Told you can't climb because of a photo shoot? How do you respond?

CJC wrote:Soloing to sell some stupid iPhone charger? Fuckin whatever dude you're now officially a joke. I don't care how hard you climb you sell out even harder.

That "sell out" is making a living doing what he loves. Hate all you want but you would do the same if you could.

CJC wrote:Soloing to sell some stupid iPhone charger? Fuckin whatever dude you're now officially a joke. I don't care how hard you climb you sell out even harder.

"Officially" huh. Look out, the Chief Justice of climbing has passed judgment and Alex Honnold is now "officially a joke." Guy, you're a clown. Kent has it right and you sound like a petty tool. Instead of hating on a fellow climber and an excellent representative of the community at large why don't you take a deep breath, tie your mythos tight around your tube socks, and keep placing every three feet on that 5.5 you love.

Kids in India sell kidneys for Eyephuns. All shall sacrifice at the Apple® alter.

Unless the film crew could show they had a permit granting exclusive use by the authorities, I'd tell them to pound sand.

CJC wrote: Hahaha I do make a living doing what I love You don't know me, and apparently don't know much else either. Kick rocks son.

I know you sound like a jealous ass faulting someone else for doing what they love:) Oh, and I was talking about Alex. I don't care if you make a living doing what you love

Jeff Kent wrote: I know you sound like a jealous ass faulting someone else for doing what they love:)

Agreed, you sound like a jackass CJC. I am sure you would turn down a huge paycheck to have someone film you climbing too.... Riiiiiight. Easy to say that when no one is making you the offer :)

CJC wrote: Hahaha I do make a living doing what I love

I had the same attitude as you when I was 14 and "totally punk rock." Any time a band became successful I was out. Luckily for me I grew out of it by the time I hit 15.

I wish I could get paid for climbing. Too bad for me that no one wants to watch some guy flail up a 5.10 taking on every other piece of gear.

BSheriden wrote: Agreed, you sound like a jackass CJC. I am sure you would turn down a huge paycheck to have someone film you climbing too.... Riiiiiight. Easy to say that when no one is making you the offer :)

+1

Jeff Kent wrote: That "sell out" is making a living doing what he loves. Hate all you want but you would do the same if you could.

No I would not do the same. I do hold myself true to some standards. You don't know the job opportunities I've skipped over because of the environmental impact of the companies...sure it hurts the pocketbook but I don't think I'm alone in making decisions such as this due to standards chosen for my lifestyle.

I was there the weekend of the filming. There was a sign posted at the parking area saying that there would be commercial filming on those dates on Fine Jade. I also heard that some parties did get on Fine Jade in the morning before the shoot got started.

So had the film crew contacted the BLM and gotten permission or had they not? A lot of the subsequent behavior and answers depent (for me anyway) on the answer to that question.

Woodchuck ATC wrote: No I would not do the same. I do hold myself true to some standards. You don't know the job opportunities I've skipped over because of the environmental impact of the companies...sure it hurts the pocketbook but I don't think I'm alone in making decisions such as this due to standards chosen for my lifestyle.

Try to focus old man, we are talking about this particular instance not what happened to you back in the 40's when you used to work.

You would not have someone pay you thousands of dollars to film you top roping some climb in devils lake to sell a solar charger? Buuuuuuull shit.

BSheriden wrote: Try to focus old man, we are talking about this particular instance not what happened to you back in the 40's when you used to work. You would not have someone pay you thousands of dollars to film you top roping some climb in devils lake to sell a solar charger? Buuuuuuull shit.

Hey 'wipe, try to get over the age and experience thing, will ya'? It's called maturity, choice of lifestyle, ethics, all that stuff that is missing from society today. Respect, earn, live clean and free.

Eric Engberg wrote:So had the film crew contacted the BLM and gotten permission or had they not? A lot of the subsequent behavior and answers depent (for me anyway) on the answer to that question.

I'd also like to know whether BLM grants permission for exclusive commercial use of an area. If so, seems that the Honnold & Co. should have paid that rather than trying some combination of guilt tripping and bullying the public to stay away. If not, guess it's just a tricky situation.

Without knowing much about this, I'm pretty sure that they would have needed a permit for a commercial operation of that type; I just don't know what the permit would say about exclusivity, if anything.

In this instance is Honnold really getting paid to do what he loves? Obviously only he could answer that.

If he loves putting his life on the line to be filmed for commercials wouldn't that make him somewhat of a narcissist without much value for his own life and a pawn in the industry? Is this something we should admire in a person? I can't say I wouldn't do the same thing. I do get paid to do work I don't believe in but it bothers me.

However, this seems like part of a bigger problem that affects us all. Money tends to compromise peoples judgments and actions and this is certainly not acceptable in politics so why admire a sellout just because he's climbing.

His climbing provides no benefit to society and has no relation to the products he's endorsing. I don't see any real qualities that deserve respect and admiration, but I don't know him personally.

Its BLM land, not National Park land. I, for one, am actually happy that there's significantly less regulation. No 'pay-to-play'; no NP shenanegins. Although that WILL change...just give it some time. So what if Alex and this solar panel company got some exclusive days of usage. Its not the end of the world, or even climbing. There's only approx. 1,000,000 other amazing places to climb out there.

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edit: calling A.H. a "sellout" is kind of harsh. Especially since you yourself just admitted that you do work that you don't believe in. I'm sure A.H. is having a blast, and loving every minute of his "work days." Does he think about the consequences of falling? you bet he does...just watch any of his interviews. He seems to be a very calculating person.

Woodchuck ATC wrote: No I would not do the same. I do hold myself true to some standards. You don't know the job opportunities I've skipped over because of the environmental impact of the companies...sure it hurts the pocketbook but I don't think I'm alone in making decisions such as this due to standards chosen for my lifestyle.

I would hesitate to place "selling out" in the same moral/ethical category as environmental impact. It seems reasonable to hold, for example, punk musicians to a higher standard of selling out, since the music often expresses an anti-consumerism credo, but I don't really understand the ethical framework in which a rock climbing "sell out" could be problematic, and I certainly don't understand its moral equivalence with environmental destruction.

30 seconds of Googling resulted in a couple of interesting hits:

Leasing does not alter or restrict authorized public use; therefore, lessees, permittees, and mining claim holders cannot maintain locked gates, signs, or other devices on public lands without written permission from the Bureau. Any questions concerning access, locked gates and blocked roads should be referred to the appropriate BLM Field Office.

And:

Permits
BLM requires Special Recreation Permits (SRPs) for commercial activities or special events on public lands.

So it's that some sort of permit was supposed to have been obtained.
Of course the same website includfed this gem:

Climbing
Climbing can be a very dangerous sport. Always use appropriate safety gear. Check your foot- and hand-holds for loose rocks or anything that might make you slip. If you start slipping you should stay calm and hang on to your bungee and slide down.

Bottom line - even though the filmers were filmg something that many here think is cool and celebrates an activity they enjoy - the filming was stil a decidedly for profit venture and the act of doing it had a direct impact on ordinary recreationsl users. TYically management is reluctant to give out such permission but occassionally do. I just want to know if it was done or not in this case.

I find it quite funny how much deuce juice is being sprayed on this topic. What a bunch of wannabe tough guys. You wouldn't say jack shit to Alex if you were to run into him at the base of a route he was filming on. I've had to bail on routes up there many times due to gumbyfests more than any filming. Just sack up and do Honeymoon Chimney or some other classic route up there that no one is ever on. Or let some little petite girls tell you to fuck off and come here and whine about it. There was a sign at the trailhead btw.

Nick Barczak wrote:Its BLM land, not National Park land. I, for one, am actually happy that there's significantly less regulation. No 'pay-to-play'; no NP shenanegins. Although that WILL change...just give it some time. So what if Alex and this solar panel company got some exclusive days of usage. Its not the end of the world, or even climbing. . . .

OK, looks to me from some quick Googling that this operation required a commercial permit.
See blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib…

I imagine they got the permit but that's just a guess based on it being an apparently well organized commercial operation.
I didn't see anything about exclusive use, so I'd guess that the crew had no right whatsoever to stop anyone else from climbing the route (which I think is the consensus thought on this).

If anyone really cares about this, it would be interesting to contact the appropriate BLM office, tell them what happened, and see what they have to say. (I obviously care enough to spend 10 mins or so on Google, but that's about it for me.)

Edit--I've been scooped by Eric Eng. above--guess I'm a slow Googler.