Beware the Trundler - Kevin Mclane's column in Gripped

[squamish climber]

Some of you may have read this already. What do people think?

Beware the Trundler
The harsh new realities of new routing on Canada's most popular walls.

August 17, 2010
By Kevin Mclane


A few visits to Squamish and its most popular climbing areas leave little doubt as to how magnificent the climbs are, and how tantalizingly short the approaches to some of the world’s great crack climbs can be. We eventually get used to the elbow-jostling of the crowds and continue having fun and ticking off climbs in what is now a year-round climbing environment. Life around the most popular climbing areas on the Chief is a social affair as climbers and the general public mix it up on the trails. But there are some dark clouds on the horizon.

The number of climbers continues to double every decade and environmental impacts have risen sharply from relentless human traffic and the unrepaired ravages of winter storms. This coincided in the early 2000s with the province gutting BC Parks budgets so deeply that the on-the-ground capability of their staff to manage recreation resources in the Squamish area was decimated. Finding a uniformed presence at the crag became as likely as tripping over a spotted owl.

Unsurprisingly, the habits of climbers developing long new routes changed too, gradually slipping back toward the pre-park days of unfettered liberty, frequently with only cursory concern for environmental consequence or self-restraint. As the number of climbers has increased, so has the number of people wanting to create new multi-pitch climbs. New routes are necessary, and they can be fun and very satisfying to complete.

However, a serious consequence has been a very considerable increase in the amount of rock raking down the high walls of the Chief and the Squaw, deliberately trundled off ledges or dug out of corners and crack systems. Ricochets and exploding boulders have been known to fly far down the slope into the bouldering areas and onto trails frequented daily in all weather by the general public as well as unsuspecting climbers. Stonefall is not just for the alpine, it’s right here in Squamish. Many people now have war stories of close misses and diving for shelter. Some new routes in progress have needed only one or two volleys of rock, but others have seen periods of sustained rockfall over many months.

more .... http://gripped.com/2010/08/sections/art ... -trundler/

[harihari]

"When climbers are smashing up high-value areas of the park as a consequence of ambition, whether for the pleasure of others or personal achievement, it brings the very real spectre of fines and court appearances."

legal threats again ... what exactly is the charge?

Like it or not, McLane's got a point.

The GWN controversy I can't address, since I have not climbed the route. However, hopefully Smith and Boyd can head up there with Frimer to take photos and look at things, then they can get back to the rest of us who don't climb 5.12b slab, and explain what's happened...it would be nice to see pics etc.

Regarding the rest of it, I think McLane is (mostly) bang on the money: if climbers endanger others, Parks will, without a doubt, place a moratorium on new routing. They don't need anything other than an incident to justify a closure, moratorium, whatever. I've read the Parks act and it gives local administrators a huge amount of discretionary room (and the province even more) regarding policy. And (maybe some lawyers...Anders? can weigh in) regarding charges: if you do stuff which a reasonable person would agree is dangerous, you get in trouble. Negligence or whatever.

On the question of the damage to routes by cleaning/establishing other routes: dunno if Parks would want to get involved in that. I can't imagine a ranger/warden wanting to make decisions about that sort of thing, mainly because you would have to know a whole lot about the history of the routes, what FAs think, etc, ie it's a complex question.

It is my understanding that CRAG is debating this issue, with some (like Kevin) arguing that route preservation ought to part of the "best Practices" policy, and others (like Frimer) saying that no, Best practices should address only safety issues regarding new routing, and that questions of route preservation, etc, be left to the climbing community. (If i am wrong about this somebody correct me, please!)

[Aaron]

On the question of the damage to routes by cleaning/establishing other routes: dunno if Parks would want to get involved in that. I can't imagine a ranger/warden wanting to make decisions about that sort of thing, mainly because you would have to know a whole lot about the history of the routes, what FAs think, etc, ie it's a complex question.

I followed with and agreed Kevin up to that last paragraph.

Parks may or may not get involved in the establishment of guide lines regarding future route development, but I'm afraid there are no laws that can be used to effectively lay charges against someone who ruins an established route, and thank god for that! Climb long enough, and your going to snap a hold or two off an established route. Does doing so make you a criminal? I think not. Of course you and I all know that snapping a redundant or key hold off a route is different then crashing a tone of stone on to a route, but if you want to make a legal argument that effectively defines what ruining a route is, you can not differentiate between those two. Anything else is subjective and the law will not concern its self with the subjective realities of rock climbing.

Aaron Kristiansen

[Optimally-Primed]

I was *really* hoping that this issue had been laid to rest. I guess not.

New rules preclude me from discussing CRAG affairs on the forum so my comments are restricted to matters particular to my role as a route developer.

did mr frimmer take all the proper precautions of human safety when cleaning the milk road? ... was he derelict in his duty of care?

I haven't heard any (credible) complaints about my procedures for ensuring public safety. Cleaning was done in the off season, on wet days, usually on weekdays, with no less than 6 cautionary signs in the forest and flagging tape blocking the trails. I am aware of 0 close calls or user conflicts. From what I can tell, the issue with the Milk Road and Great White North was never about public safety. I had that one covered.

Independent of The Milk Road, public safety is an important concern to me, personally, and to many of the the climbers of Squamish with whom I've spoken.

Gotta cut myself off there...

[aitch]

Here are some quotes which express my pov better than I can:
"New school calls their lawyers, and cries 'mommy'. Old school dude will just come over and kick your a$%." Werner Braun, Head of YOSAR.
He was probably thinking of Jim Bridwell. So here's a couple of quotes from Jim:
"If you're not new routeing, you're just jackin'".
"Welcome to our timid new world".
Amen, brothers. HM.