How one Utah climbing club helped develop routes in Little Cottonwood Canyon
Sep 23, 2024, 11:58 AM
(Canva)
(Canva)
SANDY, Utah — On Sept. 25, a ceremony will celebrate the addition of a Little Cottonwood Canyon area to the National Register of Historic Places. The area is the first recreational climbing spot to be listed.
The designation was announced on Aug. 5, according to a press release from Salt Lake Climbers Alliance. The area encompasses the Alpenbock Loop Climbing Area.
“The Little Cottonwood Canyon Climbing Area holds statewide significance as an excellent representation of a culturally important district,” wrote SLCA on their website.
According to SLCA, climbing in Utah was largely undocumented before the 1960s. That changed when the Alpenbock Climbing Club formed and began recording their experiences.
The Alpenbock Climbing Club
The Utah State Historic Preservation Office, the Alpenbock Climbing Club was responsible for developing climbing routes in Little Cottonwood Canyon and other climbing areas. The group was active during a time before information was shared via guidebooks and apps.
They are credited with helping establish the Utah climbing community and connecting it with the national community.
Non-technical climbing was happening elsewhere in the state, prior to the formation of the club. However, the Utah SHPO website reads that it was not “well-informed by national trends for technique, safety, and equipment.”
The University of Utah’s Marriott Library said the Alpenbock Climbing Club was formed between 1958 and 1959. The club’s scrapbooks are available digitally from the Marriott Library.
Alpenbock Climbing Club’s scrapbooks include photos, news clippings and recountments of the group’s climbs. A roster within the first volume showed there were 19 members in 1962. A later page only listed 10 as “active.”
Club leaders Ted Wilson and Larry Love established the first recorded climbing route in the area, per the Utah SHPO.
According to the first volume, Pentapitch was, “one of the first routes completed on the south side of lower Little Cottonwood Canyon.”
Per SLCA, the Alpenbock Climbing Club was more than just a group of climbers who established climbing routes within and outside of the historic area. They also served as Salt Lake County’s first mountain search and rescue team.
The University of Utah’s Marriott Library website contains more resources for those interested in learning more about the history of climbing in Utah.
Related: Little Cottonwood Canyon designated as historic recreational climbing area, first in US
