Climb ZA

I climbed at Strubens 1 on Saturday and I would like to know which self righteous t$#t decided to write the names and grades on the routes in permanent black marker? Why was it necessary to deface the rock? I assume that if you can write you can read a guidebook?

I've heard this one before - 'I thought I was just helping people cuz all the roks looks da same and thos guide books are even hard to understand guy.'

Should get the moron with the paintball gun to nail him.

At the risk of being on the receiving end of this s@#$ storm, what is acceptable then?

I've seen routes marked at all the places I've climbed and this is the first time I heard someone complain about it.

My suggestion is dont write on the rock at all - anywhere. Just use the guidebook, it gives you a better idea of the quality of the route, the difficulty etc. In this instance the person wrote the name on the route in addition to the grade - maybe you can understand the necessity of a grade - so that someone who climbs a 14 doesnt waste their time battling on a 27. This whole issue was debated in some lenght a while ago. My suggestion was if you really want to mark the route that badly fasten an engraved dog tag to the first bolt instead of making the crag look like a train station.

I like the dog tag idea, much better than the writing that fades anyway

i agree with mark, we dont want our crags looking like graffiti walls , thats what guide books are for..whats next , someone circling all the holds to show you where to grip next...i too was there climbing on sat morning and granted its not written in huge lettering , but lets keep things natural ..dog tag idea is great !

Writing on, or tagging, names and grades on routes is one step away from painting all the holds in vivid colours, and having arrows to indicate the crux.

One sure way to improve your route finding skills is to get it wrong every so often.

One of the trad lines at Muizenberg has a small plaque with the name of the route located near the start of the climb; i only noticed it by chance when i climbed past it. My first impression was that it was placed by the Mountain Club. Did not bother me too much, looked suitably faded and worn to give the impression it have been there for a long time.

Can't say it serves any real purpose though; its about 5 m off the ground and if you can't read the topo right to get to the start of the route then you probably should not try and climb the route at all ..

Some climbers may feel that its a bit too much of a \"label\" or \"commercial inroad\" in a traditional climbing area ... climbers like [b]Guest[/b] might feel the urge to go chop it.

If it serves no functional purpose why have it.

A piece of rock is covered in bolts & chalk, has a good path & is visited by thousands, who crap, piss, litter, make a noise. All the natural veg & fungus is long destroyed. And now an out cry over a names & grades written on the wall. Get over it. Some areas are sacraficed to the mob, others are preserved.

\"Writing on, or tagging, names and grades on routes is one step away from painting all the holds in vivid colours, and having arrows to indicate the crux.\"...JonoJ, this would be a new trend in the world,

Good point Marshall - if the place is a bit messy f%$k it up some more - hang on? does that make sense?

Hmmm, yeah, I get it now...

Thing is, Marshall won't write on the rock (bolts don't count, and that was a long time ago eh? ), but he's not going to get depressed about some moron tagging over Strubens. Discounting my comment earlier - it would be nice to see the dude with the paintball gun nail the koki-wielding maniac, maybe even have them switch weapons half time? - I'm not getting depressed about it either. People are stupid, so it is.

@OneDogClimbing: Half the time you'll be at the receiving end of a shit storm, the other half you'll be handing it out - that's how the intertubes work bro.

no worries nosmo, I was just curious about the violent reactions as I have seen routes being marked since I started climbing.

PS: I think we should give Marshal & Jono's home addresses to Drifter as punishment for saying out loud the crap about painting grips etc. - next thing someone will read it here and really think it's a good idea........

\"if the place is a bit messy f%$k it up some more - hang on? does that make sense?\" There is a guide written. The crag is close to major urban areas. There will only be more people going there in the future. It keeps them from the unspoiled places. Does it make sense getting upset about it?

The mentality was never \"if the place is a bit messy f%$k it up some more\" - the people who f%$k it up either are too ignorant or just don't care. People are stupid, and I don't care, I just try to avoid the effects. Luckily, stupid people are also often lazy i.e. not keen to walk a bit.

Something related: Who marks/marked routes at Boven?

If I may add fuel to the fire: I think a much worse problem than marking of routes is the littering. #1: i don't like being reminded of the messy city, if I liked the look I'd go hiking in Diepsloot #2 I've noticed a couple of climbing spots closed (specifically in the Cape) \"As a result of climbers littering\"


- chicks dig scars -

Thats the point - if you dont voice your opinion and just accept whatever happens and justify / rationalise it by saying the spot is commercial or whatever, then you're silence is effectively encouraging the practice. And as civilisation sprawls, those out of the place areas that we all treasure are going to end up the same.

I agree 100% on the litter issue (everywhere not just at climbing spots) watch how people throw things out their car windows without thinking twice. To much freedom and acceptance leads to decay. (dramatic but true)

i dig the dog tag idea. Although Im not too concerned about a marker on the wall. marker will probably rub off in no time anyway. Murals and neon lights are a bit much. lol

LItter grates my bean and makes me wanna go postal though. Nothing worse than getting out to nature and some punk has left joburg there. I just kill my smoke and stash the butts in my bag. really not that much effort!

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I do appreciate the names written at Strubens 1. It was done in a neat way and I do not see it degrade the rock or general feel at Strubens.
And as far as I know, the RD's are outdated. So seeing the route names help people like me