San Diego climbing scene

Hello Gary!

Nice to hear your contribution to the history of San Diego climbing! I feel like if nobody spells it out here, all the significant instances will be lost forever. Most climbers don’t seem to care about the evolution of the areas they climb, but some always will.

That encounter with you and Art was memorable for lots of reasons! A unique climbing experience for sure. Interesting that Brian had the original initiative on the trail, and that  Art was ready to rap drill until you schooled him. His passionate objection to our tactics that day seems even more unreasonable knowing that!

Thanks for clarifying that episode and it’s era

It sure would be interesting to know Art's side of the story!

If you guys put this history in the intro of a guidebook made of paper that can sit on a shelf, the history will be preserved. I'm not saying this thread can't be found online in the future, but...there is a difference between a piece of writing by an author and a free-for-all thread like this one. Just a thought, if anyone cares enough to preserve this history, as opposed to the anecdotal semi-secrecy permeating this thread. Many of us love to know the history and evolution of where we are climbing. Alan Watts's Smith Rock guide has a great introductory section about the characters and history and geology of that crag, for example.

When I first approached "the wedge" in the early 70s the first challenge to solve was whether to crawl under the brush or over the top. On one of our forays we actually spent the night in the thick of it. We had heard rumors of earlier Sierra Club ascents. Our first climb there went up to the base of, and around the left side of the central feature of the formation that I think is now called triton tower? Quite the adventure for a couple of teenagers: no beta, no fixed gear, just a pure leap into the unknown...

I have never returned to ECM. That day left a bad taste in my mouth. It took a couple of months to do it, but I convinced Sean that instead of going back to do some new routes there, we should check out a big crag I had seen from an airliner approaching Lindbergh field. The gleaming white slab I had seen turned into The Shining Slab route at Eagle Peak.

We climbed there in secrecy for about 7 years, wanting to avoid a situation like the bolt war down the creek at ECM. Then suddenly the USFS tried to close it, and we had to come forward to get enough climbers to protest the closure in writing to stop it. That, and their contemporaneous attempt to close Corte was what spawned ACSD.

The FS initially was going to close ECM, and Corte, as they were unaware EP was a climbing area. The AF contacted Dave Kennedy, local guidebook writer and their “Regional Coordinator”, and asked him to meet with the FS and report back about the closures. The proposed closures were massive and were to eliminate all human activity within for 7 months of the year, from Dec 1st to July 1st - basically the whole climbing season. The AF was concerned they would set a dangerous precedent for climbing on all federal lands. The wording in the closures called for half mile radius closures around active, inactive, and historic nest sites of Golden Eagles. There were no GE’s or nests at either area at the time, and they had no documentation to show there ever were.

Dave Kennedy had just finished his 2nd edition of the Climbers’ Guide to San Diego when the FS made their move. The main selling point of his guide was the route info from the recent development of ECM, and a closure there would have adversely impacted his sales. Word of Eagle Peak had just leaked out to a few key players in the SD climbing scene, Dave among them. When he met with the FS for the AF, he convinced them to compromise by closing EP, an area he said very few climbers used, and to leave ECM open because it was San Diego’s most popular climbing area. Next thing Sean and I knew, Eagle Peak was slated for closure with Corte, and ECM was spared.

When I found out what had happened, I contacted the leadership of the AF and told them that their Regional Coordinator had thrown a quiet back country climbing area under the bus for his personal financial benefit. Dave resigned from his position the next day.

The closures were worded in such a way that letters of protest for Corte were to be sent to the Descanso District office, and those for EP were to go to the Palomar District office. One letter could not be written to protest both closures, and the threshold number for reconsidering the closures was 300 letters. This forced Sean and I to come forward and team up with the already well organized Corte crew to get the required number of letters to the Palomar District to stop the closure. Together we formed ACSD as a nonprofit local climbers’ access group, and after two years of squabbling with the USFS, we prevailed against their unjustified, draconian closures.

That’s the Cliff Notes version (no pun intended) of that episode, the story continued, and continues.

I pulled a super old piton out of the wedge by hand last week, about 200ft up around center direct. Pretty cool to think it was probably hammered in on the first ascent in 1965. There’s some fixed relics all over that wall, it’s cool hearing all of the history behind the area 

bryans wrote:

If you guys put this history in the intro of a guidebook made of paper that can sit on a shelf, the history will be preserved. I'm not saying this thread can't be found online in the future, but...there is a difference between a piece of writing by an author and a free-for-all thread like this one. Just a thought, if anyone cares enough to preserve this history, as opposed to the anecdotal semi-secrecy permeating this thread. Many of us love to know the history and evolution of where we are climbing. Alan Watts's Smith Rock guide has a great introductory section about the characters and history and geology of that crag, for example.

There are two sides (or more) to every story.  A guidebook only memorializes events from the author's perspective.  Just because it's published, doesn't make it factual.  Lots of names have been thrown around in this thread but we've only heard things from Kevin's, and now Gary's perspective.  Yosemite has Sloan, and SoCal has this, for our viewing pleasure.

Whats Sean/Shaun's last name? Is it true that Sloan has the best Yos guidebook?

Kevin Worrall wrote:

The FS initially was going to close ECM, and Corte, as they were unaware EP was a climbing area.  

Incorrect in regards to EP, as with some of your other speculation and conspiracy theories about ACSD & your secret area.

Before you ever went to EP, a few people had climbed there, around 1999, ground up, as I have told you, and was clear from the old gear.  Those people were convinced by the birders & CNF that it would be best not to disturb any nesting.   At that time peregrine populations were still recovering.  The CNF was also hoping eagles would return to those historical locations.  By 2007 when ACSD started, it was more clear that the eagles were not returning, and falcon populations were becoming healthy enough to not require large restrictions.

https://www.eastcountymagazine.org/eagle-expert-bittner-sentenced-probation-ordered-turn-over-missing-data

Above is a link to a story about the guy who led the effort to “protect Golden Eagles from climbers” at Corte Madera and Eagle Peak. He used the power of one of his board members, Jeff Wells, head biologist of the Palomar District of the Cleveland National Forest to initiate huge bogus closures. 

I disagree with most of your post, Tom. I remember ECM had an “advisory” falcon closure, along with Corte, in the few years before the big closure proposals, whereas there was no official one for EP. In fairness, maybe that’s because the FS was unaware of our increased climbing activity there.

Peregrines were irrelevant at that time, as only prairie falcons had been documented there until Peregrines suddenly appeared at both EP and Corte contemporaneously, coinciding with ACSD’s success in limiting the closures. This was long after they were removed from the Endangered Species list. The appearance of the first Peregrines at Corte was front page news in the local paper.

There also was never any documentation shown by the FS that eagles had ever nested at Corte or EP. I recall one historical report of a “possible” inactive nest in the FOIA material ACSD received. Golden Eagles don’t nest on south facing exposures in Southern California - it’s too hot for their young, even in winter and spring. I learned that from the results of two decades long studies of their nesting habits.

I also dispute your statement that the CNF convinced climbers that they shouldn’t climb at all there. The only evidence of previous climbers we found were a few bolts, a couple of low retreat anchors, and a stash of deteriorating ropes under a boulder at the base. I would believe “birders” possibly tried to discourage those first climbers, likely in the form of associates of Dave Kennedy’s wife, an avid birder, from what I’ve heard, or by followers of the late Dave Bittner, the disgraced and convicted raptor conman that spearheaded the effort to close EP and Corte for Eagle nesting that never existed. In 7 years, Sean and I were never warned once. The only issue we had was when a rabid bird watcher reported seeing power drilling happening and tried to get the FS to arrest us. They declined because it’s not illegal. 

BTW, I think the fact that Dave Kennedy, guidebook writer and former AF Regional Coordinator, is married to an avid birder, may have influenced his decision to encourage the FS to close EP.

My “conspiracy theories” about ACSD obstructing my access effort with the AF at my “secret area” that isn’t secret, are not delusional, as you seem to imply, either. You know next to nothing about the meetings we had with the tribal councils, or Jeff’s subversive maneuvering, and absolutely nothing about the climbing there, it’s history, and the access challenges.

Jeff and Keli and their board members actively interfered with our efforts under the guise of protecting the Arroyo Toad and the Southwest Willow Flycatcher. You weren’t in the position I was to see it happening. The only reason I can think that Jeff would do everything he did to interfere is that he was butthurt by being left out of the effort. Don’t be trying to gaslight me about it - their interference likely contributed to the end of negotiations for access to the mother lode of San Diego climbing for all climbers. At least for the present

And lastly, Tom, what is your point here?

Before you ever went to EP, a few people had climbed there, around 1999, ground up, as I have told you, and was clear from the old gear.  Those people were convinced by the birders & CNF that it would be best not to disturb any nesting.  

I get the feeling you’re implying that our rap bolting efforts were somehow unethical, especially when combined with your statement that “those people” decided “it would be best not to disturb any nesting”, unlike us, being implied.

Simple question, Tom: who were “those people”, and did Dave Kennedy have any influence over them?

Climbers all over the world encounter nesting birds, and in general, everybody gets along. You’re a founding member of ACSD, Tom. You know the group was formed to stop unreasonable raptor closures that the late Dave Bittner was pushing. We settled on an understanding with the CNF that we climbers would respect reasonable standard closures for ACTIVE falcon nests, which are 100 yard radius closures around the nest. I came up with the idea to put anodized orange aluminum warning tags on the first and last bolts of routes that were in the closure zones, to help manage the situation. I care about nesting birds, to a point, and that point has been agreed upon by climbers and land managers nationwide.

It’s not a point that “those people” apparently were aware of, if that’s why they bailed and never completed a route there, as you seem to be implying. Eagle Peak is a huge crag - there’s room for birds with 100yd closures and still lots of open routes for humans to enjoy.

You are speculating yet again, attempting to mind-read other people's thoughts and motives.  I only know that the main guy who climbed at EP in 1999 was made aware around 2000 of possible raptor issues.  I don't know the path of that information.  But you claim you do, and continue to speculate that the CNF knew nothing until late 2006.  Yet at least one of the "followers of the late Dave Bittner" worked for the CNF.  The CNF and Bittner's group conducted multiple surveys of raptors over the previous decades.   And you speculate about CNF meetings where you weren't present.  A more likely explanation for the CNF insisting on their highly restrictive closures starting fall 2006 is that a single AF rep had no clout or influence.  Which is why ACSD was set up to get many diverse people involved and be an actual coalition,  (unlike the previous one in San Diego which was a coalition in name only).

"... actively interfered with our efforts under the guise ..  The only reason I can think that Jeff would do everything he did to interfere is that he was butthurt by being left out of the effort. Don’t be trying to gaslight me about it - their interference likely contributed to the end of negotiations for access...    "And lastly, Tom, what is your point here?"

My point is that you don't get to rewrite the history of ACSD.  You were outvoted by a clear vote that ACSD was not going to push to open that area, due to Very Large environmental impacts including critical habitat for 2 endangered species, an unspoiled wildlife corridor, and more.   According to you, endangered species are a "guise." You keep speculating that environmental reasons are/were not a valid cause, and keep forgetting that ACSD is not just pro-access at any cost.  Providing actual environmental information is not "obstruction."  It would be obstruction to withhold such information.  You wanted Keli to make a biased presentation to leave out that information.  You were perfectly free to make your case on your own.  The AF and the private land owner made their decisions on their own. Your buddy himself was on the board of the AF so had the most influence with the AF.  The 2 top leaders of the AF were highly and directly involved.   ACSD has no control over them.

an example of your revisionism: "I came up with the idea of warning tags..."    No you didn't.  Many people had that idea.  Fred made the tags.  I did it myself long before 2007.  When I wrote in 2007 that it appeared to me there were possible places for nests at EP, you denied it, and insisted it was too continuously steep for that.

I’m not gonna dissect that word salad rant 

There are too many distortions in that diatribe to dispute - I’ve got better things to do

just gonna say you’re full of baloney, Tom

Kevin Worrall wrote:

I’m not gonna dissect that word salad rant 

There are too many distortions in that diatribe to dispute - I’ve got better things to do

just gonna say you’re full of baloney, Tom

Groups, boards, votes, committees.  This is why I would never be a part of a organization that would have me as a member!

Kevin Worrall wrote:

I’m not gonna dissect that word salad rant 

There are too many distortions in that diatribe to dispute - I’ve got better things to do

just gonna say you’re full of baloney, Tom

You've spent the last 3 months and 8 pages, writing novels about secret crags, ranting, and throwing various people under the bus.  Someone in-the-know has provided context, a rebuttal, and a different perspective, and you tuck tail and run.  As someone upthread said, never meet your heroes.  

Some wise man once said, "Believe half of what you see, and none of what you hear."

These issues Tom and I are arguing about are complex and important in the big picture of San Diego climbing. You’re just chucking tomatoes from the bleachers Johnny. Tom is far from being “in the know” about my access effort with the AF, do you have direct knowledge about it? I doubt it.

The bottom line here is a group of about a dozen SD climbers, including Tom and I formed the Allied Climbers of San Diego to stop unjustified extreme raptor closures. I never knew Tom before we all got together, but from the start, he obviously leaned hard in the direction of the birders point of view. The overwhelming majority of the founding members were interested in accomplishing and protecting access to climbing areas first and foremost, with a reasonable attitude towards environmental and raptor protection.

The leadership of ACSD and the subservient board members took a totally different approach to this particular access effort. First of all, none of them were asked to assist me and the leadership of the AF., and none of them, Jeff included, had ever climbed there, or even knew where it was. I told Jeff Brown, the executive director, that I would ask for his help if we needed it, and I asked him to keep our proposals to the land owners confidential.

His response was to have covert board meetings with his hand picked board members and without the input of me or any of the founding members. None of us in the effort were aware this was happening, and his board consisted of 4 or 5 members with a combined total of about 10 years of climbing experience. He and his wife Keli began doing environmental research with the goal of finding ways they could intervene in my work with the AF.

After several meetings with the land owners, they gave us one assignment - get written approval from the BLM to climb on the cliffs, before we could move forward. Brady Robinson, top dog at the AF assigned the job to his top lawyer, Jason Keith. Jeff Brown caught wind of this and contacted the AF telling them that Jason was unqualified to approach the BLM, that they would refuse permission if he asked, and that he was the right guy for the job because of his previous work with the BLM. He also protested that the AF was out of line meddling in San Diego climbing affairs without including him and ACSD.

Jeff called me one night around this time, and told me he had discovered critical habitat for the Southwest Willow Flycatcher in the vicinity of the crags. The bird is migratory and is in the area for 3 months of the year. He told me he was just giving me a heads up, and to not think he had anything to do with it if the BLM refused access on those grounds. But when Jason contacted the BLM for permission, the rep mentioned casually that another climber, Jeff Brown, had just contacted them to let them know that there was a small stretch of critical habitat for the Flycatcher in the canyon below the cliffs, and to expect an inquiry about access. They told Jason they were going to look into it, and asked him to get back to them.

When I learned this from Jason, I was pissed! Jeff had been secretly working behind the scenes to obstruct our effort, after I had asked him to stay out of it. And he lied to me about the bird. Plus he had ignored my request to keep it quiet by meeting regularly with the board about it, also in secret.

I decided that the founding members, who knew nothing about any of this, or the climbing area in question, needed to hash this out in a meeting. The AF and Jason Keith backed away from the access effort due to the conflict, telling me to work it out before Jason asked for the requested written permission from the BLM for the landowners.

Jeff continued to insist that the BLM would deny Jason’s request, and that he alone could achieve it. I called a meeting with all the founding members to discuss the issue, and briefed everybody beforehand with a full page history. It included my discovery of the area. my first successful personal access effort, my development of the cliffs over a 15 yr period, the loss of my original access due to a large property sale, the offer from an AF Board member to assist in gaining public access, my reasons for not including Jeff in the effort, my written proposals to the land owners, my meetings with tribal leaders, up to the current sabotage efforts of Jeff and his wife Keli.

Jeff freaked out and sent out his own summary of the story, repeatedly calling me a liar and accusing me of “weaving a tapestry of fiction”

As an aside, I named a slab climb Tapestry of Friction to memorialize the quote.

At the meeting, I read my summary I had sent out of the history in five parts to the group, stopping every few minutes to answer any questions, and particularly to give Jeff the opportunity to confront me about my “lies” in front of everybody. Jeff sat at the table shaking his head with his eyes downcast through all five sections of the “tapestry of fiction” and said nothing to support his accusations. 

Included in his bogus accusations was a claim that I had kept information about the Arroyo Toad, another endangered species with critical habitat nearby, deliberately and selfishly secret from the AF throughout the effort. Absolute bullshit. I knew all about the toad, and had discussed it with all the land managers and the tribal councils involved, all with the AF knowing - they all assured us it wasn’t a problem. My independent research showed consistently that its critical habitat is nowhere near the climbing area, contrary to Jeff and Kelli’s claims

So after making all the founding members aware of the area, my access efforts, and Jeff’s obstruction efforts, I asked the group a simple question: are we primarily a climbers’ access group, or an environmental protection group? Jeff had gone so far as to suggest we fund raise $30,000 to pay his wife to do a year long Environmental Impact Report before moving forward to ask permission from the BLM. I asked the founding members if they approved of Jason approaching the BLM without doing that, to ask permission to climb, the simple question that prompted all this conflict, and they unanimously approved, in spite of Jeff’s objections.

I contacted the AF the next day to give Jason the go ahead, he contacted the BLM, and they said they had looked into the Flycatcher habitat issue, and it was of no concern to them. They offered to write a letter to the land owners saying that the BLM encourages public recreation and climbing. The limbo period btw the request from the land owners to our production of it for them was 4 months, due to Jeff’s intervention. Our momentum and I believe our credibility in the effort was damaged by that.

Again, that’s just the Cliff Notes version, if you think that was a “novel”, I could easily write as much or more in rebuttal to Tom’s nonsense about the Eagle Peak situation, maybe later.

Whether everybody here likes these details or not, I think this story is an important part of SD climbing lore. I welcome any coherent challenges to anything I’ve written here

edit: one shit talker in the peanut gallery chastises me for turning tail and running, another for calling bullshit on bullshit. This might be a popularity contest for most of you guys, I couldn’t care less about my popularity with you tomato chuckers

I do care about honesty in general, and particularly about facts related to San Diego climbing history, or what you might call the San Diego climbing scene, as I see it. I’m not one to groupthink, sugar coat turds or to be politically correct, if you haven’t noticed

Just skip over my posts if they bother you, most of what I read here is vapid bs, that’s what I do when I see it

I'd like to join Johnny in throwing some tomatoes. KW you've really made a dumpster fire of this thread and represented yourself disastrously. There's a time and place for lore, but endless spray will just turn people off. We appreciate your contributions, and there are obviously many, but this thread would be a lot better if you had not hijacked it. 

Kevin Worrall wrote:

These issues Tom and I are arguing about are complex and important in the big picture of San Diego climbing. You’re just chucking tomatoes from the bleachers Johnny. Tom is far from being “in the know” about my access effort with the AF, do you have direct knowledge about it? I doubt it.

The bottom line here is a group of about a dozen SD climbers, including Tom and I formed the Allied Climbers of San Diego to stop unjustified extreme raptor closures. I never knew Tom before we all got together, but from the start, he obviously leaned hard in the direction of the birders point of view. The overwhelming majority of the founding members were interested in accomplishing and protecting access to climbing areas first and foremost, with a reasonable attitude towards environmental and raptor protection.

The leadership of ACSD and the subservient board members took a totally different approach to this particular access effort. First of all, none of them were asked to assist me and the leadership of the AF., and none of them, Jeff included, had ever climbed there, or even knew where it was. I told Jeff Brown, the executive director, that I would ask for his help if we needed it, and I asked him to keep our proposals to the land owners confidential.

His response was to have covert board meetings with his hand picked board members and without the input of me or any of the founding members. None of us in the effort were unaware this was happening, and his board consisted of 4 or 5 members with a combined total of about 10 years of climbing experience. He and his wife Keli began doing environmental research with the goal of finding ways they could intervene in my work with the AF.

After several meetings with the land owners, they gave us one assignment - get written approval from the BLM to climb on the cliffs, before we could move forward. Brady Robinson, top dog at the AF assigned the job to his top lawyer, Jason Keith. Jeff Brown caught wind of this and contacted the AF telling them that Jason was unqualified to approach the BLM, that they would refuse permission if he asked, and that he was the right guy for the job because of his previous work with the BLM. He also protested that the AF was out of line meddling in San Diego climbing affairs without including him and ACSD.

Jeff called me one night around this time, and told me he had discovered critical habitat for the Southwest Willow Flycatcher in the vicinity of the crags. The bird is migratory and is in the area for 3 months of the year. He told me he was just giving me a heads up, and to not think he had anything to do with it if the BLM refused access on those grounds. But when Jason contacted the BLM for permission, the rep mentioned casually that another climber, Jeff Brown, had just contacted them to let them know that there was a small stretch of critical habitat for the Flycatcher in the canyon below the cliffs, and to expect an inquiry about access. They told Jason they were going to look into it, and asked him to get back to them.

When I learned this from Jason, I was pissed! Jeff had been secretly working behind the scenes to obstruct our effort, after I had asked him to stay out of it. And he lied to me about the bird. Plus he had ignored my request to keep it quiet by meeting regularly with the board about it, also in secret.

I decided that the founding members, who knew nothing about any of this, or the climbing area in question, needed to hash this out in a meeting. The AF and Jason Keith backed away from the access effort due to the conflict, telling me to work it out before Jason asked for the requested written permission from the BLM for the landowners.

Jeff continued to insist that the BLM would deny Jason’s request, and that he alone could achieve it. I called a meeting with all the founding members to discuss the issue, and briefed everybody beforehand with a full page history. It included my discovery of the area. my first successful personal access effort, my development of the cliffs over a 15 yr period, the loss of my original access due to a large property sale, the offer from an AF Board member to assist in gaining public access, my reasons for not including Jeff in the effort, my written proposals to the land owners, my meetings with tribal leaders, up to the current sabotage efforts of Jeff and his wife Keli.

Jeff freaked out and sent out his own summary of the story, repeatedly calling me a liar and accusing me of “weaving a tapestry of fiction”

As an aside, I named a slab climb Tapestry of Friction to memorialize the quote.

At the meeting, I read my summary I had sent out of the history in five parts to the group, stopping every few minutes to answer any questions, and particularly to give Jeff the opportunity to confront me about my “lies” in front of everybody. Jeff sat at the table shaking his head with his eyes downcast through all five sections of the “tapestry of fiction” and said nothing to support his accusations. 

Included in his bogus accusations was a claim that I had kept information about the Arroyo Toad, another endangered species with critical habitat nearby, deliberately and selfishly secret from the AF throughout the effort. Absolute bullshit. I knew all about the toad, and had discussed it with all the land managers and the tribal councils involved, all with the AF knowing - they all assured us it wasn’t a problem. My independent research showed consistently that it’s critical habitat is nowhere near the climbing area, contrary to Jeff and Kelli’s claims

So after making all the founding members aware of the area, my access efforts, and Jeff’s obstruction efforts, I asked the group a simple question: are we primarily a climbers’ access group, or an environmental protection group? Jeff had gone so far as to suggest we fund raise $30,000 to pay his wife to do a year long Environmental Impact Report before moving forward to ask permission from the BLM. I asked the founding members if they approved of Jason approaching the BLM without doing that, to ask permission to climb, the simple question that prompted all this conflict, and they unanimously approved, in spite of Jeff’s objections.

I contacted the AF the next day to give Jason the go ahead, he contacted the BLM, and they said they had looked into the Flycatcher habitat issue, and it was of no concern to them. They offered to write a letter to the land owners saying that the BLM encourages public recreation and climbing. The limbo period btw the request from the land owners to our production of it for them was 4 months, due to Jeff’s intervention. Our momentum and I believe our credibility in the effort was damaged by that.

Again, that’s just the Cliff Notes version, if you think that was a “novel”, I could easily write as much or more in rebuttal to Tom’s nonsense about the Eagle Peak situation, maybe later.

Whether everybody here likes these details or not, I think this story is an important part of SD climbing lore. I welcome any coherent challenges to anything I’ve written here

I want to hear more than the Cliff Notes version, and eagerly await your detailed response to Tom about Eagle Peak!

Once again, this thread is going to disappear to wherever dead threads go, but a guidebook has more permanence. But I'm sensing this thread exists only for certain people to spray for their own edification while the rest of us get something to read while on the toilet. (Pink Floyd: the memories of a man in his old age are the deeds of a man in his prime)

This has nothing to do with my memories, junior, just setting SDC climbing history straight when people like Tom try to twist it.

Kevin Worrall wrote:

This has nothing to do with my memories, junior, just setting SDC climbing history straight when people like Tom try to twist it.

They are literally your memories! I'm 46 and hope I still care passionately about climbing and climbing history when I'm your age (I think you said you are 67, somewhere up thread?) But I'm tracking and semi-engaged with this thread because I never want to come off as arrogant or distant or dismissive of the younger generation inheriting and enjoying the crags I've developed and frequented and loved. I want them to know the history and to feel empowered to add to that history respectfully and with awareness of how and why the crag developed. Just because you were there first doesn't mean you were right. And sometimes we remember things the way we want to, and not how they really happened.