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.