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Tiger Wall - Dribble Bolting? 29-Aug-2009 At 1:07:09 PM otmab

Message

'COMMITTEE'

Some of you are obviously put off by the term 'committee'. I agree, it's a scary word, especially as it's
understood in Australian and English culture. They don't get anything done, committees, and they're
full of pontificating wankers (like us) waving their dicks around. So, let's not call it a committee. Let's
call it a 'group' of people, less than 5 people.

To make their purpose clear, let's call them the Arapiles Preservation Group. If you want to make a
change to a belay, etc., there's a shared understanding that you should talk to them first, otherwise,
your careful bolting, belay building, etc. will be undone.

'Shared understanding? Who waves a wand and grants the climbing world with that shared
understanding?' It wouldn't happen overnight, that's for sure. But, if the APG is in the guidebooks, if
it's on signs around camp, if it's on the internet, and if the right people are on it, there will be a shared
understanding.

'Isn't that Parks Victoria / the VCC / the army / someone else's job?' No, these groups don't get
involved. Contrary to popular belief, it's not simply because of ''potential liability'. It's also because
these issues are complicated, local matters.

'How would you get on the group? (translation - how would 'I' get on the group?). Open for nomination
from interested local parties. Like most of us who are involved in the Victorian climbing community, I
can dream up 4 people that ought to be on it instantly. Whether they'd want to be is another
question.... beer at every meeting?

'We're too fragmented, and couldn't decide anything!!' Fragmentation is the norm in communities that
form decision making groups, *and the reason why the groups are formed in the first place*.
Fragmentation is also the reason why we get vigilante bolting, and vigilante chopping, and re-bolting,
and re-chopping, which damages our cliffs. We're all united by the common goal of avoiding this
damage.

I'm not saying it'd be easy to discuss and resolve issues. It's hard to do that, especially at first. It's
easier to be a vigilante. Essentially, the choice is between consensus (which requires energy and
patience), or vigilantism (which requires arrogance and daring). I wonder why we tend to prefer
vigilantism in the climbing world?

'We tried it and it didn't work'. If such attempts have failed in the past, it's almost certainly because to
kick this kind of thing off, you need a good facilitator and organiser - someone who has done this kind
of thing before. 'Not working before' doesn't mean 'Never work'. It is worth considering whether to try
again.

'Many people don't know it(!!), but Araps has always been a mixed climbing area - these f**ckers will
pull out all the bolts!'. No, while there'd be Trad Nazis, there'd also be other people in the group.
Including sport climbing fairies and 'boulder-ers'. This group would be about preserving the existing
climbing environment, and curbing vigilantism.

CONCLUSION

It'll never happen, but nobody's had the gall to say why. The real reason it won't happen is that our
group consists largely of people who would rather 'just do something' than talk about it, face to face
with other people. The sport's emphasis on individual achievement and individual performance is,
perhaps, a partial reason for this. Also, Australian culture doesn't like 'committees' - there's almost a
nancy-boy 'Why'd you have to talk about that first, when you could have just done it' stigma attached
to them. Compare this to Switzerland and Scandinavian countries, where the cultural bias is the
opposite.

Shame really, because it's a lovely crag. Now, bring on the behatted rodents.