Alberta Canada / January 18, 2010

After four years of lobbying and negotiations the Climbers Access Society of Alberta (CASA) won a seasonal permit from the Alberta Government for access into the North Ghost.

There are two elements to the access permit.

First, the permit grants access to climbers right now.  As of Jan 15, climbers have interim access to the staging area in front of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (GBU). Please note that for a short time we won’t have vehicle access to cross the river to the Valley of the Birds. The second part of the permit is that CASA has been given permission to build a track from GBU to the Malamute Valley, including a bridge and staging areas.  Once the construction work is done climbers will be able to drive across the river in front of GBU to access Valley of the Birds and other climbs to the south.

CASA is now at work arranging the construction of the track.  We will announce the dates for construction soon, because it will impede access for that weekend.  Similarly, once the construction is completed, we’ll announce the details of access including UTM coordinates of the staging areas and a GPS track log of the route.

In the meantime, we ask climbers to respect the current access restrictions (i.e. do not drive further than GBU).  The permit and our continued access is conditional on our communities’ compliance, and it is expected that Alberta’s Sustainable Resource Development will be monitoring the work we are doing in the Ghost.

The seasonal access is valid until March 31, 2010.  After that date the closure point will revert back to Crossing 38.

If you have any questions feel free to contact CASA directly at: chair@climbersaccess.ab.ca.

Source: Climbersaccess.ab.ca