Colorado boasts the most condensed, finest alpine bouldering on the continent. People travel from all over the world to sample the swirling and featured gneiss and schist boulders of Rocky Mountain National Park and Mount Blue Sky/Mt. Evans. But bouldering at altitude ain’t like plopping pads in front of the Monkey Traverse on Flagstaff or beneath the Mandala in the Buttermilks. Wilderness area regulations and a highly sensitive environment demand a more cautious, thoughtful approach to bouldering at altitude. The question is, where the heck are we supposed to learn all this crucial info?
Well, at Wilderness Exchange, of course! Please join us for our first ever “Intro to Alpine Bouldering” clinic at 8pm, in the shop, on Friday July 28th for an exhaustive stroll through the world of alpine bouldering, presented by the inimitable Jamie Emerson. Jamie has been bouldering in RMNP and Evans, documenting both history and ascents, and working tirelessly with rangers and land managers since the bouldering explosion of the early 2000s. He’s not only authored some of the alpine’s most renowned problems but literally written the guidebooks for both areas!
Jamie will walk us through an understanding of our wilderness areas and the history of Colorado alpine bouldering. He’ll not only celebrate the ever-increasing popularity of bouldering at altitude but also how increased traffic and controversial topics like pad stashing and tundra damage have at times endangered climber access to these Colorado gems.
We’ll have free drinks and a nice little raffle to go along with a discussion on how we can best mitigate our impact in our world-class climbing areas. From RMNP noise pollution regulations to Leave No Trace principles to pad stashing, Jamie will squire us through the best possible practices we can employ to ensure our alpine areas will remain open to boulderers for generations to come.
For old hands and first-timers alike, Jamie’s “Intro to Alpine Bouldering” will fill your quiver with everything you’ll need to best enjoy the alpine, understand and appreciate all the current issues that could impact usage, and help preserve the natural alpine environment while still ticking off all those problems on your bucket list. And come with questions and concerns; Jamie will invite questions and open conversation after the presentation, ‘cause this ain’t a lecture, it’s a conversation!
Where: Wilderness Exchange, 2401 15th Street, Suite 100, Denver, CO 80202
When: Friday, July 28th @ 8pm
