Climbers Access Society Of BC

Skaha Bluffs is now a BC Park

for Okanagan

written by Peter Winter

From www.skaha.org:

Skaha Bluffs is now a BC Park
July 18, 2010

A bit of important news from BC Parks that crept under the skaha.org radar....

At an initial size of 179 hectares, the new Skaha Bluffs Park (brought into force on April 21, 2010) protects a popular climbing area and important wildlife habitat. Land within the provincial park falls under the jurisdiction of BC Parks and provisions of the Park Act and its regulations apply.

Legislation outlining the expansion of Skaha Bluffs Park was introduced via Bill 15 on April 28th, 2010, but to date the park addition has not yet been put into force. The park will be expanded by 310 hectares as a result of two private land acquisitions and the addition of a small Crown parcel.

Sublot 18, comprising approximately 307 hectares, was purchased through a collaborative effort by the Ministry of Environment, the Nature Conservancy of Canada, The Land Conservancy of BC, the BC Trust for Public Lands, and through the contributions of numerous individuals, groups and agencies. It consists of a variety of distinctive terrain features, including steep cliffs, riparian areas, grassland and open forest, which function together to provide habitat for many provincially or federally listed species at risk, including bighorn sheep, western rattlesnake and western screech owl. The total area of the park will be 489 hectares. Currently, the 310 hectare addition is administered by the partners on title (i.e., the Nature Conservancy, The Land Conservancy of BC, and the Ministry of Environment). Enforcement, compliance and daily operations are managed by BC Parks.

Skaha Parking Closing for the Winter

for Skaha

written by Peter Winter

From www.skaha.org:

Oct 17, 2009

Oct 31 has been chosen by BC Parks as the date to stop opening the gate to access the parking lot at Skaha. This date may vary, dependent on the weather. In the meantime, the work on the approach road continues.

So the end of the season is near. Hope you all had a good time this year at Skaha. The new parking lots and the approach road have been a great success, with the lower lot full on many sunny weekends, and both lots packed on the Thanksgiving long weekend.

See you all next year.

Skaha - keeping the neighbours happy.

for Okanagan

written by Howie Richardson

The volume of traffic on the access road to the Skaha parking lot has inevitably produced some negative comment from locals in the area.

The problems have an easy remedy and that is to act in a considerate manner when driving that road .

DRIVE SLOWLY TO MINIMIZE DUST, WASHBOARD ON THE DIRT ROAD, AND THE RISK OF ACCIDENTS.

In particular watch out for the locals that walk their dogs up that road.

Skaha Car Park extension

for Okanagan

written by Howie Richardson

The last two long weekends at Skaha were rather hectic but the way climbers dealt with the narrow road and minimal parking was amazing.

The minimal parking is soon to be a non-issue as work is under way on the extension car park, which is slightly above and to the NE of the existing one, and is expected to be paved by June 26th.

Victoria day weekend at Skaha

for Okanagan

written by Howie Richardson

The Victoria Day weekend has come and gone and now a lot more people have first-hand experience of the new parking arrangements at Skaha. The BC Parks people are also starting to realize that Skaha has the potential to be their busiest park in the Okanagan.

On each of the three days of the long-weekend there were over 200 cars parked in the parking lot, along the approach road, and down on lower Smythe Drive.

With so many people there must have been some problems but it was very pleasing to see how well climbers dealt with what could have been a chaotic situation with patience and good humour. Thanks to you all.

The bid process to complete the overflow parking has been completed and Parks expect the contract to be awarded and the work done by the end of June. There will be many days in the next month when the car park will be full but we can now hope that a visit to Skaha will not be quite as frantic as this last weekend.

Skaha: There's bad news and good news.

for Okanagan

written by Howie Richardson

The new parking lot for Skaha Bluffs is open, the days are warming, and climbing is great.

The bad news: BC Parks have now informed us that for safety reasons only the 81 designated parking bays are to be used. This is approximately half the spaces for the normal Easter weekend traffic.

There can be no cramming cars in and absolutely no parking on the access road, most of which is on an easement across private land.

The good news is that after a significant dog-fight with the holders of the purse-strings the BC Parks people have secured the funding for the overflow parking lot. But......this will not be ready until after the May long-weekend.

This means that for Easter and the May long-weekend climbers have some decisions to make.
They MUST be prepared to car pool.
They MIGHT want to consider an alternative venue for the long weekends. Come in mid-week when the parking is hassle-free.
Be prepared for some inconvenience.

Parking at Easter

for Skaha

written by Howie Richardson

About half the length of the road into the new car park is still icy and undrivable but one spell of warm weather should see that clear.

The news form the new owners of Braesyde (the old parking area) is that they are not interested in allowing any further use of that area as a climbers' car park.

There is still no news from Parks if they are getting money in the next budget to get the overflow car-park up and running.

The good news is that parking in the new lot will be free until that lot is designated a Provincial Park and them will be subject to the same fees applicable at any Provincial site. Their fee structure is considerably cheaper than the that for the old Braesyde site.

This presents some difficulties for Easter and Victoria Day and possibly beyond.

We do not want to discourage people from coming to enjoy Skaha on these long weekends but there is the possibility that if few people turn up it might be assumed that our estimates of the level to which Skaha is used will be seen as inflated and the need for the overflow car-park seen as less urgent.

Again, we do think people should come at Easter and Victoria day but with the realisation that there may be considerable inconvenience.

Here is the plan.
1) The new car-park is marked out with spaces for about 100 vehicles, but by directing parking to maximizing use of the area perhaps another 30 can be squeezed in.
Local climbers will be on hand to direct parking over the Easter weekend to see that as few people as possible are turned away at the gate. This way we can demonstrate demand but inconvenience few.

2) Late arrivals who cannot get into the car park will have to find space somewhere on the approaches to the Bluffs.
However, YOU MUST NOT PARK ANYWHERE IN THE TURNING CIRCLE AT THE END OF SMYTHE DRIVE OR ANYWHERE ALONG THE ROAD THAT LEADS FROM THERE UP TO THE NEW PARK. THIS IS A PRIVATE ROAD AND THE EASEMENT AGREEMENT STIPULATES THAT THERE CAN BE NO PARKING ALONG HERE. BREACHING THAT AGREEMENT MAY RESULT IN ANNULMENT OF THE EASEMENT AGREEMENT.

Parking access closed due to snow.

for Skaha

written by Peter Winter

As of March 8th. The access road to the new parking area is still covered in snow. This road is not plowed so we'll have to wait for it to melt. Check out www.skaha.org for regular updates.

New Skaha update

for Skaha

written by Peter Winter

Construction on the new parking area on Sublot 18 is well underway. There will be approximately 80 parking stalls available. Completion is planned for Spring of 2009. Alternative parking options for busy times will be available. BC Parks is currently working on a draft management plan for the Park, however no climbers are involved with it's creation to this point. Thanx again to the local Skaha climbers for their work on the ground with TLC and BC Parks.

Skaha Update

for Skaha

written by Peter Winter

Things are moving along well. This season Hugh Dunlop is again allowing access through the usual entrance to the park. In the meantime BC Parks, The Land Conservancy and the Nature Conservancy are working together to secure the easement required to build the road up to Sublot 18. The plan is to have the road in place by Spring of 2009. Local Skaha climbers are also involved in discussions with the above mentioned groups and are keeping CASBC updated on the situation.