Volunteers on Ropes to Clean Mt. Washington

For the 19th year, members of the Explorers Club of Pittsburgh have been enlisted to help cleanup the steep Mt. Washington hillside. Cleanup Co-Organizer Ginette Walker Vinski says 60-70 volunteers will help do the work. “We are going to have at least five stations set up along Grandview avenue where we will have people repelling along the side,” says Vinski, “We will also have volunteers patrolling up and down the sidewalk on Grandview to assist with picking up the bags of litter.” Crews will be on the hillside from 9 am to noon Saturday.

Climbers will place the trash in bags and buckets to be hauled to the top of Mt. Washington where the recyclables will be sorted out of the mix. Vinski says in past years they have filled a pickup truck with trash and 20-30 more bags have been filled with recyclables. They have also found a few unusual items. “We’ve found a Lay-Z-Boy recliner, we’ve found bicycles, we’ve found a vacuum cleaner,” says Vinski. The big items require some special care. “Usually what it takes is multiple volunteers repelling down to that particular location and embarking on a team effort to haul up the material,” says Vinski.

Also helping with the cleanup will be the Mt. Washington Community Development Corp., Pennsylvania Resources Council, Allegheny CleanWays and REI. Vinski says no roads will be closed for the work.