Muir Valley Memories
The "Wall" in Muir Valley
Through the years, the Webers, Friends of Muir Valley, and instructors from the outside have conducted courses and presentations in Muir. These have covered many subjects including wilderness medicine, rock climbing, technical rope rescue, rappelling, trail building, rock anchor installation, wildflowers, and the like. But, the most bizarre and one of the most enjoyable events was conducted in the fall of 2019.
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After viewing a video news conference of Donald Trump standing at his precious southern border wall, bragging that it was literally un-climbable, many in the climbing community called "bullshit." You don't ever tell a climber that something is un-climbable.
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As it was not uncommon for Rick Weber to foster off-the-wall ideas, he decided to build an exact reproduction of the 18-foot version of the border wall then being erected along the border with Mexico and organize a speed climbing event. After research the dimensions, Rick and Erik Kloeker constructed the six-foot wide replica and erected it in the meadow adjacent to Muir Valley's main parking lot. Announcements were made, trophies purchased, and the Muir Wall was ready to receive climbers.
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The day of the competition, the 12-person filming crew from the nationally-broadcasted "Full Frontal" show arrived and filmed the entire crazy event. The film is shown below. Many climbers attacked the wall and clearly proved that, not only was it climbable, but it could be scaled in 14 seconds with no gear—just hands and feet. Of course all the participants were attached to a safety belay rope, but it in no way assisted their climbing. A nine-year old young lady, Lucy Hancock, also climbed it.