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The Eyrie, Mt Boyce retrobolted! Badly... 6-Jan-2017 At 10:56:26 AM gordoste

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The biggest problem here was consultation after the fact. It would have been easy to ask for opinions beforehand and a clear message would have been given, preventing an unfortunate outcome.

I don't buy the "silent majority" argument - 80% of outdoor climbing is done by 20% of climbers. And climbing ethics is not "one man one vote" either. On this thread you have Neil, Paul T and Mikl all clearly stating the ethics - it's hard to think of people better qualified to do so.

Clear ethical standards are needed so that we don't end up with retrobolting everywhere. I see a parallel at Mt Buffalo where there was until recently a true lack of beginner routes. However, even there, proactive retrobolting by FAs and clear feedback to bolters who made bad judgments have resulted in a sustainable outcome with a couple of real beginner-friendly areas being developed in recent years without compromising existing routes.