Muir = Choss

[weber]

To 5120W:

We were also surprised how many climbers are showing up in Muir Valley.

Like you, we don't wish to see this beautiful place turned into an overcrowded outdoor gym. This can be avoided by spreading out the routes over the seven miles of cliffline that surround the Valley. To put it in perspective, 100 bolted routes were set in the first five months on less than 5 percent of the available cliffline. About 2 miles (non contiguous and spread out) of this cliff line will be eventually developed, I'm guessing. How many routes will be set? Can't say. We plan to spread out the climbs way more than you currently see at the Great Wall. (There were just too many outstanding lines here to resist developing.) It is conceivable in five years to see 300 or more sport, mixed, and trad climbs in the Valley spaced out to accommodate everyone comfortably. This is a big place. More than two Torrents would fit in the Tantroft Hollow alone, and there are seven more hollows.

Much of the Valley will be closed to climbing but will contain an adaquate number of open access trails to various climbing walls. This will be done to preserve fragile areas of wildflowers and other plantlife. It has been our good fortune to find almost no plant life other than rhododendrons at the base of the existing climbs. And, as most of you know there is no shortage of rhodos in this area!

From the fast growing popularity, its becoming clear that some infrastructure needs to be put in place to minimize human impact, such as toilets. We're working on this.

The real challenge may be parking. And we are working on some ideas here too. At this moment the current main parking lot is being expanded to accommodate 24 cars. This should be done, barring any more monsoons, by the time of the Gathering. (There were 32 cars last Saturday at both parking lots.)

Honestly, Liz and I are as excited about this place as most of you are. But, it is moving way faster than we originally anticipated. We will be able to take a breather this winter and try to finish a more comprehensive plan for the Valley.

Please keep in mind that this is a non-commercial venture. Lots of expenses and no income stream. We want to do as much as possible but do need to stay within our limits.

Your generous offers to help build and maintain trails and set routes really does help and is very much appreciated!

Rick and Liz

[J-Rock]

Team Muir did some more exploring the last time we were there. I could reasonably hypothesize that there will probably be 300 routes within 2-3 years (maybe less). We photographed nearly 100 more potential routes. Truly amazing. As of now there seems to be no end to the future development. What a gold mine!