Our News

In this Summer 2017 episode of the OAC newsletter:

1. Beaver Valley Climbing Festival Recap and Feedback
2. OAC Annual General Meeting Highlights
3. Sharing Knowledge: Alpinist magazine discusses conservation and climbing on the Niagara Escarpment.

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BVCF Recap and Feedback

On July 14-16, the 5th annual Beaver Valley Climbing Festival saw almost 300 climbers and community members come out to Roy Rob Dog Farm in our beautiful Beaver Valley. Climbers and friends of all abilities and experience took part in clinics, enjoyed good food, great company, and awesome live music. We are already anticipating the 2018 Beaver Valley Climbing Festival.

Following the festival, we sent out an email requesting suggestions on how we can improve for next year. Thank you to all who took the time and provided feedback to the event organizers. Your feedback will directly help us improve next year’s BVCF. Here are some of the ways in which next year’s BVCF will be better than this year’s.

Bathrooms. In the past, our land use agreement put the responsibility on the farm’s owner to secure toilet rentals. We have renegotiated the agreement so that, in the future, the OAC will be responsible for toilet rentals. We will be sure to have the appropriate amount of units.
Space. It is awesome to see the BVCF continue to grow year after year. Given this growth, we will expand the campsite next year, including a separate area for families. This way, we can accommodate everyone and continue to share our love of climbing.

Thanks to everyone that came out. We look forward to seeing you next year! And once again, thanks to our headline sponsors: Boulderz Climbing Centre, True North Climbing, Arc’Teryx; title sponsors: Climber’s Rock, The Junction Climbing Centre; and major sponsors: The Alpine Club of Canada, On The Rocks Climbing, Free Spirit Tours, One Axe Pursuits, Ontario Resoles, Overhang Adventures. We couldn’t have done it without you!

OAC AGM Highlights

The OAC board of directors hosted an Annual General Meeting on June 26th 2017 at True North Climbing. The AGM is a once-a-year meeting in which members can come out, hear about the OAC’s updates, and take part in the discussions that shape the OAC. Our post summarizes the discussions: https://www.ontarioallianceofclimbers.ca/2017/07/20/qa-from-the-2017-oac-annual-general-meeting/

We hope to see you at next year’s AGM, scheduled for June 2018.

Conservation and Climbing on The Niagara Escarpment (via Alpinist magazine)

As climbers, we are lucky to explore beautiful yet inaccessible places. Our privileged position often inspires a feeling of responsibility towards these places and the wildlife that they harbour. We have the power to go beyond simply enjoying these places—we can act as stewards and help preserve them.

Unfortunately, our actions may have negative impacts on the places that we love, even if these impacts may be unintentional. As climbers, it is our responsibility to remain informed on how to best enjoy the crags we frequent, and applying best practices can minimize our impact on the environment.

We recommend this long-form reporting from Alpinist magazine: http://www.alpinist.com/doc/web17c/wfeature-a58-wired-refuge.
It can help you make more informed decisions and help you understand the complexity that surrounds climbing on the Niagara Escarpment. We invite you to read the article, share it with your fellow climbers, and discuss.

Every year, the Ontario Access Coalition holds an Annual General Meeting. We appreciate True North’s support in hosting us this past June 26th, 2017. The short formal portion of the meeting allows OAC members to elect Directors for the coming year (as legally mandated). Afterwards, the AGM gives us the opportunity to connect with the membership in a loosely structured Q&A discussion session.
Discussions during the Q&A included:
* the then-upcoming Beaver Valley Climbing Festival (the Alpine Club of Canada Toronto Section offered support);
* updates on Metcalfe restrooms and improvements at Devil’s Glen;
* offers to improve the social media and general PR presence (including an Instagram account);
* how to better disseminate the gym to crag brochures (in every guidebook & via Conservation Halton);
* discussion of Conservation Halton’s strong support for climbing and the advisability of replacing old pins with bolts;
* questions about Algonquin Highlands (James Cooper Trail, Kushog) and the Hailburton Highlands Water Trails;
* questions about how to get involved (mail
info@ontarioaccesscoalition.com) and outreach efforts;
* questions about the financials (will be lightly edited to break down outgoing donations (SO Ice Fest, Conservation Halton ice climbing signs).
Thanks to those who came out to the meeting!
2017 AGM materials (minutes, access sends, survey results, financials)

Every year, the Ontario Access Coalition holds an Annual General Meeting. We appreciate True North’s support in hosting us this past June 26th, 2017. The short formal portion of the meeting allows OAC members to elect Directors for the coming year (as legally mandated). Afterwards, the AGM gives us the opportunity to connect with the membership in a loosely structured Q&A discussion session.

Discussions during the Q&A included:
* the then-upcoming Beaver Valley Climbing Festival (the Alpine Club of Canada Toronto Section offered support);
* updates on Metcalfe restrooms and improvements at Devil’s Glen;
* offers to improve the social media and general PR presence (including an Instagram account);
* how to better disseminate the gym to crag brochures (in every guidebook & via Conservation Halton);
* discussion of Conservation Halton’s strong support for climbing and the advisability of replacing old pins with bolts;
* questions about Algonquin Highlands (James Cooper Trail, Kushog) and the Hailburton Highlands Water Trails;
* questions about how to get involved (mail
info@ontarioaccesscoalition.com) and outreach efforts;
* questions about the financials (will be lightly edited to break down outgoing donations (SO Ice Fest, Conservation Halton ice climbing signs).

Thanks to those who came out to the meeting!

2017 AGM materials (minutes, access sends, survey results, financials)

Every year, the Ontario Access Coalition holds an Annual General Meeting. We appreciate True North’s support in hosting us this past June 26th, 2017. The short formal portion of the meeting allows OAC members to elect Directors for the coming year (as legally mandated). Afterwards, the AGM gives us the opportunity to connect with the membership in a loosely structured Q&A discussion session.

Discussions during the Q&A included:
* the then-upcoming Beaver Valley Climbing Festival (the Alpine Club of Canada Toronto Section offered support);
* updates on Metcalfe restrooms and improvements at Devil’s Glen;
* offers to improve the social media and general PR presence (including an Instagram account);
* how to better disseminate the gym to crag brochures (in every guidebook & via Conservation Halton);
* discussion of Conservation Halton’s strong support for climbing and the advisability of replacing old pins with bolts;
* questions about Algonquin Highlands (James Cooper Trail, Kushog) and the Hailburton Highlands Water Trails;
* questions about how to get involved (mail
info@ontarioaccesscoalition.com) and outreach efforts;
* questions about the financials (will be lightly edited to break down outgoing donations (SO Ice Fest, Conservation Halton ice climbing signs).

Thanks to those who came out to the meeting!

2017 AGM materials (minutes, access sends, survey results, financials)

Preparations for the 2017 Beaver Valley Climbing Festival are well underway. Join the OAC and over 200 fellow climbers on July 14-16 for a weekend of climbing, camping, supper and entertainment at the Rob Roy Dogsled Farm!

Register for the Beaver Valley Climbing Festival

Thanks to our headline sponsors Boulderz, True North, and Arc’teryx! Members of Boulderz, True North, and Climber’s Rock get 10% off their festival tickets.

as well as our title sponsor Climber’s Rock!

We’ve received this response from Niagara Glen park staff, in response to a question about Niagara Glen parking.

Every annual parking pass, including the one that comes with the Bouldering Permit, purchased for the Niagara Glen can have up to 2 license plates from the same household. These however, cannot be purchased at the machines, as they only accept the one plate. Individuals can buy the annual parking passes for 2 plates at the Butterfly Parking Booth with one of the attendants or from the Falls Parking office. Also note, since the change to the policy that permits up to 2 plates was only introduced on Jan 1, 2017, annual parking passes purchased prior to this policy change would only be eligible for the 1 licence plate.

[If you have] a valid bouldering permit from October 2016, [your] bouldering permit is still valid. By presenting this bouldering permit at the Butterfly Conservatory, [you] should [receive] a parking pass valid until the current bouldering permit expires.

by Patrick Lam, on behalf of the OAC Board

Following community consultations, the Ontario government has released the final version of the Niagara Escarpment Plan. Because much of Southern Ontario climbing occurs on the Niagara Escarpment, and because the Niagara Escarpment Commission has the power to control the use of the Escarpment (even on private land), the Plan is tremendously significant to Ontario climbers. The final version of the Plan incorporates feedback from the climbing community. Thank you for your help; together, we helped preserve access to Ontario climbing!

Impact of the new Plan

The Ontario Access Coalition does not expect immediate changes to climbing access as a result of the new Plan. As always, climbing access is tenuous and may be threatened by impacts by climbers and other visitors. Demonstrating stewardship and following Leave No Trace principles can help position climbers as a net positive for our open spaces.

More specifically, here’s what the Plan says about climbing. Rock climbing is now explicitly permitted in parks and open spaces where a climbing management plan exists. Some of our strongest partners are conservation authorities (CAs). Our understanding is that, in collaboration with the Ontario Access Coalition, CAs have developed plans for Niagara Glen, Rattlesnake Point/Buffalo Crag/Bottleglass, Mount Nemo, Kelso, and Old Baldy.

We continue to work with CAs and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry to develop climbing management plans for other areas. A general principle that helps with climbing access is that the Niagara Escarpment Plan generally permits existing uses even if they are non-conforming.

Nature Reserves

The Plan contains a classification of parks and open space. The most sensitive classification is that of a Nature Reserve, to which access “will not be widely promoted [… and] activities limited to those that can further scientific understanding and education”. Many historically significant Ontario climbing areas, such as Lion’s Head, lie within Nature Reserves. Previous proposed plans explicitly disallowed climbing in Nature Reserves; we asked community input to focus on this particular aspect. The current plan does not contain a prohibition. However, climbers should be especially careful about impact in these areas, for which nature preservation is the key objective.

References

The Niagara Escarpment Commission has posted the plan at https://www.escarpment.org/LandPlanning/NEP.

We’re pleased to publish our strategic plan, which will guide our efforts in the next few years. The strategic plan includes goals of advocating for access to climbing areas; strengthening community involvement and outreach; and promoting environmental stewardship.

Please find our plan at the following page:

https://www.ontarioallianceofclimbers.ca/about/oac-strategic-plan-february-2017/

As always, we welcome new volunteers to help us achieve our goals. Please get in touch with us using the contact link on the website or by emailing info@ontarioaccesscoalition.com.