Did ya know — AJ has nearly 5,000 stories in our archive? We’re busily working on a redesign of our website to better feature stories from the past so that new readers — or veteran AJ lovers who missed ’em the first time around — can enjoy. Like this story from 2018 that stoked debate about climbing etiquette. -Ed.
All climbers have their list of personal pet peeves—for many of my generation it starts with groups of ten or more, never having done a multi-pitch climb, lining up for the North Chimney of Castleton Tower. (“Hey, it’s only 5.9 right?”) For younger climbers, it’s close-minded curmudgeons such as myself who prattle on endlessly about the good old days.
One thing everyone can agree on is that things have changed. In the early 1970s, Yvon Chouinard observed that climbers were primarily a bunch of guys who couldn’t get a date. We were struck dumb if a woman ever showed up carrying rock shoes. We still believed that the leader must not fall, while today the rule is if you’re not flyin’ you’re not tryin’.
Looking back, I believe my partners and I were probably too scared of climbing’s risks, but watching climbers today I sometimes feel they don’t take the risks seriously enough. Inattentive belaying, uneven ropes on rappel, poor communication, unfinished knots, and the improper use of gear can get people killed.
But when talking about what’s annoying, it’s worth considering that pretty much any habit becomes a bad habit when multiplied by 10, 15, 20 or more individuals. There is an adage in land management that if users can’t manage themselves, they need to be managed. This means that if climbers want to avoid ever more regulations, it’s imperative that we recognize the impact our growing numbers have on each other and the places we climb.
In that spirit, here’s a list of bad habits we should recognize and try to break.
1. Monopolizing the Route
Anyone who has visited a popular climbing area in the past few years has witnessed one or more parties siege top-roping a route or an entire section of cliff for hours on end.
This particularly irritating habit has reached its zenith in Utah’s Indian Creek where large groups not only bogart a route, they often save it for friends who haven’t even arrived.
Solution: Remember the public in public lands. Climbing crags are a shared resource so come ready to share. If you’d like to keep working a route, allow waiting parties to take their turn, then if no one else is waiting, politely ask them to re-hang your rope and draws. And keep in mind, people who are not physically present never have precedence over those who are.
2. Top Roping Through Fixed Anchors
When the Access Fund polled local climbers’ organizations about the habits that drove them nuts, bogarting and toproping through fixed gear topped everyone’s list. If you’ve never put up a sport route, you don’t know how expensive it is. A friend of mine who has put up hundreds of new routes estimates that he has invested more than $40,000 in bolts, hangers, chains, and drill bits. Outdoor crags are not like gyms, where everyone pays to climb and therefore shares in the cost of replacing worn gear.
Solution: When top roping, always run the rope through your own personal carabiners at the top of the route.
3. Being Loud
I asked my climber friends what pissed them off the most and guide Lindsay Fixmer didn’t hesitate before denouncing loud music at the crag, stating vehemently that “under no circumstances should reggae ever be allowed and definitely no Grateful Dead either.” However, N.W.A. is fine. Lindsay was kidding (sort of) but her response illustrates the dangers of relying on personal taste when defining bad behavior. Don’t assume that others share your highly refined taste in music, wine, or anything else.
Solution: If you must have music when you climb (and ear buds just aren’t good enough) ask everyone within earshot if music bothers them. And if they say yes, be willing to turn it off or move on. Even better, open yourself to the radically healing and transformative experience of the stillness of nature and save Rihanna for the drive home.
4. Flying Drones
The bad habit of using drones to shoot climbing video is a sub-category of noise but with the added irritation that it’s also an invasion of privacy. No one enjoys having a giant mechanical insect buzzing near their shoulder as they search frantically for the next mono.
Solution: If you must fly a drone, talk to everyone. Explain what you’re up to and how long you’ll be filming. Do your business quickly, then pack it up. Never film anyone without permission.
5. Bringing Dogs
Just because you like dogs, doesn’t mean it’s a good idea to bring one to the crag. This topic is as polarizing as guns in America, I know, but limiting dogs at the crag can be for their own good. Zoaster Toaster, one of the most popular routes in Utah’s Maple Canyon, got its name when a dog named Zoaster was frolicking below as the route was cleaned and bolted. A cobble the size of a grapefruit fell from the wildly overhanging wall and clocked Zoaster directly on the noggin.
Zoaster went down and everyone thought it was for good. However, after about 10 minutes the mighty pooch rose from the dead and resumed his romping as though nothing had happened. But still.
Solution: In your heart of hearts you already know whether your dog is “crag worthy,” but just to make sure check out this excellent blog post from the Access Fund on how to responsibly bring dogs climbing.
6. Faulty Parenting
Combining kids with climbing is another emotionally charged minefield. On one hand, we want our kids to experience and fall in love with the activities and places we love and that enrich our lives. On the other, no one ever wants to see kids having a lousy time, or worse yet get hurt.
A few years ago I was trad climbing in Utah’s Little Cottonwood Canyon. As I started the second pitch I heard a commotion. Looking over to the next route, I discovered a young couple a rope length above the ground frantically shouting down to their two small children who were playing unattended at the base of the cliff. It turned out that the kids were playing with a good-sized rattlesnake.
If one learns to climb in a gym it’s conceivable that you might make the mistake of assuming that because climbing gyms are relatively safe, controlled, and kid friendly, then climbing outside must be as well.
The main issue is safety. Sure, badly behaved kids can be annoying, but that’s nothing compared to the acute discomfort of watching children placed in harm’s way. And please don’t think that putting a helmet on a child protects them from rock fall. Helmets can protect against small stones, but a direct hit from a rock of more than a few ounces can be fatal for children and adults.
Solution: When you take the kids out, your mission is one hundred percent ensuring their safety and providing them with a good experience. This means choosing crags wisely, keeping children and their toys well back from danger zones, and teaming up with other parents or others who are willing to watch the kids while you pull down. Oh, and did I mention to bring plenty of snacks? The dogs at the crag will love them.
7. Inappropriate Poop Management
Jeff Pedersen, founder and CEO of Momentum Climbing Gyms, told me a story that illustrates the potential risks of outdoor sanitation. Back when he was a full-time climber, Pedersen had an ongoing argument with a friend about the proper way to dispose of used toilet paper at the crag. He said the best method was to bury it, while his friend said burn it.
One summer the two were working a route near St. George, Utah, but first Pedersen’s partner had to answer the call of nature. A few minutes went by and Pedersen turned to discover the entire hillside below engulfed in flames. His buddy had set a match to his toilet paper and a gust of wind had carried the flaming wad into tinder-dry grass.
Years later, Pedersen remembers, “Forget the send. We spent that entire day chasing burning embers. We had to take the floor mats out of my truck and use them to beat out the flames. By the time we got the fire out we were so torched ourselves we didn’t have enough strength to climb 5.7.”
Solution: Lacking an outhouse, the best method is to use a disposable wag bag and carry your waste out. For more on this and other ways to lessen your impact, refresh your knowledge of the Leave No Trace principles here.
8. Mansplaining
I include this as a public service to male climbers of a certain age, dudes who’ve been climbing most of their lives but think nothing notable has happened since Warren Harding climbed the Dawn Wall. If women want pointers about where the nearest 5.8 classics are located and how to properly climb them—and they probably don’t—they’ll ask.
Solution: Stop. Just stop.
Being a good climbing citizen distills to living by the golden rule. Be considerate of others. Cultivate self-awareness. Ask yourself if your behavior could annoy those around you, and if so whether there’s an alternative? Be outgoing and friendly. And remember that one of the best things about climbing is climbers. Life-long climber Jim Donini, 73 this year, never complains about the increased numbers in his beloved Indian Creek. He’s too busy making new friends.
For more on how to improve everyone’s climbing experience, I urge you to read and sign the Climber’s Pact, found right here at the Access Fund. And please support the Access Fund and your local climbers’ organization.
Chris Noble is the author of two books on climbers and the climbing lifestyle, Women Who Dare and Why We Climb. Photos by the author.
You missed the biggest problem with climbers, MULTI TRAILING. Grand County Trail Mix has stared addressing this problem in Moab. Stay on the Trail or stay home.
As a crag developer in northern utah the dog thing is real for me. As a developer i feel management of trails and stsging areas is my job, levelling, cutting scrub oak re growth, stumps that grab the belay line.
Some staging area that are a bit sideways are constantly getting undercut by digging dogs looking for flat cool dirt.
I get the ” really asshole, look ” half the time i mention it to dog owners.
I believe they think their dog is ” well behaved ”
I spend hours re grading staging sreas every spring for safty and comfort. ” labor of love yall.
I agreed with everything until the author went full social justice warrior and decided to be sexist against men. Mansplaining? Are you kidding me? How about just not being a douche? Why is it okay to attach a gender to a behavior and pretend like there’s no woman out there who is self important and presumes to give others unsolicited advice? Imagine if someone wrote a blog and made their #8 “womansplaining” – I include this as a psa to girls of a certain age who think and behave a certain way because of what’s between their legs.
Seriously man, stop being entitled, you have no clue…Especially for a single woman out there.
No actually that person is right.
The concept of “mansplaining” is highly overrated.
Relevant reading: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arguments-should-not-be-silenced-because-of-their-authors-race-or-sex/article17956547/
“No, actually…” Was that supposed to be a joke? Must have gone over my head because women have no sense of humor.
Are you mansplaining mansplaining? Because that would be amazing.
Mansplaining is very real and making it about men is the very problem. It’s about people (mostly men) thinking women need things dumbed down to understand them.
You know what’s worse than dogs or kids at the crag? Thieves.
Good luck protecting your gear on the ground when you’re 4 pitches up without that dog…
I completely disagree with the no dogs rule. Dogs are meant to enjoy the outdoors with their owners. If they are well behaved there is no reason they shouldn’t be at the crag.
Problem is, everyone thinks their own dog is well behaved, even when they aren’t.
In my opinion the dogs enjoyment at a crag should be considered. I have felt bad for a friends dog that sat there and watched us climb all day. It anecdotally appears to be more stressful to the animal than being elsewhere.
Dogs are annoying at the crag. Yes some people can bring a dog Ott there and it will stay around the base of a multipitch all day until the owners are finished and that’s pretty cool. But seriously, not everyone is comfortable with dogs. Sort of like not everyone is comfortable at going maskless in public during a pandemic even if you are vaccinated. Think about other people then yourself. If one person had a problem, you have to respect that when in public.
If it’s your crag and you own the land, do what you want. If it’s public, please leave the dogs at home.
Totally agree with Josh. And so awesome to see your name out there JB from the North Country:)!!
Hi Rosemary,
There are many, many reasons why no dog should be allowed at the crag. First they have a substantially higher environmental impact in several ways than humans. But additionally every dog owner things their dog is a good dog even when they are told directly that is not the case. So besides the caring for the planet reasons the fact that as a collective dog owners will not police their own group to be considerate to other human beings it seems the only solution is to ban them completely.
I bring my dog to spite people like Jerry while knowing he isn’t well behaved around other dogs, but is calm and just chills around people.
How many turd bags do you see on trails in Red Rocks? People bag the poop and act like they will be returning to pick it up and dispose of it after the hike. Yet I see so many poop bags. I carried about 20 on my way back in from climbing Chrysalis last time out. That’s not really the kind of mellow walk out I’m looking for after a rad day of climbing.
Excellent. I am not a climber, but these bad climbing habits are very analogous to other outdoor activities and their bad habits.
Well said
Our impacts on fragile cliff side ecology are huge. It is a sensitive environment and we are really concentrating our use there, unlike hikers, mtbers and boaters. For that reason we need to be especially sensitive to our use of cliffs. I love dogs but they do seem to be an unnecessary additional burden to an already overtaxed ecosystem. Obviously, some dogs are much better at crag manners than others but I say leave them behind at popular, concentrated use crags.
Stay on established trails, especially in delicate environments like the desert. Respect parking area boundaries.
Tbh, other than being *that person* (We all know at least one. Probably more than one if you live in a crunchy mountain town.) that can’t do *anything* without their dog in tow, I don’t get why one would even want to bring their dog climbing.
Unless you let it run wild disturbing wildlife, bothering other climbers and generally being a nuisance, then it’s just going to be tied up, straining at its leash (Or maybe just laying there, assuming you have a *very* well trained and/or lazy dog), and bored out of it’s mind, while you and a partner work the route. So you’re going to be climbing while distracted by whether or not your dog is behaving (Assuming you have half a f*** to give about nearby climbers and their experience of their climbs. Apparently not always a safe assumption.), while your dog is either bored/agitated or at times both. Seems like neither party is going to be having their best time. Why not just leave the dog home?
A lot of active pursuits can be a lot of fun for dog *and* owner. I just don’t see climbing as being one of those.
Maybe if there is someone in your party, who is not otherwise occupied (i.e. belaying) and doesn’t actually mind being tasked with watching the dog (Kinda how parents often climb with other parents, to avoid the above mentioned issues with kids.) then it makes sense to bring a furry friend.
Crag dogs are pretty awesome. I’d take a crag dog over the entitled manbabies higher in the thread.
Dogs are not problem. The problem is you!! The problem is the people, we are too many. None problem of those were happening 25 years ago, when only a few number of persons were climbing. Nowadays the same areas where we use to climb are devastated, without plants as in the past. Do you want to do something for climbing community and for the humanity, DON’T BRING MORE CHILDREN TO THIS WORLD.
Dogs are not devastating climbing areas, people do it
Dogs are never the issue. Poor ownership coupled with myopic comprehension of your dogs actions and personality, however, are a huge issue.
To folks who just “don’t like dogs around”, regardless of what a given dog has NOT done to you? Stop being dogist.
I really came to toss out a quote I rather like, related to “the good old days”.
“There were never any good old days, just today, and tomorrow, it’s stupid thing we say, cursing tomorrow with sorrow.”
– Gogol Bordello
The older we get, the more we need to be reminded of this fact.