Trekking pole stolen(?) from base of Sharkstooth.

My girlfriend and I climbed Sharkstooth on Sunday by the NE Ridge. We bivvied in the gash and were the first climbers on the route. We each had one trekking pole for the approach. I was using a newer BD trekking pole, and she had an older Gabel ski pole. At the base of the route I set the poles down and set a few heavy rocks on top of them.

As I was building an anchor at the top of P1, another party showed up at the base. They made some conversation with my girlfriend and apparently one of the two newcomers asked her of those were our trekking poles, she told him that indeed they were.

The new pair climbed really slow, (and they were using radios to communicate which in my mind is kind of bush league, but that's neither here nor there) and after an hour taking in the views on the summit, we finally saw the lower party come into view at the top of P3. It seemed to me like they were waiting for us to get off the summit before continuing, which I thought was prudent of them given the loose rock on top.

So. Thinking nothing of it, we rapped the route and I went back over to the base to retrieve our trekking poles.

What I found was the black Gabel pole sitting uncovered, the thirty to forty lbs worth of rocks I'd put on top of them scattered about, and my BD trekking pole was nowhere to be seen.

Now, maybe a Marmot was worried about repetitive knee injury and took it. But honestly, that's pretty damn unlikely, it seems like one of the party behind us took my trekking pole, and they were waiting for us to leave the summit so I wouldn't see he'd taken it.

Honestly, that's just horse shit. It would be different even if they had seen the poles and thought someone had forgotten them, but no, my girlfriend told them both that they were ours.

If you're reading this and you're the one who took the pole, or you think you know those two climbers, please get in touch with me, the pole was a gift from a good friend and BD employee and has sentimental value to me. Even thugh it was stolen, I'd pay $20 to get it back.

But if you don't have the integrity to man up to your theft, that's fine. Karma is a bitch and it will find you out one day.

Ya that's pretty lame bro...

Although once, while biving above Chasm Lake, I did catch a Marmot trying to drag my BD trekking pole off into the darkness.. He also chewed the hell out the grip.. Bastard! But.. I failed to secure it to the ground..

Because you stacked some rocks on your trekking poles it seems unlikely that a Marmot dragged it away.. But they are some crafty little F-ers, known to push packs off of Broadway Ledge, and chew thru anything that has been sweat stained..

Personally, I would have waited for those chumps down at the Loche to see if they came stumbling down with the stolen pole!! Busted!

Best of luck getting it back..

Thanks man, yeah, we waited for a while, but they were so damn slow we had to leave so we wouldn't miss the shuttle. Honestly, of they're as inefficient as they seemed at alpine climbing, that trekking pole is probably a charitable gift. This was only my girlfriend's second time climbing outside, and they made her seem as fast as Hans Florine.

Blueprint, way to find a positive takeaway. Sh!tty you lost something with sentimental value to a thief. As you stated "Karma's a b!tch," and if anyone climbs much in the park or any alpine for that matter they would know better than to "mess with the Gods." There is enough trying to kill you already.

Stealing sh!t from people ain't right. Stealing sh!t form people in the backcountry warrants a beat down at a minimum. Hopefully the thieves got benighted and spent a long cold night spooning and snuggling with that pole!

Hope your knee wasn’t too bad on the way out.

Ryan Kempf wrote:As you stated "Karma's a b!tch," and if anyone climbs much in the park or any alpine for that matter they would know better than to "mess with the Gods." There is enough trying to kill you already

That's what I told my girlfriend, pretty much verbatim. Glad to see I'm not the only one who feels that way. It's the alpine social contract.

I wouldn't sweat it. I've had tons of heavy shit moved/stolen by marmots. Their sneaky little fuckers...

Dank,I sent you a PM, but maybe you didn't get it or weren't interested.

I found a BD pole which nobody has claimed. If you want it to replace your stolen one, let me know.

I was one of the two climbers you are talking about and I would like to clear some things up. We did not take your pole. We took as long as we did since we A. Did not even start up the route until about at least 40 minutes after we last saw your girlfriend most of the way up P1, B. traversed around and did the north face up to the P4 belay rather than the easier and faster ridge, and C. and I was feeling pretty sick that morning so we definitely weren't moving very fast to begin with. Not that it matters, but radios were used as they were beta test models of a prototype and we wanted somewhere relatively inconsequential to test them. We were waiting on P4 to avoid rock fall, we were not trying to avoid you. We never even went back to base of the route on the descent. We instead took an ill advised way down and got our ropes stuck on one of the rappels, which may be why we never ran into you on the way down.

Again, it was not us that took your pole. I wish you the best in getting it back, as you said, it's definitely fucked up to steal someones gear in any setting, especially alpine. I wish I could offer some help, but the only other group we passed on the way in was in fact headed to the sharkstooth, but they turned around before even reaching the base of the climb so I doubt it was them.

Give me a break. The party behind you took your trekking pole from the base of the climb and carried it up with them, just hoping not to run into you? All to steal a used trekking pole? How terrible do you think people are? Your wild accusations were hilarious, but it very likely wasn't they.

Probably marmots. See the fifth paragraph:

digitaltimes.tru.ca/2011/pr…

Apparently they can move large rocks.

Laura Pyle wrote:Probably marmots. See the fifth paragraph: digitaltimes.tru.ca/2011/pr… Apparently they can move large rocks.

Whistle pigs of the world are uniting against human oppression!

Obe Won whistle pig.
They can climb difficult OW chimney's to jack your shiny new cams!

Scruffy Scarpelli.
Not the petting zoo variety?

Got rabies vaccination?

I've got numerous chew marks on my poles from the lil bastards.....

As confirmed by the poster it does seem like the lil bastards took off with you pole for some yummy reason...

Therefore, Boulder quickdraw booty pirates have the brains of a marmot. Explains a lot.

Rkrum wrote:I wish you the best in getting it back, as you said, it's definitely fucked up to steal someones gear in any setting, especially alpine. I wish I could offer some help, but the only other group we passed on the way in was in fact headed to the sharkstooth, but they turned around before even reaching the base of the climb so I doubt it was them.

Thanks for responding. Looking at my original post I see that I was jumping to conclusions like a complete asshole. I'm overly sentimental at times. That trekking pole was a gift and was connected to a lot of formative adventures in my climbing life, and the thought that it was stolen really pissed me off. I apologize for immediately assuming you guys took it. That was insulting of me.

Good on ya for the apology. Rare to see humility here!