14'er Climbing Fees Might Be Considered

[mattpayne11]

I actually agree with what a lot was said above by JohnSchell... especially about the livestock fees

One point of clarification though - the NFS does provide significant grant dollars to trail building organizations such as CFI and Rocky Mountain Field Institute.

[GregMiller]

As far as money for trail-building and such, I remember seeing a collection box at the Belford trailhead recommending (but not requiring) a $5 donation (all of which went to trail maintenance). I'm all for this - if you have the money, and feel like it, pitch in. If you don't have it on you at the time, or don't feel like giving, then don't. No skin off my back.

But as far as making people pay to access NF land, the last thing we need to do is make it harder for people to get out into the outdoors and get in shape!

[mountaingoat-G]

An article in this morning's Aspen Times on possible use limitations in the Elks: http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20120 ... ofile=1058

Sad story. The elephant in the room: exponential human population growth that cannot be sustained by our planet, including what is wilderness today. The wilderness will not be safe from humanity, there are too many of us and counting....

[ClayDishman]

If it keeps Texans off our mountains, I'm for it!!!!!!

Mandatory fees: NO…. More awareness of how to donate and why at the trails: YES…

As someone that practices zero impact (as much as one possibly can), ethical wilderness travel and maintains safe climbing standards it’s easy to get frustrate with those that don’t share the same views.

Every time I am blessed with the opportunity of “loosing” myself within a climb and become completely aware of the magnificence that surrounds me I can’t help but want others to share in that experience as well. For those that don’t “Get It” hopefully it evokes some sense of appreciation or self enlightenment into how lucky we truly are.

Aug_Dog… Please try to encourage ethical practices the next time you come across someone from Texas that wouldn’t necessarily see things the way you do. Please and thank you goes along way when helping people understand respect.

Hopefully we can meet sometime along the trail to share some good stories and have a few laughs.

Yes… I’m from Texas… Thank You,

[edhaman]

According to the Aspen Times article, "the Forest Service will reach out to Roaring Fork Valley residents." The last time I checked, the Forest Service is part of the federal government and responsible to all of us. So why should just Roaring Fork Valley residents be consulted?

[jsf80238]

I favor a $5 fee for parking, with the money collected being used for trail maintenance.
Ideally a solar-powered, satellite-enabled RFID reader/credit-card reader, so I could swipe a USDA prepaid card or a credit card.

[Urban Snowshoer]

Although it's not politically correct to say this, especially on this site, the ever-increasing numbers of people on 14ers will run up against sustainable limits sooner or later. I do commend the CFI for the work they do; however, improved trails won't resolve sustainability and overuse issues alone. You can only improve or build trails so many times on a peak before you, for lack of a better description, end up destroying the peak in order to save it. Moreover, improving trails does not resolve issues of human waste when hundreds of people a day are involved.


I'm not sure fees are the best approach but some kind of limits (e.g. permits) are going to become necessary on peaks like Gray's and Bierstadt, during the summer months, to keep the number of climbers in line with a sustainable carrying capacity.

[tlongpine]

$120 approach shoes/hiking boots? Sure.
$85 trekking poles. Why Not?
$90 Camelbak? Of Course!
$20 REI membership? I mean, it pays for itself.
$110 polarized sunshades? Definitely.
$35 Patagonia capilene tee. Sure
$200 ultralight tent? Duh.
$700 DSLR camera? Well, yeah. Or...
$300 GoPro? Dude, epic.
$100 Thermarest? A necessity.
$150 down bag? Also a necessity.
$40 hammock? A creature comfort.


$10 access fee? YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING!1!! OUTRAGEOUS!

[pseudoghost]

An article in this morning's Aspen Times on possible use limitations in the Elks: http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20120 ... ofile=1058

It seems that most of the problem with overcrowding really comes down to non-existent law enforcement. If you're going to have fire bans, then you need to enforce the law. If you don't want people camping near the shore of Snowmass Lake then you need to have a ranger camp up there most weekends and ticket people who choose to ignore the law.

By in large, people ignore the signs because they know they're never going to see anyone out there who says anything. On the other hand, CDOW does patrol and issue tickets for fishing licenses and regulation violations, and I don't see nearly as many people flagrantly violating those regs because they know the officers are out there.

[sneu]

A minimal annaul fee, maybe. A fee per Mnt, thats BS. That's why I will end up one short on the list of 58. I'll be damned if I'm paying that outrageuos amount to hike Culebra.

[Lute82]

I agree with a five dollar parking fee to help with the trails and parking lots as someone suggested earlier, but the $150 for Calebra is obsurd!

[Sean Nunn]

Although it's not politically correct to say this, especially on this site, the ever-increasing numbers of people on 14ers will run up against sustainable limits sooner or later. I do commend the CFI for the work they do; however, improved trails won't resolve sustainability and overuse issues alone. You can only improve or build trails so many times on a peak before you, for lack of a better description, end up destroying the peak in order to save it. Moreover, improving trails does not resolve issues of human waste when hundreds of people a day are involved.


I'm not sure fees are the best approach but some kind of limits (e.g. permits) are going to become necessary on peaks like Gray's and Bierstadt, during the summer months, to keep the number of climbers in line with a sustainable carrying capacity.

Going to have to respectfully disagree with you. I have climbed over half of the 14ers and there are only a few that I would characterize as being even remotely close to "overused" (not surprisingly they are all in the front range). There might be a case to consider something like this on a few of the ones that get large crowds (Grays and Torreys, Evans, Sherman, etc), but many times on peaks I only see a handful of other people the entire day. 10-20 people a day, times 7 days a week, times 4 months a year (vast majority of climbs are June-September) on a huge mountain hardly constitutes "overuse". This is provided, of course, that people take care of the place, don't leave trash, etc.

In addition, my experience with government collecting money is that they are very, very inefficient at it. Are you really going to pay some bozo $10-15/hour to sit at every major 14er trailhead from 4am-noon collecting money? If so, then realize that in most cases half or more of your fee is going to go to the guy who is paid to collect the fee!!! Not very efficient if you ask me.

Sean Nunn
Raytown MO