cowardly acts of theft at Frenchman Coulee

[Charlie]

I made a horrible discovery at the Coulee today. Someone has stollen the hangers off of at least ten routes in the sunshine area! Also, all of the rappel stations were removed. Was this done in response to all the "Osama Bill Robbins" graffite in the parking lot? This was not making a statement, this was some bitch-ass cowardness! If you don't like the sport routes there (niether do I) that's one thing, but this was done with no regard for the coulee or the environmental impact there! That fragile area up top will only be further trampled with the absence of the rap anchors. This act really saddens me. How dare this person(s) do this! I'm emailing the #1 suspect to ask him if he did it. If he did, hopefully he'll admit it. This affects everyone, not just the people involved in this stupid "conflict"

[ 12-04-2001: Message edited by: Charlie ]

[Lambone]

F&*%k that....

[ 12-02-2001: Message edited by: Lambone ]

[slaphappy]

This action is unacceptable by all standards! Whomever is responsible for these actions is a fool and is jeapordizing access for a HUGE group of people. Somehow, someway these vigil acts must be stopped! How do we do this? any ideas?

[Lambone]

snipers, or boobytraps

[slaphappy]

[ 12-02-2001: Message edited by: slaphappy ]

[epb]

yeah...snipers and boobytraps

[BrianHaggerty]

We could start a fund to hire a professional security team to guard the routes 24 hours a day. (we would also equip them with night vision goggles, shot guns, and sniper riffles.

[Matt]

I was climbing at the Sunshine Wall today and noticed several sport routes had their hangers removed. I believe all of the hangers were taken off Narlux. Another route to the left of Narlux had its hangers removed, maybe Boschido? Many anchors and rappel stations had their hangers removed, including those located at the top of Party in Your Pants. I am not sure, but in all maybe 40 - 50 hangers were removed.

Why was this done? Who is responsible for this? Is this in reaction to something that happened at the FCCC meeting on 1 Dec 01? This concerns me greatly. We do not need a bolt war in Washington.

Ps. Hi Charlie. Nice meeting you.

[Lambone]

Were the bolts chopped too, or did they just take off the hangers?

[Peter_Puget]

Where the hangers removed in such a way that a person leading one of the routes could be put into an unexpected and dangerous situation?

Actions like this along with irresponsible bolting or chipping have an impact that is not limited to either the areas or the people directly involved.

[Matt]

The bolts were left intact, only the hangers were taken.

Of course there are several routes in the area that have been chopped, but the chopping was done long ago and is nothing new. (I'm referring to the chopping of bolts on Red M&Ms and the bolting-chopping-rebolting of Whipsaw.)

I'd also like to add that while I agree with Charlie that this is unacceptable, I do not think this is terrorism. This is theft and vandalism, but calling it terrorism is IMHO inappropriate and only escalates the hostilities between parties. Charlie, when you called this a cowardly act you were spot on.

[Matt]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Peter Puget:

Were the hangers removed in such a way that a person leading one of the routes could be put into an unexpected and dangerous situation?

---

Well, yes and no. No one will start up any of the sport climbs that have had their hangers removed so in that case the only consequence will be fewer people climb the routes. However, I can imagine someone topping out on a route that used to have bolted anchors and instead the leader has to build an anchor with natural pro. It could be argued that these bolted anchors were put in for convenience, but I think in many cases they help prevent climbers from screwing around with all the loose choss at the top of the cliff. I myself appreciate the extra level of safety bolted anchors provide.

Yes, the danger level just stepped up a notch at Frenchman Coulee. Be careful.

[pope]

Yes, it's theft, and it's pathetic. But you've got to understand, these bolt hangers will just appear on some new sport climb. The guy that swiped them has poorly developed social ethics (he's a thief) and poorly developed environmental ethics (HE'S GOING TO STICK THEM UP ON A DIFFERENT CLIFF WHERE THEY ARE EQUALLY OUT OF PLACE). Either way you look at it, he has no problem leaving a mess and stepping on toes. But, if you clip bolts, then you surround yourself with these kind of people, and what do you expect?

[Lambone]

There you go again dissing on sport climbers. You need to get over yourself pope, you are no better than the rest of us.

I would hasten to guess that whoever did this is someone who shares your attitude. The <I am rightious because I do not clip bolts, and I am going to force my will upon others> type.

This idiot is not stealing hangers so that he can equip new sport routes... He(or she) is doing it to make some sort of lame ass statement and piss people off. He is just another freak with a big ego who thinks they can change the world.

[slaphappy]

Expect? You said exactly what I expected you to say, Pope! Same old repetitive BS.

[pope]

Logic, children. Somebody upset about bolts would remove/damage them. Somebody who thinks bolts are nifty would swipe the hangers. I'd be REALLY amazed if they were swiped by somebody who did not intend to SLAP them up on his own project. Why? Because those of us who have the environmental ethics to avoid bolting also have the social ethics to avoid stealing. Come on over, join us. You won't hear one of the "trad" climbers that you despise whimpering because somebody swiped his rack of hexes and his rugby shirt.

[Lambone]

I don't despise anyone pope, you are the one who harbors animosity towards other groups of climbers. My speculation is that this fool cares about the rock at vantage. They also are well aware that these bolts will eventually be replaced. So, I assume he wishes to avoid further scaring of the rock by chopping the bolts, yet by stealing the hangers, he still makes the same statement and pisses people off.

Peace pal...you can have my hexes!

[ 12-03-2001: Message edited by: Lambone ]

[pope]

You could be right....could be some kind of statement. The place used to be really pretty...I supposed somebody might still care about it.

[Lambone]

[Peter_Puget]

While I am certain the villain here does have some real concerns about bolting that can in some imagined context be viewed as noble, they are, however, subsumed by his/her more base motivations and thus become merely an excuse to perform antisocial acts behind. Much like Pope's criticisms they miss the mark, overeach and by their own lack of logic and suasion they reveal the dark side of human nature. Sad. Sad. Sad.

[Bronco]

why don't you just put some new hangers up?

[Charlie]

I don't think this was done to get the hangers for future use. Some of the missing hangers would have been a bitch to get to (free standing pillars) This obviously took a lot of effort. This person(s) was trying to make a statement. I plan on replacing The 3 missing rap stations this week- anyone want to help/ donate some material?

[Charlie]

Quick question- will standard 3/8 nuts fit on the existing studs? Wallstien? I'll probably have to drive to Yakima to get hangers. The anchors that were removed were above Bobs your uncle/steel grill, next to party in your pants, and at the top of tangled up in blue. I'll probably just put in 2 slings with 2 rap rings (I don't want to invest too much in case the fucker strikes again) any advice would be appreciated.

[Dru]

As someone that has "stolen" the odd hanger myself (from old Squamish climbs that the moss has grown over) I agree with pope that this sounds like someone planning to use the hangers themselves on another route somewhere... a real protest would have chopped/flattened/sabotaged the bolts themselves.

stealing hangers is usually popular with cheap bastard climbes just starting the sport and (unlike me) they usually pick popular routes because they know that good Samaritans like you all will quickly chip in and replace those hangers.

FWIW if you replace the hangers try coating the bolt heads with locktite or something (silica sealant, rubber cement etc.) once you install them it makes this kind of hanger theft that much harder.

[DCramer]

Charlie check your PMs