SRU alumni join conservation tour to restore climbing areas

March 28, 2019

Two Slippery Rock University alumni were selected for the 2019 Access Fund-Jeep Conservation Team to travel the United States in Jeep Cherokees to help restore deteriorating recreational climbing areas across the country.

Chris Winters, a 2014 SRU graduate with a degree in park and resource management, and Kate Hanes, a 2015 SRU graduate with a degree in dance, were among six expert trail builders and conservation specialists selected for the tour through Access Fund, a certified land trust that advocates for climbers and works with the National Parks Service, U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management.

Winters and Hanes represent the "Conservation Team National" and their tour includes stops during 2019 at various festivals and restoration climbing sites in Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada and California, where they will educate the climbing community and engage in stewardship work to mitigate climber impacts and build sustainable climbing areas.