Here are five reasons to support the TCC:
COMMUNITY: Help your community become a more fun place to live, work and play. The Capital Region has many issues and adding climbing to our local parks helps keep talented and productive people stay in our area, as well as help the local economies of Voorheesville and Altamont.
CIVIC DUTY: Help your government (NYS Parks) do a better job of serving the people. The ban on climbing since 1976 has been completely out of line with modern recreational trends and has no use in this day except to make NY be less competitive than New Hampshire, Utah and Colorado which have embraced the activity. The TCC is fulfilling a civic duty in representing a demographic which participates in low-impact activities.
CONSERVATION: fuel increased interest in conservation of the Helderberg Mountains which face pressures due to their proximity to urban centers. By adding climbers to the other user groups we make a powerful team that can unite against short-term greed which threatens to destroy our watershed, scar this iconic mountain and deny the lower classes recreational access to this treasure of the Hudson Valley.
OUR YOUTH: Help local youth find a passion in the outdoors. In the modern age young people are increasingly non-active and more “fun” options such as climbing, caving and mountain biking have a better chance of attracting a certain large segment of youth than just hiking or trail running. Just look at the Boy Scouts of America and you’ll see how they have adopted climbing as a powerful tool to keep kids involved. Local church groups, Helderberg Workshop, Boys and Girls Clubs and others will have Thacher as a resource. Throughout history we’ve seen recreational trends change, but the important thing is keeping active and seeing the value of parks and open spaces.
YOU: Whether you climb currently or not Thacher will allow you try climbing close to home, or hone your skills with frequent after-work climbing. While many women and men had to stop climbing because of job and family, now you will be able to squeeze climbing into your busy schedule. For once climbing can become integrated into your life and not just a weekend thing.
