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Farley - Parking Expansion
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The WMCC has decided to expand the parking at Farley Ledges with a 60 car lot. I believe this is a terrible mistake. This area survives and thrives because of the lack of spoon fed access information and because dedicated climbers who support it are willing to get there by 9:00. The wonderful quiet nature of the place will turn into the madness that is Rumney with increased access. The people who show up at 10 and park on the side of the road are the same type of people who are irresponsible and dangerous. They will show the same disregard to ethics and safety on the wall as they do with the parking. Please write WMCC and tell them you support the purchase of the property for to secure access but not the parking expansion. This money could be used to maintain hardware on the many quality routes that don’t see traffic because of rusted anchors instead of catering to people who can’t get out of bed before 7:30. Sincerely, Grouchy climber |
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WMCC has clearly focused on making climbing as accessible as it can to as many climbers as possible I hear what your saying, but I don't think they're trying to decide who should get to climb and who shouldn't. I do worry about the extra crowds impact on nature and relations with neighbors |
John Angelonewrote: The sport is growing, which means crags will have more people whether a parking lot is expanded or not. Building infrastructure to support that influx keeps neighbouring stakeholders happier and helps maintain access for everyone. Drawing the conclusion that those who park on the side of the road or get to the crag later in the day are dangerous and will ruin the experience for others is absurd. It's not reasonable to expect people to stay away and not equitable to create deterrence. It's something all quality crags are dealing with, even outside the most densely populated region of the country. If you don't like it find somewhere else to climb, or join WMCC and participate in the decision making. I will say hopefully they also have a plan to reinforce trails, belay pads, anchors and other infrastructure to support the increase in use. |
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John, while I understand your concerns, I strongly disagree with you. I am no longer on the WMCC Board ( haven't been for years) and have not been directly involved with this decision, but fully support it. Without getting into the details, the situation at Farley makes having a new parking lot, especially one not involving crossing Route 2, a necessity if we are to be able to continue to maintain access to the crags and boulders. It is important to understand that all of the rock there is privately ( including a utility ) owned---up until now the only land owned by WMCC has been the current small lot and part of the trail up to the cliff, so we are able to climb there only thanks to the 'good graces' of the various landowners as well as of the town of Erving. Problems with neighbors or continued issues ( illegal parking, foot traffic) along Route 2, could have serious repercussions. The plot of land being purchased is the only one possible that is appropriate for a parking lot, is accessible, and will allow access towards the crags, so we had to act to secure it while it was available. It is actually a bit far from many of the most popular sectors, so will hopefully bring folks to other parts of the cliff. It will also allow quicker access to the, currently neglected, eastern portions of Rose Ledge, than from the regular Rose parking areas. Almost any new 'development' brings potential negatives, but I believe that with this purchase the positives will easily outweigh any such negatives---and, in this situation, the 'do nothing' option would clearly have left us in a very precarious position concerning future access. |
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Lack of legal parking doesn't stop the people you're worried about from parking illegally. A bigger lot serves to accommodate the crowds that are already happening, not incentivize bigger ones. |
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The WMCC has an open board meeting at the end of January. The meeting is hybrid with the in-person event hosted by CRG Hadley. Stay tuned for the official announcement with the date. We will be discussing the project and how it factors in to the long term planning for Farley. All opinions are welcome! |
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As Alan mentioned in his post, Farley is on private land and has had tenuous access for years. Though the discussions and agreement to re-establish access after the closure occurred before I started climbing, my understanding is that the landowners were specifically concerned about overcrowding and the resulting impacts to the land from increased climber and vehicle traffic. Fundamental parts of the agreement to reopen the area to climbing like the “no guidebook” policy were designed to reduce publicity and traffic in response to these landowner concerns. I worry that the community’s current strategy for Farley (up to and including the construction of this new parking area) is not the best path for sustainable long-term access. I feel, in many ways, we’re giving lip service to the landowners while ignoring the spirit of their concerns about overcrowding. A clear example is parking - the WMCC site and MP explicitly advertise “overflow” parking like the bridge which require walking on and crossing RT2 (one of the biggest sources of tension right now). Another is the way route information makes its way around “in the field”. Landowners have every right to dictate how, when, and if they allow strangers to climb on their property. Increased traffic will always leave its mark - whether it’s erosion, signs of development, or an increased number of accidents and injuries occurring on the property. These are real issues that have come up at Farley and have contributed to access issues and closures of untold other crags nationwide. I don’t feel like we should be coming up $450,000 “hacks” to get around these real (and documented) concerns. Rather, we should respect the intent that Farley remain a smaller crag and change our messaging to promote this. Rather than “park at the bridge and run across the highway to get in”, perhaps we could stress the importance of being a good steward and choosing another place to climb that day if the main lot is full. There is plenty of great stuff within 45 minutes of Farley, and John makes a fair point about getting up early if there’s something specific you really want to get on. I think this attitude shift is what will make long term access sustainable here. Just my 2c. |
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Nelson, You make some good points, but they don't account for the reality of the situation at Farley. All the types of stewardship suggestions that you make have been on-going for years, yet climbers ( and hikers) keep coming--and that has been causing 'real world' problems. As I mentioned in my previous post, the new property is actually located a good bit further from the most popular sectors--and from the private property owners, than the current lot. The new lot abuts the part of the crag that is owned by First Light---where, thanks to the recent relicensing process, climbing has now been officially recognized as a legitimate activity on the property. So, hopefully this will lead to more folks climbing on that portion of the crag. Additionally, currently neglected sections of Rose Ledge will also be reasonably accessible from the lot---at least once trails are developed, so that could also help spread folks out. But, as long as climbing keeps increasing in popularity, whether we like it or not, more folks will keep coming to Farley and the current parking situation would not be tenable in the long run. |
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Alan, I appreciate the reply and see your points, I fully support buying the land and securing access. However I do not think a new lot, particularly one of that size is a good move. That size of lot is the size of the large lot at Rumney, which has much more volume of climbs and crags. From my perspective a move like this doesn’t only account for current use,but encourages an increased volume of users in an area where relations with the community are already subpar. We can’t get people to listen to existing rules like leashing dogs, not using speakers, and respecting wall closures for falcon season. I don’t seen how this move will be positive to any parties, aside of the 10AM crowd. I agree with Nelson that this seems counter to honoring what the previous access arrangements were based on. |
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I’m for a new lot up there but that many spaces is insane and not a good use of $450k. |
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John. As I said previously, I'm no longer part of the WMCC Board and did not participate in this decision. As I said above, I strongly believe that the current parking situation is untenable in the long run and that people will keep coming there ( I don't believe they will come to Farley just because of the new lot, whatever it's size), and if we don't do something about the parking situation, we are very likely to see the crag closed--particularly if there is an accident on Route 2 related to climbers accessing the cliff. I do agree with you that 60 cars does seem like a lot, and I'm not sure how that number was determined--probably the maximum size that the property can accommodate, given other factors. It is possible that the actual lot that is constructed will be significantly smaller( at least initially)---though with permitting issues and construction costs and requirements, building the maximum size lot right away could be the most cost-efficient option--I don't know. I urge you, Nelson, and others to participate in the open meeting in late January ( remote participation will be possible) that Ryan mentioned above, so that you can make your opinions known and hear other points of view. I understand that we all want to preserve our ability to climb at Farley and that it is a complicated issue, though we also need to be welcoming to others who also want to climb there, now and in the future |
John Angelonewrote: I’m not entirely sure how you correlate those ‘stragglers’ who get to Farley at the late hour of 10:00am with those who aren’t good stewards. Also I’m skeptical of how much a small parking lot deters people from going to Farley, and thereby having a larger parking area will increase the number of climbers. I think the lack of a guidebook is the real deterrent to those considering checking out the crag; a bigger parking area is simply more convenient than the small and scattered lots currently available. |
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I am in favor of the new parking area. This was a huge effort, spanning several years, and glad to see it coming to fruition. Tony Gardner worked on this project tirelessly. The over crowded routes at Farley are a result of people not venturing out. There are over 450 routes at Farley, and on a busy weekend, if you have a sense of exploration, you can have an entire crag to yourselves. One element of Farley that makes it so appealing to me is the idea of getting on a route with no knowledge of the rating, name or first accent and seeing how you do, It gives the true feel of a first accent. Later, it encourages social interaction with route developers or old timers to understand what you just climbed. Yah, this does not fulfill sole of the number chasers, but if you really want to embrace climbing, all levels are fun. I have noticed numerous classic lines growing in, due to lack of traffic. Some could blame the lack of a guide book, but I think the essence of outdoor climbing is exploration. The new parking might put Crag Z back on the map, 19 routes with very little traffic. |
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Just following up on my previous post about them WMCC's annual meeting: We know there are a range of perspectives on parking size, stewardship, long-term access, and how Farley should evolve (or not). Much of this meeting is specifically intended to walk through the plan, how it was developed, explain the constraints we’re working under, and receive community feedback. If you’ve commented here — or have been following along quietly — we genuinely encourage you to join. All viewpoints are welcome. The meeting will be hybrid with the in-person event held at Central Rock Gym - Hadley on Friday, January 23rd from 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM. |
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I support a larger lot. |
John Angelonewrote: |
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Which quality routes aren't seeing traffic because of rusted anchors? |
Troy Swrote: Good question. If folks post up with information about such anchors, I have a strong feeling that efforts would quickly be made to upgrade them. However, many quality ( at least in my opinion) routes there are indeed suffering from lack of traffic, though not, at least primarily, due to the quality of the anchors. Very often at Farley, and the other nearby gneiss crags, due to both the nature of the rock and local environmental conditions, there is a significant 'vicious cycle', in which if a route, for whatever reason, is not frequently climbed, it very quickly suffers from dirt and organic growth, which results in even fewer ascents, leading, especially where there is considerable drainage, to the routes, within a season or two, 'returning to a natural state'. The initial neglect can be for a number of reasons--with a few notable exceptions, traditional or mixed routes, these days, often see little activity there, but so do many good fully-bolted routes as well. To some extent it can be a matter of what 'styles' of climbing are currently popular--for example, the Main Slab ( just uphill from the popular Pooh Buttress) is the 'home' to almost a dozen routes ranging from 9/10a-12, some mixed, some sport, which, just a few years ago were very popular, but are currently almost totally neglected and, hence, very overgrown. The lack of published information due to the necessary ( land-owner required) no-guidebook policy is obviously a factor, but the same policy has not prevented other parts of the crag from remaining very popular---and the information about many now neglected sectors is readily available---you just have to ask or, maybe, just poke around a bit. There are plenty of excellent but unfortunately neglected routes out there, they just need a bit of TLC---and, a fair amount of 'elbow grease'!!!! |
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You're invited to the WMCC's annual meeting and celebration! Friday, Jan. 23rd at 6:00PM Central Rock Gym, Hadley There will be food, drinks and plenty of discussion about the thing we love talking about the most: climbing!Some agenda items:
We hope to see you in person, but if you can't make it and still want to participate in the discussion, join by zoom. Please note that the zoom meeting will start a few minutes before 7:00pm (6:00-7:00 will be time for food, drinks and socializing). Passcode: YOUROCK |
