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First in best dressed? 10-Apr-2013 At 4:20:55 PM spicelab

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On 8/04/2013 rowan wrote:
He sent me a text saying "That is the most derisive and self righteous act I have seen. Pathetic."

If this is an accurate citation it's appalling. Taking their lead from the victimhood displays of Old Rich White Males banging on endlessly about being "under attack", it seems Julian and his ilk have managed to delude themeslves that they haven't in fact driven 99% of the direction of Blueys climbing over the last 15 years, and the folks with the real power are actually the tiny number of scary trad climbers pushing their 'elitist' agenda.

In this topsy-turvy worldview, it's derisive (or divisive, I assume) if even one of 739 new routes is unavailable for sport climbers, leaving something alone is more radical than bolting it, and removing bolts is worse than placing them in all situations. So naturally Rowan is seen as the extreme party in all of this.

I want to make clear that I fully support roughly 80% of the bolting undertaken by all Blueys developers since I started climbing in 1996. I've benefited from it enormously, and it would be immensely hypocritical of me to deny this. But I've never bought the disingenuous horseshit about the nobility of sinking steel into rock, nor claims of persecution from a feeble and dwindling minority of trad climbers.

Rowan, from what you've outlined it sounds like your behaviour has been pretty exemplary, but I agree it's not worth continuing. You'll come out of it looking the better person in the long run.