Congratulations to Ken Yager, President of the Yosemite Climbing Association, who was recently awarded the Yosemite Award from Park Superintendent Mike Tollefson.
Ken was the driving force behind the Yosemite Facelift, an all volunteer effort to clean up the park.
YosemiteClimbing.org: “This year 1,157 volunteers of all ages participated in the five-day cleanup for a total of 9,256 volunteer hours. The NPS valued the work completed by volunteers at the Facelift event at $166,978.00.
As a whole, we collected over 25,000 lbs. of trash and recycled everything we could. 77 miles of roadway were cleaned up along with over 40 miles of trails and 15 miles of river corridor. Campgrounds and lodging areas were also cleaned. Other special projects included were the removal of 10 power and phone poles at the old Cascade Housing area, trash and cable route poles below the South Face of Half Dome, and graffiti removal in the Gunsight and Lower Falls Amphitheater.”
The Yosemite Climbing Association works to preserve the history of climbing in Yosemite and educate visitors as to its rich history and impact. If you’re interested please be sure to check out their website and if you can, make a donation. It’s a great organization. More information can be found at http://www.yosemiteclimbing.org/