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Rock climbing as it exists today is SO fundamentally different from what it was in 1964. Trying to keep modern climbing "in line" with how it's described in any text that old is a waste of time. Let the climbing organizations (Access Fund, etc.) determine how best to "manage" climbing going forward as they also do NOT want a total chaotic free-for-all. Government agencies run by non-climbers have no idea what they're talking about and expecting them to suddenly be able to analyze and approve hundreds of thousands or millions of anchors that already exists is absurd unless they have a billion dollars and a few thousand extra employees hiding up their sleeve. But they don't so this legislation will put all existing anchors into bureaucratic purgatory where decisions will be made at a glacial pace. Yes we need a plan going forward, but this is too extreme and reaching too far by people who don't understand climbing. Plus, who is hiking out in these wilderness areas and having their experience destroyed by spec of metal up on a cliff? Who even goes to these cliffs except climbers? Unless it's a roadside crag, bolts are really not noticeable and can often be hard to find even for climbers.

As a climber myself, "require a site specific analysis" seems fair; bolts are absolutely permanent and irrevocably alter the rock face. I've seen a lot of bolts put in by idiots, and you can't undo the holes once drilled. Instead, lets study the rock to see what sort of fault lines are in it, what the best anchor should be used so we get 30+ years out of it, what freeze/thaw cycles would do to bolts/face to avoid cracking it, and what kind of low impact approach access would be needed. The problem the federal/state agencies making the decisions are notoriously underfunded and rock climbers are incredibly impatient. Plenty of opportunity to work together. Federal agencies need to operate in good faith and climbers need to take a step back and be patient with approval and survey processes.

Good luck stopping anyone 😂

I would agree that bolting is safer, and not really an eyesore to the layman, arguably less so than yards of tat decaying on a slung boulder. If you bolted the iconic Chinese Wall in the Bob Marshall Wilderness (because of it's shitty limestone), it would certainly become a destination since bolted climbs are safer, thus more accommodating to the less elite climbing community. Wilderness wasn't created to accommodate/allow ease-of-use use, however. A good analogy is the chainsaw vs crosscut argument. It makes so much sense to allow occasional chainsaw use in area with heavy blowdown. But if every wilderness user was toting a 460 Stihl, the wilderness experience would be compromised. This is a "give an inch, take a mile" scenario. My point--pack it in, pack it out, at least in designated wilderness areas. There's no such feeling as climbing a wilderness peak and feeling as though you're the first to do so. Yes, there's been a lot of trammeling by administrative and private use, but there's got to be a ceiling and we're getting real close to hitting it.

This bitterroot guy will never "go to where" the bolts are. And he isn't seeing them. He's probably just seeing people enjoy different routes at the same time and is envious of their having a great time.

The biggest impact is not the bolts, it is the use trails from accessing the base of the climbs and if there are any walk offs. That is what needs to be managed.

No nerds are gonna tell me what to do in the wilderness. Get fucked

Dude walked across that footbridge like it was part of the landscape but is still complaining

Imagine you’re walking through a nature area, and you spot the momentary glint of a tiny object shining on a far-away cliff face and thinking, “Well I can no longer enjoy any of this.” Just let them bolt routes. Sheesh. 🙄

Climbing bolts are impossible to see. Come on people. Bolt routes and save lives.

Easy solution. Ration leaving cities by permit!

I don't like these reservation requirements because they get booked up way ahead of time and you can't do anything spur of the moment. I like to wait for a good weather forecast but by the time the weather forecast is available their are no reservations left. I get that traffic jams and no place to park is just as big a problem which is why the park service should be building new roads/lodges as the population increases. I know the environmentalists would have a fit if we built another road but there is so much un-developed land in the park we could build a few more roads and still have plenty of wild space and those idiots need to realize that spreading people out more would be good for the environment. I know people are also going to say we can't afford that but maybe the taxpayer could afford to build a few more roads if we didn't spend 8X what any other developed country spends on their military and our leaders stopped racking up the debt getting bigger and bigger debt payments.

And the Park exists for the vital interests of all the local businesses? REALLY !

An example of what happens when you have to many bureaucrats. There are gorgeous mountains without these bureaucrats, go find your paradise

More Backroads of Montana..👍

Many of the vehicle reservations go unused. Some people are getting 10 or more reservations just to secure options and then only using a couple of those. Need to cap the number of reservations and/or increase the vehicle reservation fee to discourage people from reserving more dates than they will actually use.

spent 35+ years hiking/climbing/fishing/back country camping/biking/skiing Glacier Park. from 1982 (when i moved to Whitefish to work at KTXX radio) until i moved to the Andes (2021), i saw a "leak" become a "flood". the 80's and 90's were fairly consistent in visitation from a "locals" standpoint. you could still find parking at Logan Pass until 10 am or so. you could bike the road during spring plowing and see at most 30 other people. you could find campsites at any any campground throughout the day. then the influx increased. drastically. come 2005 or so (coinciding with the digital nomad explosion and the discovery by retirees of THEN affordable real estate) the visitor increase was very noticeable. and it just got worse in each subsequent year. I changed my visitation schedule by arriving earlier and getting on the trail (or road during plowing) and avoided the masses. by 2010 or so, even that was getting to be problematic. the increase in early season bike traffic absolutely exploded. those 25-30 others became hundreds, and parking at Avalanche was full by 9am. i have a video of a bike descent of 10 miles from Weeping Wall to Logan Creek and counted 175 bikers. in 18 minutes, i passed that many uphill bikes - at 11am!! the day was just beginning. campgrounds were being filled by noon. even those at Two Medicine and Bowman Lake were filled by midday. the worse part was the character of many (too many) new visitors. the sense of entitlement and privilege was constantly on display. the rudeness, inconsideration, smugness, and the outward disgust toward fellow visitors was overwhelming. what had been a friendly place turned ugly. it got worse every year. and it generally came from those with the biggest pick-ups and the fanciest gear and the newest fashions. rules were ignored. customs were trashed. norms were scoffed at. i thought i was back in the big city. Glacier Park is a beautiful place. i feel fortunate to have explored it before the insanity arrived. i'm glad i got my many thousand of miles of hiking in, my hundred plus summits, my dozens of bike rides to Logan Pass, and my days of skiing in complete solitude. and i have thousands pictures to bring back those memories. i even thanked Glacier Park in the acknowledgements of my book published in 2012. it will always remain special. my parents ashes are there. but i knew come retirement i could not remain. so i'm culling pics for my apartment walls in Cuenca, Ecuador. LOVE THE ANDES!! but i miss the Glacier Park that once was......

Easiest way about navigating this vehicle reservation system.. Stay away from National Parks.

Travel to me is only enjoyable when the schedule is flexible without deadlines to be at certain places at specific times. Adjusting on the fly to suit the weather & opportunities for interesting side trips that may present themselves. Travel to a Yellowstone, Zion, or Glacier is 1000+ miles. Getting there to find nothing but lines / crowds / don’t do this / don’t do that / don’t stop here / no parking / no camping / and no permits leaves nothing but a desire to get away. Like the elite Boundary Water canoe permits in MN, the game is rigged for competitive types who sit poised with their finger on the trigger to make plans a year in advance, then schedule their lives around their permits.

I haven't been to Glacier yet, but I've been to many parks and I think progressively moving to a model where you park at the entrance and ride a free electric shuttle bus is the way to go eventually. The noise and fumes from constant traffic really do take away from any park experience, and can also scare away wildlife. Add on-demand shuttle bus stops everywhere, and make the busses run every 10 minutes or so (with the money raised from the parking fees), and the situation greatly improves. A national park is actually one of the few places where public transportation is ideally suited: limited routes with predictable stops. It will probably end up that way eventually, I hope.

It's a great idea. With the layout of Montana it makes sense to rebuild a regional rail and long-distance network to serve both markets... As an Albertan, I also fully approve of the recent concept to reactivate passenger rail between Calgary and Livingston via Lethbridge, Coutts, Great Falls and Helena...

Climate change refugees are a better description of it.

Any time they blame people it means they want people to pay for their opinion.

Maybe the government shouldn't have shut everything down and give people Monopoly money to go on vacation? The bill will eventually come due. People need to quit complaining about having to share the world with other people. We all wish we had everything to ourselves for free, but unfortunately that's not the case. The locals are entitled. Why do you have a right to it? What makes you special? Because you were there first? Maybe you had your turn?

The reservation system is terrible. Im not sure what the solution is but id rather have the old system than what they are doing now.

The answer is that individuals with a Montana drivers license and a non-commercially registered vehicle, with matching addresses, should not be subject to the vehicle registration system.

I went a few years ago when yellowstone flooded and i couldn't change my flight or car reservation. I scored 3 nights at lake mcdonald lodge with a room right off the lobby no stairs. It was wonderful. I booked boat tours and horseback riding. I booked the lodge again this year for august hope to get swift current in for one night i keep checking so far no cancellations. Im going to yellostone and grand tetonts before. Worst case i book a tour and or leave at 3 in the moring to get in many glacier area. I really want to see the north fork i missed that area last time couldn't get a reservation. I didnt think of just leaving early.

Didn't know how long the bird had been the. Know it was there when I was little. We'd go-to Saddies to eat. Too cool

Good video 👍👍

Locals should be given a “pass” to enjoy the park whenever they can get the time.

I was in GNP July 95 it was crowded then. But it was the most beautiful place I’d ever seen.

Having seen whats happened to parks over the years I can honestly say, "Businesses need to suck it up and move on." Not everything has to revolve around money 😞

Motorcycles should be allowed in anytime without a reservation.

I’m glad they are trying to minimize overcrowding but the current system is poor. Try going with 5 motorcycles when you can only purchase 1 ticket each. Everyone on computers at exactly 9am 120 days in advance , all fingers ready to click. All successful 2 of 6 tries. But the park is absolutely magnificent and we will forget the aggravation before we arrive. Just seems a shame to begin the experience with days of arranging to click on a computer between 9:00 and 9:01.

Work/play? You decide. Don't blame other people. I was able to easily get reservations the day before last August. I don't understand. Why are eggs $12 a dozen at St. Mary? Please.

Too think I wanted to go there to get away from the crowds because I live in Utah with the big five parks that are extremely busy and the same things happening there apparently

Psssst.....National Forests are just as good and sometimes better (less people).

Over population. War

Looks exciting and in the midst of nowhere.

To the folks on the phones---refer people to this video.

I love Glacier, but like a seasonal parks, there a time to go there and a time to go somewhere else. Most major seasonal parks, Yellowstone and Grand Tetons, Yosemite, Glacier, etc., are pretty quiet for about a month between seasons. Spring and fall are great times to go to those parks because tourists are afraid they will get caught in a snow storm and the skiers, snowmobilers, etc. are afraid there won't be enough snow. So the time to go to these parks is the middle of spring or the middle of fall. But remember, it can snow at any time in these mountain parks, so be prepared for that. If you are a well seasoned traveler, you should know all that already. Happy Trails!

Ride your bicycle or e-bike. No need for reservation. Book a tour with a tour company, that gets you into the park. We were at GNP two years ago. We're not able to secure a reservation. Only found out about the bicycle exception by accident. One observation, we noticed when we left the park on our e-bikes, The traffic backups from the vehicles going into the park after the reservation time period were at least a mile or more long. My thoughts are, the reservation system appears to make it so a select portion of the public gets a non-crowded experience. The rest of the public get to experience long traffic backups and crowded facilities. I am not sure what the solution is. At least the NPS is trying something.

Close the whole park for a year. Give nature a break.

I visited in 2022. We had the three day pass and it was packed. What a mess. We went the week of Labor Day. Many Glacier, we were turned around and told it was too packed. Pass or no pass, turn around! Early risers thinking you can sneek in early...you can't because construction will have them close the road from 10pm to 7am... Verify Chief Mountain Entrance is open, Canadian and American Access. Know the time they close it, other wise Carway (Piegan Entrance), Cardston close early too.....verify it. It may become a long ride to get to bed. Camas Rd Entrance went OK but it was late in the day and Rangers had knocked off. Polebridge Entrance had a one day only access, we could not score an pass on the day....already gone. We did not make it Two Medicine or East Glacier on this trip. Apgar Village is where we got the most time to walk around and enjoy. Logan Pass forget it, I circled over 10 times while the Mrs went to the visitor center...no spaces. But we took the train from Milwaukee to Whitefish. Rental car prices were ridiculous, Clark Nissan in Kalispell rents cars, much cheaper. Enterprise won't pickup or drop off. Be careful, this video/ Superintendent says a lot of true things...the reporter is learning. Go after the required Pass expires.

Oh no, lets not fix over crowding so she can go to the park. Parks are over crowded and underfunded. Call your US Rep or Senator and DEMAND more park funding.

Was lucky to get a pass in the first year of the program. Off my list for future visits too crowded.

Grew up in Kalispell and we used to go to the park in the middle of the summer on a weekend and the park was always empty. Went there a few years ago before permits started in the middle of September and it was so crowded. Not sure I will ever get back there. Mount Rainier is moving to permits this year. As a photographer, I have been there during wildflower season and it out of control with people. I'm happy to see the permits for the overcrowding but it sucks that I can't spontaneously go to the parks anymore.

Nicely done, I love this Lake spending time on it when we drive to Glacier NP from NW ORegon. Beautiful place, one of many in that area of Montana.🏔

Well when have 3mil people visiting something has to be done.

👋🏼 LOCALS EASY FIX: 100+ car passes a day set aside for LOCALS ONLY. *Must show ID & be present* Show respect for Locals who keep the community flowing with hospitality, run the gas stations and motels and diners.