Gear stolen by climbers at Story Crag

I had some gear stashed out of sight and in a off the path location at Story Crag to do some bolting / rebolting.  The bag got rifled and anything not related to bolting got stolen.  

It’s a shame because it was definitely a climber.

Watch out for the Karma on that old worn grigri….

If you want to get it back to me You probably shouldn’t because I’ll beat your ass. 

David W.A. wrote:

I had some gear stashed out of sight and in a off the path location at Story Crag to do some bolting / rebolting.  The bag got rifled and anything not related to bolting got stolen.  

It’s a shame because it was definitely a climber.

Watch out for the Karma on that old worn grigri….

If you want to get it back to me You probably shouldn’t because I’ll beat your ass. 

How do you know it was a climber?

Remember to pack out what you pack in.

I’ve had gear stolen a couple times while new routing and rebolting.  Made me feel pretty shitty about the climbing community.  And also made me realize our community is just a slice of the average population which has plenty of lame and shitty people in it.  

Hopefully there was some misunderstanding and the gear is returned.

Tradiban wrote:

How do you know it was a climber?

Remember to pack out what you pack in.

You're such a troll. As usual you aren't connected to the event, you don't know what happened, you only posted to judge the OP and rile people up. It is so easy and lazy to play the "leave no trace" card, when you know - like all of us - that of course the gear was being hiked out when the route development was done. As if pro climbers don't leave gear at crags while they develop, but you probably hero worship them (double standard).  Now watch me get the likes because I speak for countless people sick of your online personality. (To the OP, that sucks when you think a crag is safe and now you'll have to be less trusting, even in the rest of your life) 

It's funny, the "leave no trace" crowd has no qualms about leaving tat on trees or leaving bolts and hangars on a rock. That's considered littering by most everyone who isn't a climber. 

Yet they will get riled up over a stashed pack for a couple of weeks. It's less of an impact than the stuff they use to rappel. 

John with all due respect I think most climbers are not so, um, strident? As to believe even for a microsecond, that LNT is truly achievable. Most of our crowd would err to the Leave Less Trace principle. A hidden stash, aside from any local rules governing their existence, does try to adhere to LLT, not LNT. A single use trail instead of braided, also a LLT principle. Etc.

I would be dismissive of a stash-thief trying to justify their theft through LNT. In fact I'd laugh in their face.

But here is a situation I know happened: a friend made a wilderness stash that was maintained over the period of a few summers, But then, due to unforeseen circumstances, he never went back. A bear subsequently found it and the contents of the stash were strewn all over the place. I heard the story from a 3rd party that tried to clean some of it up. The point is stashes can go from Leave Less Trace to a Fucking Mess due to weird things. 

I hope David W.A. gets his chance to beat the thief's ass, btw.

Cherokee Nunes wrote:

John with all due respect I think most climbers are not so, um, strident? As to believe even for a microsecond, that LNT is truly achievable. Most of our crowd would err to the Leave Less Trace principle. A hidden stash, aside from any local rules governing their existence, does try to adhere to LLT, not LNT. A single use trail instead of braided, also a LLT principle. Etc.

I would be dismissive of a stash-thief trying to justify their theft through LNT. In fact I'd laugh in their face.

But here is a situation I know happened: a friend made a wilderness stash that was maintained over the period of a few summers, But then, due to unforeseen circumstances, he never went back. A bear subsequently found it and the contents of the stash were strewn all over the place. I heard the story from a 3rd party that tried to clean some of it up. The point is stashes can go from Leave Less Trace to a Fucking Mess due to weird things. 

I hope David W.A. gets his chance to beat the thief's ass, btw.

You are correct. Looking at my quote, I definitely generalized. It's not the LNT/LLT crowd (I think almost all of us as climbers belong in that crowd), it's a smaller group of climbers who get riled up on threads about pack stashes. And that is who I was directing my comment towards. Clearly the thief wasn't stealing over LNT, but so many threads have people attempting to roast folks who stashed a pack in the name of LNT. 

Sure a pack stash can become litter, but I think that's a rarity and is definitely irresponsible. It's proper to call those people out, but this isn't one of those instances. 

I hope David gets his stuff back, and then beats their asses. 

Mikey Schaefer wrote:

  And also made me realize our community is just a slice of the average population which has plenty of lame and shitty people in it.  

This 100%.  I had this realization with essentially every cross-section of demographic one can think of.  The military comes to mind.  Police also.  Then there's the clergy, etc.  You get the point.  It's a valid observation and one that will keep you from being too disappointed in the long run.

Developers should invest in game cameras.  You only need to buy one, and stash it well.  Then you can beat some ass if you like, but violence doesn't really fix things in the long run either.  

bryans wrote:

You're such a troll. As usual you aren't connected to the event, you don't know what happened, you only posted to judge the OP and rile people up. It is so easy and lazy to play the "leave no trace" card, when you know - like all of us - that of course the gear was being hiked out when the route development was done. As if pro climbers don't leave gear at crags while they develop, but you probably hero worship them (double standard).  Now watch me get the likes because I speak for countless people sick of your online personality. (To the OP, that sucks when you think a crag is safe and now you'll have to be less trusting, even in the rest of your life) 

Successfully trolled

bryans wrote:

You're such a troll. As usual you aren't connected to the event, you don't know what happened, you only posted to judge the OP and rile people up. It is so easy and lazy to play the "leave no trace" card, when you know - like all of us - that of course the gear was being hiked out when the route development was done. As if pro climbers don't leave gear at crags while they develop, but you probably hero worship them (double standard).  Now watch me get the likes because I speak for countless people sick of your online personality. (To the OP, that sucks when you think a crag is safe and now you'll have to be less trusting, even in the rest of your life) 

I’m just curious why he’s so sure it’s a climber AND I was giving the guy a “bump” on his thread.

I always pack out everything I bring in (percisely so things don’t get lost or stolen) besides bail anchors I’m forced to leave behind, which almost never happens because Tradiban don’t bail.

Tradiban wrote:

I’m just curious why he’s so sure it’s a climber AND I was giving the guy a “bump” on his thread.

I always pack out everything I bring in (percisely so things don’t get lost or stolen) besides bail anchors I’m forced to leave behind, which almost never happens because Tradiban don’t bail.

The story crag is in a relatively remote section of Potosi that only off roaders go out to besides climbers.  There's also no listed trail going up to the crag that anyone other than climbers would be hiking up for and same with the parking area which is just a small non-descript dirt pullout on the side of the road.  I've climbed up there a ton and have never seen anyone other than climbers there.

No way to be 100% sure but I highly doubt random people just hiked up there, came upon the stashed gear, and then stole some gear but didn't take the bolting gear which is very expensive.  Even less likely that non climbers hiked all the way up there with the intent to steal gear when the crag is usually completely empty and thus no people's gear to steal.  Those types of people would probably just break in to the cars in the lot but even then, they just go to Red Rock for that.

Really sorry you got your stuff stolen David.  Stinks that you're giving back to an awesome crag and someone steals from you.  I'd suggest also posting this to Vegas climbers to get the word out and let the thieves know they can drop off the gear at DRS to return it to you.  Maybe they'll have a change of heart and drop it off there.  It worked for Jstar when he got his bolting gear stolen at the Universal wall a few years ago.  Maybe it will work for you.

Bryan K wrote:

I'd suggest also posting this to Vegas climbers to get the word out and let the thieves know they can drop off the gear at DRS to return it to you.  Maybe they'll have a change of heart and drop it off there.  It worked for Jstar when he got his bolting gear stolen at the Universal wall a few years ago.  Maybe it will work for you.

Good suggestion and yeah, most likely, based on location, it was climbers.

Bryan K wrote:

The story crag is in a relatively remote section of Potosi that only off roaders go out to besides climbers.  There's also no listed trail going up to the crag that anyone other than climbers would be hiking up for and same with the parking area which is just a small non-descript dirt pullout on the side of the road.  I've climbed up there a ton and have never seen anyone other than climbers there.

No way to be 100% sure but I highly doubt random people just hiked up there, came upon the stashed gear, and then stole some gear but didn't take the bolting gear which is very expensive.  Even less likely that non climbers hiked all the way up there with the intent to steal gear when the crag is usually completely empty and thus no people's gear to steal.  Those types of people would probably just break in to the cars in the lot but even then, they just go to Red Rock for that.

Thank you for answering my question in a civilized manner and refraining from assuming my intentions. In a highly emotional state people often blame the first party that comes to mind, ignoring other possibilities, I think it helps to ask the question, take a step back for a moment and reassess.

It’s curious that the bolting gear was not stolen, thus a list of what was stolen and what was not stolen would assist in nailing down the perpetrator. Was it maybe only lightweight items that were missing??

This has Killis written all over it. Wasn’t he the one who stole Umbel’s kit off Buffalo Wall and Siegrist’s kit? Then suddenly had weird half contrition and returned some of their shit to Desert Rock Sports? 

Andre H. wrote:

This has Killis written all over it. Wasn’t he the one who stole Umbel’s kit off Buffalo Wall and Siegrist’s kit? Then suddenly had weird half contrition and returned some of their shit to Desert Rock Sports? 

Yes!!!!! Killis reference! I will ask him.

Since Story crag is geared more towards 5.11-5.12 climbers that indicates not only that a climber did this but also that it was a climber who has been climbing outdoors for a while and not a beginner which is even shittier on their part.

Tradiban wrote:

Yes!!!!! Killis reference! I will ask him.

Killis says:

How nice to hear from a concerned local. Fast version? Don't appreciate accusations, you might not want to go out of your way to cross paths with me or represent us as chums. That said, believe it or not, Story would be third rate at best in my view. One trip up, ca. 2016 before Handren book was released and I called it good. Aesthetic rock but artless development and much better rock all around it. I climb at places not bolted with Redheads and shitted up with the castaway toys of internet blowhards.  Always nice to read fan mail though. You living indoors and consisting with human females these days, or would that ruin your 'street cred'?

I guess that means he didn’t do it? 

Tradiban wrote:

Killis says:

How nice to hear from a concerned local. Fast version? Don't appreciate accusations, you might not want to go out of your way to cross paths with me or represent us as chums. That said, believe it or not, Story would be third rate at best in my view. One trip up, ca. 2016 before Handren book was released and I called it good. Aesthetic rock but artless development and much better rock all around it. I climb at places not bolted with Redheads and shitted up with the castaway toys of internet blowhards.  Always nice to read fan mail though. You living indoors and consisting with human females these days, or would that ruin your 'street cred'?

I guess that means he didn’t do it? 

It definitely means he’s not a fan.  Of you or the crag.

Wow, those are…fighting words? Honestly, not sure what’s going on, Jeeves sounds all whacked out on that gravy. Reminds me of Dwight, the former owner of Globo Gym.

I never said anything about killis. I don’t even think he lives here anymore.  I did not blame anyone specific, I have no clue who did it and don’t give a shit, I don’t even want the gear back, hence my …joke…. But that grigri is probably going to drop someone, it was pretty worn out.

As per Mikey’s comment, I think MP makes me feel worse about climbing than having gear stolen.  But I thought a nice reminder of not trusting anyone anywhere would be useful.