I've noticed something over the years that I've been climbing, something that was actually brought to my attention quite clearly last year
during the Petzl Roc Trip in Squamish - There's a distinct difference in climbing attitude between locals and roadtrippers. This attitude can be
summed up in one word, rules. As a local there are quite often unwritten rules about some routes such as; which holds are 'on' and which holds are 'off',
whether side walls of corner routes can be used or even how many draws are allowed to be stick clipped and the ascent can still be called good (Yes I
admit I'm a sport climbing weenie). As a roadtripper however you are generally following the more simple principle of rock climbing - start at the
bottom and get to the top by any way you can figure out.
I've approached routes from both points of view. When I lived in Vancouver I was definitely a local of the sport climbing scene in Squamish. I knew all the
rules about which holds were one when climbing a link-up, which link-ups were valid routes and which bolts you had to clip etc... As a local we were
trying to find ways to make routes harder, not easier which is the standard way of doing things. There are two classic examples on the Big Show
at Chekamus Canyon.
The first is the link-up routes Captain America and Superman. Both of these routes follow the same crux section by starting up
Pulse (a route that has its own rules by stick clipping three bolts), and then moving left into the crux seam of Free Will. However when
moving left you reach about a foot and a half above a jug and continue up rather than reaching down and resting. To me this seemed a perfectly natural
rule to introduce since it made the route harder and allowed the grades of 14b and 14c respectively. Using the jug would definitely impact the grade.
The second rule is on the routes Heat, Patience, and again Superman. Near the top of these routes you get very close to a vertical
sidewall but somehow there's a rule that the sidewall is 'out'. It was during the Petzl Roc Trip when I was helping out at Chek that a few of the
climbers were trying Patience. One of them got near the top and stemmed out to the sidewall. I made some comment about how the sidewall was 'out',
and was promptly, and deservedly, laughed at. Moving 1 foot left allows the stem, how can it be considered offroute? If I hadn't been there how would
the climbers have known?
Having been on the road and travelled to other places I've climbed routes without knowing the rules. Sometimes this makes the route easier, sometimes
harder. There are routes where the first good holds are quite far up so people either aid climb to the starting holds or make cheater stones. A few times I've
walked away from a route wondering how to even start it, only to look back sometime later and see someone standing on a 4' pile of rocks. I've also
been in the process of onsighting a route only to be told that some holds were 'off'. I've also seen local contorting themselves into extremely
inobvious positions just to avoid holds that I used on my attempts.
I'm not trying to say that there can't be rules in climbing but if some roadtripper stumbles upon your local crag and starts breaking the rules while
climbing, just let them be. They'll be on their way and out of your hair soon enough. I mean they'll probably go away commenting how the grades are
soft but whatever... as long as you're having a good time who cares what some roadtripping climber thinks.
