Hoback Shield parking going away
Teton Climbers’ Coalition working with Bridger-Teton to develop new access trail
JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. — The Teton Climbers’ Coalition (TCC) is working on two stewardship projects of interest to local climbers.
On July 29, the local climbing organization, led by stewardship director Chris Owen, will complete the work it began last year on Rodeo Wall.
On August 26, TCC will help build a new access trail for the Hoback Shield.
Both projects are being done in coordination with the Bridger-Teton National Forest (BTNF).
Last year, in a project made possible by the Community Foundation of Jackson Hole, Teton Mountaineering, The American Alpine Club, Access Fund and BTNF, the TCC coordinated an Adopt-A-Crag project on Rodeo Wall. Fifteen volunteers built a new retaining wall at the base of the crag. Additionally, volunteers widened the access trail’s upper section, and installed straw erosion control blankets over informal, user-created trails to prevent further erosion and damage of habitat.
Earlier this year, the Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT) informed the BTNF of their intention to place guardrails on the highway at the base of the Hoback Shield, one of Jackson Hole’s premier climbing crags. Placement of the guardrails will eliminate the parking pullout used by climbers to access the cliff.
To help develop a new access trail, the TCC and BTNF will coordinate a volunteer effort to expand the historic snowmobile parking on the plateau just northwest of the Granite Creek junction near the sled dog tour building. From there, the project will develop an old trail and connect it to the existing access trail to the base of the cliff. The project will also close and rehab the first three switchbacks of the old trail.
