A little sign at Camp VI on The Nose says it all.
In our annual travels we get to experience a wide range of climbing areas, each with their own feel, culture, and uniqueness. One thing that never ceases to amaze us is some of the lameness that goes on around the country. By lameness, I’m talking about trash, bad bolting, etc.; the stuff that makes you realize that climbers aren’t always all that different from “typical Americans.”
El Capitan in Yosemite is one example where some real lameness can occur. Despite efforts at cleaning up some of the prominent ledges on the route and to change the behaviors of climbers, there is still a lot of lameness going on up there. Throughout the route, an abundance of water bottles are left by wall climbers who are trying to lose some weight when they have excess water and help out those who come up later. This excess water makes it easier for Nose-In-A-Day parties because you can literally carry a 1 or 2-liter water bottle and fill up as you go. Or, like my wife, you can pack 5 or 6 gallons for a 5-day wall and pilfer water along the route. The problem is few people do anything with the leftover bottles. When Steve and I did our practice run to the top of Dolt Tower, we found about 20 water bottles on the ledge, many empty or only partially filled. We did our part by consolidating the water that was there and took down about 12 empty bottles. Similarly, others can do their part as my wife did on The Nose. They grabbed water bottles and took them with, using them as pooh containers for their wag bags. Similarly, at the top of El Cap, there are a ton of water bottles left behind. That abandoned water is a welcome find for climbers topping out but it is essential that we police ourselves and clean up those bottles after we use them. On top, there are too many empty bottles that people have neglected to clean up as well as fuel canisters that seem to be of questionable value.
The Camp VI trash pile.
Pooh. Some people still just don’t get it. No one wants to climb through, around or near other people’s pooh. I realize that the situation is much improved from 10 years ago but we still talked to American climbers who were tossing pooh bags from the wall and even dropping their trousers from overhanging belays and letting it rip. WTF? Everyone likes to blame the Europeans for poor style in dealing with trash but I think there are enough American who are guilty as well for not taking care of business. At Camp VI, high on The Nose, we saw the worst example of a nasty ledge. While most of the famed trash heaps were cleaned up years ago, Camp VI still presents an ugly nightmare with tons of trash, pooh bags and visible pooh dropped into the top. What do people think when they drop trash and pooh into a crack like that? What do they think is going to happen to it? It sucks.
In short, we have to take care of our beloved climbing places. It’s not okay to blame it on someone else or to not help pick up after others. I know you didn’t leave six water bottles on that ledge, but it’s not that hard to throw it in your bag for on the hike down. Cleaning up helps send the message that leaving trash is not okay. Coming up next, The Lameness continues with Part 2, more lame things at crags.
