Mountain Project Logo

Wooden platform bolted to prune face crag below Gate Buttress

Brian in SLC · · Sandy, Utah · Joined Oct 2003 · Points: 21,711
Shaft wrote:James, this is what I did with my life last night...
Who is the MAN?

youtube.com/watch?v=nFvRvSx…

Shaft. Can you dig it?
Shaft · · Salt Lake City · Joined Jul 2007 · Points: 80

You can thank the tireless JK for the graffiti removal plan, I was just along as a helper, with boissal and a neighbor kid too.

Damn right.

Jamespio Piotrowski · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Sep 2013 · Points: 5

poor guy, when I point out how pointless you are it's not funny. But you can't find irony in that can you?

As to what I did last night, I spend the early evening driving home from some out of town work. I don't work very hard, but I do work, and my work takes me all over the state and occasionally the country, so that happens. While driving though I was listening to an audio book, "Frozen in Time" about the survival and attempted rescue of WWII airmen on the Greenland ice cap, which of course made me think about how long it has been since I was on a glacier, which caused me to call up a buddy and suggest we go climb one of the volcanoes in the Cascades, which led us both to conclude we were out of shape and better start on something smaller and build up our conditioning, which led to setting a date for a summer hike up Borah here in Idaho, and deferring plans for Hood and then Rainier until we were sure we had the legs to do them.

Then I spent the middle part of the evening drinking wine with my wife on the back patio, and discussing our summer backpacking/cycling/climbing/fishing/travelling plans. Then there was an interlude where I had to help my daughter with her math homework, which was kind of comical since I'm not a math guy. After she was done with the homework, she and I talked for a while about her climbing plans for the summer since she is a competitive gym climber, in addition to loving outdoor climbing. I'm hoping this summer to transition her from purely sport to starting to learn how to place gear, and we discussed doing exactly that and how it would fit in with her various other summer wants. That of course led to the discussion about the bike racing she hopes to do, which I'm really looking forward to helping her with, since I haven't raced in many, many years, but remember even casual evening crits (all the racing I ever did) being a lot of fun.

After all that I smoked a bowl, and then read a book till I fell asleep. I only mention this since you expressly asked.

Throughout that entire process, I never once felt an urgent need to make fun of some random internet interest forum just because I felt superior to its participants. But again, your mileage may vary.

BTW, thanks for the graffiti clean up. I do a variety of similar activities to give back to the sports I participate in and the natural resources they rely on. I wish more people would do the same. Not enough givers and too many takers in the world. Making fun of other sport participants is a form of taking, IMO.

Boissal . · · Small Lake, UT · Joined Aug 2006 · Points: 1,541
James Piotrowski wrote:I'm going back to my life now, it includes spraying, spraying again, spraying more, spraying even more, and not shutting the fuck up when I have nothing left to say . Your mileage may vary but certainly exceeds mine.
Fixed it for ya.
Boissal . · · Small Lake, UT · Joined Aug 2006 · Points: 1,541
Greg G wrote:soooooo has this structure been removed yet? I've got a framing hammer ready to demo some shit!
It's gone. It may be back soon, keep the hammer handy.
Jburton · · Ogden · Joined Jan 2014 · Points: 0

--- Invalid image id: 109040284 ---

Jburton · · Ogden · Joined Jan 2014 · Points: 0
Boissal wrote: Fixed it for ya.
Where's the "like" button?
jonathan knight · · Unknown Hometown · Joined May 2006 · Points: 265

This thread is gold, and I, for one, have gleaned much value from the "your mp moment of zen..." thread during days spent cuffed to my chair making ends meet. It's usually not personal and really only critical of the mob mentality that has descended upon this once-upon-a-time, fringe activity. Sorry to see a fellow Idahoan caught up in the Wasatch spin cycle. James, I hope you can value the relative sanity up there!

Back on topic. This sort of heavy-handed, unsustainable, and downright ugly effort is unacceptable. Increased, recent use at this site has exacerbated erosion problems, but it can be fixed with natural materials (rock, duh!), in time. The SLCA has an ongoing dialogue with the Church, attempting to address permanent access as well as this and other negligent actions on their land in LCC. We, the local community, need to be patient while this unfolds, and hopefully, we can work to stabilize and designate our impacts in the near future. Meanwhile, we can be vigilant, continuing to remove trash, fire rings, graffiti, and promoting responsible use of the resource.

Jamespio Piotrowski · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Sep 2013 · Points: 5
jonathan knight wrote:This thread is gold, and I, for one, have gleaned much value from the "your mp moment of zen..." thread during days spent cuffed to my chair making ends meet. It's usually not personal and really only critical of the mob mentality that has descended upon this once-upon-a-time, fringe activity. Sorry to see a fellow Idahoan caught up in the Wasatch spin cycle. James, I hope you can value the relative sanity up there!
Make no mistake, I was merely grabbing some entertainment value in this thread, on a day when I don't have a lot to do, but still need to be in the office.

And yeah, the "mob mentality" is reaching every corner these days. It's a function of population growth. More climbers = more assholes who climb, same as every other sport. Fortunately, Idaho outdoorsmen tend to have a relatively low asshole ratio, and I can report that I've had very few bad interactions on streams or rivers, and none at crags here at home; compared to many, many positive interactions at both places. But there is a special kind of self-righteous, self-important, undeserved arrogance among Wasatch Front outdoorsmen, at least on the internet. Normally, I just let it go, since the upshot of it is that they have to live in Utah.
Salt Lake Climbers Alliance · · Unknown Hometown · Joined May 2014 · Points: 220

The SLCA was made aware of these structures on Wednesday 5/21 by a local climber. While we were investigating if their construction was sanctioned by the owners of the property (The LDS Church), the structures were removed without input from or the support of the SLCA board or executive director.

SLCA does not condone building structures like this, particularly out of man-made materials, without the approval of the property owners and/or land managers.

Likewise, before taking action to remove materials like this it is preferable to consult the property owners/land managers and potentially seek input from the climbing community.

Access to climbing on private property is a privilege that can be easily taken away due to rouge activity like this.

The SLCA is currently in discussions with the Church about stewardship projects near the Gate Buttress, as well as, a longer term relationship in regards to management of climbing resources on their property. Incidents like this undermine these efforts.

If there are further questions or comments, please feel free to contact us on our website.
www.saltlakeclimbers.org

Sincerely, Paul Tusting (on behalf of the SLCA Board)

Marathon · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jul 2010 · Points: 275

Any pictures of the finished platform? The start looks good and I think its a great idea. just wondering what the finished product looks like? Pictures of any other work you've done to the area would be appreciated too, keep up the good work.

Edit: damn just read the post above, bummer.
For the record im pro structures.

Boissal . · · Small Lake, UT · Joined Aug 2006 · Points: 1,541
Grover wrote:Any pictures of the finished platform? The start looks good and I think its a great idea. just wondering what the finished product looks like? Pictures of any other work you've done to the area would be appreciated too, keep up the good work.
You misspelled "troll".
Marathon · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jul 2010 · Points: 275

actually I like climbing manufactured routes as well, just being honest here Brah!

Edit: And I also like to manufacture routes.

Boissal . · · Small Lake, UT · Joined Aug 2006 · Points: 1,541
Grover wrote:actually I like climbing manufactured routes as well, just being honest here Brah! Edit: And I also like to manufacture routes.
And now you're misspelling "I have nothing to say". Sigh...
M Mobley · · Bar Harbor, ME · Joined Mar 2006 · Points: 911

erosion, irritation and control issues are normal for human behavior, we fuk the planet while saving it at the same time. how special we all are!

and James, be happy you arent speaking your mind near the GODS of bouldeRADo, they eat n00bs and barf them all at once, all while posting pics of themselves doing bouldeRADo type things in Utah

Marathon · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jul 2010 · Points: 275
Boissal wrote: And now you're misspelling "I have nothing to say". Sigh...
Karma
Cybele · · Sandy, Utah · Joined Oct 2008 · Points: 185

I am new to SLC from Cali and AZ and plead dumb perhaps after only one month here, but honestly there are wood-framed platforms built into the base of climbs I've already been on here as well as at numerous areas I've climbed in other states with erosion problems, not to mention wooden "steps" (erosion control) built into countless trails I've been on, both climbing and non-climbing related. Mt Olympus regular walking trail, for one example. Red Slab at Rock Cyn for another (ugh! chain link fence, wow, but the wooden levelers make common sense to me). Owens River Gorge for another. Countless trails around SoCal. Etc etc. I have been told the base of Slips and Perhaps (or was it Crescent Crack?) has a base man-made of some material. Of course using rock is ideal, but isn't doing it that way very difficult? I would like to understand, Is the problem the community has with the materials chosen, the lack of input from the land owners (would they actually approve construction of any kind though, doubt it for liability reasons. There aren't "building permits" that I've ever heard of for such a thing), the lack of a climbing association endorsement, the fact that a staging area wasn't finished and buried with dirt before it was "discovered" on the internet, what? I would like to understand, genuinely, as a new member of the climbing community in SLC. Thanks.

PS My first choice would be no damn crowds at crags causing erosion problems and slipping and sliding all over, sad to find nowhere flat to put their boomboxes, etc, but given that ain't likely anymore, well, sigh, I have to admit it if a base of a climbing area is on a severe angle (is this one? I dunno) then leveling somehow is needed for erosion issues. However, I see in the picture on the other site a chopped tree, not keen on that. It looks like the wood thing was pretty high off the rock, too, not sure how that plays out, if it could have been filled in & buried or what.

Andrew Gram · · Salt Lake City, UT · Joined Jan 2001 · Points: 3,725

Or just don't build platforms in a talus slope that has been like that for a long time. One belayer can balance on a boulder. If you need 6 people watching you send go to a gym.

Greg Gavin · · SLC, UT · Joined Oct 2008 · Points: 888

Cybele I think it boils down to the property being owned by the LDS church, and the greater climbing community fearing that one bad action will have swift and irreversible repercussions for us all.

Yes the slips have stone enforced terraces it is not on church property, and has long been the n00b stronghold of the wasatch.

Ken H · · Granite, UT · Joined Jan 2006 · Points: 3,926

Cybele, you seem well intentioned and not just trolling so I'll try to give you my perspective (keep in mind just one of many). Yes, the issue is with the lack of communication with the land owner. Trail construction always needs as you put it a "building permit." If you did something like this in a National Park without permission and you were caught you would be arrested and taken to jail. In a National Forest, you would probably be fined and might be charged for the trails/structures removal. On private land, if the owner didn't like it you could be charged with trespassing and taken to jail.

The local community is always concerned about access to this area as it is always viewed as delicate.

Take a look at the work which has gone into updating the Forest Service land in the Crescent Cracks area. That has been a huge project and I would say the climbing community won some and lost some on the ultimate approved plan which is fine as it is multi-use land.
sltrib.com/sltrib/politics/…

If you are new to the area and stoked to do some stewardship work, that is great! I suggest you checkout:
fs.usda.gov/detail/uwcnf/ab…
Contact the SLCA (local arm of the Access Fund)

Or if you can spare $25 come to the fund raiser event next week in the BD Parking Lot June 12. SLCA will surely have a table dolling out the latest on local issues.
saltlakeclimbers.org/event-…

Again this is just one perspective.

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

Northern Utah & Idaho
Post a Reply to "Wooden platform bolted to prune face crag below…"

Log In to Reply

Join the Community

Create your FREE account today!
Already have an account? Login to close this notice.

Get Started.