The closure of Redmond’s 5.11 difficulty rope climbing route looks to continue into the foreseeable future. The route has been temporarily closed since early 2016 pending an Oregon Supreme Court case that undermined the immunity granted to officials of an organization that offers land for recreation free to the public.

The court ruled in favor of the plaintiff, indirectly resulting in the dropping of insurance coverage for the City’s Maple Bridge Arches Climbing Area in the Dry Canyon. Other available insurance coverage for the recreational area is about a 3,000 percent increase from the city’s previous plan. City council and public works decided to indefinitely close the climbing route in December 2016.

In 2009, a legally blind jogger in Portland was injured after stepping into a hole dug by a city maintenance worker, according to official court records. During the 2016 trial, Johnson v. Gibson, the court found that the maintenance worker and supervisor did not meet the definition of “owner,” which is granted immunity from liability by The Oregon Public Use of Lands Act. Given this finding, the maintenance worker and supervisor can legally be held liable for negligence and consequential injury of the jogger. This finding led to the city of Redmond’s insurance coverage being dropped for the Maple Bridge Arches Climbing Area.

The Oregon Recreation and Park Association is working to propose amendments to the Oregon Public Use of Lands Act to restore recreational immunity to landowner’s officers, employees, agents or volunteers, according to city officials. The city of Redmond has adopted a resolution to support the proposal.

But until immunity is reinstated, the rope climbing route will remain closed.

Ian Caldwell, a local climber who works for Oregon Recreation and Park Association, spearheaded the project to build the climbing route when he proposed it to City Council early 2015. The city liked his idea and Caldwell ran with it, completing most of the construction himself and opened the route late 2015. The route is the only known climbing route on the underside of a bridge that is supported by a local municipality in the Northwest. He had hoped to add more routes to the underside of Maple Street Bridge before the court’s ruling.

A proposal for amendments to the Oregon Public Use of Land Act has not been filed, but city officials hope the 2017 Legislature will reinstate immunity.

— Reporter, 541-548-2185, cbrown@redmondspokesman.com