Eye of the Tornado
Last Tuesday, 4/21/09, I made a short trip out to Little si. There was noone there on this beautiful day and to my surprise someone had left draws up one of the most traveled 5.11b’s of the crag, Aborigine. My first thought was, “What happened?! Why would someone leave all of their draws on a climb like this?” My second thought was, “Sweet! Free gear!” They were nice draws two of which were nice petzl draws and the rest metolius extended draws, 7 draws total but the extended draws had several beaners and slings to each of them. My friends Mika, and Kyle showed up later and I pointed out that there were draws hanging on Aborigine, a route I’ve done 20 times or so. I kept on convincing myself that taking these draws was justice in itself since I’ve been to this crag hundreds of times and have never seen hanging draws on Abo., especially in the middle of the week, no matter what the circumstances are. But, in the end it was a very wrong thing to do. Taking anything that does not belong to you, whether intentional or un-intentional is just plain wrong, and generates some bad karma. I stripped the draws off the climb and we split them up between the three of us with the stipulation that if anyone came up that day we would ask them if the draws belonged to them. No one came up for the rest of the day and we left.
Well, here is where the story gets interesting and I’m not surprised if anyone out there reading this is shaking their heads in disgust at my actions, but tonight, Friday, 4/24/09, I just checked cascadeclimbers.com, a popular climbing forum for the PAC NW, and to my surprise Bret Johnston had left a thread labeled ‘Theft at Little si!’. My heart leapt into my throat and I knew it was about those draws. I had just gotten off the phone with my friend Dom who chastised me and berated me for taking the draws in the first place so I was feeling pretty crappy after seeing this thread. I read all the posts, most of them stating that I was a rotten, immoral, thief and that I should be banned from climbing and life on this planet. I’ve posted a few comments from the site about the incident:
“No disrespect intended ot either the botty hauler or Mr. Johnson.
But we are talking 5 or 6 slings and the accompaning biners. (if they were mine I'd actually know the number missing)
At least two of them were "sponsored draws". In the grand scheme of things not that much money even for a "non-working" climber. For someone that is at least particially sponsored and willing to freeely replace old gear on the wall not much of a ding in the pocket book.
Our shit being ripped from the base of a climb or out of a car is one thing, leaving your gear hanging on MODERATE climbs by sport standards is another.
Just an FYI but if I had seen a half dozen draws hanging on a moderate 5.11, mid week, I might have taken the time myself to hang my way up the thing just for the fun and the free booty.
But I don't score booty these days. Bad Karma, IMO. I've had enough stuff ripped off over the years. Found a bunch as well. With the ability to communicate via the Internet these days everyone seems to think what they "leave" should be returned. I've picked up 3 sets of leashless tools this winter at rap stations. Gave them back when I could. But if someone started bitching about "loosing" them and DEMANDED them back I'd sooner give them away to a good home. You'd have to be kinda a dumb ass to leave them there in the first place.
My guess is the poor bastard that did score your gear had no clue why you left it but I bet he didn't think it intentional. Bitching about it here might seem like an educational opportunity for some. The real lesson for me anyway is, don't be leaving your shit on "easy" climbs. Some climbers (looks like 50% from this thread) seem to think anything not locked up, nailed down and with a Rottweiler guarding it as free for the taking.”
“Whoever took the gear deserves a time out.
And no ice cream after dinner.
And give him his toys back.”
“OMG, so I left my wallet on the sidewalk outside my favorite beer store so that it would be there when I came back in a few days for another sixer and somebody totally stole my shit! WTF? THEFT ON 148th!!! Plus, those cards totally have my name on them. I go shopping all the time -- unless you intend to keep them in your wallet, I will see you!!”
“Exactly. I know at least 10 people who have redpointed extensions to abo. and none of them left draws up over night. Its seems that if you are working the 13d or even the 12c you could just put the draws up on your first trip up for the day and take them down on the way down at the end of the day. In general you don't see fixed draws on anything easier than 5.12 usually not anything easier than 12C. Little Si has routes that have fixed draws on them and abo isn't one of them. Again sucks someone took your draws it just not that surprising I guess.”
“it is stealing and if i caught you with my stuff, i'd kick your ass...end of story...”
“Taking draws off a sport route is bad form and stealing. If you see several draws on a route it is obvious that the person didn't leave them there as a bail bineer.
if the draws have been up all year and becoming worn, by all means take them down and stack them on ground next to the route. I would agree that fixed draws are sort of an eye-sore and should be used sparingly only for routes that is being actively projected at sport crag.
Also, just because you hiked a route with fixed draws doesn't mean you get to steal the draws.”
“Gear left on a climb is trash. Someone was kind enough to, hopefully, recycle your trash for you. Litterbug.”
“I am very disapointed at the level of discourse by many of the people in this discussion but it is CC.com what do you expect. I am a trad and alpine climber so I am well versed in bootying gear. However, when I see fixed draws on a route (overhanging or not, if I sent the route or not) I know to leave them in place. Someone obviously is serious about pushing their ability level. How can something be wrong with this. You would really have no knowledge of modern sport climbing tactics or no morals to believe it's OK to take multiple fixed draws off a route. IMHO It's the same as stealing fixed lines off a project.”
In the end I feel pretty bad, especially after reading what a lot of these guys say and realizing that my actions in this matter are not indicative of the kind of person I am, or want to be. At the time it did not cross my mind that this was considered stealing at all, but now I do and maybe that is the positive light that comes out of this shit storm. If the draws had belonged to some gumby climber who just left them there and didn’t care, me and my friends would be 7 draws richer and I would still think it’s okay to strip a full line of draws off a route, well traveled or not. However, they belonged to a well known climber who was projecting a 5.13d called Pornstar who trusted that noone would take his draws because why would any sane climber do that?! When it comes to the end of the day, it’s wrong to take draws(or anything that doesn’t belong to you) no matter if it’s Sharma, or climber X who can’t even send 5.9 on top rope. I’m putting the draws back, or giving them back in person, whichever comes first, and I’m revoking my membership to the climbing community of moral ethical people. From now on I vow to leave any, and everybody’s stuff alone, lesson learned. My apologies to the climbing community, and to Bret Johnston. I love Little si just as much as the next climber and have never taken draws before and again want to reiterate that I did not mean to cause anyone harm or distress and take full responsibility if I did. Please feel free to leave comments about what an asshole I am, or any other thoughts you have about this situation.
Well, here is where the story gets interesting and I’m not surprised if anyone out there reading this is shaking their heads in disgust at my actions, but tonight, Friday, 4/24/09, I just checked cascadeclimbers.com, a popular climbing forum for the PAC NW, and to my surprise Bret Johnston had left a thread labeled ‘Theft at Little si!’. My heart leapt into my throat and I knew it was about those draws. I had just gotten off the phone with my friend Dom who chastised me and berated me for taking the draws in the first place so I was feeling pretty crappy after seeing this thread. I read all the posts, most of them stating that I was a rotten, immoral, thief and that I should be banned from climbing and life on this planet. I’ve posted a few comments from the site about the incident:
“No disrespect intended ot either the botty hauler or Mr. Johnson.
But we are talking 5 or 6 slings and the accompaning biners. (if they were mine I'd actually know the number missing)
At least two of them were "sponsored draws". In the grand scheme of things not that much money even for a "non-working" climber. For someone that is at least particially sponsored and willing to freeely replace old gear on the wall not much of a ding in the pocket book.
Our shit being ripped from the base of a climb or out of a car is one thing, leaving your gear hanging on MODERATE climbs by sport standards is another.
Just an FYI but if I had seen a half dozen draws hanging on a moderate 5.11, mid week, I might have taken the time myself to hang my way up the thing just for the fun and the free booty.
But I don't score booty these days. Bad Karma, IMO. I've had enough stuff ripped off over the years. Found a bunch as well. With the ability to communicate via the Internet these days everyone seems to think what they "leave" should be returned. I've picked up 3 sets of leashless tools this winter at rap stations. Gave them back when I could. But if someone started bitching about "loosing" them and DEMANDED them back I'd sooner give them away to a good home. You'd have to be kinda a dumb ass to leave them there in the first place.
My guess is the poor bastard that did score your gear had no clue why you left it but I bet he didn't think it intentional. Bitching about it here might seem like an educational opportunity for some. The real lesson for me anyway is, don't be leaving your shit on "easy" climbs. Some climbers (looks like 50% from this thread) seem to think anything not locked up, nailed down and with a Rottweiler guarding it as free for the taking.”
“Whoever took the gear deserves a time out.
And no ice cream after dinner.
And give him his toys back.”
“OMG, so I left my wallet on the sidewalk outside my favorite beer store so that it would be there when I came back in a few days for another sixer and somebody totally stole my shit! WTF? THEFT ON 148th!!! Plus, those cards totally have my name on them. I go shopping all the time -- unless you intend to keep them in your wallet, I will see you!!”
“Exactly. I know at least 10 people who have redpointed extensions to abo. and none of them left draws up over night. Its seems that if you are working the 13d or even the 12c you could just put the draws up on your first trip up for the day and take them down on the way down at the end of the day. In general you don't see fixed draws on anything easier than 5.12 usually not anything easier than 12C. Little Si has routes that have fixed draws on them and abo isn't one of them. Again sucks someone took your draws it just not that surprising I guess.”
“it is stealing and if i caught you with my stuff, i'd kick your ass...end of story...”
“Taking draws off a sport route is bad form and stealing. If you see several draws on a route it is obvious that the person didn't leave them there as a bail bineer.
if the draws have been up all year and becoming worn, by all means take them down and stack them on ground next to the route. I would agree that fixed draws are sort of an eye-sore and should be used sparingly only for routes that is being actively projected at sport crag.
Also, just because you hiked a route with fixed draws doesn't mean you get to steal the draws.”
“Gear left on a climb is trash. Someone was kind enough to, hopefully, recycle your trash for you. Litterbug.”
“I am very disapointed at the level of discourse by many of the people in this discussion but it is CC.com what do you expect. I am a trad and alpine climber so I am well versed in bootying gear. However, when I see fixed draws on a route (overhanging or not, if I sent the route or not) I know to leave them in place. Someone obviously is serious about pushing their ability level. How can something be wrong with this. You would really have no knowledge of modern sport climbing tactics or no morals to believe it's OK to take multiple fixed draws off a route. IMHO It's the same as stealing fixed lines off a project.”
In the end I feel pretty bad, especially after reading what a lot of these guys say and realizing that my actions in this matter are not indicative of the kind of person I am, or want to be. At the time it did not cross my mind that this was considered stealing at all, but now I do and maybe that is the positive light that comes out of this shit storm. If the draws had belonged to some gumby climber who just left them there and didn’t care, me and my friends would be 7 draws richer and I would still think it’s okay to strip a full line of draws off a route, well traveled or not. However, they belonged to a well known climber who was projecting a 5.13d called Pornstar who trusted that noone would take his draws because why would any sane climber do that?! When it comes to the end of the day, it’s wrong to take draws(or anything that doesn’t belong to you) no matter if it’s Sharma, or climber X who can’t even send 5.9 on top rope. I’m putting the draws back, or giving them back in person, whichever comes first, and I’m revoking my membership to the climbing community of moral ethical people. From now on I vow to leave any, and everybody’s stuff alone, lesson learned. My apologies to the climbing community, and to Bret Johnston. I love Little si just as much as the next climber and have never taken draws before and again want to reiterate that I did not mean to cause anyone harm or distress and take full responsibility if I did. Please feel free to leave comments about what an asshole I am, or any other thoughts you have about this situation.
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