Cave Rock- Climbing Heaven
Posted on February 21, 2008
Tahoe’s Cave Rock is a 360-foot high, 800-foot wide dome which lies on the southeastern shore of scenic Lake Tahoe. Named for the small cave on its south face, the formation arose three million years ago when volcanic rock broke through the granite surface of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range.
The remnant of an ancient volcano, Cave Rock is home to the spirits of the Washoe people, whose ancestral land encompassed the Lake Tahoe Basin. They no longer have domain over their sacred place; instead it is managed by the Forest Service, which permits recreational use in violation of Washoe beliefs.
Members of the Washoe community, who have lived in the Lake Tahoe region for over 9,000 years, consider the site to be their spiritual birthplace. As such, it is governed by a series of strict taboos.
In August 2007, however, a federal appellate court upheld the Forest Service’s recent ban on climbing Cave Rock, a significant victory for sacred site protection. Washoe Tribal Chairman A. Brian Wallace describes Cave Rock as “one of the linchpins in the cosmology of the tribe” and declares, “For us, rock climbing trivializes the site for the sake of sport.”
Cave Rock is host to a variety of recreational activities. These include hiking, picnicking, fishing, and stargazing. However, the most popular endeavor on the site is a type of rock climbing called sport climbing. For sport climbers, Cave Rock is a unique place. Sport climbing requires complicated routes and relies on permanent anchors fixed to the rock, especially bolts, for protection. Due to the difficulty of the climbing on Cave Rock, its ready access and wonderful views, and the year round good weather in the Lake Tahoe area, the formation has become a “sport climbing destination.”
Cave Rock sits on the southeastern shore of Lake Tahoe in Nevada, and is a spiritual and cultural center for the Washoe, who call it Da ow ga, or “the lake.” The simple name indicates how fundamental this site is to Washoe culture: it is a place of such spiritual power that only trained Washoe medicine men are permitted to go there and women are not allowed to look at it. The 360-foot high, 800-foot wide dome is the gathering place of me’tsunge or water babies, small beings that possess medicinal knowledge and power that they bestow on medicine men.
» Filed Under Sightseeing Tags: Tags:Cave Rock, hiking, Indians, rock climbing, Washoe
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