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Master trail builder Jim Angell passed away at the end of February

Master trail builder Jim Angell passed away at the end of February. He was 76. Jim was President of Corplan, Inc. and provided trail design and construction expertise for more than twenty years for many state and federal land agencies in the U.S. Jim was an original Board member of the Access Fund, and provided more than a decade of service for the AF at climbing areas across the country. That work alone was significantly responsible for turning the tide in the early 1990's as land managers threatened to close area after area due to environmental impacts from climbing's exploding popularity.

Remembrance from Marion Hutchison, who worked with Jim on numerous trail projects in Oklahoma:
"Jim was critically opinionated and sometimes difficult to work with, but he knew what he was doing and he did it very well. But he was also a kind, generous and sensitive man. I remember him buying beers for more than thirty volunteers at the Old Plantation after a hard day of trail work in the Narrows and raising a cheer to their efforts. And, I remember walking back to the parking lot at Quartz to meet him for lunch after a difficult morning of brush clearing to find him in his pick-up listening to Mozart, eating smoked salmon, and drinking a Guinness. He was without question one-of-a-kind.

Thanks Jim, for everything that you did for us at the Refuge and Quartz. May your spirit live on along those trails and in the hearts of all of those who worked beside you."

Remembrance from Robert Speik, who bunked with Jim during an Access Fund Orientation at Estes Park, Colorado:
"Jim and I were assigned a room together, at the Access Fund Activist Summit a few years ago, possibly because we were about the same age. I found him full of humor, great stories and a love of life. He was also an engineer. He had his laptop and spent lots of his time showing me the complex design required to do sensitive trail building on steep slopes in climbing areas. Jim constructed the $100,000 "Misery Ridge Trail" at Smith Rock State Park, and for a time lived at Mt. Bachelor Village near Bend, my home town.

At the end of the weeks Access Fund orientation, I was ready to go home and rest, but Jim was setting off in his truck/office to a new trail challenge several hundred mile away. I hope Jim passed along his expertise before he left us all. He certainly passed along his enthusiasm for constructing and maintaining challenging trails."

All who knew Jim will dearly miss his spirit, fondness for climbers and great enthusiasm for the crags.

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