Oops

I am amazed (or terrified actually) that anyone actually bought it!
Here is a quick list of what wasn't properly engineering in this Troll:

"doubles of Black Diamond .3-4 camalot C4 cams, a set of #1-13 stoppers, and offset micro stoppers #1-6."
Who the F.... goes up the direct east face of the 1st with a rack like that??

"He had a harness he was going to use for the rappels"
This doesn't make any sense. A harness but no rope? Not to mention that downclimbing is no problem if you can solo the direct east face up.

"He did the first few moves, but then he pulled the rope"
This is also BS. Try to untie while leading, even on easy ground, and see how long it actually takes ... definitely not that quick

"another party came up and let us join them for the rest of the route (Jon and Lisa you guys rock!)"
of course we've never heard back from Jon and Lisa ...

"I'm pretty upset about this."
Really? (I'd be much much more than upset) and all you do is post about it on MP?? WTF?

"my parents gave me the rack for my birthday"
yeah right, you got "doubles of Black Diamond .3-4 camalot C4 cams, a set of #1-13 stoppers, and offset micro stoppers #1-6" from you parents for you birthday ...

Anyway, if this is world class trolling then the standard is pretty damn low these days. Unbelievable that R&I actually picked it up!!!

Y'all need a sense of humor

John RB wrote:

I'm on a mailing list that I won't name, and Danny Gilbert (who already posted above) said he called "Alex" and got more details.  That's all I said above in my earlier comment (which R&I quoted).  I wasn't vouching for "Alex," but I will vouch for Danny.  He's part of a group of very skilled and fit athletes in Boulder and he wouldn't troll them.

Thank you for replying.

So if I understand correctly there is some mailing list that you won't name of "very skilled and fit" Boulder athletes, and you and Danny Gilbert are part of that list. Danny Gilbert called Alex and then posted to this mailing list that Alex seemed sincere, and you subsequently posted about that conversation on MP without naming Danny Gilbert. The [anonymous, uncredited] Rock and Ice author either is also on that list, or just saw your (John RB's) post on MP, and considered someone involved in this - either John RB or Danny Gilbert, it's unclear - to be a "trusted 3rd party source" to judge whether the claim of theft was credible (per their correction on their original article). Yes?

 

I live in the greater LA Area.  Every night on the news, real events are reported that are so insane that my mouth is hanging open.  I sit there night after night, saying "this is unbelievable".  And yet they are true events.
So I took the original post at face value.  Even though I thought it was bizarre to carry a double rack on that route, with the number of still clueless beginning climbers in the sport these days, and with the insane things I've seen them doing over the years, and with scumbags now committing theft at climbing areas regularly, the original event as reported wasn't at all unbelievable to me.  
Now that it's been revealed as a simple case of another boring troll, I'm actually happy to find out there wasn't a real soloing scumbag.

Maybe rock and ice was in on the troll? 

Is OP Jussie Smollett?

wonderwoman wrote:

haha!  When you see it sharpied on the uberfall pit toilet as Ken Nichols' phone number, it wasn't me, guys.  Got it?

So when Devin was convicted for stealing from fellow climbers, everybody was all "give him the benefit of the doubt" and nobody was harassing his phone number, but when you all get fooled by a prank, it's all out war?

Mark E Dixon wrote:

So when Devin was convicted for stealing from fellow climbers, everybody was all "give him the benefit of the doubt" and nobody was harassing his phone number, but when you all get fooled by a prank, it's all out war?

Looks like you’re a one that needs a sense of humor

John RB wrote:

I'm on a mailing list that I won't name, and Danny Gilbert (who already posted above) said he called "Alex" and got more details.  That's all I said above in my earlier comment (which R&I quoted).  I wasn't vouching for "Alex," but I will vouch for Danny.  He's part of a group of very skilled and fit athletes in Boulder and he wouldn't troll them.

do ya'll dress up in bear costumes and attend Eyes Wide Shut-esque parties up in the Boulder foothills?

also, how does one become apart of this group of very skilled and fit athletes in boulder?  what are the qualifications because i feel like i can move out there and possibly make the team? thoughts?  training suggestions? indica or sativa?

Oh fully agree. You're going down the right track. This is a deeply complex troll with Danny AND John in on it.

L Kap wrote:

So if I understand correctly there is some mailing list that you won't name of "very skilled and fit" Boulder athletes, and you and Danny Gilbert are part of that list. Danny Gilbert called Alex and then posted to this mailing list that Alex seemed sincere, and you subsequently posted about that conversation on MP without naming Danny Gilbert. The [anonymous, uncredited] Rock and Ice author either is also on that list, or just saw your (John RB's) post on MP, and considered someone involved in this - either John RB or Danny Gilbert, it's unclear - to be a "trusted 3rd party source" to judge whether the claim of theft was credible (per their correction on their original article). Yes?

 

Bill Kirby wrote:

Looks like you’re a one that needs a sense of humor

You’re probably right ;-)

Hobo Greg wrote:
So in conclusion, almost all the reasons you see as obviously trolling, I see as very plausible explanations.

exactly why it was a 5 star troll. 

Hobo Greg wrote: So in conclusion, almost all the reasons you see as obviously trolling, I see as very plausible explanations.

in isolation yes, but all of them combined? really?

proto wrote
"He had a harness he was going to use for the rappels"
This doesn't make any sense. A harness but no rope? Not to mention that downclimbing is no problem if you can solo the direct east face up.

Having climbed the flatirons a bunch, I have seen a ton of soloists climbing with no rope and a harness, especially on the popular routes.  The idea being that they can just ask to rappel on another party's rope, and if not, they can downclimb or in the case of the 1st, do the scary 4th class descent.  I find it weird, but it isn't uncommon.

It was about a 5.9 troll IMO.

Pros:
Great story
Hooked a good part of the audience
Trolled R&I (but that's mostly on them)
Included his phone number and continued the troll on a call. Good that he really committed. Bad because I can't imagine lying to someone for a troll.
Got some people really upset and some continue to be upset. Again this is good and bad. Good because the troll was successful, bad because they were upset about something that sounded awful for the community
Didn't ask for donations
Let it go for a while, then fessed up

Cons:
Too  many holes
Plenty of people sniffed it out
Too negative a story. Reflect poorly on the community. But of course that's what made it sensational and got people interested
Lied on the phone. That's pretty far to go for a troll.
Change the post title and OP text. Come on leave it for posterity.

I wonder if he'll have to change his phone number. Was this really thought out or just a troll on a whim?

F...the troll. But also, shame on those who believed the OP story and offered some kind of financial help. This is why people fall for scams all the time. A guy posts some crazy story on Mountain Project full of red flags and people are willing to throw money at him within less than a day of the supposed occurrence.

can I have my rack back anyway?