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General Climbing Discussion

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Grampians Access 2019 19-Jun-2019 At 12:54:35 AM ithomas

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DD: you can all me by my name: Ian.

ODH. Every single argument by climbers that I have heard concerning bans have all been said before by Mountain Cattle people, four-wheel drivers, trail bikers, mountain bikers, bee keepers, orchid enthusiasts, photographers. All of those groups, and more, seem to have a sense of entitlement based on their love of the natural world and their estimation of what constitutes long term use.
Getting angry and self indignant will not help.

Climbers will have to give something and it will hurt. It’s not a game and it’s clear that the world of free access for all has changed since Wik, Mabo, land rights and increasing visitor pressures.

Climbers are not immune from the reality of how this will play out. Just as surfing changed from a handful of enthusiasts in the 60’s to an enormous publicity driven world of magazines, photographs, surf shops, surf schools, clothing businesses and now have to deal with a legacy of totally overcrowded waves, polluted camping spots and access regulations, so climbers have sewn the seeds of the present dispute. Not through malicious intent, just through entitlement and lazy thinking.
We have all participated.

I am sure the good people of Natimuk and various climbers groups have analysed the situation and developed plans. None will succeed if climbers are not prepared to relinquish some of that which was not theirs in the first place. It’s not a matter of winning. It’s a matter of adjusting to changes which will take effect over the coming decades.

[Moderator edited this post by adding some spaces between paragraphs to make it much easier to read!]