Las Vegas rock climber celebrates move to improve climbing, biking activities

Since moving to Las Vegas eight years ago, rock climber Alex Honnold has become all too familiar with the dangers of scaling Nevada’s high mountains.

Honnold starred in the Oscar-winning documentary “Free Solo” for his climb of Yosemite National Park’s El Capitan rock wall without ropes or other support. But lately, he’s an advocate for making climbing safer, especially through a piece of legislation signed into law this month by then-President Joe Biden.

“It’s rare for something like the EXPLORE Act to pass unanimously in the House and Senate,” Honnold said Friday, with Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area’s massive, bright hills behind him. “There aren’t that many winning issues, but everybody loves outdoor recreation.”

Honnold, who said he’s climbed the entire north-to-south expanse of Red Rock in 36 hours, joined U.S. Rep. Susie Lee, D-Nev., and other recreation advocates to celebrate Congress’ passage of the Expanding Public Lands Outdoor Recreation Experiences (EXPLORE) Act, a large package of bills targeted at recreation.

Rock climbing protected

Lee co-sponsored two bills underneath the umbrella of the package: the Biking On Long-Distance Trails (BOLT) Act and the Protecting America’s Rock Climbing (PARC) Act, both of which she said have implications for her district, which contains land as far north as Red Rock and as far southeast as Searchlight.

Outdoor recreation is an $8.1 billion industry in Nevada, state estimates show, and Red Rock welcomes about 3 million climbers every year, officials said.

“The EXPLORE Act is the most comprehensive upgrade to federal recreation policy in recent history,” said Elisabeth Johnson, deputy administrator of the Nevada Division of Outdoor Recreation. “This is especially pivotal for Nevada.”

Lee said she noticed a need for the PARC Act when the National Park Service and the U.S. Forest Service proposed classifying fixed anchors, or the permanent hardware bolted into mountains for climbers to secure themselves, as prohibited in wilderness areas. The law now protects these fixed anchors, of which there are thousands across Southern Nevada.

“This is really about making sure that we continue to build on this incredible resource we have, but also doing it safely,” Lee said.

The BOLT Act will direct the Interior Department to identify, map and promote at least 10 long-distance, outdoor biking trails — usually ones that span multiple states. It’s unclear yet which ones may be identified.

Lee, who is consistently ranked one of the most bipartisan members of Congress and serves as the House Democratic Caucus’ battleground leadership representative, said she’s proud of how well-supported the legislation package was across the aisle.

“In today’s environment, as we all know, bipartisanship — sometimes it’s a little bit difficult to achieve,” Lee said. “But this bill was so important because it really brought together Democrats and Republicans across the country.”

Contact Alan Halaly at ahalaly@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlanHalaly on X.