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General Climbing Discussion

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Vic Ranges Climbing Gym 20-Jun-2004 At 3:27:56 PM rock weasel

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Are there any other Vic Ranges patrons out there who are dissatisfied with the current level of service at the gym? In particular, the development and maintenance bouldering area is atrocious. Here are my gripes:

- THE CUBE: That thing has been there for a long time, and not a single hold has appeared on it yet. To quote one of its faces, 'give us holds!'

- The route setting could be better, and problems updated or replaced more frequently. Yes, new problems have just gone up, but most of them seem to be around V8+. I have no problem with this, but it would be better to have both easier and hard routes on the steeper walls, as it gives us lesser mortals a chance to develop the strength and technique one can only get from climber steeper walls.

- Problems are pulled down, but not every hold is removed. On every wall there are holds not the part of an existing problem. Why are they still there rather than as a part of a new route elsewhere? I know that some patrons prefer to make up their own problems, but in doing so, how many of their problems are ones that are beyond their abilities? I don't find that type of bouldering interesting, and know many others who agree.

- A more even spread of grades would be nice....The new problems are nice, but what's the point when Sticky is probably the only one who can do them?

I believe that Vic Ranges could be a better training facility for climbers if more effort and thought were put into the routes put up in the bouldering area.