Vermonters Climb a Virtual Everest for Access
By Nicole Ballinger
[Published in She Sends magazine, Issue #5, May 2004]
Seventy climbers ascended a total of 29,035 feet—the height of Mt. Everest—on a recent Saturday night at Petra Cliffs Climbing Center to benefit climbing access in Vermont. The event raised roughly $8,500 to support the Climbing Resource Access Fund of Vermont’s (CRAG-VT) goal of purchasing the Bolton Quarry—a local rock and ice climbing crag that has been closed to climbing for several years. The Bolton Quarry is known for it solid vertical ice pillars in the winter and stiff summer sport climbs.
CRAG-VT is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that works to maintain access, educate climbers about stewardship, and promote the conservation of Vermont’s climbing resources, much of which is on private land. It is the first group in the state dedicated to rock climbing access. Last summer, CRAG-VT acquired the extremely popular Lower West Bolton cliff, which is a mere 20-minute drive from Burlington—Vermont’s largest city.
With continued fundraising, CRAG-VT hopes to reopen the Quarry later this year. For more information or to make a donation, visit www.cragvt.org or email
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