Project Development Finished!

The Bozeman Boulders Initiative has finished the construction and development phase. We now have 6 boulders at five locations in Bozeman area parks. We hope that the community and guests will enjoy these climbing structures for years to come.

Boulders 5 and 6 Grand Opening!

REI, GVLT, Northern Lights Trading Company and the Bozeman Boulders Initiative announce the final work day and grand opening of boulders five and six on Saturday Oct 8th. Located at the County Park north of Oak Street (approximately a mile west of 19th Avenue) the event will begin with a 1:00pm-3:30pm volunteer work party to install the soft landing, do some basic landscaping and site clean-up. The reception starts at 3:30p, with open climbing for all ages, families encouraged, plus all ages refreshments! Adjacent to Dinosaur Playground and Fire Station on Oak.

NLTC presents: Lynn Hill, and the Evolution of Free Climbing

The one and only Lynn Hill will share her story and adventures with Bozeman on March 30th!

PLUS: Whit Magro Presents: “Riding the Wave” – A Patagonian Climbing Adventure

“Meet the Climbers” Reception at 6:30pm, Presentations at 7:30pm - at the wonderful Emerson, as usual!
Tickets $10, Kids 12 & under free with paying adult. Purchase tickets at Northern Lights Trading Company and Barrel Mountaineering.

Beer, wine & food for sale. Silent auction with great gear!

A fundraising event to build recreational climbing boulders in Bozeman city parks.

Reel Rock Film Fest - Friday September 17th.

Reel Rock Tour Bozeman
Friday, September 17, 2010
The Emerson @ 7pm
Tickets: $10 at Northern Lights and Barrel Mountaineering; $12 at the door.
Silent Auction to benefit the Bozeman Boulder Initiative – Tons of great gear with 100% going to the Boulder Initiative’s program to connect all five boulders and reward kids who summit all (soon to be) five boulders.

Click here to see the trailer!

Smith Boulder Dedication at East Gallatin Rec. Area

Dale and Elaine Smith receive the dedication plaque from Conrad Anker for the Smith Boulder. Thanks to the Smith family for their volunteer and financial support of the Bozeman Boulders Initiative. The steel plaque will be permanently mounted at the Smith Boulder.

Community Invited! THIS Sunday!

Grand Opening of the Smith Climbing Boulder at the East Gallatin Recreation Area.

The public is invited to a grand opening celebration on Sunday, August 29th at 5:00pm for the Smith Climbing Boulder: the “Biggest, baddest boulder in Bozeman.” The Bozeman Boulder Initiative will be hosting the grand opening event at the East Gallatin Recreation Area, otherwise known as “Bozeman Beach.”

The celebration actually begins at the Old Depot Climbing Boulder (North Wallace to Tamarack, then east one block on Tamarack) at 4:30pm, followed by a bicycle caravan to the East Gallatin Recreation Area, where there will be food, drink and a short ribbon-cutting ceremony.

“With four boulders now installed, Bozeman is the clear leader among American cities when it comes to the recreational climbing boulders,” says professional climber and Bozeman Boulder Initiative volunteer Conrad Anker. “The Recreation & Parks Department recognizes that these climbing boulders promote fitness for residents of all ages in a safe, but challenging environment. We now have boulders on the north, south, east and west sides of town. They have become extremely popular recreational destinations and other cities are starting to follow our lead.”

Constructed by Stronghold Fabrication, LLC under the supervision of the Bozeman Recreation and Parks Department, the Smith Climbing Boulder offers dozens of climbing routes to challenge both beginners and experts. The boulder was funded by a unique blend of public and private sources, including a Park Improvement Grant and a generous donation from Dale & Elaine Smith of Bozeman.

“The bicycle caravan from the Old Depot Boulder to the Smith Climbing Boulder is an important component of the grand opening celebration,” says David Cook of the Bozeman Bolder Initiative. “Our vision is that Bozeman residents will use the expanding in-town trail network to bike or jog from boulder to boulder, performing a complete circuit of the boulder network, something we have dubbed the Bozeman Boulder Challenge.

Boulders #3 and #4 to be opened by late summer!

The Bozeman Boulders Initiative and partners will be opening 2 boulders by the end of the summer! Sending Ceremony and Party to be held Sunday August 29th; more details to come. This wasn't done alone, so I will try to get all the thanks out in the next couple weeks. In the mean time, check out #3 near the Old Train Depot in the NE neighborhood and #4 underway at "Bozeman Beach!" See attached pic of the new spray-on concrete; it still takes a climbing artist's touch to finish out the holds but we hear good things about this new surface.

Disciples of Gill - "Birth of Bouldering"

Disciples of Gill will make its Montana Premier at Northern Lights next Wednesday, June 2 at 7:30pm. Filmmaker and author Pat Ament will be here to show his film and sign books. The movie chronicles the life of John Gill, the father of Bouldering in America. More than just another rock climbing movie, Ament's work digs deep into why we climb. Tickets are $10 or $7 for kids the night of the show. Don't miss this once in a lifetime opportunity to see how it all started.

Location:
1716 W Babcock
Bozeman, MT, 59715
Phone:
406-586-2225

Where are the Boulders?

Map to boulder locations and select project partners!
View Bozeman Boulders Initiative in a larger map

Boulder #3 Is Fully Funded!

On April 15, 2010, the Bozeman Boulder Initiative – a project under the fiscal management of the Gallatin Valley Land Trust – announced that sufficient funds have been raised to fully fund Bozeman’s third recreational climbing boulder, which will be installed at the East Gallatin Recreation Area.

Bozeman Boulder Initiative Project Manager David Cook said, “This was a real community effort where everyone had some ‘skin in the game.’ The City of Bozeman allocated a Park Improvement Grant to the project, Northern Lights Trading Company donated substantial funding, our Climb On! fundraising event at the Emerson netted over $5,000 and we received generous donations from Big Sky Wind Drinkers and the Southwest Montana Climber’s Coalition. What put us over the top, however, was a $5,000 donation from Dale and Elaine Smith of Bozeman. Dale is a member of the Bozeman Boulder Initiative team, and he has volunteered his time and talent in every way imaginable, including hours of hand-labor in constructing boulder #2 at Bozeman Ponds. When Dale announced that he and Elaine were making the largest private donation in the history of this project, we were speechless.”

As soon as conditions allow, the Bozeman Parks Department will excavate the foundation site at the East Gallatin Recreation Area (sometimes known as “Bozeman Beach”) and Stronghold Fabrication, LLC of Bozeman will transport the boulder frame from their shop on North 19^th Street and begin applying concrete to the boulder frame.

Whit Magro, a principal in Stronghold Fabrication reports, “Volunteer labor is a key component of our financial model for the construction of these climbing boulders. For the Bozeman Pond boulder, over 500 hours of volunteer labor were donated by members of the climbing community. We’re hoping for a similar outpouring of generosity for boulder #3.”

The goal of the Bozeman Boulder Initiative is to construct recreational climbing boulders, to place them in parks throughout the city and to connect them with a network of trails. At the end of the project, the majority of Bozeman residents will live within a short biking, running or walking distance of a climbing boulder that provides challenging recreation for beginners through expert climbers.