RRC Archives

This just posted yesterday on the RRGCC website forum:

Author: Shannon (64.191.132.---)
Date: 3/1/04.11:18pm

Yes, please DO NOT climb on the Murray Property.

Charmane Oil has filed their answer and they have a list of demands that are unreasonable and we will be challenging in court. There is an on-going lawsuit in progress. To prevent further disagreements and more legal complications...for example, Charmane continues to accuse climbers of obscene gestures being directed at oil workers and there is no agreement on using the roads or where to park...we are asking everyone to stay away from the Murray Property until we have cleared this dispute up.

Thanks

I've been riding around the Red now for 3 mos straight and though I have never climbed on the Murray Property - I've driven around some of those roads near it and I have NEVER seen a single oil worker. Is it just cuz it's winter and it's "off" season for oil or what. I guess they are out more in the spring? Will there be more now that weather is getting warmer?

I have never personally seen an oil co. employee though I have taken several trips to Drive-By & have been to the Lode numerous times. The only other signs of human life I have encountered there besides climbers are ORV'ers & gunshots coming from the tops of the ridges?

I saw oil workers all the time last Spring and Summer. Most were very polite, a few were suspicious as hell.

Personally I think climbers should have been giving them beer and weed instead of the bird and poo. I usually just flashed my tits. Maybe that's what really pissed them off?

I think its bs that charmane is saying that climbers are being that way towards oil company workers...i dont think most climbers have even seen them and ever climber i have met in the red are friendly to strangers, sounds like something that was fabricated by charmane to make us look bad !

Sandy wrote:...I usually just flashed my tits. Maybe that's what really pissed them off?

Oh No! There's the problem! Don't you know that there is a very deep, intense gay culture among oil workers? It dates back to the culture that developed on offshore oil rigs. Lots of oily, muscular men sweating in the Gulf humidity with no yucky women around. Plus there's that whole nautical thing, you know, women and seamen just don't mix!

(Hint to Charmane employees/lawyers monitoring this board: The above is HUMOR!)

I suspect that a big part of the issue here is that for years, the oil company had free reign over that land, and developed an 'owner' mindset. Now that they have to share (and make some compromises with an active user-owner) it's ruffling their feathers.

I'll bet that a lot of the crap in their submittals to the court is just unverifiable crud that's thrown in because they have realized that their case is so weak (see SCO Group v. the Linux world)

Regarding the road/parking issue, I think that the up-front solution would be to clear parking at the bottom of the 'valley' directly off the county road. (Like the Motherlode parking) This way, climber cars do not use or park on 'oil roads' and can not be blamed for blocking access. Once things are fully straightened out with the oil company, climbers will be able to go back to driving and parking nearer to the crags, and the 'new' parking areas will be useful on heavy user-visit days when the upper parking is full.

Eagleman, there are probably at least a few asshole climbers who have flipped the oil workers off. Personally I think it's rude as hell and certainly uncalled for, but I really can't see how some dumb climber 'exercising free speech' would impinge on an oil worker's ability to get his work done - from a purely legal standpoint that is.

I dont believe climbers are flipping off oil workers. it is obvious they dont want to share the roads .

Personally, I feel the problem is with the RRGCC not doing their homework before they spend money that other people donate to them. I mean, seriously, who buys land before they have it surveyed to find out that they didn't buy what they thought they were buying???

The National Speleological Society has been buying caves for the purpose of protecting them for years. They recently bought a cave called Great Expectations and spent a huge amout of donated money on it, only to discover that the surface survey showed they didn't own the entrance or even land overlying passages in the cave - it happens. I recall reading that the Murray purchase was surveyed prior to purchas though. I can't imagine Shannon and the folks involved buying without proper investigation first.