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killclimbz
May 28, 2002, 4:12 PM
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Registered: May 6, 2000
Posts: 1964
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This past weekend I was climbing in the Dinosaur Mountain area in the Flatirons. There are several closures in the area that are well posted throughout the park. In the Dinosaur Mtn area the East Face of Der Zerkle and The Finger Flatiron are closed. All other faces are still open to climbing, just the slabs are off limits.
I was doing some sport climbs on the West side of Der Zerkle and I noticed some climbers doing the East Face on the Finger Flatiron. I yelled up at them that the face was closed and they didn't even acknowledge me. I know they knew I was speaking to them and they chose to ignore me.
Now I had my cell phone with me and I came damn close to calling the park rangers to pick these jerks up. A $1000 fine and getting their climbing gear confiscated would've served them right. This kind of behavior I find unacceptable. The closure is for nesting animals and is not in place all year. On top of this the climb is a freak'in 5.6. There are at least a dozen other slab route 5.6's in the Flatirons that are open. Heck the 5.6 on the first is ten times better. These morons just decided that they were going to climb whatever they choose. I did let a ranger know people were climbing on that face and they said they will get some people on foot patrol there.
Nothing endangers a climbing area more than ignoring closures. I think the next time I see this I will use my Cell to notify local authorities of this type of moronic irresponsibility. What do you think?
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iclimbtoo
May 28, 2002, 4:42 PM
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Registered: Feb 10, 2002
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i agree. this kind of behavior is unacceptable. If we want to keep areas open to climb at, then we need to be responsible and obey the rules. I think you did the right thing, however, I would have used my cell immediately to notify authorities. Next time, don't be so merciful. Thanks to people like you though, a lot of park rangers still respect the climbing communities. Way to go.
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crackaddict
May 28, 2002, 11:23 PM
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Registered: Jun 24, 2000
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I think that that is very lame of them to climb when closures were in effect.
I think that you did the right thing. These guys needed to be dealt with and set straight.
But while I read this a question popped in my head.
By alerting officials are we putting the whole area in risk of being closed down?
Sometimes officals won't look at the fact that. You, a climber told them of this.
They might want to make an example of these guys and shut the whole area down.
Once again this is just a question that popped into my head. I don't agree with what they were doing!
I support anyone who does there part in abiding with closures.
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sezumpf
May 28, 2002, 11:41 PM
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Registered: Mar 28, 2000
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Then again if more climbers were regulating the area and calling in people who were climbing in restricted areas then people may think twice about climbing in a restricted area.
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crackaddict
May 28, 2002, 11:51 PM
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Registered: Jun 24, 2000
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Good point Shane!
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