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jakedatc
Oct 13, 2004, 2:06 AM
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Hey,
I've decided to spread the head's up that has been passed to me.
There has been a forest service person walking around the area and i guess isn't too happy with the amount of impact climbers are making on the area. They are also a bit grumpy about the Fee program being fought.
TIPS AND SUGGESTIONS:
- Please walk on the side of the LEFT side of the road road facing traffic... and when cars come by move into a single file line off the pavement. It is a thin road and the locals do NOT like having people walking in the road.
- Trash.. Please use the Toilets in the parking lot or pack out your TP. Do Not leave TP laying on top of the ground/leaves. It's trash.. it's easy to spot.. it aggrivates the hell out of park workers. Other trash, cig. butts, tape, broken makeshift stick clips with tape on them, water bottles, etc need to be packed out.
- Parking.. on busy weekend's it can be bad but do not park along the side of the roads, if you're camping somewhere carpool as much as you can and take up one spot. There is extra parking in town.. drop off your gear then park over there and walk back.
-Trails.. i've noticed especially at Triple Corners, the center of Jimmy cliff(i know it's new chris and dave and it'll get fixed up), Yellowknife, and a bit at the hinterlands is mostly dirt or loose rock. Try to avoid sliding down and making it worse. If you're really nice take those loose rocks and build a flat stair. People will notice.. one stair will lead to others.
- Fixed Draws.. Project draws are part of sport climbing.. it will be hard to prevent it totally but it also looks bad to anyone that doesn't know why they are there. If you're not going to be on something for a few weeks.. take them down and put them back up when you come back.. Waimea is crazy with them.. sometimes Monsters.. which is silly since half of them can be stick clipped from the ground all the way up. Winter is coming soon.. i should hope all of them will come down for the season.
Like Ward says in the guidebook, the locals are not climbers so we have to make a good impression as to keep the relationship friendly. Speaking of the guidebook.. take the time to read the History and Access chapters in the beginning of the book.
Thanks
Jake
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jakedatc
Oct 13, 2004, 5:29 PM
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*bump*
other thoughts.. Dogs.. please pay attention to them if they are unleashed (which i'd prefer them not to be) there are a bunch of dogs up there and a fight would be make for a bad day. Also keep them leashed while you walk along the road... people have a habit of hauling ass around those corners and it would suck to have your pup hit :(
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darkside
Oct 14, 2004, 4:14 AM
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Jake: very well written post and many points there that are so easy to follow. I hope people will pass the word on these and encourage others to follow them.
Folks, as someone that works on access isues, I can attest to how simple changes in behaviour can make a difference. Like really, will walking in single file along the left side of the road really spoil your day? Yet while there last weekend I saw a group of climbers walking on the righthand side, that when a local drove up, they kept walking across half the road. A car was coming the opposite way and they kept walking. The local honked his horn as he approached but no one moved over so he honked again. I guarantee he was frustrated by the climbers and you can be fairly certain he now thinks climbers are ignorant. How hard would it be to move to the side?
I also took the time to build a couple of steps while at one crag. Just a couple, not a staircase. I will do that once in a while when taking a break from the climbing. One caution though; as you move rocks around, be sure they are not taken from a slope that will expose dirt and subsequently destabilize the slope. Also beware you do not create a step that wobbles and may cause someone to trip or roll. If you are going to do it, then do it right. Trails can be built well from the start but even older trails can be improved.
Leave No Trace is an organization that advocates all users minimise their impact and while much is aimed at hikers, they also have climbing related advise at this LNT LINK. LNT is not about zero impact but it is a good aspiration to aim for.
As climbing access faces increasing issues there is an increasing need for us all to be better advocates for our sport and the recommendations in Jake's post go some way to being better advocates and ambassadors. This is not only relative to Rumney but most any climbing area will benefit from such suggestions.
Climb safe and have fun.
Grant
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jules
Oct 15, 2004, 1:45 PM
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Right on, Jake. Most of these things should be intuitive but people don't seem to get it. There are signs everywhere reminding people to walk single-file on the left side of the road, but half of the people there still don't respect it. Trash is easy to pick up but people don't. The established trails, especially at the lower crags, are great but people still trailblaze through roped-off endangered plants.
And if you don't follow the simple rules, don't get pissed if someone says something to you. Jeopardizing everyone's access for your own convenience is NOT COOL and you WILL get called out for it.
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tradmanclimbs
Oct 15, 2004, 2:39 PM
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Just one of the issues is that people neet to STAY ON THE MARKED TRAILES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A lot of work has gone into makeing those trails and it only takes one camp group with kids running arround all day to trash a hillside. i have seen one undiciplined group of students cause several years of erosion dammage in one afternoon :evil:
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jakedatc
Oct 18, 2004, 6:23 PM
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Not only does it cause errosion but with all the leaves on the ground now it's pretty unsafe and one could easily slide for quite a ways down the hill in some spots.. some pretty steep
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jammer
Oct 18, 2004, 6:54 PM
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Agree! Access closures do happen. Take Pickledish Hollow. Even though the climbing area is not closed, due to improper and uncaring individuals/groups, climbers must park at the bottom of the hill and hike a mile uphill to the crags. This may not seem like much, but those who closed the parking access are happy as hell due to nobody wanting to hike to the crag. This area is seeing very little traffic these days. :(
Nobody can stop anyone from walking on the road ... hell, we pay taxes don't we??? BUT ... pissing off the locals can and will cause reactions toward the climbing community that will make a day at Rumney harder to enjoy. :nono: I've only heard of one incident where a climber had his tires slashed at the main wall parking lot, due to parking in front of another climber. I have not heard of any locals doing damage, but this could change very quickly.
Remember that we are visitors at Rumney. They live there. They enjoy hiking the trails watching climbers. Rumney has been good to the climbing community ... let's be good to them. If you witness anyone disrespecting the rules set forth by the Forest Service, get in their face. Hell, if they trashed the place, maybe hanging upside down by their own rope until the authorities arrive may be a good idea?!? :twisted: Become creative in your handling of these people who just don't give a hoot. :robert:
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jakedatc
Oct 25, 2004, 3:35 PM
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alan.. i know ur kidding but folks walking in the road REALLY pisses off the locals.. there is tons of shoulder space on both sides that folks dont need to be on the pavement.. hell you hike around all day on dirt.. keep it simple
Another thing i thought of yesterday... Red ribbon on the first (or any bolt) of a route is either a project or a newly finished route.. don't climb it until the tags come off.. for example.. some new glue ins went into a route yesterday and were tagged.. now if you ignored that and tried to climb and took a fall and yikes out they come
now that may seem obvious to folks who've been around sport areas for a while but hopefully this educates some new folks that didnt know
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