Sculptor Loose @ Muir!

[Buster]

Tuesday @ The Lode one of the young kids was saying that while he was climbing at Muir Valley he saw some old dad hanging near the anchor of one of the new moderates. The old boy was Wes Humping and chipping at the clipping hold and at the same time declaring that since it was the jug used to clip the anchor it should be bigger. I wonder if Rick Weber is aware that some retarded and shabby chipper is loose on his land. I suspect that the lord of the manor wouldn't condone any such behavior and if caught, the offending sculptor would be shown door (so to speak) and asked to never return. Any thoughts?

[kirker]

If it was a new route is there any chance there was loose rock that was potentially going to hurt someone.
3rd party hear say has been known to be misinterpreded.

[anticlmber]

well shouldn't it be bigger. i mean it's the end of the route and won't make it any easier.

[Buster]

practice sculpting

[Buster]

well shouldn't it be bigger. i mean it's the end of the route and won't make it any easier.

Tell that to anyone that has redpointed The High Hard One.

[anticlmber]

ok so one route. might as well make all the other ones more comfortable.

[kirker]

ok so one route. might as well make all the other ones more comfortable.

I've wished for R and L labels. But that maybe pushing it.

[anticlmber]

lL and R are work fine IF you know which hand is which.

[ashtray]

asdf

[Like This]

If there was a reason to, like kirker said, such as possible rock fall, then sure. Other than that just leave it. Esp in places like Muir or Torrent.

[anticlmber]

chipped holds are fine so long as you don't tick them.

[ashtray]

asdf

[krampus]

I personally tick every hold that I think needs to be chipped so I can come back later.

[pigsteak]

ashtray and buster....

here was my current dilemma, and perhaps you can address it...

at the crux, there is some manky rock....nothing incredibly huge, but enough that if it hit your belayer, there could be some serious injury. that being said, I originally put an "X" on the underside of this flake. every time I got to this section, I found that I continued to attempt the crux without this hold, for fear of pulling rock down on my belayer, or taking the big flyer myself.

a lighter climber than I, by about 80 pounds, went up and sent this line using the manky hold. two days later, a climber of my weight went up, grabbed the hold, and it blew off in his hand. since it was "x"'d, does his use of this hold consitute just plain ignorance or is it chipping. he "knew" it was bad to start with.

my real question...is it acceptable to trundle "x"'d holds? what about cleaning off the blocks laying loosely in a ledge that might be kicked off by a lay down rest?
sholdn't the climbers just be more aware, and climb around these loose rocks?

[Buster]

Holds break, routes get harder (or sometimes easier) with usage. This is the natural way of things. Most places with questionable rock accept vigorous cleaning before the FA. At Smith if you don't clean your new route enough they will even pull your FA card. When in doubt break questionable holds off before someone else does accidentally.
This is different than hanging at the anchor and declaring that the hold used to clip the anchor is just not big enough and must be enlarged for safety sake. This sort of logic leads could lead to "this crux move clipping hold isn't big enough, someone might slip off it and deck, let's "fix" it. Arrogance and hubris taken too far in my opinion. What I call a dicey clip hold is a rest jug for someone that is actually a good climber. Climbing has always been about challenge and risk. Why take it away?