Grafitti on El Cap

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Messages 1 - 66 of total 66 in this topic
Mark Hudon

Trad climber
Hood River, OR
Topic Author's Original Post - May 26, 2010 - 12:53pm PT
To one and all:

This kind of sh#t is totally unacceptable!

Big Piton

Trad climber
Ventura
May 26, 2010 - 12:56pm PT
Where is this located?

MMM
Anastasia

climber
hanging from a crimp and crying for my mama.
May 26, 2010 - 12:56pm PT
Big Piton beat me to it!
"The location please."
Mungeclimber

Trad climber
sorry, just posting out loud.
May 26, 2010 - 12:57pm PT
Wonder if it's a memorial.

I know there are memorials all over the Sierra, not all with asian characters.
Mark Hudon

Trad climber
Hood River, OR
Topic Author's Reply - May 26, 2010 - 01:00pm PT
The photo was taken from Lambone's Zenyatta Mondatta TR. (I've used it without permission, BTW)
apogee

climber
May 26, 2010 - 01:08pm PT
Looks like a memorial to me, too. Anybody know what it says?
Gene

Social climber
May 26, 2010 - 01:12pm PT
Names perhaps?
aspendougy

Trad climber
Los Angeles, CA
May 26, 2010 - 01:15pm PT
How was it done? Can someone go up there and erase it without causing more damage, or is it already etched in?"
Ryan Tetz

Trad climber
Flagstaff, AZ
May 26, 2010 - 01:19pm PT
A memorial to one of the 2 Japanese parties that froze on El Cap?
TripL7

Trad climber
san diego
May 26, 2010 - 01:21pm PT
Looks like a date at the bottom: 1999.7.26(July 26, 1999)!!
donini

Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
May 26, 2010 - 01:21pm PT
Given the proximity of El Cap to millions of people, I'm kinda surprised the problem isn't worse- look at Stony Point.
brotherbbock

Trad climber
Alta Loma, CA
May 26, 2010 - 01:22pm PT
Koreans???
PhotogEC

climber
In front of my computer
May 26, 2010 - 01:22pm PT
It's Korean; a guy who works for me should be able to read it, but he's out sick today. If there's no translation posted by tomorrow, I'll provide an update.

--Eric
Brian

climber
California
May 26, 2010 - 01:31pm PT
As medeusa points out, those are Korean characters.

That sort of graffiti is messed up. If, hopefully, it is the names of the people who did it, we could at least know who did this.

Brian
hollyclimber

Big Wall climber
Yosemite, CA
May 26, 2010 - 01:32pm PT
Quick response is that this is old news...we have seen this before. Of course-horrible. But as far as I know, isolated event.
mucci

Trad climber
The pitch of Bagalaar above you
May 26, 2010 - 01:38pm PT

El Cap is not the only stone that fell victim to graffiti.

Oh man, looks like english to me.
Buju

Big Wall climber
the range of light
May 26, 2010 - 01:42pm PT
if Tron did indeed carve that on WC, id be careful...it can climb walls "900-1200 times better than a human"

...ahhhh dorky refrence
jack herer

climber
Veneta, Oregon
May 26, 2010 - 01:48pm PT
does any one really care that much.... you couldnt even pick that up in one of tom's scope. if you really care then go chop all the bolts on el cap while you are up there, but dont take pins cuz youll scar the rock too.... climbers are so silly, its okay to scar the rock in some aspects, but when someone comes along and does this its unacceptable. take a step back and think about it.
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
May 26, 2010 - 01:51pm PT
A little stucco colorcoat and it'd be good as new.
mucci

Trad climber
The pitch of Bagalaar above you
May 26, 2010 - 01:52pm PT
I thought Tron ledge was pretty funny.

Then again, I understood the language (and Reference).
apogee

climber
May 26, 2010 - 01:54pm PT
Korean, huh? (Perhaps) another example of differing cultural attitudes towards 'wilderness'. Remember the Korean Alpine Club mass group size episode(s) at Tahquitz/Suicide?

Not picking on Koreans, but there are distinct differences in what is considered acceptable or appropriate use of the wilderness from culture to culture. Here in the US, we tend to find such scribing on a natural feature horribly unacceptable (unless it involves carving presidential faces or tunnels), yet in other parts of the world it is commonplace and honorable.

Though unacceptable in my book, I might be able to understand how someone from a different culture, ignorant of what the US cultural norms around wilderness use, might do something like that to honor someone else. (That is, assuming it's a memorial.) I'd really prefer to not see it happen again, however.
Mason

Trad climber
Yay Area
May 26, 2010 - 01:55pm PT
A Korean friend of mine says it's a sort of "RIP Memorial" with the names of two men.
Chaz

Trad climber
greater Boss Angeles area
May 26, 2010 - 02:40pm PT
In 500 years, it'll be considered "ancient rock art", and it will be used as an excuse to shut down Z.M.

This is how it starts.
Peter Haan

Trad climber
San Francisco, CA
May 26, 2010 - 03:32pm PT
I think the first Yosemite climber graffiti must be Klemens' inscription at the top of the Towers of Geek, namely "GEEK". He thought it was incredibly funny and shared his tale with everyone for months. It was in 1971 when they did the first of the three routes. It was the lousy route actually comparatively and Mark was kind of disgusted with it.
Anastasia

climber
hanging from a crimp and crying for my mama.
May 26, 2010 - 03:38pm PT
Memorial isn't as bad as "Joe loves Susie." I can actually respect a memorial even though I would highly prefer it somewhere else.
AFS
Jerry Dodrill

climber
Sebastopol, CA
May 26, 2010 - 03:58pm PT

For the sake of argument, what kind of character is this?

bergbryce

Mountain climber
Berkeley, CA
May 26, 2010 - 04:04pm PT
The route Fred Rasmusson at City of Rocks takes it's name from some really old graffiti at the base of the route. Apparently it was written in axle grease who knows when, a long time ago and by a member of a wagon train.
This brings up an interesting discussion that I've contemplated much. Is a date cutoff simply enough to determine whether something is culturally significant or just garbage?

In Alaska there is a lot of mining garbage (yes it's garbage) that cannot be touched due to its "cultural significance". I can't help but believe there is a difference between something like the Kenicott structures and a mound of trashed steel cable, tin cans and other rubble. Kenicott well deserves to be protected and maybe even preserved. But a pile of mining related trash?
http://pix.alaporte.net/pub/d/19086-1/Abandoned+Kennicott+Buildings+-pp+HeloCam.JPG
Spider Savage

Mountain climber
SoCal
May 26, 2010 - 04:18pm PT
Aesthetic to few. Ugly to many. Leave nature to do the carving.

Worst case senario:
http://www.stonemountainpark.com/
Elcapinyoazz

Social climber
Joshua Tree
May 26, 2010 - 04:18pm PT

vs.



vs.

j-tree

Trad climber
bay area, ca
May 26, 2010 - 11:21pm PT
not off but beside topic,
I remember seeing a large graffitied name on the backside of Sugarloaf a month ago (at the high point of pony express before it starts going down the backside) each letter was 1-2 feet in height and was someone's name. I took pictures but ended up deleting them because it just pissed me off. oh well. back on topic
mike m

Trad climber
black hills
May 26, 2010 - 11:40pm PT
I hate when people people alter the environment in National Parks...






























PhotogEC

climber
In front of my computer
May 27, 2010 - 03:00pm PT
My Korean friend indicates that the message in question reads, literally:

Miss
Chae Seung Chul
Kim Hyung Jin

He agreed that it's a memorial to the two people named, but was unsure whether there's any significance to where it was left.

Anyone recognize the names and/or an accident in '99?

--Eric
72hw

Trad climber
Pasadena, CA
May 27, 2010 - 09:49pm PT
Honestly it could be a climber memorializing parents, lost friends, etc. who may have never set foot on a wall. Where I do not condone the widespread use of such tactics to make your grief or respect known, I understand fully the impulse. Special places to us are special places to others and they may choose such places to work through loss in any number of ways.

Not sure how I feel about this... I guess it comes down to knowing pornography when you see it.

nutjob

Trad climber
Berkeley, CA
May 27, 2010 - 09:52pm PT
GEEK Tower
Fuzzywuzzy

climber
suspendedhappynation
May 28, 2010 - 06:38pm PT
Garbage.

Leave it as (or better) than you find it.

Which means no signs -

A worthy goal.

Anastasia

climber
hanging from a crimp and crying for my mama.
May 28, 2010 - 06:42pm PT
A memorial is not graffiti. If anything is sacred this would be it. Gosh darn it, someone died on the mountain and one of their loved one didn't want them forgotten. I don't find that offensive, I find it gut wrenching sad.
AFS
Tobia

Social climber
GA
May 28, 2010 - 10:26pm PT
Spider Savage: I have to agree with you on the Stone Mountain problem. I used to express that opinion often around here (GA) but there are few people that see it that way.

I guess the only positive thought about Stone Mountain is that represents what not to do significant natural wonders.
Fuzzywuzzy

climber
suspendedhappynation
May 28, 2010 - 10:31pm PT
People die everyday by the thousands.

If there were one of those roadside memorials for every death we would be wading through the trash. As far as I'm concerned the less crap and plaques the better. Keep it to yourself and don't impose it on what is by many considered pristine.

This is nuts.
brotherbbock

Trad climber
Alta Loma, CA
May 28, 2010 - 11:40pm PT
I bet it says something about Kim Jong Il killing infidels on it.
murcy

climber
sanfrancisco
May 29, 2010 - 12:50am PT
Tom

Big Wall climber
San Luis Obispo CA
May 29, 2010 - 03:51am PT
This is terrible.

I will now go, like Palin, and go Commando on this, and be effective.


People, you can see the Wizdumb of the Arizona Legislature.

Any time we get foreigners on our soil, we have trouble.

So, we need to be virulent and possibly crazy, but we need to stop those outsiders.


Didn't we fight for our land? And don't we deserve to hold it?

PEOPLE! Those so-called 'people' are scum. And not worthy of our land.


The latest incident, which I hope will be forwarded to either a fag's ex-wife with a blog, or a demented fat slug addicted to oxycotin, is this:


AT NO TIME CAN YOU INVADE THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!




(Editor's Note) - please delete any record of Tom's rant. Political politeness issues aside, his view on this issue borders on rampant craziness. The people controlling his writing want everyone to know that everything is going to be OK, and there is no need for alarm. He has been summarily fired, and will never write again.
Lambone

Ice climber
Ashland, Or
May 29, 2010 - 10:01am PT
I admit I was a little turned off by the inscription on ZM.
G-ram

Trad climber
revelstoke
May 29, 2010 - 03:38pm PT
I thought it was kinda neat, if I was wandering around my home mountains, and was high on a cliff and saw inscribed poetry or a memorial, I would be very excited. I guess that because my mountains ARE wilderness. Yosemite, while wild adventure abounds doesn't seem like wilderness to me. More of an athletic park. If you were several days into the backcountry of the sierras and came across something like this it would seem a beautiful reminder that there are other people out there.
I guess the motivations are pure. It's better to alter the rock out of compassion and longing for a human relationship than pounding bolts somewhere solely for the ego.
Lambone

Ice climber
Ashland, Or
May 29, 2010 - 03:46pm PT
Maybe if the Koreans had died on the route or something. Otherwise I don't see how it belongs at the p15 belay...
icegang

Big Wall climber
Seoul,Korea
May 31, 2010 - 01:31am PT
First of all, I would like to apologize for that matter as a Korean climber.
As a person who loves mountains and nature, I am sure that I feel the same way if I find flaw on a valuable wall.
Those are Korean characters and the names of two Korean climbers, who accidently fell and died at “Thaley Sagar” in Pakistan in 1998.
They were the co-founders of “Extreme Rider”, a rock-climbing school in Korea established in 1997 and the pioneers in big wall climbing in Korea.
Now many succeeding rock climbers are working actively all around the world.

For your understanding, I introduce their climbing history shortly.

1994 El-Cap Triple Direct
El-Cap Excalibur
Half Dome Direct Northwest Face
1996 El-Cap Nose(in a Day)
El Cap Lost in America
El Cap Heart Sunkist
1997 El-Cap Aurora(descending by Paragliding)
El-Cap Zodiac(in a day)
Pakistan Trango Tower New Route KOREA FANTASY(Descending by Paragliding)
1998 Canada Bugaboo"Snow Patch Spire"
Pakistan Thaley Sagar---Falling from Snow Field of Summit


After the accident, a person who was their friend and had a plan to climb the El-Cap did it.
I am sure that it was neither taking down a foreign country, nor an arrogant behavior.
They had never done that before even though they had climbed Yosemite several times for 1994 through 1997.
I am not a representative and a spokesman of Korean climbers, but I will do my efforts to ensure that such an act will not happen again.

I sincerely apologize again and understand the situation.



I.C.Kang
A Korean Climber
tokyo bill

Social climber
tokyo
May 31, 2010 - 02:22am PT
Compliments to icegang for a well-written, informative and thoughtful response.
bmacd

climber
Relic Hominid
May 31, 2010 - 02:28am PT
Suprise ending to this thread. Well done Icegang.
Lambone

Ice climber
Ashland, Or
May 31, 2010 - 09:40am PT
Sad story I.C., thanks for putting it into context. RIP Korean wallers.
Fuzzywuzzy

climber
suspendedhappynation
May 31, 2010 - 11:31am PT
Yes, the Ying and the Yang of everything. . .

That candy wrapper is a reminder too - wow someones been here - how romantic.

For me, limiting my/our impact in everyway we can seems reasonable as the numbers of "visitors"continues to increase.

Just like limiting the bolts, firerings etc.

I admit I find the "historic" grease pictographs at City of Rocks a bit amusing but the petroglyphs of the native peoples interesting. It is a dbl standard. But, aren't we now aware that this is defacement? Depends on your perspective. But why not leave a clean slate?

Its true, the notice of prior presence can be interesting and sometimes tells a story.

I find empty landscapes - void of our presence immensely spiritual.

The lack of "attachments", signatures of our culture, allows/prompts a connection to nature. I'm not saying you can't find it amidst the balanced rock sculptures. I find I am more relaxed without the stimulus.
hooblie

climber
from where the anecdotes roam
May 31, 2010 - 12:11pm PT
second what fuzzy said. should be axiomatic by now.

even laying in some turns on a virgin slope causes me a tinge of regret, though that adds incentive to make them "pretty," tucking the steps along the margin or out of frame, hope for blessed snow to cover and fix it. sweep the corn at the right time of day, and the pallet is cleansed by tomorrow. part of why snow feels like play.

the stone though carries a heavier burden, bears the pain of our passage on a different scale, from zero to our kind of forever
Chinchen

climber
Way out there....
May 31, 2010 - 12:33pm PT
Im more worried about what Tom said.
Scared Silly

Trad climber
UT
May 31, 2010 - 01:12pm PT
Given Icegang's comments with the rest of the story I can fully understand why a partner would make such an inscription. Rather auspicious coming on Memorial Day. Losing climbing friends is hard. You want to do something to remember them so I can understand why. I certainly would not condemn their inscription but nor would I condone it. It is what it is. BTW you find such memorials all over the Alps - some right along the routes. Given Mark brought the subject up, ever see the memorial marker along Cooper's Spur on Mt. Hood?

Much better than Bullwinkle masturbated here or Dick screwed Winnie or like the recent fad at IC of chipping plaques. Or the boulders leaving ticks marks on every hold like a 3 year old's connect the dot game.
Fuzzywuzzy

climber
suspendedhappynation
May 31, 2010 - 02:24pm PT
Hoobie -

I was thinking about beaches without footprints or debris.

Snow - as you said, clean, immaculate. It simplifies the horizon and gives us something without clutter, fences...

"...What have we done to the earth, what have we done to our fair sister..."

Easy to see why others have different opinions. But nothing beats cleanliness IMHO.

Its easy to mess it up.
Todd Eastman

climber
Bellingham, WA
May 31, 2010 - 03:42pm PT
Make memorials on private land or at home, but don't put them on public property and especially in a National Park.
Lambone

Ice climber
Ashland, Or
May 31, 2010 - 03:52pm PT
Peter Haan

Trad climber
San Francisco, CA
May 31, 2010 - 10:24pm PT
In the end, permanently marking climbs in this fashion is simply equivalent to branding wolverines as if they were being farmed like cattle.

It is misplaced pathos, certainly. Our deaths are, yes, almost always hideous--- unspeakably, unimaginably excrutiating. Right? Don’t you think? It doesn’t get too much worse anywhere.

But then to use this basis---a horrible accident and all the awesome loss and misery we undergo---- to then determinedly make marks in the natural world on surfaces that are somewhere between 10,000 and 6,000,000 million years old---so ancient---and would remain otherwise untouched for another like period, is to absurdly fantasize your supremacy in the cosmos, and that the natural world and all its details are but your vassals at your beckoning. Tiny Mount Rushmores---really?. That our ancients at the very beginning of humankind drew astounding images and talismen on the walls of caves and rocks all over the world for the first time in terrestial history does not mean that today in our crazy galactic life and world we too should make, in mimic, marks that we for a spell, think are as significant but which mean nothing if not today, then in a few years and thus forever. Just more garbage and scars--- more nausea.
Todd Eastman

climber
Bellingham, WA
May 31, 2010 - 11:42pm PT
What do the government regulations say?
Mighty Hiker

climber
Vancouver, B.C.
May 31, 2010 - 11:50pm PT
The National Park Service normally grants permission to those wishing to scatter cremated remains within the borders of Yosemite National Park.

To receive permission, please send a letter to Special Park Uses, National Park Service, PO Box 700-W, El Portal, CA 95318. Include in your letter your name, address, and daytime phone number. Also include the name of the deceased and his/her relationship to you (e.g., sister, husband, mother, friend, etc.).

With a letter of permission, you may scatter cremated remains with the following conditions:
 All such activity must be done out of sight of any public access, such as roads, trails, parking areas, etc.;
 All such activity must be at least 100 yards from any watercourse;
 Cremains must be spread over an area large enough that no single portion is accumulated in one place.

No markers of any kind may be left to commemorate the event.
http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/ashes.htm

(Highlighting added.)
Buju

Big Wall climber
the range of light
Jun 1, 2010 - 01:18am PT
coz...

Carving memorials in a "sacred" rock is okay but drilling bolts in a "sacred" rock (SFHD...) is not? Isn't it all just resource damage when it comes down to it?

If everyone carved their lost loved one's names in Yosemite's featues, the park would be covered....

Im not being an AZ-hole...im just curious...
Chief

climber
Jun 1, 2010 - 01:31am PT
copperhead slots, enhanced hook placements, pin scars, bolts; all good.
graffiti bad. Remember the ancient GEEK!
Fuzzywuzzy

climber
suspendedhappynation
Jun 1, 2010 - 01:33pm PT
This is a good conversation. Thanks for participating!

It is complicated. I vacillate. I agree with Peter - in the big picture it seems rather presumptuous when considering eternity. I’ve shared and understand Scott’s situation, his post to the Koreans is compassionate. It feels coldhearted to restrict such an act.

I understand why we are compelled to leave memorials. It is about our emotions - working through the death of a friend. Is it becoming a popular trend? How does it effect others?

We are blessed with expansive tracts of “protected” land. If we decide to leave it free of signs of our passing (or others) there may be benefits. Our Mountain Culture is still in its infancy. Is it foolish to try and keep the canvas as clean as possible?

Is it an extension of free speech? Sometimes silence is golden. Norman Clyde didn’t return to place a plaque for the Starr family, but much later somebody decided to do so. Plaques, carvings, memorials - can it get out-of-hand? I’m hoping it doesn’t become routine.

The media sells fear, and overtime I can imagine grieving friends responding to a fabricated cultural guilt trip by littering the landscape. How about a Sand Mandala?

If you are going to erode the wilderness then this is trivial compared to summit registers, bear lockers etc. I recognize I’m hyper sensitive, for example, those LED lights that are popping up around campsites in the backcountry drive me crazy!

When the world looms larger we tend to feel smaller – less significant. I think that is healthy. We love having a route to ourselves, experiencing the “drift” of the land without “distractions.

Don’t we also feel vulnerable in the presence of memorials? What’s our emotional threshold? What’s the answer? Lets be discreet and keep the world as natural as possible.

As Cole Porter put it:

Oh, give me land, lots of land under starry skies above, Don't fence me in
Let me ride through the wide open country that I love, Don't fence me in
Let me be by myself in the evenin' breeze
And listen to the murmur of the cottonwood trees
Send me off forever but I ask you please, Don't fence me in

Just turn me loose, let me straddle my old saddle
Underneath the western skies
On my Cayuse, let me wander over yonder
Till I see the mountains rise

I want to ride to the ridge where the west commences
And gaze at the moon till I lose my senses
And I can't look at hovels and I can't stand fences
Don't fence me in
Peter Haan

Trad climber
San Francisco, CA
Jun 1, 2010 - 03:23pm PT
Stunning post Tom! The principle "to leave no trace" is what we are trying to strive for obviously and which, had it been observed more frequently in our history many things would be better surely. And no question about it, the Korean monument as well as Scott's plaque are really poignant and obviously no big blow to nature; they are both thoroughly well intended. But it would be best if we don't have a whole lot them.
Ed Hartouni

Trad climber
Livermore, CA
Jun 6, 2010 - 03:52pm PT





seems like some innate drive is at work...
mark miller

Social climber
Reno
Jun 6, 2010 - 09:12pm PT
Hey Fattrad you should have them Butt Phucking the North American Continent to really capture the essence of their illegal reign. I'll donate $2 for this cause, tax deductible off course....Maybe you can scribe Halliburton and the oil co.s names in the Black Diorite while you're there for a fee, of course.
Tobia

Social climber
GA
Jun 6, 2010 - 11:00pm PT
I think everyone one looks for a clean fresh landscape i.e., one that is free of litter, signs and other traces of humanity when visiting a National Park or any wilderness area. (The one exception may be when one is lost.)

Most people travel to these places to escape the tedium of day to day life and the stains of city life. It is disturbing to believe you have escaped these reminders of our ever increasingly crowded world when stumbling across debris in the back country, trash on a stretch of beach or seeing litter along side a rural highway. Graffiti is another reminder of someone else's presence. To find someone's name or initials scrawled in a remote spot spoils our attempted escape.

To those that leave such markers it seems to be a benign attempt at eternity or a fleeting glimpse from the eyes of a conqueror.

A memorial might perhaps be looked at from another point of view; but I have always thought graveyards and tombstones to be a peculiar part of our vanity as humans.

As far as finding a remote spot that we can venture to and have high expectations of a completely natural environment...

Lambone

Big Wall climber
Ashland, Or
Jul 20, 2015 - 11:20pm PT
Bumping this thread to add, I was approached by I.C. Kang at the bridge this spring and he engaged me in a long discussion about the markings on ZM. 5 years after this thread was posted its still on his mind and he is very much concerned about how Korean climbers are perceived in the community.

Well, he already explained why they were put there, so I won't go into that. But I will say he was very adamant that we understand that in the Team Extreme Rider school, new climbers are taught Leave No Trace and clean climbing ethics that are the standard in Yosemite. And that carving anything in the rock is not acceptable. He could not speak for all Koreans obviously but he was speaking for Team Extreme Rider.

I have always had a personal gripe about finding Korean cigarette buts littered on the ground and stuck in cracks on the wall whenever I ended up climbing behind or after them. He said he understands and will continue to insist that their climbers remove all trash from the wall.

I have a lot of respect for I.C. He goes above and beyond trying to facilitate the TER climbers having a safe and successful time in Yosemite. And he's just a nice, funny guy. If you have the chance, say hi and get to know him a little.
Cheers
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