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Mittens
climber
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Apr 27, 2013 - 12:59am PT
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You were totally out of your element in removing such a historical symbol that has endured over 30 years in Camp 4. Undoubtedly, chalk markings on boulders, from tick marks to lightning bolts, can be an eyesore and should generally not be accepted in a natural setting. However, the historical significance of the lightning bolt far outweighs it's perceived unsightliness (by some). By removing the bolt you have removed a small part of Yosemite's climbing history. Why not remove 'Starry Eyed Man' in Hueco? Is it also no more than graffiti in a natural setting? Time is what distinguishes graffiti from history and the lightning bolt has endured enough time to achieve a symbolic reverence not unlike the petroglyphs Hueco, albeit on much shorter scale. If I drew a chalk shoe on the Blue Suede Shoes slab, it would be erased in a day and gone forever, as would any chalk drawing on a newly developed boulder. But the bolt was different, and you erased a valuable part of climbing history that would have endured another 30+ years and will surely appear again, expressing the vanity of its removal.
Additionally, I find removing the bolt and sharing this post more than a tad egocentric and rabble-rousy on your part, especially considering that you've never climbed the thing (cite: 8a.nu). Now, I know it shouldn't make a difference on an ethical basis whether you have or haven't done it, but when you put the time into the Lightning you develop a personal connection with its symbolism as the catalyst of modern bouldering. You removing the lightning bolt would be like a hiker attempting to remove bolt hangers from a route because their sight detracts from his/her natural experience. Totally out of your element. Anyway, It'll surely return, and unfortunately all you have done is marred its history. This blog post came off to me as snooty and pompous and if you had true wilderness ethics and public service in mind, you wouldn't made a spectacle of it. Statement noted.
(Copied from my post on his blog)
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James
climber
My twin brother's laundry room
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Topic Author's Reply - Apr 27, 2013 - 01:04am PT
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The caliber of this crowd rose above and beyond my expectations
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'Pass the Pitons' Pete
Big Wall climber
like Ontario, Canada, eh?
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Apr 27, 2013 - 01:13am PT
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I had to look up what "solipsistic" means.
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limpingcrab
Trad climber
the middle of CA
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Apr 27, 2013 - 01:35am PT
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Ohhhh, as in lightning bolt. Now I get it!
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Mungeclimber
Trad climber
the crowd MUST BE MOCKED...Mocked I tell you.
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Apr 27, 2013 - 01:51am PT
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I really don't have anything constructive to say about this.
keep it classy James
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Michelle
Social climber
1187 Hunterwasser
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Apr 27, 2013 - 02:22am PT
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The Sleestak cell planned it all.
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karodrinker
Trad climber
San Jose, CA
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Apr 27, 2013 - 04:11am PT
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10 points for stirrin up the panties of this overly nostalgic bunch. -8 points for the anxiety that the action (if real) is making me feel. I have traced it with my hand and have imagined all the fingers that also touched the exact location marked on the stone. But nostalgia is dumb, so you are still up 2 points.
Peace.
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BruceAnderson
Social climber
Los Angeles currently St. Antonin, France
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Apr 27, 2013 - 05:35am PT
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Having lived in France for the last few years where most cliffs have route names painted on the bottom, fixed lines and re-bar rungs for 3rd class bits on approaches, and of course bolts on everything it's so funny how touchy people get in the states about stuff like this. Never mind the roads you drove to get there and all the other man made stuff that creates our world, but something like the lightening bolt is a problem? Or a route name on a chunk of rock at the canyonlands?
The whole idea of being the eco-warrior climber is laughable, but all the companies sure can market it to us yanks...
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Gunkie
Trad climber
East Coast US
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Apr 27, 2013 - 07:30am PT
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What Would BURT BRONSON Do? (WWBBD)
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jfailing
Trad climber
PDX, North Slope, The Open Road
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Apr 27, 2013 - 08:50am PT
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James has certainly stirred up the the climbing community... Perhaps some of us are overreacting a bit though? It's not like it was the original bolt - Bachar's chalk was likely long gone before James' cleaning. So prior to the recent erasing, was the bolt not exactly what it currently is now - a copy of the original? As others have said, it has already been redrawn, so the icon still exists... So then what differentiates the new one from the old one? I hear the French are pretty good artists fwiw...
Then again, what the hell do I know?
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Matt's
climber
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Apr 27, 2013 - 09:50am PT
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a couple comments
1) the actual midnight lightning climb is the true testament to kauk/bachar, more so than any chalk drawing.
2) climbers don't own the park. no one owns the park. think about what the park would look like if every "next-generation boulder-problem" required its own iconography.
3) i think what most people are upset about is the fear that the current/future generations of climbers don't learn about or respect their climbing fore-fathers.
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Ryan Tetz
Trad climber
Flagstaff, AZ
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Apr 27, 2013 - 12:19pm PT
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Actions of one selfish person acting alone trying to get a reaction.
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WBraun
climber
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Apr 27, 2013 - 12:29pm PT
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It's chalk Randisi over the top of carbon soot from campfires.
If you are so worried about it the clean it off yourself and and get the carbon soot off too.
But you won't.
You'll sit on the internet and bitch .......
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Adamame
climber
Santa Cruz
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Apr 27, 2013 - 01:31pm PT
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I love this thread. A bunch of grown men acting like babies and arguing over some chalk marks...
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David Wilson
climber
CA
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Apr 27, 2013 - 01:42pm PT
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The chalk that was removed could be preserved at the yosemite climbing museum in a carefully labeled clear glass vial
a CSI style forensics team could assemble historical photos of the original lightning bolt, the one actually touched by Bachar. Ron and Werner would be hired as expert witnesses ( this is a positive ). The bolt could be recreated in epoxy based paint and certified as accurate by all authorities.
Or we could just go climbing like James actually does most days......
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kev
climber
A pile of dirt.
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Apr 27, 2013 - 02:01pm PT
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Hey James,
___
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Michelle
Social climber
1187 Hunterwasser
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Apr 27, 2013 - 02:17pm PT
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Why not sack up and fix it right with spray paint.
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briham89
Big Wall climber
san jose, ca
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Apr 27, 2013 - 10:07pm PT
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not sure how i feel about this...kind of f*#ked up
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