SVM

Just like Nevtrik said, I was shocked to find out that it was someone from their group. If I ever see it again, I will be the first to report him to the authorities. (UPDATE): Here is a rough translation of the final part of my conversation with the group leader - "The marking chalk was a mistake. We didn't think it through. The plan was to clean it up the same day but we postponed it to the weekend. Even though the paint has been partially cleaned off, we will return this weekend to see if we can clean up anything else and make sure everything is in order. Once again, we apologize for the mistake and we will work to avoid repeating it in the future".

Climbers, I used to just read your website/forum for the awesome trip reports. Seeing where this conversation is going, I decided to actually sign up, as a user. Thank you, Viktor, for bringing this up and I hope the paint will be cleaned off promptly. However, I think it unfair to pin the vandalism on the group of "Russians". You may not be fond of their "speed climbing" but you have no idea whether they painted the wall or not. They did put up the tape, which was taken down, as indicated in the first post. I personally know some of the "speed climbers" and they are contacting the people who arrived first, to set up the route, to see what the real story was. If they did it, the'll own up to it and clean it up. I, personally, doubt it. Let's hold off with the assumptions.