Salt Lake Tribune: Climbing rocks on verge of making history

We are working hard to preserve Utah’s climbing legacy by nominating the Alpenbock Loop Climbing Area in lower Little Cottonwood Canyon for the National Register of Historic Places. This would be the first recreational climbing area to be listed in the nation. Once it's listed, it will also be posted in the National Register database and in the Library of Congress.

“If [people] know that this is a historical district, and they know that they can go and hike this one-mile loop and see this landscape the way that Ted (and first ascensionists) saw in the ’60s for the most part, then hopefully that'll raise awareness for this landscape and maybe lead to its protection…. There's something to preserve there that will forever be altered. You can't replace it with something else.” - Julia Geisler, the executive director of the SLCA.

A special thanks to the SLCA’s policy committee members, especially John Flynn - Assistant Director of the American West Center, for embarking on this endeavor. We could not have completed this process without the expertise and passion of Kirk Huffaker Preservation Strategies and the support of the state agencies. Thanks also to Julie Jag for covering this story and Ted for continuing to fight to protect LCC.

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