Fritz Nuffer, Kent Pease, Brian Montag, Jaime Odin.

Prior to calling the meeting to order, attendees toured the facility with Michele Rehl, CDA’s office manager.

The meeting began with introductions. Eve announced that Jesse Zacher, President, was unable to attend due to family illness.

Matt moved to approve the minutes of the February, 2019 meeting. Randall seconded the motion and the minutes were approved unanimously. Eve stated she would post the finalized minutes shortly.

Garrett Mitchell, Treasurer, was absent so there was no Treasurer’s Report. Eve estimated there are about $10,000 in the bank account and described the success of the new joint membership option with the Access Fund which was first suggested by Kim Lisenby and which nets WCCC approximately $200 per quarter. The upcoming expenses of insurance and the Department of Local Affairs tax-exempt fee were mentioned, which total $875 for the year.

Progress on the Sunday Wall footbridge was discussed and it was agreed that a joint effort with a NOLS volunteer crew in collaboration with Jesse would be planned for whenever the next NOLS crew is in town, perhaps the autumn.

Randall set the date for the next Dynamite Shacks cleanup for Saturday, May 16 and noted it was not Mothers’ Day weekend.

WCCC communications were discussed. An improved website was requested and various points of local contact were brought up. Ashton suggested Gear Junction and Rich suggested there could be a WCCC newsletter opt-in at the climbing gym during climber registration there. Brad Edwards established a WCCC Instagram account while discussion ensued. Randall described options for upgrading the web presence of WCCC with a move away from blogspot to a new custom domain. A communications committee of Ashton, Fritz and Randall was established.

Escalante access was discussed at length. Kent described some history of climbing in the canyon, including a recap of interactions with the ranch manager over the years. Ashton reported she had studied private property boundaries as delineated on GIS. The main concern expressed was increased recreational users and the low priority of climbing in the BLM’s resource management plan. Speeding vehicles was a problem for the ranch owner. Brad is an administrator on Mountain Project and he agreed to post a message about slowing down and reducing impacts on Mountain Project. Signage at the Cabin Wall was agreed to be needed. The communications committee agreed to draft signage language and Eve offered to reach out to Jesse, who has had communications with the rancher in the past, to see if signage would be acceptable to the rancher. In summary, it was estimated that 40 people per day in high season visited the three walls and that social trails, camping impacts and driving off-road were major concerns.

Access at the Sun Towers in Unaweep was discussed. Eve noted she had been working with the Access Fund and the land owner with no clear path forward at this time. No trespassing signs were reported but may have been missing.

A clean-up of the Rock Garden area in Unaweep was mentioned as a successful collaboration with the BLM.

The Monument has a new superintendent. The new head law-enforcement ranger is a climber and it was reported that Jose knows him well. Bat closures on the lower Monument slabs was brought up. As discussed last year, a climber display in the visitor center would be good. Eve offered to reach out to monument personnel to work on this and Ashton volunteered to help.

Fritz offered to head up an effort to draft signage for Escalante.

The meeting was adjourned.

Annual Meeting March 4

When: Wednesday, March 4 5:30-7 PM (5:00 pm optional tour)
Where: Colorado Discover Ability (601 Struthers Ave, Grand Junction, CO 81501)
Draft Agenda:
--Introductions
--Approval of minutes of 2/25/2019
--Treasurer's Report
--Updates on Coalition Activities (climbing events, insurance, unaweep bridge construction, and access/policy issues in Escalante, Unaweep, and the Monument, other)
--Planning for 2020
--Other Business
--Adjournment

Hope to see you there!
Eve
western_slope_climbers@hotmail.com

Annual Report February 2019

Submitted by Jesse Zacher, President; Eve Tallman, Secretary; Garrett Mitchell, Treasurer

2018 and 2019 year-to-date has seen a period of regular activity for our climbers’ coalition with some long-term projects coming to closure. The bank balance is modest yet resilient. Our nonprofit status remains in good order.

A major accomplishment happened early in the year. The final real estate parcel the coalition needed to sell to pay off our loan to the Access Fund closed in January. The buyers of the parcel adjacent to the Mothers Buttress trailhead are climbers and they are moving forward with developing their land for a residence. The coalition dipped into savings to make up the gap between the selling price and the debt owed to the AF for the purchase of our several crags.

The coalition received two grants this year totaling $4500, thanks to the efforts of Jesse and Eve. The Access Fund awarded WCCC with $500 for signage, which we spent on informational signage for our Unaweep crags and for the Bulletholes bouldering area. Jesse was able to secure a $4000 grant from REI for improvements at our trailheads in Unaweep. A bridge is under construction at the stream crossing and we have secured the materials to finish this project once the weather improves.

At our trail work day on National Public Lands Day, WCCC board members and others totaling 15 individuals installed signage and worked on the trails to Sunday Wall.

Jesse worked on our behalf in an effort to secure access to the Cabin Wall in Escalante, and he negotiated with the landowner of the TV Wall in Unaweep as well. He also worked with the staff of Colorado National Monument on management issues. He will report on these efforts at the annual membership meeting.

Board member Randall Chapman hosted several Bouldering Nights and Climbing Days at local areas. Including a couple of events that were rained out, he scheduled 14 events with 67 climbers attending, and included bouldering and climbing days and service work on trails.

After long last, the WCCC has established joint membership with the Access Fund. Now when you renew your Access Fund membership, you can select WCCC for your joint membership and $15 will come to WCCC!

Paul Stoner has become our newest Board Member. Welcome to Paul!

WCCC continues to enjoy good standing with the IRS and with the Colorado Secretary of State.

Several guide services are registered with WCCC to legally guide on our crags in Unaweep Canyon. We discourage unauthorized use and appreciate tips regarding illegal use or abuse of our land.

Our Financial balance sheet at the end of January, 2019 is healthy. At that time the bank balance was $12,373. We started 2018 with $16,894. Major changes to the account were the -$9500 on 1/31 to pay off our loan to the Access Fund and +$4500 in July for the two grants we received from the Access Fund ($500) and REI ($4000). We received approximately $450 from guiding services who use our property. In the past month, we expended the $4000 of the REI grant for materials to construct a bridge at the Sunday Wall trailhead and repair the parking lot at Mothers Buttress.

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Annual Meeting Feb 25

Western Colorado Climbers’ Coalition

Annual Meeting

Monday Feb 25^th @ 5:30 PM

Summit Canyon Mountaineering

461 Main St, Grand Junction CO 81501

Grand Junction climbers: Join us for our Annual Meeting! This year we are meeting at Summit Canyon Mountaineering in Downtown GJ. Come and hear about what the WCCC has been up to and help shape our priorities for 2019. Meet other local climbers who are dedicated to getting out to the crags and to our mission of preserving access to Western Colorado’s climbing areas.

Summit Canyon will be holding their spring sale at the time of the meeting so if you’ve been looking for a deal on some winter gear this could be the opportunity to pick something up. Please come down and show your support for the WCCC. Summit Canyon has been one of our sponsors since the inception of WCCC in 2007 and we’re excited to be teaming up with them once again.

WCCC now offers joint membership with Access Fund!

Now when you renew or join the Access Fund, you have the option of adding a joint membership with Western Colorado Climbers' Coalition. This means you have an option to support WCCC by  adding $15 for each joint membership. We are pleased to offer this to our supporters.

From now until December 15, Access Fund has a few more days for Black Diamond and a group of anonymous donors to match all funds coming in. We're hoping you will support WCCC through the joint membership program during this campaign.