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Crag & Route Beta

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Topic Date User

Kaputar - Euglah Rock 9-Apr-2013 At 11:44:10 AM Gov Junky

Message

On 8/04/2013 Ashfall tuff wrote:
>Climbing i believe fosters an interest in N.P.s and bush regen. I recon
>there needs to be some allowances made for youngsters learning to climb.
>especially if they've been taken out by school or scouts, there may be
>a liability/management concern. probably there are not enough climbers
>to introduce a group of youngsters to trad climbing.
>
>In this region you know there's not much surf or snow but we got rock
>:)
Looking at the issue from a different angle, as a person who got into climbing largely for the adventure, I find it very hard to understand the desire to make everything safe. If a young climber feels that a particular climb is too risky, then let him build his skills on either easier or better protected climbs until he is more confident and competent.

Over the space of four decades I have taken many beginners out. (These were people who had expressed a desire to learn climbing, not scout groups or school groups where the impetus comes from the organisation). In all that time I had no need to place a single bolt and no one has had even a minor injury.

From a personal and slightly selfish point of view, as the first ascentionist of a number of climbs at Kaputar, it saddens me a little to see climbs from which I derived so much enjoyment (and sometimes fear) pacified so that other climbers are deprived of the full experience.

From time to time I have done some silly things on climbs and had some 'near misses' but I wouldn't have it any other way. Risk is part of life and no matter how much modern society strives to eliminate it, there will always be people who seek it out.

Anyway, I hear myself shifting gear from pompous to pontificating. When we climb together in the near future I hope we find that we are not altogether on opposite sides of the argument.