CNS Access Updates

[Climb Nova Scotia]

Chebucto Head/Duncans Cove

Anyone bouldering at Chebucto Head/Duncans Cove in the evening is advised to park outside the gate. Last night they decided to close the gate at 7:30. Luckily this time they were considerate enough to warn us and wait for the cars to be moved before the gate was locked. If their patience wares thin they might just go ahead and close it without going to the effort of getting everyone to move their cars. If this happens, then boulderers locked in the lighthouse parking lot will be forced to go door to door asking politely until they find the person with the key to the gate.

Teth Cleveland, President of Climb Nova Scotia, and Chair of the CNS Access Committee

[Climb Nova Scotia]

Cape Breton Highland National Park

As mentioned in a previous post, the cliff assessment on Black Brook is scheduled for May 7th. Hopefully the wether forecast changes, as the long-term forecast is currently predicting rain for Ingonish for the 7th.

Teth Cleveland, President of Climb Nova Scotia, and Chair of the CNS Access Committee

[Climb Nova Scotia]

Terence Bay Woods

I met with Karen and Mark, the landowners of the Terence Bay Woods bouldering area, on Wednesday, May 4th, 2005. They did not know much about bouldering, except that they had seen some people bouldering when they visited India. I explained the basic concepts of bouldering and showed them the Halifax Bouldering Guide. They were very happy to see the Woods listed as closed in the guide and Karen said that she was going to contact Ghislain to express their appreciation of how he handled the situation. I then went over the Occupier’s Liability Act with them and explained how any rock climber can reasonably be assumed to understand the risks involved in climbing, and that by climbing they are willingly assuming that risk.

They explained that while they found it a little unnerving to find 20 boulders on their land, they were also very proud that they had such a special and popular place. In order to give them a better idea of what bouldering was all about and to cover the history of their land, I showed them the film festival cut of Eastern Tide. They were psyched to see their land on a move which had been on a world tour. (Eastern Tide was produced before they bought the land.) Mark is now interested in learning how to boulder. Also, they have been trying to convince Mark’s brother and his girlfriend (wife?) to move to Nova Scotia and buy land. Since they are both avid climbers Mark’s new plan is to send them a copy of Eastern Tide in order to lure them to the province. I suggested that if Mark’s brother was an avid rock climber, then maybe we could help him find an appropriate piece of land.

The end result is that they are planning to buy a copy of the Halifax Bouldering guide, multiple copies of Eastern Tide (do I get commission?) and CNS will be organizing a bouldering event in the Terence Bay Woods sometime in the fall (probably late September or early October). Karen wants it to be at least a month after her baby is born (due in August) so that she can attend the festivities. On that subject, we need a volunteer to organize the event. Karen and Mark said they will check with the neighbours to make sure it is ok for us to use Nice View Drive on the day of the event.

If things go well and they make friends in the climbing community, particularly if Mark gets into bouldering, I think that we may have increased opportunities to access this area in the future. I am going to try to convince Mark to go out with the Monday Night Bouldering crew when that starts up again. As the Borg say “Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated.”


Teth Cleveland, President of Climb Nova Scotia, Chair of the Access Committee

[kate]

shouldn't Todd get some props in all this too..? yeh for Eastern Tide!

[Climb Nova Scotia]

The following it an email I received from Climb Nova Scotia’s Cape Breton Representative, James LaRusic. He has been working hard on the front line to resolve the Cape Breton Highlands National Park Access Issue.

Teth Cleveland, President of Climb Nova Scotia & Chair of the Access Committee.


Scott Kerr and myself met with Sheldon today at Black Brook. We were there for about two hours looking at and talking about the site. He told me he would be recommending opening Black Brook for climbing in June with some minor restrictions. Permits will be required to climb. This will be a trial basis for a year and see where we go from there. The final decision will be up to Tim Reynolds and we may hear news as early as next week.

We went over access issues such as using diffent paths every time you go there as to not create a trail. Parking in the lot at the beach across the street. If there was ever an accident he feels rescue would be easily accomplished with the highway so close. He will be sending us a list of the details they are looking for.

Other than that it was a great day and we put in some good climbs as he said today could be a free day. This is great for us here as Black Brook is a site that easy to get to and there are multiple route of ranging difficulty. Its kinda short but sweet. Thanks for letting me be a part of this process. Hopefully all goes well.

James

[Climb Nova Scotia]

The Cape Breton Highlands National Park sent Climb Nova Scotia the Cliff Assessment document for Black Brook, including observations from the on-site inspection by Sheldon Lambert, Senior Park warden, and James LaRusic, Climb Nova Scotia Cape Breton Representative.

The Park is proposing to allow climbing at Black Brook under a permit system. This would initially be for a one year trial basis. Climbers would presumably get a permit at the front gate when they enter the park. A draft copy of the proposed permit was included with the cliff assessment document. By signing the permit a climber agrees to he following:

1. I agree not to install bolts, fixed protection, or use pitons. Nuts, camming devices, and natural anchors are fully permissible.
2. I agree to remove all protection and ropes from the site after use. Any equipment left at the site should be reported to a park warden.
3. I agree to use only webbing or climbing tape for anchors around trees.
4. I agree not to remove or cut trees and/or branches from this site.
5. I agree not to intentionally scrub or remove lichens or other vegetation from rock faces.
6. I agree to park in the provided parking lots at the site.
7. I agree to a use chalk on a minimal basis.
8. I agree to use edge protection for all weighted ropes used at the site. Edge protection can include mats, rollers, rope protectors, or suspending anchor pivot points below the cliff edge.
9. I agree to abide by other National Parks Act regulations including but not restricted to illegal camping, fires, or removal of natural objects.

The Board of Directors of Climb Nova Scotia reviewed the cliff assessment and the proposed permit system on June 12th, 2005, and voted to accept the Park’s proposal. Now the only thing lift is for the Park to ratify this proposal and make it official. When Black Brook is officially opened to climbing CNS will make the announcement and provide detailed information on our Web site.

Teth Cleveland, President of Climb Nova Scotia

[The Teth]

Be aware that I delete posts from this thread periodically so that people do not have to look through a lot of posts to find the access information. It will probably be the next time I post an access update. Anyway, Cape Clear development is definitely worthy of its own thread, so might I suggest that someone create one?

Teth

....Fred, I already deleted most of the posts before I saw your suggestion to split the topic. Maybe next time. How do I split a topic?

Teth

[Climb Nova Scotia]

I just received the following Email.

Hi Guys:

Just wanted to make sure that your members knew that climbing was now
permitted at Black Brook under permit. Permits finally showed up from
the printers. The permits are 100% free and available from either the
Ingonish or Cheticamp Warden Office. Thanks for your patience in working thru
this issue with us.

Cheers,

Sheldon Lambert M.E.S.
A/Manager, Resource Conservation
Cape Breton Highlands National Park of Canada
Ingonish Beach, NS B0C 1L0

So that means as long as you pick up a permit, you are now free to climb at Black Brook. We will be looking into getting Little Smoky opened next. There may be some safety issues at Little Smoky due to the difficulty of accessing the bottom of the cliff at high tide, but I am hoping that something can be worked out.

Teth Cleveland, President of Climb Nova Scotia