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Garden of the Gods Problems

Original Post
Shep · · Grand Junction, Colorado · Joined May 2013 · Points: 20

I've never been the biggest fan of climbing in the garden but I was back in town and went out to climb the ultra classic cruiser, New Era. While we were rapping, I noticed several parties climbing some of the single pitch below the rap route. They had seen us and we had seen them so I assumed they knew to be cautious and put helmets on. I decided it would be a good idea to just rappel with both sides of the rope coiled off the sides of my harness. I figured this would keep rocks from falling on the parties below. Regardless, the nature of the rock at garden of the gods is not the best so one or two very small rocks fell, both accompanied by loud rock calls. There was a guy at the base not wearing a helmet who begun to tell me to be careful. I mentioned back to him that the best thing to do in this situation would be to put a helmet on. Upon reaching the base, I walked up to the guy and tried to introduce myself so we could work things out like adults and keep the climbing venue and community a safe place. However, he lost it and began screaming at me telling me I almost killed him and that I gave him an attitude about it. He tackled me to the ground and hit me once or twice telling me how he was gonna fuck me up. He told he has been climbing a long time and that he's climbed "everywhere." (him and his partner were toproping a 5.5.) Needless to say, this was the most shocked I've ever been. This was probably one of the craziest things I've ever had happen at the crag. Is there anything i could have done to avoid this? I want to keep these crags a safe place for everyone and I honestly was not to sure what to do about this one, I've never been assaulted at the crag.

Derek Barnes · · Ventura · Joined Aug 2014 · Points: 15

Next time, get in the first punch. Or kick him in the balls.

David A · · Gardnerville, NV · Joined Oct 2008 · Points: 405

I've heard of sh*t like this going down between surfers, disappointing to hear it's happening with between climbers.

Go Back to Super Topo · · Lex · Joined Dec 2010 · Points: 285

Don't climb at garden of gods....?

David B · · Denver, CO · Joined Apr 2011 · Points: 205

A good way to keep this from happening is to report assaults to the police. That shit's crazy.

mediocre · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jul 2013 · Points: 0

This sounds like skiing in Southern CA.

Shep · · Grand Junction, Colorado · Joined May 2013 · Points: 20

Ya looking back on it I probably should have called the cops just to keep people like this from ruining climbing areas.

J. Albers · · Colorado · Joined Jul 2008 · Points: 1,926
David Barbour wrote:A good way to keep this from happening is to report assaults to the police. That shit's crazy.
+1

Sorry to hear about your experience man. I would say that you seem to have done everything you could to mitigate the danger for the party below. I would tend to agree with David on this, that is, when you're out climbing you expect people to act like adults and not act like a ten year old in the school yard, and thus if someone assaults you, then they get the adult consequence which is the police. I know it seems a little absurd that you can't try and openly communicate with people, but unfortunately there are a lot of unstable folks out there with very little self control and/or grip on what is okay behavior. I would just say that in the future, try to carefully assess the person(s) that you are about to confront beforehand and error on the side of just walking away.
Michael West · · Enterprise, AL · Joined Jun 2008 · Points: 40

Any chance you caught his name? Sad to see this attitude in my home town...

Shep · · Grand Junction, Colorado · Joined May 2013 · Points: 20

No I asked him but he wouldn't tell me. He was probably in his 30's or 40's which made it even weirder. He looked like a nice friendly guy.

Steven N · · CO · Joined Dec 2004 · Points: 80

Seems like you could have also asked that they move out of the way for a few minutes to allow you to rap. They were probably unaware of the standard rap line for New Era and upset you were rapping in on them.

Shep · · Grand Junction, Colorado · Joined May 2013 · Points: 20

Yeah, that would have likely helped. Its nice to know if theres things I could have done differently to keep stuff like this from happening. I can understand parties being upset at that. Thanks for the insight!

Mathias · · Loveland, CO · Joined Jun 2014 · Points: 306

I'm sorry that happened to you.

You definitely should have gotten law enforcement involved. You may have come out of it just fine, but the next person may not fare so well. Where I grew up, physical assault is a fairly regular occurrence. I believe it's a direct result of victims simply wanting to leave the scene rather than call the police. Because of this, the attackers get away with their actions and so are far more likely to repeat the behavior.

Now, braining him with a big rock would have taught him two things:

1. Don't attack other climbers
2. Wear a damn helmet!

I'm not saying you should have hit him in the head with a rock. But I'm not saying you shouldn't have either.

Cody E · · Colorado Springs, CO · Joined Sep 2014 · Points: 40

Also sorry to hear this happened in my home town. Bummer there's no name or photo of this POS. Thanks for trying to handle it in a civilized manner... glad you're ok.

jmeizis · · Colorado Springs, CO · Joined Jul 2008 · Points: 230

Where were you rappelling? The only place I would rappel is down the East face and it's not 5.5 but there is a lot of loose rock. I often take people up and down that way and it sucks to do when there are people down there. Which is often.

What did this person look like? Most people are pretty chill but there are some whackos. You did everything you could do. Some people are just angry and want to fight. Maybe you should of obliged them and kicked there ass?

Shep · · Grand Junction, Colorado · Joined May 2013 · Points: 20

No we rapped down just to the climbers left of New Era, I forget what it's called. This guy was on the first pitch of New Era so he honestly was not even under us but he still felt the need to bitch for the other party that was under us. There is a lot of loose rock on that rappel though. Not to much fun. Haha he was much bigger and meaner than me so I probably couldn't kick his ass otherwise I would.

Tom-onator · · trollfreesociety · Joined Feb 2010 · Points: 790

When did this happen Shep?

Shep · · Grand Junction, Colorado · Joined May 2013 · Points: 20

This afternoon.

Tom-onator · · trollfreesociety · Joined Feb 2010 · Points: 790

That sucks.
I hope they weren't local.
Glad you're ok.

Shep · · Grand Junction, Colorado · Joined May 2013 · Points: 20

Sounded liked they were local.

Tim Stich · · Colorado Springs, Colorado · Joined Jan 2001 · Points: 1,520

Ugh. Such bullshit. I mean, who among us hasn't had to dodge rockfall at some point in our lives out climbing? It happens. And hey, you yelled "rock" so...

Too bad you didn't get a picture of the guy. I sure want to avoid this person out there. We climb in the New Era area a lot on weekday evenings. Definitely report ass-hat assaults to the po po next time around. And we got your back next time, brah.

The two rappel options you have are Alligator Soup and Diesel and Dust, both of which have multiple pitches. I think the initial rap from the top ledge is AS. It's always a toss up which one to use since some of the anchors are rusting and/or on ledges or hanging. The rockfall issue is just on the first rap for the most part.

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

Colorado
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