Last month at the Climbers’ Coalition info session “bouldering” was said to have gone largely unmentioned in the NCC’s documents restricting rock climbing in Gatineau Park. Bouldering is different from rock climbing in that climbers are usually not using ropes, in part because the heights are less due to boulder climbing being done not on an extended rock face, but on individual boulders.
Yesterday several messages appeared on the web by climbers who’d now heard that “the NCC wishes to inform you that for environmental reasons,
bouldering is no longer permitted in Gatineau Park.”
One of the objections voiced by climbers is that not all boulders used for climbing lie along the Eardley Escarpment in the ecologically sensitive zone so that banning all bouldering in the Park is not a reasonable policy.
Both posts linked above urge readers to contact the relevant authorities to lodge (respectful) objections and point to the Climber Coalition blog for phone numbers, email and postal addresses.
It would seem to me that a true dialogue between Gatineau Park officials and the Climbers’ Coalition could possibly result in a reasonable compromise on this issue, and one that could be enforced through a mutually agreed MOU.
What? No Bouldering @ La Ganja? What’s next? No cribbage playing? Wait… that’s already been outlawed.
One only needs to visit the Penguin boulder(across from the picnic area) to understand the foolishness.
There’s an excellent article on the web about that erratic rock near Penguin, left by the glaciers 12,500 years ago.
The problem with the NCC, beyond it’s being totally deaf and unreasonable, is that it’s a crypto-fascist organization at war with the public.
Park lovers and climbers, take back the park! Tell the NCC to go jump off a cliff.
The NCC needs a regime change. Whatever user group you talk to, everyone is frustrated with them. They would much rather say “no” than let reasonable use continue. The park is part of human habitat as well. They are very good at accounting for the ecological costs, but ignore the human costs of restricting access. There are one million people in the region with only limited access to the Gats. For those willing to explore it, self-sufficently and under their own human power, they should be able to. The world won’t end if they allow more trails and activities in the park. It will do wonders for the collective mental health of the city. Yeah, maybe a few bears will get spooked, habitats will shrink a bit, a few plants will get trampled. Life will go on though…
If all the user groups got together: equestrians, hikers, campers, bikers, climbers, hang gliders, skiers, snowshoers,… we could form a group that could actually get some new people in charge at the NCC. People that see users not just as a liability. Our happiness should matter. Its not all about the precious wildlife…
I nominate Will to chair that committee!