\u201cClimbers get excited about an area, they fall in love with it, and then they figure out the right ways to conserve it in perpetuity,\u201d Reardon said.<\/p>\n The NC Zoo agreed to add boulderers to the species it oversees in order to expand the now 423-acre Ridges Mountain Nature Preserve, which was established in 2000. The addition of the Asheboro Boulders puts the entire Ridges Mountain under the aegis of the zoo and increases the total land it manages<\/a> to 2,805 acres.<\/p>\n Zoo staff say the land is home to several animal species\u2014including bobcats and spotted salamanders\u2014that are uncommon to the area. The huge granitic boulders and basic soil also support plants like fragrant sumac and southern shagbark hickory.<\/p>\n Allowing climbing in such an ecologically important space was \u201ca little cutting edge,\u201d Daniel Dunn, Access Fund\u2019s Southeast regional manager, told Climbing.<\/i> \u201cIt was not guaranteed that recreation would be prioritized.\u201d<\/p>\n Before the zoo took over, the Asheboro Boulders were owned for years by Ben Crotts, a former Western Electric worker who died in 2022. The CCC leased the land from Crotts but was never able to come up with a deal good enough to buy it.<\/p>\n Still, Crotts brushed off offers from developers and worked to maintain access for climbers. Once, after neighbors shut down a street used to access the Asheboro Boulders, Crotts bought an adjacent parcel to guarantee road access.<\/p>\n When Crotts passed away, the land was scooped up by a private conservation buyer, who handed it to The Conservation Fund, which eventually transferred it to the state of North Carolina with help from the state\u2019s Land and Water Fund and donors.<\/p>\n Access Fund also played a pivotal role, negotiating with the NC Zoo to ensure that climbing on its lands would be recognized.<\/p>\n The NC Zoo\u2019s actual exhibits are about a 10-minute drive from the boulders, so climbers needn\u2019t worry about power-screaming in earshot of an intolerant elephant. But because the zoo is now administering the Asheboro Boulders\u2014and running a reservation system for bouldering\u2014Dunn said he hopes more climbers will be encouraged to get involved with its conservation work and research.<\/p>\n \u201cI really see recreation as a big motivator and something that connects people to the land,\u201d he said. \u201cIt helps create conservation advocates.\u201d<\/p>\n The new ownership adds a fascinating wrinkle to the Asheboro Boulders\u2019s history. Climbers started developing the boulders in the 1980s as a wintertime spot for Boone residents, Dunn said. The area is well into the Piedmont region of North Carolina, where the climate is milder, and near major cities like Raleigh and Charlotte.<\/p>\n Once the area grew in popularity, the CCC started working with Crotts to secure access, though terms of the arrangement were loose at first. Yet climbers steadily established a range of problems to test themselves on cracks and delicate, textured faces.<\/p>\n Lightning Crack <\/i>(V3)<\/a> epitomizes the Asheboro style, ascending a vertical finger crack that bends left and rewards careful smearing. The boulderfield also features Font-style mantles on slopers over flat landings in problems like Darth Vader <\/i>(V2). Another classic, Asheboro\u2019s Steepest<\/i><\/a> (V5), offers climbers jaded with slab a few powerful compression moves up an overhanging column of black and gray rock.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a really quality boulderfield that I think stacks up in the state,\u201d Dunn said.<\/p>\n There\u2019s no guidebook for the Asheboro Boulders, and Reardon, of the CCC, said that lends the area a kind of \u201copen-nature\u201d feel and also encourages people to befriend more experienced climbers who know the problems. Reardon said the Asheboro Boulders\u2014columnal rocks \u201cstacked like chocolate drops\u201d atop a subtle mountain\u2014are like \u201cnowhere else that I know.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSome of them are just strange, globular rock stacks that just seem completely out of place for the landscape,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd there\u2019s a lot of cracks. So that\u2019s always a bonus.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Asheboro2011-021-scaled-1-1024x768.jpg?width=730\")
Why would a\u00a0 zoo want a climbing area?<\/b><\/h2>\n
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Asheboro bouldering goes back decades<\/b><\/h2>\n
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