New Heights, cont'd

AMC Outdoors, June 2006

Until recently, climbing in the Garden State was a complicated and expensive affair. Thanks to a long-standing policy mandated by the New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry, anyone interested in climbing on state-owned land-including parks, preserves, and some of the state’s best rock-had to provide administrators with proof of insurance and buy an annual permit before they’d be allowed to rope up. The policy wasn’t much of a problem for commercial guiding outfits but it proved to be a major hurdle for private folks, effectively outlawing climbing in the state.

But early last year, after nearly a decade of lobbying by Access New Jersey and members of the local climbing community, the park service amended its policy regarding private climbers on state-owned land. The decision - which swapped out the fee and insurance requirements in favor of a simple waiver system - effectively opened up 300,000 acres of state land to legal climbing, a move that local climbers have pronounced as nothing less than a victory for the sport itself.

Chris Irwin, who grew up climbing in the Highlands, was elated by the news, especially considering all of the rock that it opened up for exploration. “There’s still adventure to be had in New Jersey,” he says. “It’s amazing to think that in the most densely populated area in the nation there’s a new climb that someone might not have been on yet, there’s a new cliff that someone might not have seen. It’s definitely cool to have that kind of adventure in a place that’s so well mapped out.”

State leaders have embraced the sport as well. Jose Fernandez, director of the New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry, says the previous policy put “too onerous a burden on the exercise of the sport,” and that amending the access policy for private climbers just made sense. In his view, climbing is in keeping with the overall mission of the parks system. “Basically, rock climbing is another form of passive recreation for which the state parks are particularly well-suited,” he says. “Like canoeing, hiking, and hunting, it’s an activity that, when properly planned, does not harm or impose any further development on the natural resource.”

Now that the state lands hurdle has been passed, Access New Jersey has begun focusing its efforts on access issues in the state’s county and local parks. In central New Jersey, Park Ranger Administrator David Dendler and the Somerset County Park Commission recently moved to allow bouldering at the county-owned Sourland Mountain Preserve. “It was a pretty easy decision,” Dendler says, “since it was just another use for some of our park properties. We don’t have any areas where they can go trad climbing with ropes or anything, but we do have boulders eight and 10 feet high and it’s perfect for what these guys want. It’s lots of fun, it’s challenging, and it’s good exercise.”

Of course, change like this doesn’t come without controversy. Opening up new areas to climbing raises all sorts of issuesÑfrom overcrowding, to environmental damage, to simple liability concernsÑand Anderson admits that some of Access New Jersey’s work has raised eyebrows in the community. In fact, many of the state’s best bouldering areas in central and western New Jersey remain closed to climbers.

But he’s quick to point out that climbers are being very careful: promoting proper use of the state’s more fragile resources, regulating traffic at popular crags, and even traveling to area climbing gyms to teach other climbers about environmental stewardship. These seem like very organized and specific activities for just a bunch of climbers. “It’s a catch-22,” he says. “I’d love to have more people come out here but at the same time you have to be careful that it doesn’t get overrun.”

AMC has been an active conservation partner in the region for years, and Kristen Sykes, AMC’s Highlands Advocate, isn’t worried about rock climbing changing the Highlands. As long as climbers are careful, she says, opening up new areas for their use can only help with ongoing preservation efforts in the region.

“Increased recreation in the Highlands really helps build the constituency of people that actually care about the region or like to recreate or spend time in there,” she says. “I think as long as people are being respectful of the area, having increased numbers of folks enjoying it could be a good thing.”

Dennis Schvejda, advocacy director with the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference, agrees, saying that he considers climbers to be allies in the ongoing Highlands preservation battle. “From a conservation point of view I don’t really see much of a downside,” he says. “First of all, the areas of the Highlands that the climbers are using are places [we’re] pushing to get protected. The climbing community in New Jersey seems to be a very environmentally-minded group, very conscious of the fragility of certain areas.”

Besides, he says, the Trail Conference is focused on backcountry access issues too, and he’s happy to have the help. “The more people that can get out and experience the Highlands in different ways, the better off we are. Conservation is not going to work when people just stay in the cities and don’t go out. If you don’t use the resource and love the resource you’re not going to protect it.”

The official change to the state’s waiver policy went through last year, but the real test is coming this summer, when warmer weather brings more climbers out to the crags. Will increased local access help build support for climbing in the Garden State? Will climbers follow Access New Jersey’s lead and start developing new routes in the Highlands? Anderson and Co. will have to wait and see, but if word of mouth is any indication, rock climbing has a bright future in the state. “No one sees New Jersey as having places that are still wild,” says Irwin. “New Jersey really does have some wonderful resources in the Highlands. They think of the beach and they think of the traffic, but they never really think of the woods and the Appalachian Trail and the boulder fields and the cliffs.”

Back at Green Pond, it’s clear that there’s plenty for climbers to discover in the New Jersey hills. From impressive rock walls like this one to the scattered boulders that dot the landscape, there’s a little something for everyone out here, whether you’re a first-timer or a seasoned wall rat. And, while rock climbing may never become a mainstream sport in this area, it’s quietly becoming a popular way for locals and visitors alike to experience the tranquility of the Highlands.

- Tim Sprinkle