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marcuder
May 7, 2007, 1:48 PM
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So here we are climbing at the Bufflo Crag when some asshole decides throw a sizable chunk of the escarpment down near where the bunch of us were climbing. Ofcourse there was a chorus of acrimony from our side and the loser was ran off. The rock landed near my rope and I had to check it to see if there was any damage... luckily there was none.
I really don't understand how people are entertained by being stupid. What's worse is that in the last few years the RattleSnake area is becoming overran with people who don't respect the peaceful atmosphere...
Sigh...
Anyway, anyone else have trouble last weekend in the Rattlesnake area?
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skinnyclimber
May 7, 2007, 1:54 PM
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maybe you could start carrying a slingshot for retaliation purposes...
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taydude
May 7, 2007, 1:56 PM
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skinnyclimber wrote: maybe you could start carrying a slingshot for retaliation purposes...
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chalked4dyno
May 7, 2007, 2:15 PM
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Was at rattlesnake Saturday, saw some folks walking in from the base. Was going to give them hell, but when I was packed up and heading out, they had already left. Other than that, my wife got to watch some guy piss right near the trail.
Glad you're all ok.
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granite_grrl
May 7, 2007, 3:58 PM
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marcuder wrote: Anyway, anyone else have trouble last weekend in the Rattlesnake area?
Last weekend! This is not an isolated case, happens far too often....almost every weekend.
You may laugh at me for wearing a helmet at the base even if I'm just TRing. You won't be laughing when one of those rocks hit you.
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geezergecko
May 7, 2007, 4:16 PM
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Usually it's kids on the trail above. They see a cliff and get an urge to throw something over it. I had a close call last year at the south end of Nemo.
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majid_sabet
May 7, 2007, 4:34 PM
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use # 1 to protect yourself against as8holes below the rock and use # 10 when see them face to face.
[URL=http://imageshack.us]
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marcuder
May 7, 2007, 4:46 PM
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LOL, speaking of... I can't get over your helmut Geezergecko! I was envious of it while frying in the noon sun...
Yes, rifles... mmmmm... better yet remotely actiavted, claymore directional mines strategicaly placed to shread interlopers of the top of the cliff whilst leaving the rest of us climbers unhamred down below... mmmmmm....
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kevinwaldock
May 7, 2007, 5:43 PM
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I think the solution is easy. expect it to happen, wear your helmet, and if yer really scard go climbing at kelso, or fraggle, or nemo where it is much more unlikly to happen. I've been under attack at rattlesnake but not at buffalo.
just my 2 cents.
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granite_grrl
May 7, 2007, 7:19 PM
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kevinwaldock wrote: I think the solution is easy. expect it to happen, wear your helmet, and if yer really scard go climbing at kelso, or fraggle, or nemo where it is much more unlikly to happen. I've been under attack at rattlesnake but not at buffalo. just my 2 cents.
I have delt with kids throwing rocks from the top at all those crags (except fraggle which I haven't climbed at). Its more likely to happen at Rattlesnake, but very common at all those Halton Conservation crags.
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grinspoon
May 7, 2007, 7:44 PM
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I climbed at Nemo once and there were kids throwing rocks off the top. Falling rock combined with poorly placed bolts, polished holds and chossy rock have steered me clear of ever climbing along the escarpment again. I feel like the place is a death trap.
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kevinwaldock
May 8, 2007, 8:13 PM
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I think timing makes a huge difference. I work in the oakville area so we usally hit up RSP, adn BC after work on weekdays. You'd have to drug me and trick me into going there on a weekend. You should try fraggle out sometime it's a bit of a walk from kelso but way more quite on the weekend. And we've never came under fire there.
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marcuder
May 8, 2007, 9:01 PM
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Nemo seems to be ok, but then I haven't been to the 'sport' area since I started tradding a year ago. Granted, I dunno what happened but lately it seems that the easily accessible climbing areas in Milton have become overran with people. Probably just a matter of time before someone gets killed and the 'authorities' take a serious look at closing the area off to climbers. In the meantime the thing to do is to go East of Alfred wall where the thickets grow and play there. Hardly every do you see any n00Bs there... Trad climbing is great for getting away from the rest of the rabble. 
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caughtinside
May 8, 2007, 9:06 PM
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ah yes. the good old tourist firing squads are common at all easy top access crags.
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alexschultz1
May 15, 2007, 2:26 AM
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10mm glock 29. light, portable, but enough power to blow through a black bears skull 
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chossmonkey
May 17, 2007, 10:59 PM
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marcuder wrote: So here we are climbing at the Bufflo Crag when some asshole decides throw a sizable chunk of the escarpment down near where the bunch of us were climbing. Ofcourse there was a chorus of acrimony from our side and the loser was ran off. The rock landed near my rope and I had to check it to see if there was any damage... luckily there was none. I really don't understand how people are entertained by being stupid. What's worse is that in the last few years the RattleSnake area is becoming overran with people who don't respect the peaceful atmosphere... Sigh... Anyway, anyone else have trouble last weekend in the Rattlesnake area?
Last weekend someone started pissing off the top of the cliff onto the route to the side of where we were. Had someone been on that route near the top they would have got a shower for sure.
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alexmac
May 18, 2007, 3:08 AM
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marcuder wrote: So here we are climbing at the Bufflo Crag when some asshole decides throw a sizable chunk of the escarpment down near where the bunch of us were climbing. Ofcourse there was a chorus of acrimony from our side and the loser was ran off. The rock landed near my rope and I had to check it to see if there was any damage... luckily there was none. I really don't understand how people are entertained by being stupid. What's worse is that in the last few years the RattleSnake area is becoming overran with people who don't respect the peaceful atmosphere... Sigh... Anyway, anyone else have trouble last weekend in the Rattlesnake area?
I got worse, caught a lady untying someones top rope setup at rattlesnake with a Freaking bus load of tourists touring Canada (not going to mention any nations)
Once I made it clear that she and her tour group were not welcome at the crag or the nation they went away.
Checked the groups setup and went home , getting the fuck out of dodge.
(This post was edited by alexmac on May 18, 2007, 3:10 AM)
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stymingersfink
May 18, 2007, 5:12 AM
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just to clear up a little confusion generated by the thread title...
a near miss means... they nearly missed, but didn't?
personally, I would rather deal with a near hit, in which i was nearly hit, but the throw missed the mark.
g.carlin has asked the same question, perhaps this is where some of my confusion stems from.
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marcuder
May 18, 2007, 2:02 PM
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Lol, I've always wondered why the news describes two planes nearly colliding as a "near-miss"... so did they like came 'this close' to missing eachother and collided?
... but what I really think it means, in our NorAmerican vernacular, as "came near, and thankfuly missed". I tend to go by meaning most generally understood by the lowest common denominator of society.
Incidentally, it seems that dictionaries don't seem to agree on what it means since 'www.dictionary.com' describes a "near miss" as:
1. a strike by a missile that is not a direct hit but is close enough to damage the target.
2. an instance of two vehicles, aircraft, etc., narrowly avoiding a collision.
3. something that falls narrowly short of its object or of success: an interesting movie, but a near miss.
It seems that item 1 contradicts item 2 and 3... so I don't know...
Anyhow, last weekend a rock flew down again near us, this time falling exactly inline with a friend of mine who was building a ground anchor just below an overhang and thereby not visible from the top. Had she decided to walk out from under at a wrong moment she'd get nailed by brick sized object - helmet or no helmet damage would have been done, if not worse. As to someone actually messing with an anchor setup - WTF!? It's as good as shooting someone with a gun!
I really think that Rattlesnake area needs more signs at the trail heads describing how you should avoid throwing anything down because I truly think that many of these incidents are people being ignorant of the possibility of there being anything down below. When I think about it there is not really anything pointing out to visitors to the park that there is always the possibility of climbers on the crag. I know - there are some signs that mention rock climbing but unfortunately there are so many stupid people out there that won't connect... like the other day, while in the gym we saw this kid tie in and proceed up a wall... without a belayer! It seems that the instructor taught a group how to tie a figure 8 on the harness and was called away for a second. Ofcourse the kid made a few too many assumptions about the anchor system up top, inspite of the fact that you can see the top rope running freely through chains up-top, never mind all the slack on the rope... sigh... if my friend didn't jump in on the belay and take the slack out the kid would have decked first time he took. Anyway, what the hell was he thinking?! He looked old enough to be 16 or 18. What was gonna save him from falling?! Fairy dust?!
But I digress... anyway, my point is that if park visitors had some clear indications of dangers to others they pose when they're being stupid it would perhaps cut down the occurrence. I know, not all but any reduction in general ignorance is always a good thing.
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granite_grrl
May 23, 2007, 6:26 PM
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marcuder wrote: I really think that Rattlesnake area needs more signs at the trail heads describing how you should avoid throwing anything down because I truly think that many of these incidents are people being ignorant of the possibility of there being anything down below.
I don't know, I've seen teen tossing rocks from the top right after they saw me top out on a climb and I was belaying up my second (at Kalso). If they can't put one and one together when they know someone just came up the side of the cliff, how would a sign be any different?
I think that the park needs to start fining people who throw things from the top of the cliff and put up signs about that. Even the stupidist people want to protect their check book.
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dretket
May 23, 2007, 6:50 PM
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I dunno, I was always taught to never throw anything off a cliff for that very same reason. You never know what might be down there. That said, If I ever see a rock thrown off the side of a crag, I will run to the top, grab the kid and chuck him off the side of the cliff (with fair-warning for the people below of course).
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binrat
May 25, 2007, 5:43 PM
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There was an accident years ago where a climber was leading trad and some local rich kids were drinking beer at the top. The climber took a empty on the chin and the thrower took several to the chin after. Stupid people are put on the earth to make the rest of us look brilliant.
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desertdude420
May 28, 2007, 5:09 AM
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binrat wrote: There was an accident years ago where a climber was leading trad and some local rich kids were drinking beer at the top. The climber took a empty on the chin and the thrower took several to the chin after. In reply to: Stupid people are put on the earth to make the rest of us look brilliant.
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phang_nga
May 28, 2007, 5:44 AM
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desertdude420 wrote: binrat wrote: There was an accident years ago where a climber was leading trad and some local rich kids were drinking beer at the top. The climber took a empty on the chin and the thrower took several to the chin after. In reply to: Stupid people are put on the earth to make the rest of us look brilliant. That's how Bush got elected!
Classic! 
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. At least its not the heat of summer yet where you're just melting off the slick holds. 
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