WTF... Can someone explain this?? Gym holds on rock

Can anyone explain this, I found this walking through the woods today... There's two gym style holds bolted to the rock and a hanger only two feet from the ground. There's also a shackle that appears to a top anchor.

I'm not against bolting but gym holds... WTF.

poor form. looks like a good candidate for chopping

Make sure it isn't private property before chopping anything.

Are you sure its not private property? Where's that located?

Chop it anyway

looks to me that all of that was placed to practice clipping and placing gear. I thought Mass was a bastillion of ethical purity?

It's located on a land trust open to the public in western/central ma.

I feel like it might have some sort of purpose... I can't see a purpose of a hanger 2' from the ground... Maybe to tie a belayer in? The shackle is a bit low for a top rope anchor, could be 3-4' higher. The gym holds... Are an eye sore.

Maybe it's designed to give Ken Nichols a stroke?

There is something like this at the local training crag here which was put up maybe 20 years ago. It's an easy 5.12 route as is but could probably be climbed at mid-5.13 without the bolted on holds. After talking to the local climbers, we'll remove it whenever we get around to it but I can't say it's a high priority.

Given that KN is known to climb in the area I would speculate that it was a statement to him... As it is.... It makes a powerful statement that sometimes it is okay to chop. Quite the eyesore on what otherwise looks like an interesting climb. That anchor is freaky!

real bad. doing that on land trust property is way crazy! should be removed and patched ASAP before the powers that be ever see it. stuff like that gives climbers a bad rep. No hoopala. simply remove and patch the holes with silka.

Chris Clarke wrote:There is something like this at the local training crag here which was put up maybe 20 years .

It looks like something I would expect boy scouts or a similar group to do on their own camp property. If it is a land trust, the stuff should definitely be quietly chopped and patched before it causes problems. Somebodies own private property; it is ugly in our view, but their business and you shouldn't be walking on it without permission anyway.

Come on, guys, this used to be a total "death route", now its just been modernized. Get with the times.

But seriously, are there any summer camps around? This looks like something done with kids in mind.

Also, the crack next to it looks pretty decent.

Jim

would almost be funny if it was a KN fa route-

So many interesting things in those pictures -

Stainless hanger with galvanized bolt

Weird galvanized dock hardware with stainless shackle

One climbing hold that appears to be poly and one that looks like a drilled rock.

...smells like a failed attempt at a climbing project by a scout

I think the gym hold was to discourage any camp kids from trying to jam the wide or the skinny crack, because crack kills. Drugs are bad, m'kay?

Aren't all climbs in New England KN's FAs? Legend has it he's bolts routes for the FA then chopped them... Maybe he's resorting to gym holds in his old age?

My thought was scouts but it is 100 yards off a beaten path and not an east walk, not the type of thing you'd bring a group of kids to. There's plenty of cliff closer to the trail.

It's an old quarry but I don't think that has anything to do with any of it.

Check with the land trust before chopping. They may have approved it without knowing how shotty the finished product would be. Land Trusts (at least here in TN) are basically private property that is managed by a board of trustees instead of an individual owner.

I saw the same thing at Quincy Quarries last week. Someone had put two small foot holds in at the top of J wall.

sharyl wrote:Check with the land trust before chopping. They may have approved it without knowing how shotty the finished product would be. Land Trusts (at least here in TN) are basically private property that is managed by a board of trustees instead of an individual owner.

I don't understand all this talk about chopping. It's off the trail (not easily visible as an "eyesore"), not a known climbing area and it's private property? Leave it alone.