Durango trundling & cliffside destruction

   East Animas has always had a reputation of funky climbing, tricky protection in spots, runouts and even a loose block or two (oh my!). For the self appointed individual(s) that are trying to make this crag completely safe, or whatever, I suggest you get a membership at the local gym or stick to the golf wall. At the very least, reach out to the local community with your intentions, and why, and get some feedback concerning the irreversible environmental damage you've been doing.
   In the past months, year or two really, there's been a good amount of pulling off of any and every block, flake or remotely loose piece of rock with a prybar or otherwise. The bomber blocks at the upper Durangatang belay were pulled off recently. These were hundreds of pounds and were sitting on a huge incut ledge and made for a nice sitting belay. Lower down, right below the crux, many hundreds of pounds of rock were pulled off. At the time of the first ascent, no doubt, this and many other routes were cleaned to make them reasonably safe. Most of the routes here have been climbed thousands of times with nary an accident. From the very top of the Watch Crystal face last week, a large amount of rock was removed that completely destroyed a large section of the downhill slope at the base of the cliff. Why? For pure trundling joy? The vegetation at the base of the crags here has always suffered from climbers and dogs but this is ridiculous. Several routes have been modified by pulling off much smaller features as well. The direct crux on Jailhouse Monkeys now has several new edges and the Kong route has a new hold at it's crux. This is essentially chipping on long established routes. The cool little rattly, but bomber, keyholed block on Stoneage Struggle is no more. Several small bonsai type trees have been removed from the cliff face, trees uprooted from the rockfall etc. The list goes on.
   For many climbers, there's a high level of natural aesthetics they enjoy while climbing at the crags. The rock is not a resource that is going to grow back. It's not all about cranking rad moves and moving on down your tick list in a controlled and contrived setting. These incredible crags belong to all of us and it's a privilege to be able to climb here. The canyon wrens and the nesting ravens, if they haven't tired of all the rockfall yet and have packed their bags, will thank us.   
 
Miles Newby 

 

As a former Durangatan, I agree with Miles 100%. 

The same destructive SHIT is rampant in Indian creek. I'm sure it is the same people, hopefully they can read this. I know that they can write a lot of bullSHIT.

I also agree with Miles. This vandalism has to stop. And it can create more danger on routes and ledges, not only because of leaving loose debris. Removing blocks can destabilize the remaining features on cliff faces. And other features, gear placements, and fixed hardware can be damaged or loosened by the falling blocks. And blocks bouncing down the slopes below can kill people. And we risk losing access because of the destruction involved. 

yeah, go to Smelter, Hermosa, Horse Gulch, or Junction Creek and do new routes if you want to trundle!

Matthias Holladay wrote: yeah, go to Smelter, Hermosa, Horse Gulch, or Junction Creek and do new routes if you want to trundle!

Listen to Matthias. He is a choss connoisseur!

This is tragic vandalism by "climbers". The Do-gooder club strikes again.
 

Hey Miles,
I don’t know what the deal is with everything that you referred to, but as someone who has been doing some “improvements” to Durango’s chossy crags in the last few years here are my thoughts.  

Lemon-I was initially spurred to start increasing the safety of Durango crags when a climber fell from the top of ‘Holy Grail’ because of miscommunication.  Since then we’ve put mussy hooks on every route out there so there is no confusion, just clip and lower.  
I’ve witnessed multiple close calls at lemon over the years with loose blocks being pulled off, but after climbers pulled a big block off ‘Vertical Alluvium’ which required a rescue, I helped rappel many of those routes pulling off the worst of the loose blocks. In the process pulling off 3 blocks by hand that had lead bolts in them.  (I’ve heard nothing but positive feedback from the work we’ve done at lemon.)
Golf-In addition to helping replace grooved aluminum carabiners with steel and updating rusted bolts with Stainless I’ve pulled the worst of the loose blocks off Golf Wall.  (Again, I’ve only heard positive feedback from this work.)
East A-While I don’t know about many of the blocks that you refer to I do know of some.  While rope soloing ‘Durangatang’ a couple years ago I noticed the block below the crux flexing while climbing over it. I pulled my rope up out of the way and pulled out on the block, again with no tools and pulled off a 5’x7’x2’ block.  (Only heard positive feedback...) The nature of Durango’s crags is that there is a lot of choss, and if every loose or fragile hold in Durango got pulled off there would be nothing left to climb.  That being said some blocks in my opinion should be pulled off in a controlled manner before someone gets hurt.  I realize that much of the loose rock can be spotted and climbed around especially if you are a seasoned, experienced climber who has cut their teeth in the Black Canyon and/or the desert.  But we aren’t talking about The Black Canyon or the desert, we are talking about Durango’s crags.  This is where Durango’s youth come to learn, where people bring their dogs and kids.  East A was initially a trad area but it currently has more sport climbing than Golf wall and is home to the hardest sport routes in Durango.  I understand your frustration with the vegetation but personally I’d prefer to have a bush or two get taken out by a block today, then have that same block take out a climber and that same bush tomorrow.  I’m happy to hear your opinion Miles and will take it into account in the future.  
Cheers,
Ben
P.S. some of East A’s trail and base area is eroding pretty bad. If anyone wants to organize a trail day I’m in.

Ben, I remember when those accidents happened at Lemon two years ago. I believe the block pulling of was during a Women's climbing group outing as well.

But appreciate the work your doing there. Also I was up at East A yesterday and the trail is getting kind bad, if a trail day is set up, count me in.

Chase 

Ben, Thank you for all of the work that you have done at various Durango crags.  You have made Durango a better place to climb. 

Ben and Chase, couldn't you organize a trail day? Why rely on someone else if you feel it is important.

Parachute Adams wrote: Ben and Chase, couldn't you organize a trail day? Why rely on someone else if you feel it is important.

Fair point, but I’ve just gotten told I was doing too much, so It’s probably best to take a step back and leave organizing a trail day to someone else.

Ben Kiessel wrote: ...again with no tools and pulled off a 5’x7’x2’ block...

Ben Kiessel wrote:

Fair point, but I’ve just gotten told I was doing too much, so It’s probably best to take a step back and leave organizing a trail day to someone else.

Fair point right back. 

Thank you for all your efforts Ben, the anchor replacements and the re-bolting. Glad no one has been killed out at Lemon, I agree there's some chossy shit out there. I think some routes were cleaned up just a little too much though. EA is not a good place for Durango's youth to learn how to climb however. It's a trad and spicy sport local best left for "seasoned" climbers. Not every crag should be accessible to the masses. It's a place for experienced climbers to hone their skills, train for the Black, get a little scared, etc. Most of the dangerous loss stuff up there was removed years ago and most of the routes have been climbed thousands of times. Sure, some things loosen over time and will require some route maintenance, like everywhere. I can think of many blocks and flakes up there that flex and move and if you pull on them enough, or outward too much, sure they're going to pop off. It just seems like things have been a bit heavy handed lately. And, like I said above, reaching out to the community before permanently changing a route would be much appreciated. The natural environment is really taking a hit here and at all crags everywhere. Climbing can be a dangerous thing and we'll never eliminate all the risk and why should we? In this overly sanitized and homogenized world climbing is one of the last bastions for feeling alive. Let's don't shave the bulls horns. 

I think that everybody agrees, and especially anybody who HAS trundled.  It is VERY naughty, but extremely fun.  You won't catch me throwing the first stone of judgement...  oh wait.  

Lemon is a perpetual near-miss. I put up steel wiregates on all the anchors on the west side back in 2015. I hope they’re still there, but I doubt it with all the biner thievery that goes on in dgo.

Parachute Adams wrote: Ben and Chase, couldn't you organize a trail day? Why rely on someone else if you feel it is important.

Why? Well because I am only home in Durango 6-7 days a month because I travel for work. I am in the middle of planning a wedding and trying to get through grad school. I would love to organize a trail day but I don't even have time to visit the Climber Beer nights because I am not even there. 

Chase Bowman wrote:

Why? Well because I am only home in Durango 6-7 days a month because I travel for work. I am in the middle of planning a wedding and trying to get through grad school. I would love to organize a trail day but I don't even have time to visit the Climber Beer nights because I am not even there. 

That's cool. Weddings and travel take a lot of time. Not trying to come across as a jerk ( like many here), just curious. 

If you frequently go there, just do a bit every time you go.

Trundle Apple Cider a bit more and it’ll turn into a 5.10!