Attention New School climbers

[whoneedsfeet]

Sorry ray, I just had to give that 18 inch dyno a go for myself. In all seriousness I tend to make rude and crude comments to help clear out the crag of the uptight fucks, seems to work for most except those god damn euros and their stupid fucking footwork.

[Lateralus]

will, you sound like a rude asshole and you likely know it but in case you weren't sure.
You also sound dumb as the rock you live under.
There are rude people pretty much everywhere, driving, restaurants, on the trail
, movie theater, everywhere... I've never seen hostile confrontations go well in any scenario
with those folks either. Yelling at them doesn't actually make them stand down
or all of a sudden become respectful, it just escalates a bad situation ,guess your mother didn't teach you that.
Also, you don't own the rock those toolbags can do whatever they want , they aren't breaking any laws.
Courtesy is nice but 1/2 the people don't have it and it's been that
way for a long time. Take up a new sport before you give yourself
an aneurysm, mma might be good for you and us.

[lena_chita]

Since we're complaining I've witnessed one and heard of another climber on red tagged projects. The one I encountered had no explanation as to why they were doing it.

I've heard of some, too. They didn't know they were doing anything wrong, or potentially-sometimes-dangerous, they were just psyched to have found this nice route to climb... and quite eager to tell me about it. After my (very long and emphatic) explanation, they now do know better.

Nothing is new under the sun, but with more people climbing we will see more things happening more often.

I remember feeling really bewildered when my 1st draw was stolen off a route a few years ago. I didn't leave the draws overnight, they were hanging on an 11c at the Summersville Lake called Maximum Overdrive, and a friend asked to leave them so he would do a lap at the end of the day. The route was baking in the sun, so we pulled the rope and went around the corner to do something else. When we came back, the first draw was gone. The crux is around the 3rd draw. So someone must have gotten on it, gotten to the 2nd draw, and then taken the first draw on the way down... Or picked it off with a stick clip. One of those, seriously? wtf, people?!?!

[milspecmark]

After climbing in Seneca this weekend and seeing an absolute huge crowd, I have come to the conclusion that rock climbing is becoming very popular. Even Trad climbing is getting popular. However, there are some benefits to this, like all the effort and funds raised by the rrgcc and them opening up new climbing areas and developing new routes on existing walls. Just look at the evolution of Red River Gorge over the last 8 years. I see it is an opportunity to keep climbing areas growing and having new routes become available. Also motivates me to climb harder and become better so I can get on the routes no one else is on on a busy day. I have also found these new climbers to be late sleepers. Get up early and go climb at empty crags, they dont show up till 9 or 10. Also, do a bit of leg work and get a permit to climb at torrent or roadside where seating is limited. If you are creative, you can avoid crowds and take advantage of new and ever growing routes in the red.

[EricDorsey]

OMG I cant believe the most popular 5.6 in the area had people on it during the most popular time of the year! Shocking...

[J-Ru]

Aside from the superiority and anger in the OP, there are real issues that are highlighted by the busy season.

We ALL should be practicing what we preach and gently passing on to those new to the outdoors, or those who may need a friendly reminder, the core messages in the following Access Fund initiatives. I realize we all may not agree on every point in The Pact or how to behave at the crag, but these three pieces are good, non-confrontational starting points.

This has all been said before. Hell, print them and hand them out at the crag if you really want to educate people...

Ask yourself if you are following these?

5 TIPS FOR CLIMBING IN GROUPS

Rolling six deep to the crag this weekend? Before you head out, know that climbing in large groups can have a much greater environmental and social impact than climbing in pairs. If you must climb in a large group, follow these 5 tips to minimize your impact:

Carpool - Instead of meeting up at the crag where parking is limited, grab some extra time with your climbing partners by carpooling to minimize your impact.
Get organized - Plan ahead to avoid bringing unnecessary gear and pads that will clutter up the base of the climb, causing erosion and crushed vegetation. Keep your gear organized and place it on durable surfaces, never on plants or roots.
Share the love - Be respectful of other visitors and don’t bogart an entire area by hanging ropes and blocking travel lanes. Forcing people to walk around your group causes social trails and erosion. Once you’re done with a climb, pull your rope and move on.
Keep it tight - We all love to watch someone in our crew send, but the landscape around most crags and boulders is sensitive and should be left untrampled. If you’re on the ground watching, stay in the staging area so that you’re not spreading your impact.
Be an upstander, not a bystander - Social science proves that when people witness others practicing minimum impact behavior they are more likely to follow suit. This becomes especially important for large groups. Step up and lead by example--leave the least impact possible.

https://www.accessfund.org/take-action/ ... o-the-pact


https://www.accessfund.org/uploads/pdf/ ... 2-copy.pdf

[Cocoapuffs1000]

Also motivates me to climb harder and become better so I can get on the routes no one else is on on a busy day.

I hate to be a downer, but that's not really true at the Red anymore. When the weather is good at the Red, you can expect lines on ALL the classics, no matter how hard they are. Go to Drive By on a nice day and all the good 12's and 13's will be taken.

[nik]

dear op, you respect the grades that sport climbers are putting up but you "hate" sport climbing? seems like a weird thing to hate. like, for instance, i hate inequality, intolerance, racism, rape, and suffering in the world. also, nuts in brownies. fuck that. but, sport climbing? why do you hate sport climbing?

[will]

J-Ru tanks for posting the links and posters ..

nik.. i respect people that can climb better/harder than me .. but it stops at their ability not their attitude, egos
slang, disrespect for the environment. I dont know how we went from banning pitons to drilling bolts where ever
one pleases. Onsighting used to be with no gear placed .. now.. apparently.. you can onsight with pre placed draws
or better yet .. now it's possible on top rope. Sporto's keep changing the "rules" to look stronger/cooler than they really are.
when i started i loved the line " sport climbing is neither" .. and i still love it.

[JR]

This may or may not help you angry Will

why the fuck are you leaving ropes up?!???

Rope up or rope down. Makes no difference to me. If your not there I am climbing.

No one cares that you lead "Eureka" ..

Agreed. Just like no one cares that you ever get on it.

Are you leaving it up to top rope it later ?

Maybe.

why do you think anyone would want
to climb on your draws?

This one is really confusing because I love climbing on other peoples draws. First off you don't have to carry them up there. Secondly wears on their equipment not yours. Lastly, you don't usually have to clean them. So nice. Try this..."Thank you for putting up draws."

And trad gear placed? I get to the base of "whiteout" some asshole has trad gear plugged.. why would you leave your gear?
it's the best 5.8 in the area .. do you think no one will want to get on it on a saturday ? OH you left
your gear in so your buddy could lead it

I think you may have just blown a gasket or something on this one. They are just climbing the way they want to. Get over it. Not everyone is going to climb your way.

if you are climbing where other people are in view and your climb has a star .. chances are
someone wants to LEAD it .. lead .. the goal of climbing.
people climb outside to lead.

I sort of agree with you here just because Top Roping is barely climbing to me. But again I wouldn't dream of trying to dictate other peoples climbing.

By all means let off some steam here though. I would much rather you vent online than having you raving about my draws being on a climb all day.