About
Since 1991, the Carver Climbing Club has remained the primary point of contact
for Mr. Rosenbaum as concerns arise.
Current Volunteer Organizers:
Dave Schappe
Tom Scales
History
In the spring of 1991 the owner of the land, Michael Rosenbaum, closed the area to rock climbers based on concerns about liability and repeated vandalism. The vandalism had cost him several thousand dollars, and he had attributed the damage to climbers. After discussions with the members of the Portland rock climbing community, Mr. Rosenbaum agreed to permit rock climbing access to the Carver Bridge Cliff for members of the Carver Climbing Club if three conditions continue to be satisfied:
That vandalism, littering, and other trashing of the property not occur.
That each member sign a written release affirming the she or he assumes all risks to his or her personal safety while climbing and will not sue Mr. Rosenbaum and/or family should an accident occur.
That climbing activities not infringe upon the privacy of the Rosenbaum family in their house on top of the cliff.
Early leaders like Gary Rall and Laura Potter used their skills in organization and law to establish the Carver Climbing Club, and the club was founded with three primary goals:
Provide an organizational link between Mr. Rosenbaum and the rock climbing community.
Act as a point of contact for Mr. Rosenbaum and local rock climbers.
Provide administrative support needed to collect the releases and coordinate tasks such as providing approved signage.
Members of the Carver Climbing Club are charged with acting within and supporting the spirit of the agreement in which Mr. Rosenbaum granted club members access to the area for rock climbing. This includes two parts:
That members discipline their own actions by not littering, protecting signs and survey markers, and respecting the Rosenbaum family's privacy.
That members self police to ensure that climbers found not to be members were explained the rules and procedures necessary to continue climbing.
Self discipline has generally been the easy part. Self policing to ensure that others did the same continues to be more difficult. Self policing has meant approaching people who are littering, reporting any person who vandalizes the property, and speaking to people not recognized as members.
Recognizing climbers that are not part of the Carver Climbing Club has proven even more difficult as visiting traffic to the Carver area has increased. The Portland climbing community has boomed in recent years. The Stone Cliff Inn Restaurant and Bar officially opened in 2004, and visitors have been drawn to the wooded areas surrounding the restaurant since the Carver boulders gained notoriety in the 2008 film Twilight.
The Carver Climbing Club remains the primary point of contact for Mr. Rosenbaum as issues arise.
Contact
Please contact us with your questions, thoughts, or concerns about Carver access. As a volunteer organization, we cannot always respond immediately. However, we make an effort to respond to Carver inquiries each week.
You can email us directly at