Dry-tooling at popular crags

[Uncle Rico]

Climbed at Sully's Hangout (North Van) this morning, and one of the more popular warm up climbs has been quite badly scratched up by someone dry-tooling there recently. I hope others share my opinion that dry tooling at popular crags isn't a very good idea. It takes a lot of time, energy, and money to develop routes, and for someone to come along and leave an irreparable mess of scratch marks and broken holds is akin to vandalism. I doubt the vast majority of climbers find this acceptable. Regardless of the fact this is a North Shore crag, those who climb at Sully's on a regular basis really like the place and I'm guessing most would rather it not get all beaten up by dry tooling. On a well-traveled route at a popular crag, it's too destructive. Thoughts?

Uncle Rico

[mcfly]

Opinions are like a**holes, everybody has one.
Drytooling (or nailing) established free climbing routes (sport or trad) is wrong unless YOU or the FA party established the route for that purpose.
That's my opinion, for what it's worth...

[scrubber]

I view it in a similar light to nailing on established free routes, or clean aid routes. It's a destructive and unsustainable use of a finite resource. There are literally thousands of undeveloped scruffy crags around the North Shore and Squamish to practice this kind of thing on, if you are so inclined.

A similar thing happened to a small crag I had developed in Brackendale about ten years ago. We showed up one spring day to find every ripple in the glaciated crag covered in bright white gashes and scratches. Aethstetically, it took a lot away from the experience from us.

I suppose the same argument could be made for climbers and their chalked holds detracting from the wilderness experience of a non-climber...

My 2 cents

[calamity]

perhaps if the equipment on an established dry tool route (cacademon boulder) hadnt been removed by boulderers who found the noise "offensive" then the dry toolers could climb there instead of skulking through the woods of north van.

[marc_leclerc]

Vey uncool, dry tooling is for the mountains, and for choss that has been dedicated to the craft. It is more damaging than nailing free climbs because the damage is not limited to the vicinity of the crack, but instead it leaves scratches everywhere. In fact the effects of dry tooling is so pronounced that on a 1300m alpine route, with only 7 or 8 recorded ascents, I was able to discern distinct scratches on crux pitches by the failing light of my headlamp.

[weihuey]

Rock scaling. Is that posh for trundling?