Graffiti or History?

The original inscription was an unobtrusive memorial to a local legend. Whoever defaced it by scratching over it did us all a disservice and created an unsightly blemish on the rock. It angers me that someone would do that. If the initial inscription was seen as graffiti, who's the genius that would think the rock could be somehow repaired by further damaging the rock? I'd support the placement of a plaque.

John Hegyes wrote:The original inscription was an unobtrusive memorial to a local legend. Whoever defaced it by scratching over it did us all a disservice and created an unsightly blemish on the rock. It angers me that someone would do that. If the initial inscription was seen as graffiti, who's the genius that would think the rock could be somehow repaired by further damaging the rock? I'd support the placement of a plaque.

Unfortunately, even a well placed plaque is not immune to random douchebaggery.
The fact that another climber did this, is even more deplorable.

RG should be admired for his contributions to the Redrock climbing community and believe some sort of memorial is not uncalled for in his honor.

I remember the first time I came upon the etching I had no idea what it was. I thought some hoodrat from Vegas had TR'd his way up and scratched a memorial to his "bro" that was a victum of a drive-by or something. Knowing the history sort of changed my idea about the memorial but got me to thinking . . .what if people started chiseling in memorials to people all over the park. If these etchings caught on like the way building randoms cairns seems to be proliferating we might we walking through a sea of carvings instead of a scenic park setting. Maybe some of you are fine with this since that area is already rifled with bolts, tourist gawkers, etc but it bothers me. How could we even say a small, tasteful spray-painted memorial to someone on say a popular boulder in Calico where some "bro" and his friends used to drink and have fun is wrong. Everyone is meaningful to someone and the park is used by many other user groups who are probably more than ready to add their own plaques.

I guess, while I understand sentiments for wanting to remember a person I would like to see the natural setting altered as little as possible. A more fitting memorial, in my opinion might even be a small kiosk or plaque at the visitor center or at one of the pullout trailheads.

Sorden wrote: I think it's just cooler when a plaque memorializing a fallen climbing partner is left somewhere only climbers will see it.

I'm glad you like how that memorial was done. :-)

The difference between an Anasazi pictograph, or even names from early wagon trains, and this carved inscription is that Vegas was not an enormous city, expanding straight for the canyons, and there were not thousands of people in the Red Rock every day.

Without self-restraint, our best wild areas will lose their character.

This particular graffiti strikes me as landing in the gray zone. I'm not surprised there are people on both sides of this one. If it were back in the canyons, I hope more of us would be upset.

I don't know of the gentleman in question. But many of us who make the wilderness our livelihood are actually quite sensitive to leaving our everyday surroundings the way we found them. It is egocentric for the human race to constantly leave memorials in my opinion, graveyard or otherwise. One's graffiti is another's memorial. Who has the moral compass to draw that line? Can't we all just accept our fate? Once you are gone, there are memories. Once those are gone that is it.

I understand folks in the city have a different perspective. It is all about making your mark. But Red Rock is a wilderness area. Albert Einstein preferred an "attitude of humility corresponding to the weakness of our intellectual understanding of nature and of our own being."

Stich wrote: I'm glad you like how that memorial was done. :-)

Always been curious, if you don't mind please, who was Angus?

Thanks!

M Sprague wrote: Remembering a friend, history - all good, but isn't there a better way?

Well if you asked the Ragged Mountain Foundation here in CT they would say placing a large metal plaque at the base of the most famous climb on their cliff despite a strict no fixed protection clause and ardent opposition to any changes from the natural state of the cliff (even fixed top anchors to help save the cliff from climber impacts). It's funny but I often find these engraved/fixed memorials hypocritical because what was loved was altered to remember the other. I really like the Angus stone above... works on many levels.

Jim Adair

Sorden wrote: Always been curious, if you don't mind please, who was Angus? Thanks!

link

Glad some of you like the memory rock for Angus. In answer to the question, "who was Angus"? He was my fiancee and died while climbing Anthill on Redgarden Wall 10-21-2004. Freak accident, he was strangled by his gear sling.

Me, Tim Stich and Chris Hussy took the rock up to the little alcove I found about a year after Angus died. It took me that long to learn how to climb. Its sorta on the walk off for the Naked Edge (or so I'm told, I've never climbed it and will never be strong enough to do so).

I'm always delighted to hear when someone discovers this piece of stone that was lovingly provided by one of Angus' partners.

Thank you Cindy,
I just spent the morning reading all the posts I could find about "Angus." I managed to fight back tears until I read your daughter Brittney's words about how much he loved you. I feel a profound sadness for your loss and the chill I'm sure every climber would have reading his accident report. That you learned to climb over the year following his passing so you could place his memorial block in a special place up high; well, I imagine Angus would've smiled on that.
Kindest regards,
Brian from Boulder

Here's a small memorial on the South Ridge of Mt. Superior in Utah. It's partway up the ridge, and you have to be a climber (or at least an adventurous scrambler) to see it. I thought it was nicely done.

Memorial on the S. Ridge of Mt. Superior

What's the matter Karsten? You getting bored over there in Sacramento? Given the amount of time you have spent in Red Rock, you should know that Red Rock is not a State Park. And if anybody has any videos of Vegas hoodrats TR'ing their way up routes to scratch out memorials to honor victims of a drive-by shootings, well, please share. Cultures collide.

As much as I appreciate folks sharing their various memorials to fallen climbers on this thread, I'm not really sure what the intent of your post is...other than to dispel your clueless image of a "hoodrat" TR'ing the 1st pitch of the GRB.

The answer to the question you pose is both. It's graffiti and it's history. Pretty simple. Another bonus of your thread though, you have made Dow Williams and SirChips-A-Lot look like a couple of Einsteins. Bravo.