Sustainable Bouldering: Using Leave No Trace to Achieve Change

Bouldering is a popular form of rock climbing in Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) which contains world class bouldering destinations like Chaos Canyon, Emerald Lake, and Wild Basin. Bouldering routes, also known as problems, often require a sequence of dynamic, sometimes unconventional, movements for the climber to reach the top. Because these routes rarely exceed 15-20 feet, boulderers rely on crash pads and fellow boulderers to act as “spotters” for safety and fall protection. The sport has become increasingly popular due to the lack of specialized equipment needed, like ropes and other gear. Even though Upper Chaos Canyon remains closed due to a recent rockslide on the South Face of Hallett Peak, bouldering season in well underway in RMNP.

The Concern

Over the last decade, bouldering activity in the park has increased and with it, the impacts associated with this activity. While human impacts are inherent to all types of outdoor recreation, bouldering is associated with specific impacts that include:

• modified landing zones – when rocks or trees are removed from the base of a boulder to create a safer, more even surface for crash pads,
• boulder “gardening” – when lichen, moss, or other plants are removed from a boulder to establish or maintain a route,
• visible chalk marks on routes that indicate hand and foot placements,
• vegetation loss due to social trail formation used to access boulders and bare ground around the base of boulders, and
• stashed crash pads – when climbers leave their crash pads under rocks/in caves rather than hiking them in and out each visit.

In RMNP bouldering areas, all of these impacts have been documented by research collaborators at Utah State University (USU) and RMNP Climbing Rangers. During the summer of 2015, USU researchers mapped extensive informal trail networks and visitor-created bare ground sites around bouldering areas in Chaos Canyon and Emerald Lake and made observations of other impacts like presence of trash, stashed crash pads, damaged trees, and modified landing zones. The team mapped 40 visitor-created bare ground areas across sites and nearly 3 miles of informal trails with a "Moderate" rating, meaning these informal trails had vegetation loss, the organic layer of soil was mostly still present.

Concerns over these impacts are heightened because popular bouldering areas near Emerald Lake, Chaos Canyon, and Wild Basin are also designated as federal Wilderness areas. Designated Wilderness provides access to pristine natural areas and carries special protections meant to minimize human impacts on the landscape.

The Research

To better understand bouldering impacts, researchers from Pennsylvania State University, the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics, and the National Park Service took a behavioral approach. Using the Theory of Planned Behavior as a framework, which suggests an individual’s attitude is an important driver of their behavior (Ajzen, 1991; 1995), researchers set out to capture boulderers’ attitudes toward Leave No Trace principles and perceptions of how their own behaviors aligned with minimum impact practices. The purpose of this study was to establish a baseline understanding of these attitudes and perceptions in order to better align boulderers and the sport of bouldering with Leave Not Trace practices, thus reducing bouldering impacts in the park.

During the summer of 2015, the research team surveyed 229 boulderers near the Emerald Lake, Chaos Canyon, and Wild Basin bouldering areas. Survey participants were asked to rate a series of behaviors based on a behavior’s appropriateness, effectiveness at reducing impacts, and difficulty to achieve while bouldering in the park.

For example, to measure boulderer’s perceptions of appropriate behaviors, survey participants rated a series of high impact behaviors from 1 – 7 (1 = Very Inappropriate and 7 = Very Appropriate) (Image 3; Schwartz et al., 2015). To better understand the barriers to minimum impact practices, participants also rated behaviors based on their effectiveness at reducing impacts and their difficulty to achieve using a similar scale. In addition, participants rated a series of statements to measure their attitudes toward the overall importance of practicing Leave No Trace. Researchers also collected demographic information from boulderers to understand their geographic backgrounds, level of experience, and where they learned to climb to test if differences in attitudes and knowledge of Leave No Trace practices differed between groups.

The Results

More than 90% of respondents Agreed or Strongly Agreed that “Practicing Leave No Trace protects the environment” and “It is important that all visitors practice Leave No Trace” suggesting the bouldering community perceives Leave No Trace principles as an important means of minimizing recreation-related impacts. Despite this attitude, some impactful bouldering-specific behaviors still received support among survey respondents. Specifically, Removing/cleaning lichen, moss, or plants from a boulder to establish a new route was rated, on average, as a Neutral to Slightly Appropriate (mean = 4.72) behavior. Other behaviors including Traveling off trail to access boulders; Spreading out gear and crash pads to establish a “base camp” at the crag; Moving rocks, trees, and shrubs at the base of a boulder to create a safer landing zone; and Scheduling a visit at times of high use all received higher support relative to other identified behaviors. (Figure 1; Schwartz et al., 2015)

When evaluating survey responses against participants’ self-reported bouldering ability and where they learned to climb, significant differences in attitudes and Leave No Trace knowledge emerge. Generally speaking, those who learned to climb indoors in a gym and reported lower levels of bouldering ability, were less knowledgeable of Leave No Trace and reported attitudes less in line with minimum-impact bouldering recommendations (Figure 2;Schwartz et al., 2015)

By identifying what boulderers’ perceive as “more appropriate” high impact behaviors, park managers can better design and facilitate Leave No Trace communication and education around specific bouldering practices. This study also suggests that education of bouldering ethics and stewardship may be most
impactful if delivered in a climbing gym setting, as well as other introductory-level instructional classes and workshops.

Science In Management

Using the information and recommendation from the above Boulderer' Perceptions Survey, Climbing Rangers in Rocky Mountain National Park began focused outreach efforts with Front Range climbing youth groups and at popular bouldering areas in the park.

In 2016, the park implemented the pilot year of the “Taking it to the Top” Program – an outreach effort preparing the next generation of outdoor climbers to recreate ethically and responsibility on public lands. During its first season, this program engaged over 60 youth climbers in local outreach and education programs and brought over 50 climbers to the park for educational field days (Image 4).

That same year, the park recruited the first volunteer Bouldering Steward to provide field-based education and outreach at park bouldering areas. Over the years, work by the Bouldering Stewards has expanded to include climbing gym presentations, facilitating Climber Stewardship events like the Rocky Mountain Rendezvous Trail Maintenance Days, and assisting data collection and monitoring efforts to quantify boulderer use and impacts in the park.

Today, the program includes four summer Bouldering Stewards who spend their time at popular bouldering areas climbing, connecting with the climbing community, and promoting minimum impact bouldering practices. “My position encourages boulderers to feel connected to the park and to be good stewards of the bouldering areas,” according to Rydell, who is working for the second summer as a Bouldering Steward. “We interact with a small, but rapidly growing user group within RMNP, and I think it's important for the park to understand the needs and desires of this user group while still protecting and preserving the wilderness areas that most of the bouldering resides in.”

“My favorite part of being a Bouldering Steward is connecting with the youth bouldering community and teaching Leave No Trace ethics and stewardship to the next generation," Brenna, another Bouldering Steward states. "The Bouldering Steward program is excellent for starting meaningful conversations about wilderness conservation and how we all have a responsibility to be stewards of climbing areas. It’s a great way to connect the land managers with the climbing community in a genuine way.”