Pere Marquette State Park Climbing

This is a brand new rock climbing site and it needs your help to protect and conserve the area. Always keep in mind that developing this site was a tall order and required countless labor hours to create what we now have. Always take into consideration that not everything will be clean and you will find holds to be dirty from time to time. Please do your part to be a responsible climber and help to educate others in the suggested site ethics.

AREAS ETHICS:

-Please only use designated trails. We need your help to prevent erosion

-NEVER CLEAN HOLDS WITH A WIRE BRUSH! Limestone will eventually become polished, thus making it much harder/slicker to climb. If holds are dirty please only use Nylon or Horse/Board Hair Brushes to clean and remove dirt from holds.

-Do your best to abide by Leave No Trace Ethics

-Do not top rope from trees! It is extremely dangerous and has a good chance of knocking rocks free and onto your party

The Illinois Climbers Association has spent a lot of time and resources to create and give this area to the public. Please do your part to help them out and conserve this area for others.

This area is IN PROGRESS. All climbing information will be added as soon as it is developed. As per the Site Superintendent, no route development (via bolt placement) is to be done without the presence of the Illinois Climbers Association.

Founded in 2002. The Illinois Climbers Association is a charitable organization representing the climbers of Illinois. We are dedicated to preserving climbing and bouldering access in Illinois through education, conservation, and cooperation.

Mission

The Illinois Climbers Association is a 501(c)3 charitable organization created to:

1. Promote and support conservation and preservation of both rock climbing and bouldering areas, and their respective natural resources in Illinois
2. Encourage optimal recreational use of Illinois outdoor climbing resources through land stewardship education and by facilitating cooperation between climbers, private land owners, and public land managers
3. Encourage and promote the development of policies and practices that will preserve climbing and bouldering areas in Illinois

HELP THE ICA BOLT NEW ROUTES AT PERE MARQUETTE! 
The ICA was instrumental in acquiring access to the climbing at PERE MARQUETTE. If you have any questions, comments or concerns feel free to contact them.

**PLEASE DONATE**
Click HERE to donate towards the Illinois Climber Association's bolting cause.

This is the first time the Illinois Department of Natural Resources has reached out to the Illinois Climbers Association to develop a climbing area in one of it's state parks. Pere Marquette State Park is also the first Midwestern crag to be solely equipped with titanium fixed safety anchors. British-based Titan Climbing company's titanium "Eterna" bolts have been chosen for this project for longevity and high quality.

Come celebrate the ICA's huge achievement with the IDNR and enjoy a day of great limestone climbing!

A huge Kudos needs to be made to the volunteers who have donated so much to this project.

-The Friends of Pere Marquette! They graciously donated $5,000 for the purchase of high quality Titanium bolts. Without them, this project would have never happened. -Ryan Richardson, former board member of the ICA, deserves credit at the one who got the ball rolling on the project. While spending time at Principia College, he and their club began cleaning up the faces, removing vegetation, and removing loose blocks from the wall. Thanks for your personal investment in the project.

-Bill Weishaar, huge proponent of the project. His contributions have been over the top and his investments include creating the switchback with stairs at the Lily Wall, helping to place equalized chains on many anchors, and helping to clean up/establish new routes in Boy Scout Cove, Meadow Slab, Ryan's Balcony, and Lily Wall

-Dan Rapp & Doug Rothe, both of which were also huge proponents for the project. They spent countless hours battling the heat and summer mosquito's to develop trails, remove invasive vegetation, and developing routes. Areas they helped create/develop include the Lily Wall, Lucky Strike Pillar, Meadow Slab, and Boy Scout Cove.

-Eric Ulner, former board member of the ICA, deserves credit and was incredibly helpful with negotiating with the IDNR to gain access to the climbing area.

-To the rest, thank you for your continued help and involvement in the site, we could have not done this without you.

Pere Marquette climbing development is an important project for the state of Illinois. Due to its importance, the Illinois Climbers Association decided to use the best quality materials to bolt with. Since Titan Climbing is the only certified Titanium manufacturer, they were the clear choice. The lasting effect of Titanium will only been seen over time, and the hope is for the bolts to last generations.

A quick excerpt from Titan Climbing about the power of Titanium:

(Angele Sjong, PhD was commissioned to carry out an accelerated corrosion test using one of our titanium bolts and a 316 stainless steel hanger (the test was an ASTM G36 boiling magnesium chloride test). The stainless steel hanger cracked in less than 4 ½ hours, whilst the titanium bolt was still going strong after the full 28 days of the test’s duration. In fact Sjong concluded that the titanium bolt had remained completely unaffected. Sjong added “There is an enormous difference between these two materials. You cannot even compare the corrosion resistance of titanium and steel”)