Blake sends death blocks down busy trail (Smith Rock)

Some local guy (Blake…don’t know his last name) with expert energy and 2 other climbers on the full route of 5 easy pieces were sending down multiple death blocks onto climbers and hikers below them, including directly onto Misery Ridge trail which was packed with kids out on Spring Break. This happened for at least 45 minutes, and after others in my party shouted at them that they needed to 1. Yell out rock at the very least and 2. Stop climbing because they were going to kill someone, they continued to climb completely unbothered and unconcerned.

I find this incredibly frustrating and completely irresponsible coming from climbers who clearly knew better. This is a notoriously chossy route and a busy spring break Friday is not the time to be climbing it. There were several other climbers that had to warn hikers to not walk below the climb. I’m so over this old guy know-it-all mentality where only their send matters. Not like he was even sending though. 

How big were the blocks?
(Sounds like the route is appropriately named. :) )

Many soft balls and at least 1 VCR (dvd player) size 

Seems like something that could get sorted out offline

Tristan P wrote:

Seems like something that could get sorted out offline

seems likw OPs group tried it in the moment and were ignored and are now on mp  to out offenders so community is aware. seems fine to me.

prolly more to this, but who knows...

There's always a minority of people that are jerks in any community. The problem is they stick out like sore thumbs and can give everyone (all climbers) a bad name. 

  You’re totally right, those 5 year olds hiking at the very busy state park should be looking out for their own safety, how silly of me. 

Glowering wrote:

There's always a minority of people that are jerks in any community. The problem is they stick out like sore thumbs and can give everyone (all climbers) a bad name. 

Betting more oblivious than jerks. 

I was belaying my girlfriend on 5 easy pieces at the time and saw all this go down. I  lowered her off immediately when the rocks started falling. I was one of the people who yelled up at them that they’re going to kill someone and they should stop and rap down. They said no.  There were literally hundreds of people hiking on this trail where they were knocking dozens of brick sized blocks off. At first they weren’t even yelling “rock.” This crew came soooo close to killing my girlfriend and I don’t care at all that everyone knows. He belongs in jail in my opinion. Straight to jail! 

Regardless of character assessments, it's worth noting for anyone reading who's unclear and/or curious on the matter: cleaning loose rock at Smith is something that should be done carefully and deliberately. (much more so than what this situation sounds like)  As of yet, there aren't any park rules around it beyond common sense, but the HDCA's position on cleaning loose rock in the park is super conservative due to the high likelihood of hurting or killing another park user while doing so.  Best practice is to use spotters, radios, and signs (ideally all at once) and to limit cleaning efforts to times of low-visitation.

Intentionally dropping rocks on a crowded day is a really bad idea.  Particularly from the feature in question.

We were nearby and heard the commotion.  Glad nobody was injured, and thanks to whomever acted as spotters on the ground.

I don't know if the climbers were scared to come down or something, but they also spent a huge amount of time rapping down with bags hanging in space, shoes hanging from the P1 anchor, and seemed to be just a general junk show.  Do better people.  On our way out from Red Wall we just tried to get out of that area as quickly as possible since it was one of those situations where it appeared something was more likely to go wrong than right.  

Tradiban wrote:

It’s a free country and people need to be responsible for their own safety. Be aware of what’s above at all times at any climbing crag, this includes hikers.

What an actual dogshit take on the situation. You aren't technically wrong, but the realistic truth is most hikers visiting state parks, especially those as accessible as Smith, take their safety for granted. Should they be more responsible for their safety? Maybe they should. But realistically and unfortunately, most people are just not as aware of their surroundings as they should be. Just driving on the road is proof enough of that. But it's also a disingenuous expectation when as a climber you've had the risks of objective hazards drilled into your head for years. I also don't think it's reasonable to expect an average visitor to understand Smith is a climbing crag, nor to understand the inherent risks of what that means. 

So when sharing the landspace with other users, especially as popular as Smith is with non-climbing crowds, climbers are absolutely responsible to make the best effort in notifying those below if they're sending rocks down. I would argue there could be real legal liability for the climber if they were sending rocks down in the manner described and someone were hurt or killed. Furthermore, not owning the crag goes both ways, and irresponsible use will revoke access for climbers if some dipshit like the one described in the OP kills a kid or a mother. I think this thread serves as a good reminder to our responsibility in regards to being considerate to other users. It is not a free for all, others-be-damned, once you're on the wall.

Tradiban wrote:

It’s a free country and people need to be responsible for their own safety. Be aware of what’s above at all times at any climbing crag, this includes hikers.

Yeah, if I'm throwing cinder blocks off a freeway bridge and there happens to be oncoming oncoming traffic, it is my right as an American! Screw those stupid car people...

I'm not a lawyer or an Oregon DA, but if one of those rocks killed someone after the climbers above were told they were dislodging loose rocks it likely rises to the level of negligence/gross negligence and could be considered involuntary/criminally-negligent  manslaughter. In some jursidictions you can even be convicted of second-degree murder if the offender shows "Extreme Indifference to Human Life," which this might qualify as. There would certainly be at least a fairly plausible civil case. 

Tradiban wrote:

People anywhere need to be aware of their surroundings and take responsibility for their own safety. Otherwise it’s a nanny state. 

I have reason to believe the rockfall danger is greatly exaggerated and I just wish I could have been there while all the gymbies were losing their minds. Good show.

lol “don’t drop rocks on busy hiking trails” is now the “nanny state.” It’s like you’re not even trying… 

why engage the contrarian?

Sucks that this day and age, one has to resort to this internet shaming (which, based on what I'm reading, seems justified) rather than a good old fashioned ass whupping.

Am I calling for violence here? Absolutely not. But hopefully *in the future* such blatent disregard for public safety *based on what I'm reading* might be met with old school justice. But it wont. 

Turning off notifications for this post; it gon' get ugly.