Crag Steward Highlight: Colin McCoy
Crag Steward
Keeping our crags clean and accessible are important components of maintaining a positive relationship with landowners. Taking responsibility and caring about the crags we climb is at the heart of what it means to be a Crag Steward with the Ragged Mountain Foundation. The Crag Stewardship program, established by former RMF director Nate McKenzie and current RMF director Jen Chmiel in 2021, was an important action step of continually improving the reputation of climbers as a recreational user group and bettering the overall climbing experience around the state.
At West Rock, a cliff with two land managers, the former crag steward Cove Geary played an instrumental role in creating a meaningful relationship with both the City of New Haven and the State of Connecticut. The climber kiosk at the base of West Rock, installed in 2021, was partially due to the annual clean-up efforts that started in 2013 with the help of volunteer efforts and RMF crag stewards.
In 2024 the RMF welcomed several new Crag Stewards to help in this effort. Colin McCoy is taking responsibility for the popular climbing area of Chatfield Hollow in Killingworth, CT.
Recent Work
On June 2nd, during National Trails Day, hosted by CFPA, Colin led a trail clean up with a group of volunteers. “Recently, we had a fun day cleaning up Chatfield’s climber approach trail. We cleared the trails and made the access point safer. We are currently working with Chatfield’s park rangers to clear out some fallen trees on the trail.”
Colin with his modified 1964 Harley Davidson Ironhead.
A bit about Colin
“Outside of climbing, I spend my free time working on and riding old motorcycles. When I’m not doing that, I’m usually hanging on the couch with my wife Julia and our two cats. My favorite Connecticut climbing area, aside from Chatfield, is probably Pinnacle. It’s classic. You can get there after a work day and still put some hours in since the approach is so easy. My favorite trail tool is garbage bags! While climbers typically care about packing out, there’s usually trash from other visitors along the trails. It’s easy enough to just pick it up as you go! Aside from climbing, I enjoy hiking and kayaking. During the colder months, I plan on ice climbing. I started that journey last year and had a blast.”
Colin and Julia McCoy, en route to ice climb in Ouray, CO.
Ongoing Plan for Chatfield
“Chatfield Hollow is a pretty clean crag that visitors respect. Aside from trail maintenance and keeping up our relationship with the park rangers, I plan on occasionally going around with Kyle Cifarelli, a current RMF board member, and checking in on anchors to make sure everything is safe. Not too long ago, it was brought to our attention that the anchors on Trickery were loose. Thanks to Ragged, they were back and safe to use only a few days later.”
“I was stoked when Ragged put out a call to members to become crag stewards. I think it’s important to show up for the stuff you care about. Climbing has played an important role in a lot of our lives and taking on the role as crag steward allows me to meet new people and get them as stoked on the sport as we all are.”
Big love! -Colin
The Ragged Mountain Foundation is excited to welcome Colin to the program, but our efforts don’t stop here. We are still looking for other willing and like-minded climbing stewards to help us maintain our local crags and continue to protect access in our region. Please consider becoming a Crag Steward for one of the many beloved crags across Connecticut. Fill out this Crag Steward Application to receive more information about our program.