Dear climbers,

Hope all of you are having a good weekend and are well! Thank you all also for your patience.

As was shared during our last update, meetings with NParks were scheduled for this week to explore different options for the reopening of Dairy Farm for climbing.

The first meeting with NParks was held on Monday, 29 March (rescheduled from Wed 1 April). RCC met with the director of Parks & Recreation and his team on this date. Representing RCC were QX, Chow, Mel and Mich. SMF had Steven Loo as their representative there.

During this meeting, RCC reiterated that we did not wish for Dairy Farm to be commercialized with any pay-per-climb system in place. This view was also strongly demonstrated in the survey results. We do not believe that the community wants this, and as such, we are advocating for a sustainable way for climbing to be kept open to all, especially recreational climbers.

Towards that end, we have offered our assistance as volunteers to NParks to propose and execute plans that will minimize the occupiers' liabilities that may arise from climbing activities, and carry out the necessary work as outlined in our proposed management plan for DF.

The second meeting with NParks was held on Tuesday, 30 March. SMF met with the director of Parks & Recreation and his team on this date. RCC was also present and represented by QX, Chow and Chang. During this meeting, SMF, represented by Steven Loo and Jispal Singh, said that their existing certifications are intended for indoor climbing and that additional education is required for outdoor climbing. They proposed the formation of a Dairy Farm Commission made up of representatives from the climbing community reporting to the SMF executive committee, but reiterated that they will not take on any responsibility or liability for climbing at Dairy Farm. SMF also stated that they do not have the capacity to carry out any activities such as crag or trail maintenance, and did not give any indication of how they intend to support these efforts.

We understand that NParks is now consulting with and will present and seek approval from the relevant Ministry as the next step.

We deeply appreciate the time taken by NParks to listen to the different parties and to consider the various options presented. We are hoping to hear back from them very soon and will update you soon as we have any news. In the meantime, stay safe and be well.