2011 has been a busy year for the American Safe Climbing Association! Largely responsible for most of the rebolting efforts on the West Coast and spreading quickly to international waters, the ASCA is a non-profit started by SuperTopo’s Chris McNamara as a volunteer run organization dedicated to keeping our local crags up to date.
Earlier this year, with our $1/Member/Month Giving Program, Planet Granite pledged to match up to $10,000 raised during a huge fundraiser held at our San Francisco location. With over 300 in attendance, guest speakers Alex Honnold and Chris McNamara, the climbing community pitched in and together, we raised over $30,000!!!
Supertopo just posted a forum highlighting how busy the ASCA has been this year. In just 2011 alone, over 1,300 bolts were replaced across the country and Thailand! Way to go ASCA rebolting volunteers! Each time you come across a brand new ASCA bolt, be thankful for the ASCA and be sure to send a few dollars their way.
—-
the forum post (click the LINK for thread following!)
Hi Forum, Here is an update on some of what the American Safe Climbing Assn was up to in 2011 from Director Greg Barnes. Please consider the ASCA for you end of year donation by clicking here. Also, please follow us on facebook
C
ASCA replacement in the US
ASCA-supported volunteers replaced hundreds of bolts all around the US in 2011, including several hundred bolts replaced by elbow-wrecking hand drilling in granite! From Red Rocks to Yosemite to Rifle to Smith Rocks to dozens of other crags, and from the major areas of the West to various smaller crags in the Carolinas, Alaska, Wyoming, Oregon, Washington, and of course California and Colorado. All of this is only possible through incredible volunteer efforts to install top quality stainless steel bolts funded entirely by climber donations!
Huge Fundraiser by Planet Granite
The ASCA fundraiser at Planet Granite was a huge success! Headline speaker Alex Honnold helped bring in about 300 people. We far exceeded our goal of $20,000… We raised $30395.85!! This was largely due to the very generous match by Planet Granite Gives Back of $10,000: for every member, $1 is donated per month to climbing, community and the environment.
ASCA goes international
The incredible failure rate of bolts in southern Thailand has been a widely recognized problem for the past decade – every type of stainless steel bolt corrodes and breaks rapidly. In past years the ASCA has assisted with ordering titanium bolts, but this year the ASCA directly supported substantial replacement in southern Thailand. In 2011 nearly 400 bolts were replaced with titanium glue-ins with ASCA support! While outside of the US, a substantial number of Americans climb in southern Thailand, most of the routes were established by Americans, and the area needs help from climbers all around the world in order to prevent catastrophic bolt failures.
ASCA-supported replacement in 2011
370+ in Thailand
300+ in Yosemite Valley
150+ in Red Rocks
100+ in Grand Junction area (Unaweep, Escalante, CO Nat’l Mon.)
80+ in Rifle
50+ in Tuolumne
50+ in Bishop area (Pine Creek, Alabama Hills anchors)
50+ in Needles & southern Sierra
45 in South Carolina (Table Rock State Park)
40+ in South Platte
40+ in Joshua Tree
20 in North Carolina (Rumbling Bald, Whitesides)
Additional areas include the Flatirons, Smith Rock, Shelf Road, Mt. Erie, Owens River Gorge, Menagerie Wilderness, Southern Yosemite, Seward Highway, Hartman Rocks, Tongue River Canyon, Parker Bluff, and others.
