Would people please stop littering Frews Flutes at Ben Lomond with their tat. I've just spent a day chopping all the retreat slings off the Flutes. Recently, it has become common practice to only climb the first pitch, then rap off some slings. If people bail out because of danger, injury, bad weather or route difficulty, then fair enough. But I suspect that people are mainly doing this for several other reasons.
Firstly, there is fear of weetbix loose rock on some second pitches. There is some weetbix on lesser travelled climbs, but on the established classics this is not a problem. Get over it. If you can't handle the possibility of loose rock, then don't retreat after one pitch - rather, don't attempt the route at all.
Some say only the first pitches are worth doing. If you accept the challenge of climbing at a traditional multi-pitch crag, then climb the routes properly and go all the way to the top. You can't claim an ascent if you haven't done all the pitches.
Now the rap bolts have gone, some lazy people don't want to walk down, so they rap after one pitch. The rap station was mostly for convenience. People argue that the rap station saved the descent gully from erosion, but they forget that the approach gully is twice as trashed as a direct result of the bolts. Most climbers I've met are only token conservationists anyway.
An older generation of climbers happily climbed on the Flutes for 25 years before the rap station existed, and tat was virtually non-existent on the cliff. Some modern climbers are adopting their sport climbing, consumer friendly mentality to Ben Lomond and are trashing the place. They are either too inexperienced, too unfit, too scared, or too lazy to cope with the challenge. This is a serious, traditional crag requiring a high level of fitness, jamming technique, and some general mountain experience and navigational skill to descend safely. There's nothing wrong with being inexperienced, unfit and scared, but if people don't have the skill, fitness, experience or mindset to cope with these challenges, then they shouldn't climb on Ben Lomond. And if they simply can't be bothered walking down and leave their tat as a result, then lazy litterbugs like this are not welcome on the mountain. The cliff has been returned to its original, bolt free, tat free state, and will remain so.

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17 Comments

  1. garry phillips

    Sitting here in the canadian rockies at the moment, ENJOYING MY CLIMBING AND checking out the sarvo!
    Ben Lomond tat hey!
    Well the way i see it, if some one didnt remove the bolts (after all they were there for at least 12 years with no problem)then there would not be so much tat!
    The bottom pitches are the best, going to the top isnt always necessary. I think you are trying to get at the younger generation in my opinion!
    To me it seems that you used the convience of bolts back in the day. But now you resent them because you dont climb there as often?
    Also speaking to a respected Tasmanian climber a while a go about the removal of the bolts his comments were
    "back in the day Garry we just threaded some tat and made a dodgy old rap, we didnt always climb to the top)
    so there you have it, its been going on for years.
    Any way im going to indian creek crack climbing tomorrow, look forward to climbing some splitters and running it out on the cams. Then at the top ill clip into the abseil bolts or tat and rap off. Great fun!
    Saves having to walk off around salt lake city to the camp site!
    May be you should travel obver seas and experience it!
    Rather than read magazines and ruin peoples experiences!
    im not being mean , but i speak for a vast majority of climbers, i know some one is going to come down hard on me but thats my opinion and i STAND STRONG on what ive seen around the world and done
    thanks
    garry

  2. Doug Bruce

    Ho hum. More verbal diarrhoea from Mr Ben Lomond Ownerman.
    How about going the whole hog with the pristine theme by rehabilitating all the vegetation and then forcing everyone who wants to climb on the Flutes to access and egress via hot air balloon?

    1. Gerry Narkowicz AUTHOR

      I guess one does feel a sense of ownership when Bob (182 first ascents) and me (75 first ascents) have put up the vast majority of routes on Ben Lomond. We have taken steps to try and keep this crag in its bolt free, traditional and pure state, a place which we have spent many years developing and have a deep connection to. How would you feel if we started interfering in the ethics and future direction of climbing on the Pipes? No-one has a sense of ownership over the Pipes, and consequently a beautiful alpine crag has been bolted to buggery, and there are trashed gullies and tracks through the scrub everywhere. You can do what you like to your local crags, but we aren't going to let Ben Lomond degenerate into the open slather tragedy that the Pipes has become.

      1. Simon Parsons

        Lets keep the debate rational. Everybody has benefited from most of the bolted routes on the Pipes, and yet most locals in Hobart would now agree that further indiscriminate bolting should stop. The trails are required but will require ongoing maintenance.

        There are a few exceptions e.g. Doug McC plans to remove his bolts from the line left of Resurrection Shuffle.

        Gerry, you have put more bolts in Hillwood than you have done new routes on the Ben, and remember that the routes were always there and you were just the first human to ascend them - although I suspect some lizard got there before you.

        My approach has always been to climb the best climbs, even if that means repeating other routes, rather that put up unimportant new ones for reasons of ego, especially when bolts are used. I would have placed less than a dozen bolts in my time, and am happy to have them removed from any of my routes if climbed clean (no pins either Nick H.)

        The Pipes remains a fabulous crag and has not yet been destroyed but care is required to keep it that way.

        I think most support Gerry's call for a bolt free Ben Lomond, but a few well placed rap anchors can be very beneficial and environmentally protective.

        1. Gerry Narkowicz AUTHOR

          Yes I have put plenty of bolts in at places like Hillwood. I'm not against bolts as such - its the context in which they are placed. I believe the Ben is not the right context and should be preserved as a traditional, bolt free area. I can see the rationale behind some bolted rap points, but it creates an ambiguity. There were a few people seriously contemplating bolted routes on the Ben, and the existence of the rap bolts created a grey area which opened the door for bolted routes. Now there is no ambiguity - the bolts are gone. People saw no need for rap points for the first 25 years of development and leaving tat on the first belay ledges was never done for convenience sake. There is still no need for bolts or tat - climb the routes all the way to the top and walk down - don't leave unecessary tat just because you can't be bothered walking down or doing the second pitch. Fair enough if someone has an epic though. I can't believe that in this day and age of environmental gloom and doom, that people are critical of trying to maintain ONE area in its pristine state. Yes the paths are necessary to access and descend from routes on the Pipes, yet there are heaps more paths and heaps more environmental damage on the Pipes. There is one descent path at the Flutes and 50m or so of scrub will become a well worn path now the bolts are gone. We could cairn this route so everyone goes down the same way to reduce damage. How many people climb on the Flutes anyway? My guess is that less than 100 individuals a year climb there. A sidepoint - how many people have truly climbed Masterblaster or Dangerman? If they rap after the first pitch, they can't claim to have done the route. They might have done the crux pitch, but for a proper ascent they should top out.

          1. tony mckenny

            Oh dear, yet again this debate descends rapidly into farce, overstatement, name calling and fabrication. How silly.
            Simon's measured comments are worth mulling over and a thoughtful response, but some of the wilder assertions around at the moment should be addressed immediately.
            Firstly, there is a growing sense of community stewardship of the Pipes, with climbers talking to the Trust, looking after the tracks and moderating the bolting of new climbs. This is as a result of increased dialogue and consensus building and hopefully will continue to improve over time.
            What is also true is that there has been a marked and rapid increase in usage, due in no small part to the publication of the Climb Tasmania and the new Mountain Guides. The carpark has been full on many weekdays as well as every weekend, with many interstate and international visitors bringing their own ethics and expectations to the cliff.
            The negative environmental effects of this influx have been mitigated to an extent by the availability of rap stations serving most of the popular areas and, as a result, the vegetation in the gullies is now re-growing and the erosion scars disappearing, while the incidence of tat has markedly declined. The tracks are also now better defined in the Guide, and on the ground, with a decrease in damage to the vegetation in the tree line. We will need to do some work at the base of some climbs but discussions are due with the Trust to see how that might occur. An "open slather tragedy"? I don't think so but that is certainly not to claim that all is perfect .
            The new Thesarvo guide has spread the load off the popular climbs to a degree as climbers can now access climbs not "in fashion" and others rather than the three star classics. This has also helped slow, if not improve, the environmental impact of increased usage, although unfortunately the Selected Climbs guide is actually having a reverse effect as visitors are being channelled on to fewer climbs with a detrimental effect on the environment in those areas.
            One thing we can expect for certain: if and when the new comprehensive Ben Lomond Guide is published, there will be a substantial and long-term increase in traffic, with an increased usage of the existing paths, access tracks and descent gullies. Guide book writers, and I include all of us working on the Thesarvo Guides, need to consider, and take responsibility for, the long term implications of publishing, as well as the effect of specific advice offered on such issues as access, rap stations, bolting etc. Don't forget we are very much part of the problem, as well as part of the solution! I personally believe our fellow climbers are, in the main, very environmentally conscious and caring, love their sport and the environment in which they practise it, and will respect the ethos of an area they are visiting.
            So how would we feel if people " started interfering in the ethics and future direction of climbing on the Pipes"? If anyone wants to contribute to the debate, and to the solutions, they are very, very welcome - "we" don't own the Pipes, the responsibility for their future use and care belong to us all. This isn't a black or white issues nor certainly a North/South one, and Ben Lomond isn't the only cliff in Tasmania which is "bolt free": many cliffs, particularly in the more remote areas, are already noted as such in the more recent web guides, with a request that status is respected by visiting climbers. The building of consensus, not dictatorial ravings, is the long term solution, in reality the only solution, to these issues.

  3. Ian Ferrier

    The issue here, as I see it, is the lack of consultation with the Tas climbing community before the rap bolts were removed from Ben Lomond. It is becoming increasingly obvious that the majority of climbers would like them to be re instated. So Gerry, as much as I respect all the efforts you put into giving us great climbing areas and guides, I am not sure we are ready, or deserve, to be dictated to by an individual. We live in a democracy and the majority should decide this issue once and for all. I will add my vote for the rap bolts reinstatement.

    1. Gerry Narkowicz AUTHOR

      Ian, the democracy process works both ways. There was no community consultation or democracy about the decision to install the bolts in the first place. They were just put in. Who is this majority? Is it your circle of friends? The readers of this website? There are plenty of climbers who don't know this website exists. I have talked to dozens of climbers, local and interstate, and received encouraging phone calls and emails from many in approval of removing the rap bolts. You say the majority of the community want them back in, but what about the offence this has caused many climbers who didn't want them in the first place - more people than you think. The decision to put the bolts in was undemocratically forced upon us, and the majority of climbers I talk to were offended by these bolts. Their opinion doesn't count apparently, and they probably won't register a vote on Jon's little poll cause they don't read internet forums. So who is being dictatorial now?

      1. dave james

        I agree, democracy does seem irrelevant in this context. In 15years of climbing i have never once been consulted on the placement of bolts on a crag and I doubt many people placing bolts ever have consulted. In addition any sort of consensus wld be difficult given the outcome would be dependent on who is surveyed. If we include the right people i'm sure there would be majority support for a series of via ferrata at the Ben.

        1. Doug Bruce

          Increasingly, around the world in various places where this sort of issue has arisen, there has been a move towards developing a majority view amongst local climbers as to how an area should be managed. This is especially the case in National Parks in the U.S.A. At Devils Tower, for example, locals work with the Park officials to discuss proposed route bolting. But in this case the issue is not whether or not there should be bolts on routes but simply a bolted rap station. There is no ambiguity about that.
          And in actual fact, you are being consulted now: see the online poll.

  4. Danger Daz

    Hay Gerry

    Would you be able to give me a belay on the ben, im not a confident belayor of a lead climber but i am happy the be belayed all day long.

    If you need my phone number just ask anyone from the thursday night crew or one of the kids from hobart in the uni crew or my mother.

    ta

    Daz

    1. Danger Daz

      Ow and gerry i forgot to metion that i belive that the belayor should always carry the leaders shoes up the climb for the walk down.

      Hope this isnt a problem hope to here from you soon.

      1. Gerry narkowicz

        Danger Daz,

        You are clearly out of your depth in this discussion. Perhaps you should go back to kinder with your worthless "climbing", "club" friends. Leave the real climbing and the real discussions to the real climbers.

        1. Olivier Clarke

          Frikin Doug McConnel. I should have known

          1. Gerry Narkowicz AUTHOR

            Dear Olivier, I DID NOT pen this response to darren. Someone unknown to me has written this and logged in my name. This is an unfortunate low tactic by my detractors.

            1. Jon Nermut

              hmm the tragedy of the internet.

              the fake gerry has been removed.

            2. Olivier Clarke

              Fair enough then, Forget all the stuff i said too please.
              Damn these climbers with their sneaky tactics. I'm always getting sucked in.