Category Archives

Ascent NB recently celebrated its 2nd birthday by holding the 3rd Annual General Meeting!

The morning started a little chilly but the sun was strong and so was the showing. The event was attended by climbers from across the province, and a number of important issues and updates discussed before the call of the cliffs overwhelmed us and the meeting was adjourned.

Elections were held we welcome aboard new blood with Kristy McClellan (VP), Mike Delaney (Treasurer), and Shawn Bethune (Director).

Thank you to Chris Norfolk for putting in a solid year of effort as President, and to Greg Hughes for stepping up to fill those shoes. We truly appreciate your efforts!

For a full run-down of the meeting, click here for the minutes.

It's great to see the continued and growing interest in shaping the future of our outdoor climbing microcosm here in New Brunswick!

The Rescue Team is riding a wave of support from the community with recent gear donations from UNB Rock and Ice and from Black Diamond.

On top of this comes more good news! The Radical Edge and Black Diamond have committed further support through special pricing deals for Rescue Team gear. Black Diamond has also pledged some gear donations for use in our fundraising for the team.

The Radical Edge supports so many groups in our region already so we're very happy they have been able to fit Ascent New Brunswick and the Rescue Team into their priorities. Similarly, Black Diamond really has come through where no other gear company has and for this we are truly grateful.

So, big thanks must go to Caleb Nunn at the Radical Edge and Ghislain Allard at Black Diamond for facilitating this partnership, and of course to Mike and Mary at Radical Edge for once again stepping up to the plate to support their local outdoor community.

More details on the progress of the Rescue Team are coming soon!

As you may recall, Ascent New Brunswick is organizing a high-angle rescue team as part of its commitments for the land use agreement with Base Gagetown. To be effective, the team has requirements for gear as well as people, and the cost of the gear was going to be a big challenge for Ascent.

Thankfully, Ascent New Brunswick truly has the community behind it. Recently, UNB Rock and Ice reiterated its support of Ascent and our mission when it donated an integral piece of rescue gear to the rescue team initiative.

The CMC Rescue MPD is not your average piece of rescue gear. It has been highly engineered to provide a state of the art mechanism for making rescues more simple and efficient.

So a big thank you goes out to UNB Rock and Ice! We really appreciate your continued support!

“The MPD’s high-efficiency pulley, with an integral rope-grab mechanism, allows it to be used as a lowering device on the main line and belay line systems and be quickly changed over to a raising system without switching out or replacing hardware.”

– CMC Rescue

“This device will greatly simplify rope rescue training and rigging and will serve a principal role in the overall rope rescue system.”

– Chris Hennigar, Rescue Team lead coordinator

You can also check out this video to see the device in action.

Ascent NB is looking at installing a memorial plaque at the Cochrane Lane cliffs for Cory Hall, Don Belliveau, and Ian McDonald.  I am looking for an inspirational poem or saying to install on the plaque along with the names.  If anyone has suggestions please post them here or on Facebook.

A number of climbers made the time over the weekend to improve several popular climbing areas.  This is what a vibrant community is all about... climbers making their crags better!

At the Hatchery, Shawn B., Denise H., Greg H., and Joe K., put in a day of work to develop a new access trail. This is an important piece of work that was done at the request of the landowner and should help to keep the relationship in good shape. We'll get the a map of the new trail up before ice sets in and keep all members posted on any further developments.

At Sunnyside, a number of improvements were made by Dom C., Luc G., Adam M., Eric R., Austin C., Chris N. The trail was widened in areas, re-blazed throughout, and cleared of blowdown all the way to Farside wall. An alternate route up to the main cliff was established which should be less prone to erosion. It leads climbers very near to the bench at Atomic wall. Several sections of boardwalk were installed over 2 small creeks that the trail crosses thanks to a generous donation of lumber from Kent's home building supplies in Fredericton!

As well a number of steel biners were installed to replace work and missing lower-off hardware. Thanks to the UNB Rock & Ice club for this great donation! Please leave any gear you find at Sunnyside anchors alone. It's there so we can all enjoy quick transitions to the next climb.

Again... thanks to everyone who ventured out into the snow to make our crags better!

Over our first year of existence, Ascent NB has been focused on securing land use agreements with the two most important landowners in the province. Today, we can announce that Ascent New Brunswick has secured the agreement with CFB Gagetown!

Securing this agreement was part of the originating idea behind Ascent NB, and so today is a significant day in our short existence.

The agreement covers all of the cliffs in Welsford that sit on base land: Cochrane Lane Cliffs, Sunnyside, Mount Douglas, and Bald Peak. Considering their position, it is very much a privilege for climbers to have access to these cliffs at all. It is only thanks to a long tradition of climbing and stewardship in the area, combined with the efforts of individuals (who stepped forward during our loss of access in 2005 and secured the UNB Rock and Ice agreement), that this privilege remains intact.

As with any access agreement, Ascent NB members enjoy the privilege of climbing at these areas with knowledge that their presence is supported and encouraged by the landowner. There is more to this agreement, however. CFB Gagetown stipulated several requirements be fulfilled in order to achieve an agreement.

First, Ascent members will be required to follow the existing call-in procedure. Before entering base land, Ascent members must call Range Control at 506-422-3121 to report their intention to climb.  Continued adherence to this procedure is extremely important to retaining this agreement. Failure to do so will jeopardize access for everybody, let alone just Ascent NB members.

Second, the standard requirement of a significant liability insurance policy to protect land owners from the worry of litigation in the event of an accident. (This is easily our single largest expense - please help by purchasing a membership or making a donation.  Thanks!)

Third, and perhaps most significant, the base required the formation of a rescue team. This team must be able to carry out the technical rescues that are an unfortunate and inevitable outcome of our sport.  The team has been formalized into several plans to be implemented over the coming year, and will support only the climbing areas covered by this agreement. This team will require volunteers, time, money, and training. It will stand as an extremely valuable service to climbers using these cliffs. Ideally, the team will never need to perform, but the extra training and knowledge that the community will gain through the existence of this team will benefit us all, whether at home or abroad.

Stay tuned for more details on the rescue team and what it will mean for our local climbing community! If you are interested in volunteering to be a part of this team, please email ascentnb@gmail.com!