Chipping

John MacleanakaWhiteywrote:

 I wrote a note to Rockspot. I think they take gym climbers out to Lincoln Woods to teach them about bouldering and I wanted to make sure that they are teaching these people new to bouldering that chipping holds is cheating and totally invalid. Keeping new climbers in the gym is not going to work.  We have to understand that the overwhelming majority of new climbers will be well behaved if they are educated about the transition to outdoor climbing. 

I agree. If you want to spread awareness even more, some gyms might let you hang up some flyers about the chipping - I can try and make some if anyone wants.

Ezra Hendersonwrote:

I agree. If you want to spread awareness even more, some gyms might let you hang up some flyers about the chipping - I can try and make some if anyone wants.

Seems better than an obnoxious sticker. 

I give gym education a .1% chance of doing anything,  anyone chipping at this level knew it was frowned upon and didn't care. 

Rock Climberwrote:

Rocks thrown from a glass house OP ...  You have nearly 300 shared boulder routes...

Out of curiosity, why do you think sharing boulders on MP = classic boulders getting chipped? That seems like a jump to me. 

The vast majority of mountain project users climb ethically and enjoy the outdoors in ways that (I am going to assume) are similar to the ways that you do, "rock climber." It seems way more likely that OP, who I don't know personally but see that he's on the SNECC board and has put serious time in making climbing more accessible by contributing to this website we all enjoy, is contributing positively to the climbing community rather than in some way to blame for someone making more choices (chipping). Just my two cents that no one asked for...

Sam Blochwrote:

Out of curiosity, why do you think sharing boulders on MP = classic boulders getting chipped? That seems like a jump to me. 

Careful…you saw upthread what happened when I asked the same question.

Sam Blochwrote:

Out of curiosity, why do you think sharing boulders on MP = classic boulders getting chipped? That seems like a jump to me. 

The vast majority of mountain project users climb ethically and enjoy the outdoors in ways that (I am going to assume) are similar to the ways that you do, "rock climber." It seems way more likely that OP, who I don't know personally but see that he's on the SNECC board and has put serious time in making climbing more accessible by contributing to this website we all enjoy, is contributing positively to the climbing community rather than in some way to blame for someone making more choices (chipping). Just my two cents that no one asked for...

I never made that jump. The OP complained about MP/sharing routes leading to the chipping/poor outdoor ethics. I just pointed out some irony of his contributions. I genuinely thank him for doing it though cause I get enjoy having getting this info and have used it. MP is a great resource, but I can empathize with gatekeeping... there's no perfect world.

Steve Williamswrote:

Chippers should be shot.

No thanks Steve Williams, calls for violence aren’t welcome or productive 

This is such a weird situation.

I’m pretty sure everyone knows who is responsible or at least there is a heck of a lot of smoke. Even if he deleted his insta and his mountain project there still is a video on the nugget’s instagram of Glass Elephant being climbed with the chipped holds.

I don’t really have a dog in this fight since I moved away and don’t make it down to Lincoln woods much anymore but I don’t really understand why this is being treated like a systematic issue or blame is being thrown at the climbing gyms 

As a concerned long time RI climber: it very much appears that someone has augmented some of the above listed problems with a grinding tool to sculpt existing holds to be more incut or less sharp. I personally cleaned the Twins Boulder at Gilbert Hills the day Jeff did the FA of Gritish Invasion and am 100% positive it has been purposely changed. Now 3-4 grades easier.

I am very disheartened that someone is choosing this tactic, and am nervous they will continue to change area problems, robbing others of the chance to rise to the challenge of the first acentionists.

I speculate this is being done at night, or days where these areas are quiet. I couldn’t care less about the argument about gym climbers and or the role of MP, only that the community at large values the end result over the process of climbing, leading to these results.

Please keep your eyes and ears open for news of this person or further damage to climbs. 

Max Taylorwrote:

This is such a weird situation.

I’m pretty sure everyone knows who is responsible or at least there is a heck of a lot of smoke. Even if he deleted his insta and his mountain project there still is a video on the nugget’s instagram of Glass Elephant being climbed with the chipped holds.

I don’t really have a dog in this fight since I moved away and don’t make it down to Lincoln woods much anymore but I don’t really understand why this is being treated like a systematic issue or blame is being thrown at the climbing gyms 

Does anyone have a link? 

Adam just scroll back on the nugget podcast insta it’s not too far back 

Adam Rwrote:

Does anyone have a link? 

or just google "nugget climbing glass elephant" its the first link.

The caption on that post is the most cringe thing I've read in a while 

Let me be very clear, the RI community has no real idea who may be responsible for these actions, and it could easily be more than one party. The Glass Elephant climb seems to have had a much larger removal of stone to create a better hold, not the small touches with a Dremel other climbs have received. I feel it is unwarranted to call out any individual at this point, as it would be based solely on coincidence and speculation.

Community communication, diligence, and education is the only way we will be able to curb this behavior, jumping down anyones throat without hard factual evidence is extremely premature and inappropriate. 

That being said, if anyone wants to privately reach out about this issue, or if they know or suspect someone, I am easy to find online. 

Lincoln Mahanwrote:

or just google "nugget climbing glass elephant" its the first link.

The caption on that post is the most cringe thing I've read in a while 

For other lazy ppl 

Did this guy not know that this climb was made easier? It said it is his home crag. 

The person max is referring to is also the only person to have logged 4 of the climbs listed above as being chipped and their ascent was done and then afterwards people reported it being chipped. Also the ascents were logged with comments like “my first V10 and my first if the grade for glass elephant”  and shortly after they were featured on a podcast. In my opinion I don’t understand motivation to chip unless your goal is to tout the “hard ascents” afterwards.

I don’t have any evidence other than noticing that pattern of logged ascents of the climbs reported chipped and the timing of those logged ascents.

Just a note: I agree with Dana in that it's not helpful to spread any unconfirmed speculation like listing climbs that are rumored to have been chipped but without any pictures or first hand accounts, or to call out any individual with no real proof. With regard to specific individuals in question, I understand nobody here is saying they're not calling them out by name as a CYA, but dry snitching with things like "a certain someone on this podcast...(wink wink)" is basically the same thing. And just one additional note: the person everyone is suspect of sent one of those climbs on the list some time ago. And I repeated it on 12.23.23 and 1.2.24 and compared to any other times I've sent it, and saw no change.

I am in no way trying to prove or disprove who did it, or defending this person–they can do that themselves. Just providing some additional context. To be abundantly clear, chipping is a disgrace and if you do it, you're a loser. No matter the sport, if someone's self worth is tied so closely into climbing hard to the point that you feel the need to cheat in order to prove yourself, well that person needs to look at their lives as a whole. 

Education is the most important factor here. I fully agree with Whitey that the gyms can maybe help with that. Whether they care enough to do so or not remains to be seen. I think if we collectively continue to push education about this issue and about outdoor ethics in general (including damaging surrounding area, littering, loud noise, etc) it could go a long way to help our community even when this chipping situation has been resolved.

Fully agree with Dana and Regina, let’s stay observant and keep the dialogue civil both online and in the real world.

DRusso made a good point about motivation for these chipping incidents. Taking away that ability to take credit for chipped sends on social media I think could be a way to help stop this. Not sure how to accomplish that.

Thanks 

May the Lord JC cast out his demons and love prevail!   

Just to drive this point home these were pictures taken today of Heinz 57 at Lincoln Woods. You can clearly see the grooves from the grinding tool, as the hold was made to be less painful..

Someone in our community is vandalizing our climbs and robbing others of future experiences. I would ask everyone in the New England community to please be diligent about helping us put a stop to this behavior. If you see something suspicious and are comfortable getting involved talk to the individual, use your phone take pictures of them and their behavior.