Thank you to all who have donated so far; your level of support has been astounding. Thank you too to those who were able to attend the Everest In A Day fundraiser at Extreme Edge gym last week. We raised around $1400 NZD on the day and climbed a total of 36,412 metres (119,462 ft) - that's four times the height of Everest!
We have now incorporated as a charitable trust as the Kimi Worrell Foundation and have submitted an application to Charities Services to become a registered charity. During the first few weeks of our group's existence, we have come to understand that issues relating to sport rock climbing safety in New Zealand encompass much more than simply replacing bolts and fixed hardware. We are looking at ways to provide information and funds to maintain and improve climbing safety more broadly. In particular we will focus on the following expanded objectives:
* Attempt to collect and organize data regarding the condition of existing climbing sites, including developing an online database to catalogue installed hardware, including installation and inspection dates. We are also working to develop a mobile application that climbers can use to document deficiencies and submit questions and informational queries, including submission of photos with GPS coordinates for further review.
* Collaborate with the community to promote a culture of safe climbing through climber education.
* Provide grants to individuals and clubs/organisations that wish to maintain or upgrade climbing sites.
* Work to maintain safe access to climbing sites across New Zealand when called upon through increased focus on safer route design and material selection and by engaging with the parties responsible for managing the land on which climbing sites reside.
