The 2024 Frank Slide Cleanup Day on May 25, 2024 was a success! Frank Slide is now a tidier place, thanks to everyone who showed up on a cool Saturday morning to pick up trash (17 big bags worth!) before heading out for a day of rock climbing. SABA would like to thank all the volunteers, as well as our sponsors (Flashed Climbing, Coulee Climbing Gym, and Object Climbing) who supported the event by providing giveaways for those who showed up to collect trash.
SABA would also like to thank the Frank Slide Interpretive Center (in whose parking lot the event was staged) and Alberta Culture and Tourism (who facilitated the scheduling of the event).
In general, the areas of the Frank Slide boulderfield that are visited by climbers are quite tidy and trash-free (thanks to climbers who are working be good stewards of the area, and keep the area clean by packing out what they pack in). As such, the 2024 Frank Slide Cleanup Day worked to remove trash from the rocky areas adjacent to roadside parking lots, where tourists and motorists seem to be a major source of trash in boulderfield.
When volunteers arrived they were provided with a garbage bag and a small map of the Frank Slide, with each map marked with the areas of the Slide that we focussed on for this year’s cleanup event. Suitably armed, the climbers dispersed to collect trash, returning at the end of the event with their bags full of garbage. With Frank Slide now a neater place, everyone headed off for a day of springtime bouldering.
SABA would like to acknowledge everyone who showed up to clean up trash at the Slide! Climbers continue to act as great stewards of Frank Slide, the province’s greatest bouldering area. As bouldering (and rock climbing in general) continues to grow in popularity, contributions of this type by the climbing community ensure that climbing in the area is both sustainable and responsible. See you next year!
Southern Alberta Bouldering Association 