Your Dues at Work in 2025

Executive Director’s Year-End Message

Salt Lake Climbers Alliance | 2025

As we close out 2025, I’m grateful for the shared responsibility this community brings to stewardship and access. Over the past year, the Salt Lake Climbers Alliance strengthened its role as both an advocate and a steward—delivering professional, on-the-ground work while remaining engaged in the policy and planning conversations that shape the future of climbing in the Wasatch.

This year, our professional anchor maintenance program earned a Utah Office of Outdoor Recreation Stewardship Award, reflecting one of the most proactive fixed-hardware programs in the country. Our team maintained more than 1,200 bolts across 27 crags, ensuring routes remain safe, reliable, and accessible for years to come. This work spans American Fork, Little Cottonwood, Maple Canyon, Rock Canyon, the Upper Narrows, Indian Creek, and beyond, and is supported by coordinated planning, fundraising, communications, and partnerships across the organization.

We continued to invest in high-use climbing areas through our long-standing access agreement at Gate Buttress, where professional trail crews completed major improvements to The Fin, restored heavily impacted bouldering zones, and supported Adopt-a-Crag stewardship days focused on erosion mitigation and environmental care. At the same time, SLCA advanced new access conversations with state agencies and private landowners, laying the groundwork for future stewardship and access wins across Utah.

SLCA also expanded its cultural and historical stewardship. As newly certified Utah Cultural Site Stewards, we continued to protect and interpret the Alpenbock Loop—the first climbing area in the country listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Sold-out historical hikes and continued progress on the Alpenbock Film reinforced the importance of documenting climbing history and using storytelling as a tool to protect irreplaceable landscapes before they are lost.

Signature community events remained central to our work. Through our anchor symposium, climbing festival, member mixers, film nights, educational events, Climbers Coffees, and advocacy gatherings, hundreds of climbers connected with SLCA throughout the year. These consistent touchpoints help build a shared ethic of stewardship and reinforce the responsibility we all share in caring for the places we climb.

Despite a prolonged federal government shutdown that slowed some agency coordination, SLCA remained engaged in every major policy conversation affecting Wasatch climbing—from wilderness fixed-anchor policy to Cottonwood Canyon transportation and parking planning. We also strengthened relationships with land managers, elected officials, and statewide partners to ensure climbers remain part of long-term land-use decision making.

Thanks to careful financial management, SLCA enters 2026 with stable reserves, growing membership, and clear strategic priorities. With continued community support, we are positioned to expand statewide stewardship, strengthen access and advocacy leadership, and complete and distribute the Alpenbock Film to audiences across Utah and beyond.

If you’re inspired by what we’ve accomplished together, we encourage you to get involved. Whether through volunteering, donating, or participating in our events, every contribution helps protect and enhance Utah’s climbing resources.

This work is only possible because of our community. Thank you to the volunteers, corporate sponsors, individual donors, grant partners, and members who support the Salt Lake Climbers Alliance. Your continued commitment allows us to care for Utah’s climbing landscapes and keep them accessible and sustainable for future generations.

With gratitude,

Julia Geisler

Executive Director, Salt Lake Climbers Alliance