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New climbing boulder a possibilty at Soldotna Creek Park

Anchorage Park Foundation

 

The city of Soldotna is considering adding some recreation opportunities at Soldotna Creek Park.

The parks and rec advisory board recently approved a proposal for a new climbing boulder. Assistant parks and rec director Joel Todd told the board it would be a man-made feature, shipped from Outside.

“It’s a specific rock. It’s better for climbing. It’s not just like your regular boulder that you can get locally, so there is an additional cost for that. Anchorage just put one up at Sitka Park and they love it. There are two models. One comes with hand holds, one doesn’t. Supposedly, hand holds could be vandalized at some point in time, so there will be some research and discussion about that.”

Todd said that the local climbing community is small, but growing. A new park feature would be another climbing opportunity, as the Fitness Place in Soldotna also has a climbing wall. As far as safety standards go, it would meet the same requirements as other playground equipment.

“These aren’t 20-feet tall rocks that you need ropes for. They’re pretty low as far as rock climbing goes. It’s the same as our swing sets and our slides. These would just be more focused for adults. If it’s popular and if there’s an interest in moving forward with it, we’d obviously add a smaller rock for the younger kids and a bigger rock for adults.

Todd said in a perfect world, the new feature could be installed next year, but first, it will have to be approved by the city council.