Rock climbing with the RI Narragansett Chapter isn’t always just about climbing. Sometimes, it is about stewardship of the crags we love to visit. For the past several years, the Technical Climbing Subcommittee has been partnering with ClimbRI and the CT Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP), the land manager for the Ross Rocks (aka Old Furnace State Park), on improving access to climbing at Ross Pond, Danielson/Killingly CT. This is a location where many of the RI climbers spend days climbing a variety of routes and where the RI Climbing Subcommittee hosts our Gym to Crag Beginner Rock Climbing class in the Spring. Ross Rocks is only four miles over the RI border and is the closest climbing area. We frequently joke, “the best climbing in Rhode Island is in Connecticut”! And this project is great opportunity to work across multiple disciplines of climbing and trail construction and collaborate with partners in RI and CT as well as The Access Fund and AMC.
But as we know a beautiful spot can be “loved too much” at times and as responsible stewards of the lands we love for recreation, we also need to reduce our negative impacts. With the increased popularity of climbing, came increased visitor impacts, including damage to vegetation and erosion on the steep slopes as climbers made their way back and forth from the top of the climbs where we would set top ropes back down to the belay area where we would start our climbs. Acknowledging this unintended impact, the RI Climbing Subcommittee started meeting with DEEP and AMC to discuss ways to reduce erosion and improve safety. So, we began working on some solutions. We planned to create a trail from the lower pond trail (lower red trail in photo below) upslope to our belay area and then continue the trail from the belay area to the top of the climb in an area known as “Party Wall”, so named for the constant stream of bottles and trash at the bottom of the cliff discarded by partiers above.
In addition to providing safer access for climbers, this section of the property is also an important area for EMTs, fire personnel and emergency services. In the event of an emergency, rescue personnel move injured people down the slope through the boulder field, to a boat to cross the pond rather than carry them along the pond trail. Improving the trails here, improves response time to injured folks and facilitates their efficient removal to an ambulance.
In 2022, we received a technical assistance grant from the Access Fund for three days of trail building. Two Access Fund representatives (Loryn & Kyle, Conservation Team Special Projects) met with approximately 10-15 volunteers to start building the trails and switchbacks starting from the lower pond trail up to the belay area at the “Party Wall”. We accomplished a lot over the Memorial Day Weekend in 2022! Volunteers constructed over 340 linear feet of trail with over 100’ of elevation gain.
While this work with the Access Fund completed a substantial part of the trail, the upper section was even steeper and beyond the technical skills of our volunteers. This area is approximately 60% grade and can be difficult to descend, especially with wet leaves. Through many discussions with DEEP and AMC to evaluate our options, we all concluded that log ladders would be our best bet. In 2022, the RI Climbing Subcommittee received funds ($6,500) from the Narragansett Chapter Excess Reserves and ($500) from Boston AMC Chapter (through the Inter-chapter Climbing Committee (ICC)) to contract with the AMC Pro Trail Crew to begin constructing the log ladders. At that time, we only had enough funding for a portion of the work needed. The AMC Crew did a fantastic job installing ladders with approximately 37 steps for about half of the slope distance needed!
Our planning process continued through COVID with many emails and site visits. Finding funding for the 2nd portion of our project took longer than expected. But we were able to find the funding!
In October 2024, we began working on Phase 2 of our project: to finish the log ladders. This time we knew the AMC Crew needed 2 weeks for the project instead of just one. The RI Climbing Subcommittee could contribute $2,000 toward the project but that wouldn’t cover the whole cost for the Crew. We applied for a grant through the Access Fund and received an award of $2,000. We applied for a second grant from the ICC and was awarded $5,000. Finally, we were allocated the remaining $5,000 from the Narragansett Excess Reserves.
In September 2024, we held an additional trail workday with another 10-15 volunteers to complete the remaining three trail switchbacks for nearly 40 linear feet of improved trail to the Party Wall belay area.
And finally, in October 2024, the AMC Crew worked for two (2) weeks to complete the section of the log ladders. AMC completed approximately 24 steps over the remaining 40 linear foot section. The AMC Crew hauled the large logs a long distance up the steep slopes and through the existing trail network. They notched the logs in place using chainsaws, setting the steps as they went. This is an incredible amount of work all done on a very steep slope.
Photo 8: AMC Trail crew cutting step notches with a chainsaw, Photo 9: AMC Pro Trail Crew 2024, Photo 10: (before) Climber hiking up the steep slope, Photo 11: (after) Log ladders installed
We are grateful for all of our partners in this process! Stewardship efforts are extremely important, but they aren’t always free. We have additional smaller projects to coordinate with DEEP in the future and look forward to our continued stewardship of this great resource.
The CT Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP), AMC Narragansett Chapter, AMC Boston Chapter, Interchapter Climbing Committee (ICC), the Access Fund and our friends at ClimbRI made this project possible. Thank you to everyone for your willingness to financially support this project and for all the days of hard work on the trail!
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