Further climbing bans at Dyurrite/Mt Arapiles. "Punks In The Gym" to be chopped, "The Pines" campground closed.

Kyle Tarrywrote:

Regardless of your perspective on the nuances of one particular climbing area that is also culturally sensitive, the Access Fund has demonstrated a long history of advocacy and action with regard to climbing areas across the country.  It's silly to suggest that they "are not interested in protecting climbing areas" based on your politically-motivated disagreement about their stance on one climbing area.

0 political motivation. The current Access Fund has good intentions but poor leadership and direction. 

With Love to Another

By Carl

I sat in The Pines on a lovely day,

An insignificant dot on time’s infinite way,

As I waited for friends to climb and to play,

To climb and to play in a respectful way.

I looked at the majesty,

And felt weak and small,

Everything was big,

Big, mighty and tall.

I worried about falling,

My spirt would wane,

I worried about falling,

Depressed; sad I became.

But I looked at the sky,

And I spoke to my god,

And I looked at the majesty,

Of beautiful rock.

And I said,

You don’t need to be bold,

You’re old, you’re not young,

If you connect you’ll find wisdom,

And the answers be told.

So I went for a walk,

I stepped barefoot on land,

Told the birds that I loved them,

I was nature boy,

I was grand.

And back at camp I looked again at the sky,

And the grass and the trees for a very long while,

and they said connect,

If you connect you’ll be high.

And I saw a flat stone,

It spoke in my hand,

It said connect and you’ll be free,

Connect and you’ll feel grand.

And I took up another stone to scribe,

The lesson I’d been given,

On that flat stone I’d found,

I felt very more than alive.

And I wrote ‘connect’,

And it came out like written in ink,

With a double fine line,

As if written in ink.

Later at the washpoint,

While washing my dishes,

I left my ‘connect’ message stone for another,

With love from me,

With love to another.

Save Grampians Climbing now has a post with a list of their recommended actions.

https://savegrampiansclimbing.org/save-arapiles-climbing-we-need-your-help/

The current call is - if you were planning to visit, don't stay away. The locals would like people to be seen visibly climbing there more than ever.

ali64 510wrote:

No!!

The best crag on the planet. No exaggeration. 

I have this crag tattooed on me it was THAT good. This saddens me deeply.

Here some quick things to do.

Open letter being signed by climbing organisations. You can also fill out the form to sign as an individual. If you are involved in any climbing organisations in your area, check out if you can sign as an organisation.

You can sign this Change.org petition.

You can email Steve Dimopoulos, the State Minister for Parks Victoria steve.dimopoulos at parliament.vic.gov.au I've heard that Mr Dimopoulos made the trip out to Natimuk on the weekend in person which is a good sign.

It’s just so sad…

https://savegrampiansclimbing.org/greater-gariwerd-landscape-draft-management-plan-crag-list/

Toby Foord-Kelceywrote:

Unfortunately the place that mosts resembles Victoria is British Columbia, where the re-elected hard-left NDP are eager to pass veto rights and management responsibility over all public land (95% of the land area) to indigenous claimants (less than 5% of the population). Climbing areas like Squamish are potentially very vulnerable to closures. But most local climbers are more interested in whining about inappropriate route names and accessibility to minority groups (the latter in reality a non-issue) rather than awkward issues like this which challenge their woke beliefs.

Are you the Toby Foord-Kelcey of the route DROWN IN THE SKY *** 18m E4 5c T. Kelcey. 4.10.1986 (practised on abseil) in Little Killary on the west coast of Ireland?

You seem very concerned about the handing over of land to indigenous groups when you live in one of the largest open pit mines in the world? British Columbia is a massive resource extraction zone. Quick Google search shows: Canada's three most polluted cities in 2019 were all in British Columbia: Kitwanga (19.4 μg/m3), Halfmoon Bay (14.7 μg/m3), and Clearwater (13.9 μg/m3). Each of the cities are greatly affected by seasonal particle pollution as a result of winter wood burning and cool air inversions. 

How about the handing over of land to mining firms which pollute the rivers and water tables Toby? Are indigenous groups opening open pit mines and devastating the environment for generations to come? 

You seem to have a lot of cognitive dissonance and give a lot of your agenda away in stating things like ''woke beliefs''

Ok Boomer......

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0269749124000423: Legacy coal mining impacts downstream ecosystems for decades in the Canadian Rockies

Jason Hurrywrote:

Are you the Toby Foord-Kelcey of the route DROWN IN THE SKY *** 18m E4 5c T. Kelcey. 4.10.1986 (practised on abseil) in Little Killary on the west coast of Ireland?

You seem very concerned about the handing over of land to indigenous groups when you live in one of the largest open pit mines in the world? British Columbia is a massive resource extraction zone. Quick Google search shows: Canada's three most polluted cities in 2019 were all in British Columbia: Kitwanga (19.4 μg/m3), Halfmoon Bay (14.7 μg/m3), and Clearwater (13.9 μg/m3). Each of the cities are greatly affected by seasonal particle pollution as a result of winter wood burning and cool air inversions. 

How about the handing over of land to mining firms which pollute the rivers and water tables Toby? Are indigenous groups opening open pit mines and devastating the environment for generations to come? 

You seem to have a lot of cognitive dissonance and give a lot of your agenda away in stating things like ''woke beliefs''

Ok Boomer......

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0269749124000423: Legacy coal mining impacts downstream ecosystems for decades in the Canadian Rockies

While I think that you are missing the point on several aspects, for the purposes of this thread what is most significant is that it isn't the mining companies, logging conglomerates, corporate farms and ranches, or other such powerful interests whose activities are being curtailed ostensibly in response to indigenous people's concerns both in Australia and here in North America. Instead it is climbers and other 'powerless', though in the scale of things basically harmless, groups who are being targeted by such restrictions.

Sam Mwrote:

Here some quick things to do.

Open letter being signed by climbing organisations. You can also fill out the form to sign as an individual. If you are involved in any climbing organisations in your area, check out if you can sign as an organisation.

You can sign this Change.org petition.

You can email Steve Dimopoulos, the State Minister for Parks Victoria steve.dimopoulos at parliament.vic.gov.au I've heard that Mr Dimopoulos made the trip out to Natimuk on the weekend in person which is a good sign.

Took about 15 minutes to complete all 3 actions.  Surely everyone can find 15 minutes in their day to try and save one of the most amazing and iconic crags on the planet.

J W wrote:

Would it be possible to remain focused on the task at hand and save tangential grievances for another time and place?

Thank you!

Wait so Toby is allowed make tangential nonsense grievances about the ''Woke'' mindset virus (in his mind), how climbers are more worried about 'offensive' route names and ''woke inclusivity'' none of which have anything to do with climbing area closures and I'm the one not allowed call him out? Well then call me TRIGGERED

Weekly update on the situation by ACA NSW

Sam Mwrote:

Open letter being signed by climbing organisations. You can also fill out the form to sign as an individual. If you are involved in any climbing organisations in your area, check out if you can sign as an organisation.

This open letter has now been presented to the Minister by Climbing Victoria. It's still encouraged to go ahead and sign.

There is a new media project to document and record stories and connections called Humans Of Arapiles (facebook link), if you would like your story to be documented.

If anyone has climbed at Arapiles or aspires to visit could you please consider signing this open letter today: 

Open letter final call to sign:

Tomorrow will be 2 weeks since climbers were surprised by Parks Victoria’s plans to enact sweeping closures at Arapiles/ Dyurrite. It is confirmed by two independent assessments that only 37% of routes will be left open initially and in the best case scenario no more than 45% of routes will be permissible. Sadly this impacts most of the good beginner areas and classic beginner routes with all the 3 star routes under grade 10 closed ( Arachnus may reopen). It also impacts hard  like Punks in the Gym and India, and every classic route in between.

If you have somehow missed out seeing this open letter and have ever been to Arapiles, or aspire to climb there, we urge you to sign now. The letter, endorsed by climbing organisations from around Australia will be closed on Wednesday, 2 weeks after it was first published. So far close to 10 000 people and over 100 businesses have signed. 

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe8CjxZF1C50cy_xK-tZ682DmqRx4jXrNIs6Uxk0-RHNxk1Xg/viewform?usp=sf_link

Vanessa Wwrote:

If anyone has climbed at Arapiles or aspires to visit could you please consider signing this open letter today: 

Open letter final call to sign:

Tomorrow will be 2 weeks since climbers were surprised by Parks Victoria’s plans to enact sweeping closures at Arapiles/ Dyurrite. It is confirmed by two independent assessments that only 37% of routes will be left open initially and in the best case scenario no more than 45% of routes will be permissible. Sadly this impacts most of the good beginner areas and classic beginner routes with all the 3 star routes under grade 10 closed ( Arachnus may reopen). It also impacts hard  like Punks in the Gym and India, and every classic route in between.

If you have somehow missed out seeing this open letter and have ever been to Arapiles, or aspire to climb there, we urge you to sign now. The letter, endorsed by climbing organisations from around Australia will be closed on Wednesday, 2 weeks after it was first published. So far close to 10 000 people and over 100 businesses have signed. 

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe8CjxZF1C50cy_xK-tZ682DmqRx4jXrNIs6Uxk0-RHNxk1Xg/viewform?usp=sf_link

clickable: 

open letter link

Interesting and possibly positive news for Dyurrite/Arapiles climbing access: Park Victoria boss 'quits' and independent enquiry into the organisation ordered.