Moolack 

My .02:
Moolack is an incredible climbing venue with a high concentration of hard, splitter crack climbing on excellent rock. It is near and dear to me as a crag that taught me a lot about climbing. I can't emphasize enough how awesome it is and, in the same breath, how important it is that we not trash the place. It's been called "a wilderness crag with a front-country approach" (15 minutes...) and the fact that it's on designated wilderness makes it vitally important that we as climbers do an exemplary job of self-policing when climbing up there. Please don't leave a bunch of garbage, (duh) obvious gear caches, turds, or fixed ropes/slings/gear at the crag!

I feel awkward writing this as it's so obvious, but now that it's published in print and online, land managers are potentially going to get curious and see what exactly it is we've been doing up there. With that in mind, please do your best to leave no trace.

Lastly, the information published here and in print was done so contrary to the general consensus of the people who currently frequent the crag. Additionally, some of the route information is incomplete and/or entirely incorrect. Bear that in mind when climbing something for the first time and, when in doubt, TR a climb first!
Enjoy.

To say that this crag being published in a guidebook and now being put online goes against the community consensus is putting it gently.

This crag shouldn't even be up here on MP.

But since it is, please tread lightly and read the route descriptions and grades with a grain of salt.

Corrections and additions that should have made first print will be going up soon. See here or rc.com or wix site cited above for updates and corrections. My work towards Moolack for a guidebook is always an active process. I’m aware of the page for page corrections needing to be made to NWOR, and will have those changes made and updates bulleted here.

Identifying who is and who isn’t a member of any climbing area’s “community” is subjective. And to speak on that community’s behalf is pretty much impossible. It is true that there is a group of climbers in Eugene who are both original and current to Moolack and stands apposed to the book being published in any way; Max speaks knowledgably and wiselyon that groups’ behalf, and I respect and commend him for representing a valuable stance in this issue. However Moolacks’ “climbing community” is not limited to those who live in Eugene. It is a bit easier for those who live in Eugene to have a problem with “outsiders” coming to “their” crag due to a book, considering there is quite a bit of the same route knowledge available thru word of mouth. A “local” mentality is not unique to Moolack, and it’s a situation that’s inherent to many of Oregon’s best areas. Does that mean that climbers elsewhere don’t deserve to enjoy Moolack? Does that mean that unless you live in Eugene you’re expected to climb only the obvious and attainable routes of the area on your visits? Climbing shouldn’t be an elitist activity where participation is based on who you know or who you’ve come into contact with.

The reason I felt Moolack should be included in Tim Olson’s Northwest Oregon Rock was that the area was seeing more and more climbers from all over with minimal understanding of the area and only climbing the most obvious and available routes like Lost Art, Up on A Pedestal, Guillotine and other more known area classics. These are great routes but the risk is run of overcrowding routes like these – Why, because they are available and obvious. Given that Moolack has a copious number of high quality routes is it a positive situation to have visitors limited to the few climbs available and obvious to them? In my opinion that’s a recipe for crowds, at a climbing area that is the abstract of “elbow to elbow” climbing. I also acknowledge and appreciate the efforts of original developers, outside of those obviously linked to the area. There were those before me, I have had my time at Moolack, and there has been batches of new climbers to come around since that time. Without a guidebook, there is little knowledge of route development outside of Mike and Bill routes. That’s a reality, but that’s not to say the efforts of everyone else is null. These original developers who have moved on from the state and who’s route’s now have moss moving in – they didn’t not develop routes. Their time at Moolack needs recognition just as much as those who will be credited without a book in place.
My overriding goal was with the book is and always will be keeping Moolack free of bolts. For whatever reasons I did or didn’t, would or wouldn’t, put Moolack in a book, my overriding goal has been to keep an extremely unique resource unique: Moolack needs to remain Bolt-less for the greater good of climbing. In this debate there will always be people who say the area has a better opportunity remaining bolt-less by remaining “word-of-mouth” or “hush-hush”. I disagree. I give climbers as a whole the benefit of the doubt and feel if you educate climbers about bolt-less climbing, make clear “…here is where we are climbing bolt-less, and here is where it is working well.” When you provide for climbers at a greater stage the Moolack experience – you hold a candle to boltless climbing elsewhere in the future.. I would love for Moolack to be less unique. I would love for others to have acknowledged other areas for their bolt-less potential. But, the reality is, without more awareness of what Moolack is and how it can benefit climbing, 10, 20 years from now, we won’t even understand what bolt-less climbing was.

Previous to the book being out any random climber could have come along, put in bolted anchors and there is little recourse in terms of placing blame in said climbers error. Without a guidebook, without information out there about Moolack’s bolt-less standards, how would that person understand that what they were doing was wrong? Word-of-Mouth? B.S.

We can only hold would-be bolters accountable if we make the Bolt-less ethic clear to everyone. The area is going to develop and grow and outsiders will come in. Do you want informed outsiders? or do you want visitors to fully understand the bolt-less ethic and climb within it?

Paul,
Would you be willing to move your comment to the forums and/or edit it down to information about Moolack? (that is to say: information someone visiting there for the first time will need to know, as opposed to esoteric discussion of why they're reading about it on the internet) In its current form, it's lengthy (likely to spark discussion), somewhat of a rant, and somewhat off-topic. (Pretty much 4 for 4 on Guideline #3) In short, this isn't the place for it.
Cheers,

(I'm sorry, I can't help myself. I'm taking the bait. Peter Franzen, Please move all of this to a thread!)

Additionally, I think you have a flawed perception of the opinions of people who don't want info on MP or RC or Wiki. It's not that we don't want other people to visit the crag because we see it as 'ours' and don't want to share or that we think it should be hush-hush. On the contrary, I've tried to talk almost every climber I've met in two years of traveling around the west to check this incredible place out. (with zero success!) I simply don't want it broadcast shotgun-style all over the internet. I think we need to be more deliberate and intentional in how we go about it.

You're entirely missing the point on the bolts. It has nothing to do with anyone's perception that bolts are 'worse style' or clean climbing is 'better style.' Sure it's fun to do a line on gear that someone else would probably bolt, but the simple fact is that we stand to make a better case as a responsible user group in the eyes of the Forest Service if we don't drill. (more simply put, we're less likely to lose access) You've taken Bill's original idea of, and I quote, "don't screw the place up" and blown it into an ethical soap box that very few people actually care about.

Ideally, all that this would be is an esoteric argument about how we should behave at a place that gets fewer than 20 unique visitors per year. Unfortunately, you've made it your life's mission to be the Lorax of Moolack and have sprayed route information all over the web. Now we need to be very careful in how we present the process of cleaning a new line at Moolack. If the FS thinks we're destroying hanging gardens and cliff vegetation in a wilderness area, they're not going to be happy.

The emphasis of Bill's idea was always to clean the lines as gently as possible to minimize both visual impact when looking at a line from the ground and actual impact to the cliff's ecosystem itself. This is why we don't clean massive swaths of moss off of the 5.6 start of a line that goes at 5.11. This is why we don't cut trees on the trail or cliff. This is why we don't drill, hammer, leave large amounts of fixed anchors or leave ropes hanging on the cliff for a season. This is why you won't find obvious gear caches strewn around the crag.

Wrapped up additions and corrections for Moolacks section in Northwest Oregon Rock here on mtnproject and here: ire510.wix.com/moolackrockclimbing#!updates

If you've developed routes beyond the book and would like to see it added, either to the website or reserved for future publishing please contact me: ire510@hotmail.com

> Climbing shouldn’t be an elitist activity where participation is based on who you know or who you’ve come into contact with.

The personal touch had nothing to do with elitism. It has to do with introducing people to a special place which has its own rules of conduct like not over-cleaning routes or leaving your ratty old static lines out (yea, I'm looking at YOU!)

The reason you published Moolack is because it became your raison d'être. Before you published you already rationalized the decision in various, unconvincing ways like (laughably) suggesting it would improve safety when in fact it only invites inexperienced climbers into the wilderness, threatening its closure (Menagerie anyone?).

Limiting newbies to more obvious climbs doesn't create crowding. This is just another laughable rationale that makes no sense on its face. When the hell has there been crowding at Lost Art? Who, if viewing such "crowding", wouldn't suggest a climber to try something else? This is how climbers learned about areas in the past, and it was a larger, magical world full of discovery and belonging. Now climbing areas are but a cheap commodity to sell shitty guide books for REI gumbys.

For your own good I hope you find a better way to channel your ego before you ruin other climbing areas.