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Development Ethics?

Original Post
Chase Bowman · · Durango, CO · Joined Jan 2014 · Points: 1,010

Does anyone have any information regarding the boulders on Blood Mtn in north Georgia. I've hiked through there a bunch of times and noticed a lot of cool boulders that need to be cleaned and brushed. Ive been trying to find info for this area but theres little info and the resources I've found are shit.
I want to spend a weekend there cleaning and developing the area, but I'm not sure which parts of the area have been climbed already. I found some youtube videos of people climbing there, but thats about it. i feel like there is probably 10-15 routes put up and i feel like there could be 40 possible problems here.

What are the ethics involved in something like this? I'm really interested in blood mountain, but i don't want to develop something that has already since its FA.

P.S. I'm not really into bouldering, I just excited about climbing something that no one else has.

NickMartel · · Tucson, Arizona · Joined Aug 2011 · Points: 1,332

Asking about the ethics would probably be more appropriate in your regional forum as opposed to the general climbing forum since ethics very from area to area...

But here are a few ground rules off the top if the dome...

Don't chip holds.
Don't glue holds.
Don't remove/rip out/kill plants even if they are in your way or in the landing, but removing moss is usually OK.
Think about access, limit access to a single trail, (as in always walk in via the same way, don't cut through/take shortcuts).

Just think about how you would feel if a video of you "developing" hit YouTube, would you be proud of your actions?

I's SURE others MAY chime in.... :)~

20 kN · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Feb 2009 · Points: 1,346
NickMartel wrote: Don't glue holds.
meh, that's region specific. For example, I have a guidebook printed not that long ago for Smith Rocks ago that explicitly says gluing holds is acceptable for Smith Rock FAs. I have also seen glued holds there many times. I even visited a crag in Europe where chipping holds was very common and accepted! Crazy.
Eric Chabot · · Salt Lake City, UT · Joined Jul 2011 · Points: 45

Go get it! If its in an area with a lot of historic climbing activity, maybe call your routes 'as climbed by' when you spray about em on the proj. Even if it's all been climbed before, you'll still have a real onsight experience. Plus I'm sure your community will be stoked to have more clean boulder problems

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

General Climbing
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