Niagara Parks Banning Bouldering
By Rocky Thompson on October 9th, 2008
The Niagara Parks Commission is working on a plan to ban bouldering as a measure to reduce environmental impact. Someone should tell them that boulderers don’t use gear, except old mattresses that could, I suppose, crush endangered flowers. It’s those trad climbers leaving rock scars—boulderers’ main offense against humanity is walking around town in gusted-crotch jeans. Hopefully this isn’t the beginning of a trend that forcers boulderers to start looking for climbs in parking garages and overpasses.  Those crazy Canadians are at it again. Shouldn’t they be more worried about people going over the falls in barrels?
via Your Climbing
No snowmobiles in Jellystone and no playing on the rocks. Where will it stop, when we all have to live in eco-friendly bubbles and get our recreation on a holo-deck?
I don’t know about you, but the concept of climbing on parking garages and other man-made structures just makes me feel badass. I’ll stick to bouldering in areas people don’t go to anyway because for some reason that makes me feel better about myself. And you know that the world just revolves around me so…
How are trad climbers leaving rock scars? Rocky must be referring to aid climbers that use pitons.
Hey Guys!!
Phil here from Ontario, Canada and I live just a few hours away from the Niagara Glen. I was out there for the first time this year bouldering and first of all let me tell you all that it is bouldering heaven. You could literally spend days in there and never climb the same boulder twice. As for the environmental impact; I am pretty big on low environment impact on where we walk/camp/canoe/bouldering etc, and most of of the areas where we were climbing is all dirt and just off off the trails. I could totally understand if these boulders were surrounded by fields of trilliums (our provincial flower) and we were tromping all around, but there was at no time while I was there where I felt like I was destroying or impacting anything. Yes perhaps over time the wear and tear caused that tiny area around the boulders to have nothing growing, but as I mentioned most of the boulders we were bouldering we right off the path and the wear was already extensive from the decades of people walking about there anyways.
This is probably the best place in Ontario to boulder and if any of you are familiar with the size of our province (917,741 km2 (354,342 SQ MI) you would think that there would be more places, but there isnt. People travel all around the world and country to climb here so it would a shame if they banned bouldering is such an amazing place.
Peace
Phil C.
i’m calling bullshit on that one……climb for days and never climb the same boulder twice……c’mon please
maybe they think boulders are the type of people who would go off the falls in a barrel….trying to kill 2 birds with one stone.
Personally when i go Bouldering I like to trample any flower or plant that looks endangered or pretty. I also like to out on excessive chalk so everyone can see my holds through atleast a few rain stroms. I love to put my trad gear in weak areas so when a fall happens rock gets cracked and explodes out like dynamite. Change is good. Lets all my more change where we go! I also carry a barrel everywhere with me, you never know when you will see some falls to go off….