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General Climbing Discussion

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Manufacturing 24-Aug-2004 At 7:18:46 PM Onsight

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It’s time for us climbers to evolve a twinsy bit. I think there has been enough “Trial and Error” these last few decades for us to know the answers by now. It’s important that we now get on with looking after the long term interests of the “sport” (of rock climbing) AND the environment where it takes place. I believe the #1 issue we all face is ACCESS and looking after the present climbing areas that we’ve got. If we can’t do that then I really don’t see the point trying to put up new routes, or trying to find new areas, anyway. That’s kinda avoiding the issue.

I think NPWS (and BMCC) officers would actually be plenty astute enough to see this as an entirely separate issue to bolting. We have to be very careful.

And of course we DO have to leave something for the Garth Millers and Chris Webbs of the future. NONE of us know what that future will be capable of yet. History has indeed shown us that time and time again.

Anyway, sometimes you just have to walk away. It’s part of the game. If we can’t do that then we really (will) have problems. It’s not imperative for everyone to put up routes, or every last bit of cliffs to have routes. If you can't do it right then don’t do it! You can always just repeat routes, help contribute something in other ways, or climb in a gym.

And finally, please think for a bit about what these things do to the generally good community spirit that’s usually found in climbing.
On 11/08/2004 A5iswhereitsat wrote:
>It was a famous, unpleasant chapter in Yosemite climbing for both Harding
>and Royal, and one person was likely as damaged as the other, (due to polarisation
>of attitudes within the climbing community).
>Grow up robbo, and show some respect. Do some research on attitudes and
>ethics so you can; >>understand where their coming from…
As A5 has touched on here, these ethical arguments have the ability to seriously fracture the climbing community. None of us want this, and we can ill afford this again, particularly right now. If you don’t know what I’m talking about then maybe do some research on what happened to the Blue Mtns climbing community around the time of the Glen clean-up and the formation of Cliffcare back in the mid 90’s. This is a pretty major point and has a lot to do with why my attitude has hardened on this issue (I always thought the excuse some climbers used for not helping with Cliffcare was always pretty lame – the “removal” of certain routes was inevitable, and Cliffcare had a far higher purpose anyway).

Quite simply, this IS a significant issue for climbers. Sure, it’s not the only issue we face, but it’s an important one, if not because of the actual physical impact but for what it says about our ATTITUDES as climbers (our attitudes to ethics, the environment, and to each other).

Robbo/Rohan, if your posts were indeed a troll in a serious attempt to sound out the others opinions on the matter then I respect that, especially if you are intending to pass on some of the thoughts/arguments to your mate. Let’s hope he “reconsiders”.