Continue with onX Maps
Sign in with Facebook
Chipping
Max Taylor wrote: Against my better judgement, and after much debate with myself and close-friends of mine who asked me to respond to this thread, I decided I will address this issue again. After all, this is the first time literally anyone has so bluntly accused me of doing something so against my personal beliefs or reason for participation within this sport. So let me state it here clearly, I did not chip any boulders, I will not chip any boulders, and I am unhappy about the situation for MANY reasons at this point. So I'll try and go through all my thoughts on this. Lastly, I'll be happy to provide people with any pictures, videos, etc. of my climbing. Funny thing is, I pretty much video-record everything I do anyway. First, let me address why I deleted my MP & IG. Truthfully, I am sick and tired of this chipping conversation, because I know I have been somewhat in the center of it all ever since the Glass Elephant send. @Max Taylor, I find it odd you were so quick to just make a statement like "I'm pretty sure everyone knows who is responsible." You and I have never met or have had any conversation about this or in general even, and I would never make any assumption about someone's character the way you just so casually did in this instance. Allow me to explain why I was featured on the Nugget, because I'm going to take a wild guess here that you didn't actually listen to the Podcast episode. I promise you, it has nothing to do with sending a v10 or a v1. I was featured on the Nugget because I experienced a traumatic rock climbing injury that completely changed my life back on August 13, 2018; I broke my leg at Warwick CRG, and basically exploded my knee. What followed was a three-year journey of personal hell that consisted of twelve surgeries, that ended with a Total Knee Replacement on March 8, 2021. From there, I had to rehab and work like crazy to even get to a point where I could climb again. So to the comments about "shouldn't I have known about the chipped climb given it was my home-town crag," well "no", I haven't been climbing long enough for that at all. But I promise you, have I had known that the climb was chipped, I would have at least raised it to people's attention before giving it any time of day. Second, not that I'm helping my cause by saying this, but how do we even know there is a single individual doing this? If we were merely going to go off my tick-list alone, then wouldn't that only leave me responsible for some of the climbs mentioned in the OP's first post. My point here is, I think doing some basic deduction we can evaluate how it doesn't make a ton of sense. Why would I chip a climb to then project it relentlessly for months??? Furthermore, what do I even have to gain from doing it to begin with? Personally, just the sheer fear of getting caught committing such an act (outside of the fact it's against my personal philosophies of why I climb to begin with), would prevent me from even attempting to chip something. Third, I don't think anyone is actually aware of my timeline on some of these sends. When I sent the Aid Problem (which took me many sessions - all of which are VIDEO-RECORDED), it then took me many months and many sessions to send High School Egg Project. It's not like I have done these problems completely alone or something. I've had many of my friends with me when I was very close to sending the Aid Problem, and again, when I was close to sending high school egg project, in both these instances, these witnesses have seen me get through the crux plenty of times, and have tried it themselves and verify the difficulty of some of the aforementioned climbs/holds being chipped. Same with Heinz 57, I sent that like nearly a year ago, and now suddenly someone realized it's chipped? To be clear, I'm not suggesting it hasn't been chipped, but how could I have chipped something a year ago and it's only now getting noticed after plenty of people have since sent or projected the climb afterwards? Lastly, the same can be said for Conquest of the Irrational, first off, my wife was there (who is also a climber), when I got the send, and she touched the crux hold too and said "yeah, no way." Plenty of people have sent Conquest of the Irrational after me, but somehow "it must be me." Let me give you all a bit of context about me. I train on Adult Climbing Team at Rock Spot twice a week and have been doing this for well over a year. My coach works us hard. I climb roughly ~5-6 days per week. I swim nearly four days per week and put roughly 8K yards in the pool. I have structured hangboard sessions twice a week on my own time. In this life, "nothing is for nothing". I have to put the work in like everyone else. I spend a lot of my personal time searching and developing new boulders for myself and this community. So I totally get why people such as Dana are very upset about the chipping when they have been personally invested into developing some of these areas; I get how much work it is to clean off a boulder.....it's often times a "thankless task." Listen everyone, I get why people are upset. I have almost had no room left emotionally to process the fact that I am also unhappy about climbs being chipped. It's not great, but I'll tell you what, going on a witch hunt and trying to finger-point is just not the way to 1. Find the person responsible. 2. Solve the problem. What we need to strive for as a community is to educate the community on the ethics of our sport, and make it known that people are noticing that climbs are chipped and discourage the behavior so the person or people responsible are made aware that the community is paying more attention. In some ways, this reminds me of this incident that's happening right now with the Washington Bridge (I-195); there are so many people calling for the person or people's heads on a stake for letting the bridge deteriorate to such a state that it had to be shutdown (and now apparently completely demolished and rebuilt), however, we're talking about people's lives here. Are we really going to ruin someone's life over a mistake they have made? Maybe even unintentionally, or not for malicious reasons. It's not productive to solving the bridge-closure. I'm going to quote Mitch Romnant (who I have a lot of respect for), and say "I forgive you" (to whoever is chipping), "Please know, the community nor I agree with your actions and we are asking and begging you to stop. We have a lot of love and dedication to these boulders that have brought us all together in the first place, and we do not want to lose access to what many of us consider 'home, friends, family, and community'. Please know that whatever level you climb at does not define your worth within this community, it's what you bring to make this community better than you found it that defines yours worth to us all." To wrap this up, let me state a few things. I've already been speaking to many different local community leaders about ways that I can help provide deterrents to prevent these issues from happening further; granted, it's not like I have a true solution either. For example, I have photographed every single boulder at Rocky Point. I am happy to take my personal time and go and photograph every boulder at Lincoln Woods too, if we want to start putting together some sort of database of climbs, that way we can later re-examine if they've been altered. I am happy to provide any videos of any of my projecting sessions (granted there is a lot of videos, so hopefully you can be specific on what timeline you'd like to see). Also, I hope I get the privilege to climb with you all at some point in the near future if I haven't already. It's not like I'm trying to "hide in the shadows", I think a short climbing session with me will quickly reveal I'm not just all bs; take me to some v8-10 I've never done, and I have good faith I'll put some serious progress on the climb, and maybe send it even on the first session (yeah, I back myself and my ability). Just please, nothing that's too aggressive on a heel-hook for the left-leg (my left knee doesn't like it very much). Thank you if you have read this far. I love this sport, this community, and all the wonderful things we all enjoy about rock climbing: the movement, the fitness, the lifestyle, the places around the world it takes you (currently in Utah as I'm typing this - if only it could stop raining here at Moe's Valley so we could climb), the social aspects, the puzzle, the challenge, the process, and yes....that magical moment when the send comes. I'm here in solidarity with you all, and I will continue to work hard to clean up more boulders around RI, MA, and CT, and encourage people to participate in this amazing sport and all it has to offer. - Travis |
Sivart William wrote: Too long, obviously guilty. |
Andy Shoemaker wrote: They mostly do it for the 'gram from what I see. And let's be honest, tons of crux hand and foot holds have become polished and greasy and do not at all resemble their original form as a result of climber traffic. |
|
Travis. Thank you for your response here. I am sure it was hard to do. I think raising the profile of what is happening at our local crags and staying focused on the matter at hand is what we should be trying to do to battle it. Everyone talk to your friends ask your community in real life, Educate your gym about what’s happening, raise the awareness of the situation and it will help. Stay focused on the issue. We don’t need a witch hunt, we just need education and accountability in our community. |
Sivart William wrote: Super bold of you to approach the rumor head on and stamp it out. I’m sorry you even had to be in that position. Thank you for this. We can talk privately if you’d like. Travis didn’t do it. Plain and simple. Someone else has been altering things. |
Jamie Re wrote: Agreed. I've gotten permission from the both climbing gyms in our state to post flyers the to increase visibility for this issue. |
Max Taylor wrote: Steven here from The Nugget. For the record, I believe Travis. I do NOT think he is responsible for chipping. Yes, there is a video of Travis climbing the boulder on my IG. The only thing it proves is that he climbed the boulder sometime after it was chipped. I'm sure others have too. I completely understand why you guys are frustrated. Chipping sucks. It's bullshit, and I hope it stops. I would be angry too. But I think it's a really bad idea to make accusations when you have no proof. That can seriously damage someone's reputation and cause real damage to their lives. Please stop doing that. |
Nick R wrote: This is petty and illogical. Do better, Nick. |
Sivart William wrote: When I asked that question it was based on the assumption that you have climbed the grade before and would have known it was no longer deserving of the grade of V10. I also assumed that the chipping somehow made the climb easier which is presumably why people chip (but maybe it is just to make the holds more comfortable and the difficulty remains). My guess was you must have sent before the chipping based on these assumptions but Steven just commented that you in fact climbed it after it was chipped. You have good faith in your abilities to climb the grade but apparently not in your ability to judge the difficulty of a climb, this is where I get confused, but I also empathize with the difficulty of grading climbs. Steven says you climbed it after it was chipped, was it easier than V10? I'd like to make clear I'm not making any accusations of chipping I'm just curious how the chipping changed this climb and how it could go unnoticed. |
Adam R wrote: You have good faith in your abilities to climb the grade but apparently not in your ability to judge the difficulty of a climb, this is where I get confused, but I also empathize with the difficulty of grading climbs. Travis’ sends belong to him and him alone. He’s already been through the rumor gauntlet and taken a beating. Leave him be. At this point there’s nothing he needs to justify to any of us. He didn’t even have to come here and say what he did, yet he had enough gumption to come say his peace. |
Adam R wrote: I believe the climb used to be considered V11 but has now settled at V10 with the altered hold. I could be wrong though! |
|
Pretty sure the FA said v10. Not sure where v11 came from and now it goes at v8 |
Steven Dimmitt wrote: Actually, there are scientific studies that show long explanations are a sign of lying. |
Max Taylor wrote: V11 came from the Crux hold breakage (not chipping/pre chipping) Correction- bump hold breakage |
|
Cast: (V) Sir Vladimir (King) King is Arthur, King of the Britains! (W) 'Witch' woman (P1,P2,P3) Peasants one, two and three Peasants: We have found a witch! (A witch! a witch!) Burn her burn her! Peasant 1: We have found a witch, may we burn her? (cheers) Vladimir: How do you known she is a witch? P2: She looks like one! V: Bring her forward (advance) Woman: I'm not a witch! I'm not a witch! V: ehh... but you are dressed like one. W: They dressed me up like this! All: naah no we didn't... no. W: And this isn't my nose, it's a false one. (V lifts up carrot) V: Well? P1: Well we did do the nose V: The nose? P1: ...And the hat, but she is a witch! (all: yeah, burn her burn her!) V: Did you dress her up like this? P1: No! (no no... no) Yes. (yes yeah) a bit (a bit bit a bit) But she has got a wart! (P3 points at wart) V: What makes you think she is a witch? P2: Well, she turned me into a newt! V: A newt?! (P2 pause & look around) P2: I got better. (pause) P3: Burn her anyway! (burn her burn her burn!) (king walks in) V: There are ways of telling whether she is a witch. P1: Are there? Well then tell us! (tell us) V: Tell me... what do you do with witches? P3: Burn'em! Burn them up! (burn burn burn) V: What do you burn apart from witches? P1: More witches! (P2 nudge P1) (pause) P3: Wood! V: So, why do witches burn? (long pause) P2: Cuz they're made of... wood? V: Gooood. (crowd congratulates P2) V: So, how do we tell if she is made of wood? P1: Build a bridge out of her! V: Ahh, but can you not also make bridges out of stone? P1: Oh yeah... V: Does wood sink in water? P1: No P3: No. It floats! P1: Let's throw her into the bog! (yeah yeah ya!) V: What also floats in water? P1: Bread P3: Apples P2: Very small rocks (V looks annoyed) P1: Cider P3: Grape gravy P1: Cherries P3: Mud King: A Duck! (all look and stare at king) V: Exactly! So, logically... P1(thinking): If she ways the same as a duck... she's made of wood! V: And therefore, (pause & think) P3: A witch! (P1: a witch)(P2: a witch)(all: a witch!) V: We shall use my largest scales. (V jumps down) (walk over while cheering) (push her into scale) V: Right, remove the stops! (wait while scales remains still) All: A witch! burn her burn her!! |
|
Crux hold on Glass Elephant did not break. Travis broke a hold that was not needed and only used as a bump hold by Peter/Mitch on the FA. V11 was proposed for that climb after that bump hold broke break and the chipping happened. I posted it with what I think is an appropriate grade now after having done it and in my initial story post about the chipping I did not attribute it to anyone and just said that it was horrendously upsetting and surprising because this is something I’ve never heard of in our community. I have been relatively silent on this issue since making the inital post on IG when noticing that Glass Elephant had been chipped at some point in the past year. I have talked with Travis about this and at not point indicated he was the person who chipped these boulders and agree that pointing fingers is not going to help anyone. It happened, lets just make sure that everyone who is climbing here, or anywhere else, knows how abhorrent this is so it does not continue to happen. |
|
I was just at Pharaoh (originally V10) in Lincoln Woods yesterday, now way easier because a pinch was chipped into a crimp... Whoever this is has started to retaliate against those who posted on Instagram about this recently respectfully asking them to stop. Now they are going and chipping FAs done by climbers who voice their concerns. You need to stop. You're ruining every climb you chip for every climber after you. How incredibly selfish. I was projecting Pharaoh and now It's not a project at all for me. The joy in climbing is not sending a route It's failing because something is hard and the process of eventually getting better, sending it or never sending it at all... This is ridiculous and we can't undo your shitty choices. Chippers should be banned from the sport and gyms. After leaving New England and coming back, I can't believe this is what I am coming back to experience. Bolt cutting was one thing but this has no ethics. You are just a selfish piece of shit for doing this. Those who know me know that I don't get angry about much but I am pissed off and have had enough. Please stop. Do people really think we can be nice to these people? Be friends with them? sit next to them on the bench in the gy There should be zero tolerance for this behavior. How else can we punish behavior like this? There is no law in climbing just ethics... If people know the names of these people Please post them here. We should all know who is disrespecting our sport and make sure they know we know who they are. Tell everyone you see their names and shun them for it in person and online. This will never stop unless we make it unbearable for them to be in the sport. We must be loud about this. We can't sit silent anymore. Being respectful clearly does not work. We have asked nicely... |
Steven Dimmitt wrote: someone missed the joke |
|
Climbing for grades is so unbelievably similar to a dog catching a disc that it's no wonder why people want to dumb things down. I have found the best disc for my dog is an Aerobie dog disc, it is durable and makes me look really good when I throw it because it flies so far. Some may consider it cheating because it flies so far but it makes me and my dog happy. It's not the regular 99 cent piece of plastic that most people huck for their k9 but my dog loves it. I know, shitty analogy but really it boils down to STOP promoting the hobby if you like the present, it's simple, lay off the gram, enjoy the moment in your life without shamelessly promoting it. The only reason someone would alter rock like this is to feel like they fit in the V grade club. |
|
Did the problem seem ground down with a tool? I know this boulder to be fairly chossy to start with. Someone will go have a look for a second opinion. Let hope the issue has ceased. |
