I've now seen it all!

The Bastille Crack. Classic 5.7+.
Tic marked to death. No shit. Pretty unsightly.

There are a few tricky spots though that I wouldn't want to do without a few ticks. My leader usually knows when I will be near my limit so he will tick for me. Takes some of the stress off when following harder routes like this one.

what? I don't believe it.

maybe someone's going for a barefoot, chalkless, naked, blindfold, onsight, free-solo attempt with a weight-belt on...

Greg D wrote:There are a few tricky spots though that I wouldn't want to do without a few ticks. My leader usually knows when I will be near my limit so he will tick for me. Takes some of the stress off when following harder routes like this one.

Brilliant! Got a very good laugh, thanks!

I'll be prick and say it first- whats the diff from tickin' a 5,7 for a 5.7 leader then tickin a 5.12 for 12 leader ??????

That route would be a lot better with some fixed draws.

I just hope that the Bastille Crack keeps getting talked up, that way everyone will keep standing in line for it and leave much better routes of a similar grade open.

+1 for what John said! Ticks are ticks, I dislike seeing them on hard routes just as much as the classics like Bastille.

Couldn't agree more. If you must tick, tick but clean up after yourself - no matter the grade.

I agree with John and others. They are unsightly anywhere. For me they detract from the experience far more on something hard that I would like to try and figure out than on the Bastille.
Just pointing out how prevalent they are becoming.
With tick marks invading more and more climbs; will there be such a thing as "onsight" climbing anymore?

I walked in Eldo in the mid eighty's with one must do climb, my first true multi-pitch climb. I certainly don't recall any tic marks, in fact I had trouble locating the pin at the top of the second pitch. As an aside I stood by the telephone pole waiting for someone to do it with, and at last a climber from Arizona agreed. I insisted on leading the first two pitches and he relented. Upon finding the pin and anchoring in I sat down to belay, at that moment a Mash style helicopter comes flying up the canyon and followed by a seeming armada of rescue vehicles. I wasn't in flatland anymore. Turned out to be a false alarm.

So, how are tic marks different from, say, a face route on red sandstone with every hold chalked up from traffic?

Ryan, let me see if I can give you a feel for how I see the difference between chalked holds and tic marks.
On my first trip to Rifle some years back, I jumped on Rehabilitator to get a feel for the area. At the crux I spent some time pawing at the 20+ chalked slopers within reach, looking for the one that felt good enough to use. I got pretty pumped. I managed an onsight, but kept my flash pump all the way to the anchor. This gave me a good idea of the trickiness of Rifle and the difficulty of onsight climbing there.
It also gave me a sense of enjoyment and accomplishment that would have been lacking if the best holds were ticked on that pitch.
I had to figure it out, I like that.
Not red sandstone I realize, but I hope you get my point.
Did the tick marks on the Bastille ruin my experience? No, I know all those holds anyway. Did they, or could they detract from someone else's experience on the route. From my perspective, most definately.

In my opinion chalked holds do SUGGEST where a positive hold might be. Its not a blatant beta spoiler like tick marks. Mark brought up a good point.. would you give yourself an onsite if the route was ticked?

Mark, well put, I don't disagree. It has simply been my experience that the majority of the people on the internet that fly off the handle as soon as the word tic is mentioned are usually most vocal about how unsightly it is rather than tainting their onsight. And I wouldn’t believe that more than a handful of them have ever cleaned off their chalk from a climb. The only reason I mention sandstone is because there are climbs in the SW desert that you can pick out from over a mile away they are so blatantly lined in chalk. I guess I find this more offensive than someone’s Cliff Notes.

Andrew, to your point, yeah, I probably would call it an onsite, but that’s only because I’ve stopped caring. The zealousness with which the Internet Supreme Court (iSuC) adjudicates on every topic within our culture only seems to inspire apathy for me. I’m not a fantastic climber, I’ll never be in Rock and Ice. I just couldn’t give a fuck what some chuffer in Middlefart, Denmark thinks of my sends from last weekend – as long as I’m honest with myself about what I did or didn’t do. You want my opinion? Well, it’s the internet, so I’ll give it to you. If you’re not climbing ground up, without preplaced bolts or anchor stations, sans chalk marks of any kind, and without any idea what the rating of a climb is, it’s all a compromise anyway. I could argue the difference between an onsight on a multi-pitch face climb and a perfect splitter crack, let alone a single pitch sport climb with quick-clip anchors. It’s just too damn much to worry about, so I don’t. In my mind I give different allowance for sport onsight vs trad, because it’s a different game in my mind. I’ll talk about it with friends over a beer post climb, but I’m not going to get my panties in a wad because someone wants to demote my onsite to a pink-point flash stick-clip beta-spray assist.

Ryan, I'm just trying to provoke thought, and I'm sorry if I offended you. I'm really not too caught up in onsite definitions or ratings either. I just thought it might be an interesting topic to strike up while I'm stuck here at work. Lets climb sometime and talk about it over beers! P.S I like your drunk monkey picture.

sorry guys, i put those tic marks up there for my chimp, Mr. giggles. you will see him up there, throwing poo at parties on the neighboring wide country between chalk breaks. i just put those tics up there so he knows wehre to place the gear, DUH! i mean come on guys, hes a f-cking chimp, not a boulderite. He's wearing a daiper, not pataguchi slacks. just wait til next summer when Mr. Giggles and I aid the Naked Edge. just look for our bivy on P4!

You know if it was someone who the climb is so hard for that they need the tic's then I'd give them a high five for pushing their limits. Of course I'd also kick them in the junk if they don't/didn't clean them off when finished.

I don't see how you can reconcile tic's at a high grade but not an easier one, just because you don't need them. Now if you're against tic's all together then at least you might have a leg to stand on. Here today, gone tomorrow tic's don't bother me. Tics not cleaned up bothers me just as much as poop, trash or other stuff that people don't clean up but I'll do my best to leave an area nicer than I found it. I hope that my fellow climbers do the same.

NOTE TO SELF: newest addition to rack, squirt bottle on 3 ft. lanyard and 1 calaway golf towel.

Mark, I have to say I agree with you. This is crazy.

On a more exciting note, sounds like you are climbing again! Which is awesome! I hope your healing continues and you are back to crushing routes quickly.

-Jon