About That Friction Slab Project

Several have asked (and many others no doubt have wondered), "What is going on with the Friction Slab Project?"

For many months, the  scaffolding has sat forlorn and quiet in the North Plaza. Although the project got off to a roaring start and made excellent early progress, it ran into an unfortunate snag when we disagreed with the original contractor performing the work on contract terms.   

The committee overseeing the project worked along a dual track, determining the best path forward to address the disagreement with the original contractor while seeking out a new contractor, then agreeing on contract terms, pricing, and schedule.  

The good news is that a very skilled and well-regarded contractor, Turnstone LLC (the contractor that prepared the sample friction slabs in the basement), has signed onto the project. Turnstone plans to start on the project the last week in October, with intentions of being done  well before year end.

The Friction Slab Committee looks forward to the Friction Slab project coming to fruition in time for the Scramble and Climbing courses to make use of them in the spring. Once complete, this new training structure will be one-of-a-kind in the country and perhaps the world - the only fabricated friction slab training structure in existence!

Along with our climbing walls, this new urban training structure will help The Mountaineers improve our sustainability footprint and reduce our impact on wild places by reducing frequency of driving long distances and use of alpine settings for scramble and climb skills training. And as the result of an excellent suggestion by the Meany Lodge committee, The Mountaineers will repurpose the scaffolding for a roof reconstruction project at Meany Lodge.

WORK PARTY OCT 28-29

We need help moving some of the scaffolding to get ready for cement pouring. Sign up to volunteer below!

• Saturday  - October 28
• Sunday  - October 29 (please note if the Saturday crew is a rock star crew and finish deconstructing and moving all scaffolding this work party may get cancelled).