Drilled Vandalism??

About a dozen holds were deliberately
drilled on Scent of the Ultraman recently.
Must be mental illness..
Or an entitled d-bag holding a grudge.
Either way dick move.
Hope this doesn't start a trend..

Anybody know the skinny on this mess?

Also who added the retrobolts?

I saw!

There are no fewer than 17 chipped/drilled holds that have been added to this route that weren't here on December 6th.

I have never seen anything like this done in Red Rock before.

This is so disappointing.

Bummer.

Saw this today. Really sad. And so pointless, stupid.

I noticed that these chipped holds began about halfway up, continued toward the top, as the route steepened up. Also noticed some bolts near the top were exceptionally shiny, i.e. brand new, from last week or two. Have to wonder if the same power drill used to place (or replace?) these bolts was used to vandalize these holds.

Either way, this has to stop.

Hey Steve was Ultraman proper chipped?

Ultraman was untouched as of last week.

On another side note, there is a new route next to Frictiony Face Panty Waist.
Probably 5.7.
Whoever put it up with a powerdrill left a dusty mess of an eyesore, visible from
the loop road.
Clean up after yourselves people!!!

That is really awful. It can only be called vandalism. It's hard to imagine who would do something like that or why. Maybe a vendetta of some sort. It just doesn't make any sense.

This really pisses me off. I hope these perps can be found and stopped before they destroy anymore. Somebody had to witness this vandalism it's a busy area.

I was wondering how this got done without it being seen. Unfortunately people can be so timid when it comes to calling people out. I really wish I was there. It definitely would not have gone on for very long.

frank minunni wrote:I was wondering how this got done without it being seen. Unfortunately people can be so timid when it comes to calling people out. I really wish I was there. It definitely would not have gone on for very long.

An internet tough guy who protects and defends his local crags. I would not have let this happen either if I was there.

I've made my gripes in person on many an occasion. I may not be a tough guy but I will stand up when necessary.

So I made it a point to swing by Ultraman on my way to Sweet Pain today. Its almost unfathomable how mutilated this climb is.

First off , I looked at my notes from when I was working on the topo I had a bolt count of 7 for Scent (which is what the MP info lists as well). I counted 10 today , its blatantly obvious which ones are the new ones , as mentioned up thread they look fresh out of the box new and stick out like sore thumbs.

-Between the original 1st and 3rd bolt (Making it the "new" 2nd bolt)
-Between the original 4th and 5th bolt (Making it the "new" 6th bolt)
-Between the original 5th and 6th bolt (Making it the "new" 8th bolt)

Then when it comes to the drilling/chipping it's quite possibly more ridiculous than people have even been describing. I tired to count but honestly I lost count there certainly seems to be as many if not more drilled out holds as natural ones now .In addition to just deepening and widening existing holds there were two or three areas where you could tell they had just gouged out a hole to make a new pocket. They however weren't that great at doing it either and you could tell that they were trying to drill out a hold but maybe didn't like how the rock was breaking and tried again a foot or so over. Some photos , I took more but they are all more or less the same , you get the idea.

This was my favorite. Its the last new bolt placed (the "new" 8th), Its almost as if the though process was "This new bolt doesn't have any decent holds to clip from.....I'LL ADD TWO!"


Its hard to see in the picture but here is an example of one as mentioned where they tried to flatten out a small edge/crimp to make it a little more positive but seemingly gave up as only about half of it has been ground smooth after the little shelf collapsed (Might not be the case but hats what it looks like to me)

Freaking Madness

Wow. This is insane.

This is funny/classic!

The dumbing down of the American climbing community seems to be on full display here in the Red Rock. Unfortunately, this "drilled vandalism" makes a pretty strong argument that Red Rock may be at the cutting edge of idiotic climbing behavior. It is alarming that a climber who owns a drill is so utterly clueless that s/he feels the need to manufacture holds on an existing 5.7 slab route.

Some irony here is that this route's existence has to do with Hal Edwards wanting to learn how to bolt a route. Hal and I went out for a day in spring of '99 and put it up. Hal named the route as we were whoo-aaaing it all day (Pacino in Scent of a Woman). It was drilled on rappel; we tried to minimize the bolts so it would be in character with Ultraman, but still keep it safe. 16 years later, some chucklehead obviously felt the need to "alter" the route. Whooo-aaa!

To someone with a historical perspective, this could look like the next illogical step after sport climbing.

Nice reminiscence Mark. You seem pretty measured in response. While people should be reminded they are stepping over an ethical chalk line, IMO it's only way to go. You are not going to stop it as Ron White says: "you can't fix stupid".

I always had trouble around bolt 4. Probably my left ankle being fused contributes. That route has gotten harder I think and easier if you climb right of the bolt clip stances.