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Dear Ascent NB Members,

On behalf of the Executive and Board of Directors of Ascent New Brunswick, I would like to present our Annual Report, as outlined below this message.

Please review the report prior to our Annual General Meeting, which will be held on Saturday, September 12, at 6:00 p.m. at the Welsford Fire Hall, 619 Eagle Rock Road, Welsford. Pizza and soft drinks will be provided during the meeting. 

Due to unforeseen circumstances we are no longer able to hold the Rendezvous at 45 Cochrane Lane. 

As mentioned in a previous email, this year’s Rendezvous will be a back-to-basics event. The reason is simple: we want to do everything possible to maintain our access to CFB Crags and ensure that this access is not put in jeopardy. The President will provide more details on this during the AGM.

When the Rendezvous was started 10 years ago, the purpose of the event was to bring our community together for a day of climbing, followed by our AGM. The essence of the Rendezvous remains the same: our members spending the day in Welsford, enjoying the climbing, interacting with one another then gathering for a meal and the AGM at the end of the day. 

If you have any questions or concerns, or would like to add an item to the AGM agenda, please contact us at ascentnb@gmail.com.

Warm regards,

Greg Hughes
President
Ascent New Brunswick

2026 Annual Ascent NB Report

Preamble

Below is Ascent NB’s 2026 Annual Report. The purpose of the report is to give you a year in review that includes the most important items pertaining to Ascent NB and its members. 

1. Membership

• As of August 28 we have a grand total of 207 members. That is up from 192 last year. We have noticed a corresponding increase in traffic at our sport crags especially Hampton and Greenhead Cove. While this is encouraging we are hopeful that more climbers will eventually gravitate towards traditional climbing so that crags like Cochrane Lane and McQuirks Mountain will get more traffic. 
• As a reminder, children under the age of 16 don’t need a membership if climbing with their parent/guardian and their parent/guardian has a membership.

2. Elections

• This year the following positions are up for re-election:
  • Exec - Vice President - held by Phil Labbe
  • Exec – Secretary (vacant)
  • Board – Director - held by Sophia Konermann
  • Board – Director - held by Shawn Bethune
• The AGM notice was sent in August inviting candidates to come forward. 
• All incumbents have reoffered but we welcome all potential candidates to submit their name for any of the positions mentioned above. 
• All positions on the Ascent Exec and Board are a two year term. 
• There are also positions that are currently vacant due to resignations. 

3. Resignations

This year saw three individuals resign their positions on the Ascent Board and Exec. We have had resignations over the years but this number is unprecedented and because of that we are carefully examining the circumstances to determine if there is any changes that need to be made to prevent this from happening in the future.  

• Denise Hamel resigned from her position on the executive.
• Celeste Gaudet resigned from her position on the board. 
• Dom Caron resigned from his position on the board. 

4. Access 

• The NMU (Non Miliary Use) agreement with CFB Gagetown was renewed in November of 2025. We were given a 1000% increase in land use fees by the base as the fee rose from $75 to $750. We asked for an explanation of the increase but were not given one. At the time of renewal we were notified by Range Control that there would be no public access to base climbing areas by non members. In other words only Ascent members would be permitted access to Cochrane Lane, Sunnyside and Mount Douglas. True to their word we have had many notifications indicating that day passes are no longer being issued at Camp Petersville. We would like to remind everyone that Ascent has absolutely no power to influence this situation and are very happy that our members continue to enjoy unfettered access to CFB crags via a simple call in procedure. The NMU expires in November and we are currently working toward renewal of the agreement. 
• Access to all other climbing areas was excellent following the crown land forest restrictions being lifted late last summer. This season has had a good mix of weather providing a more favourable forest fire index. This trend continues at the time of writing so access should remain excellent until the end of the 2026 season. 

5. Development

• New route development at the Quarry located on Mount Douglas in Welsford was welcomed by the community last fall. Both the Adamson family and Sammis family contributed to this effort producing a wide variety of rock routes including sport, trad and mixed. Development has slowed down this season but there are three new routes at Hampton, three new routes at Greenhead and two new routes at the Upper Tier in Cochrane Lane. At the time of writing no other new crags or routes have been reported or documented. 
• This year the development chairman (Shawn Bethune) spearheaded an initiative to upgrade anchors on popular sport routes with lower offs at all of our crags. This will be our focus for the coming year. Please send us an email if you would like to report an anchor or protection bolt that you think should be replaced. 
• Please consider donating to the route development fund so we may build the fund back up. Our current balance is $211. Next year we would like to be able to have enough money in the fund to reimburse route developers for their hardware expenses. 
• Donations can be made by sending an email money transfer to ascentnbdevelopmentfund@gmail.com

6. Icefest 2025

• Icefest was held at the Hatchery Ice Crag again this year in February. This was the third year for the event with about 40 dedicated ice climbers turning out for a very good day of climbing followed by an evening social at the Cushnie Family house on Arnold Hollow road. 
• A big thank you to Andrew Lewis for providing a couple of kegs from Grand Manan Brewery. Thanks to all the climbers who helped put up top ropes for the day. 
• Many thanks to Tom Cushnie who graciously allowed us to use his land for the climbing and his home for the after party. 

7. Red Rock Rendezvous

• The Red Rock Rendezvous was held at Red Rock Mountain in April after a weather induced hiatus last year. There were many in attendance for a fine day of sport climbing with 25 new climbers who got to experience top rope climbing for the first time. We hope to continue the event next year as well. 

8. Annual General Meeting Agenda

• Call meeting to order
• Recording of attendance (15% of Membership = 31 attendees)
• Approval of the agenda
• President’s report 
• Appointment of Ascent NB Board of Director and Executive positions
• Approval of 2026 Annual Report
• Treasurer’s Report
• Questions about the annual report from the membership
• Meeting adjournment