Graffiti in our canyons is on the rise... and climbers are out to fight it – again, and again, and again.

 

Graffiti in our canyons is appearing faster than we can make it disappear. Tags on boulders scrubbed away one week are there the next. We need your help.

This past weekend, SLCA volunteers scrubbed tags from Moon Rock on the boulder problems: Huge, Tiny and the Crippler at one of the most graffiti destroyed spots across the road from the Gate Buttress parking lot in lower Little Cottonwood Canyon. The derelict pavilion at this location is a target for graffiti, with it spreading to the boulder fields around the pavilion and down to the stream. The graffiti has invited other unwanted activity including fire rings and trash. For climbers, the paint makes climbing the rocks near impossible and takes away not only the beauty of the rock and natural places, but also destroys all friction for climbing.

Climbing on rocks aside, it is alarming to find spray paint cans in Little Cottonwood Creek, fires still burning and unattended, and the extent and rapid rate to which the graffiti is spreading. The pavilion may be one of the worst single sites for the vandalism, but it doesn’t stop there and has become more prevalent throughout the Wasatch.

The Salt Lake Climbers Alliance has decided to take a stand against graffiti and vandalism with continued efforts to remove it, but it’s not enough. We need help from the community to call taggers out, report them when you see this activity occurring, and help us in our clean up efforts. Stay tuned for more graffiti removal volunteer opportunities and please take an active role in stopping this activity.

To report graffiti call:

801.743.7000   Sheriff Dispatch

801.743.5656   Canyon Patrol (Direct)

801.468.2182   Graffiti Hotline

801.733.2660   Forest Service (Salt Lake Ranger District)

Take just one more step, and join the Salt Lake Climbers Alliance and commit to “The Pact”. The Access Fund has partnered with Black Diamond Equipment to launch ROCK Project, a new education program that focuses on inspiring and empowering climbers to take responsibility to care for the climbing areas they love and practice low-impact behaviors at the crags, boulders and wild places we climb. Now, we are asking all climbers to commit to “The Pact”. The Pact is a promise—a covenant with our fellow climbers to practice a set of 10 responsible outdoor behaviors that protect climbing access. The Pact is meant to be a long-term element of the ROCK Project program and will live on beyond this initial launch of the program. Go here to join the SLCA and climbers all around the world in committing to the Pact.