Photo of the day...

I really love this shot! Taken during our last Frankenjura trip; Tuca and I snuggling and belly rubbing at Andeltodrom/Frankenjura...

Climbing, Access Issues and Conservation

While climbing is getting more and more popular, at the same time, and yes, there is a causal relation, the problems either catalyzed or at least fuelled by climbers and their behavior are increasing as well. Recently I have been told about access troubles in Gorges du Tarn and will be most probably affected since I´m heading there in about three weeks. There is the ever ongoing clash between climbers and farmers, the increasing problem of littered parking lots, fireplaces show up in meadows and it all bears witness to the impact human beings leave when indulging in spending their leisure time in nature.
Let´s be frank foremost, there is no such thing as "leaving no trace", at least in a strict sense of the word. A footprint in Siberian snow can be visible for years, an example that might be a tad exaggerative but in the end is relevant inasmuch as it showcases that whenever we step into an untouched place, we render it. Travelling in America, I was struck by how well managed access issues are by the access fund. In Europe, things are unfortunately a bit different.
Five consequtive trips to Frankenjura this year have all brought home the following: people in general don´t give a damn, sleep everywhere since that is the cheapest option, don´t give something back to the local community but rather live on crackers, tuna outta the can and home bought beer while at the same time using facilities provided. Add that the majority of climbers is a notoriously lazy bunch and you have parking issues, trespassing problems and soon a vicious circle of ego and identity politics at play.
So what does it boil down to? A consumerist attitude. Recently I had to take part in a multi pitch workshop and in the evening, a lively discussion began as to how bolts should be spaced outside with the suggestion coming up that some sort of board should be installed, taking care of business, that is, making sure that bolts are placed according to rules comparable to the ones applied when planning a climbing gym. Excuse me, no! If you can´t deal with things, stay inside. Nature is not a leisure time facility, it´s foremost nature. Instead of demanding more and more (how´s about Latte Macciatos sold at popular crags instead of bringing your thermos) it´s high time to more aggressively promote the idea of leaving as little a trace as possible. And yes, that means getting a foot into the door at times. People need to be told off! If all the gym kids and wannabes, rambling on about going "a muerte" outdoors just because they´ve seen some climbing flick are not brought to sense, then we´ll all face closed or at least horribly littered crags. Interested in that? Go figure...
All we need is simple common sense applied. That is of course better said than done, take a look at the general state of the planet and again, go figure, but we have to start at some point soon.
Out!

The unknown dangers in life...

Well, dangers in life come in disguise at times...two days ago, it was time for another Frankenjura trip...we started, same as with the previous trips, leaving home in the rain...arriving at the place, we first of all got breakfast and chocolate milk, that is, I got myself some and laid the basis for the peril to come...note to self: never drink chocolate milk with Rambo being present!
He told a joke, I almost choked...on chocolate milk! I sputtered it all over my pants, coughed like hell for a while and had difficulties with breathing for the rest of the day...if I hadn´t been at my doc´s place for a cardio check up the day before, I would have worried but since I had been told everything is fine, I blamed being out of breath and generally miserably dizzy on the large ammount of chocolate milk supposedly somewhere in my bronchial tubes, that is, a place where chocolate milk doesn´t usually belong.
In terms of climbing we went to a sweet 45° overhanging power pocket pulling crag (kind of a top option if you´re halfway out of business...) and tried hard to get the whole crag done in one day...turns out that didn´t work! I got them all done except for two though and was really psyched to put one down in particular since that one felt completely down to the wire...
In the evening however I was paying the price for straining myself despite of not being able to breathe properly...I HAVE NEVER FELT SO EXHAUSTED! I went to bed shivering and generally feeling miserable!
After a horrible night of headaches and cold sweat I woke up around 5am in the morning and wrote climbing off completely...then for some reason I tried to breathe in deeply and instantly started coughing up chocolate milk...I guess I was sounding halfway between a sick animal and a party drunk teenager for the next 10 minutes but after that things were all cleared up, I slept like a log for two hours, had a big breakfast and felt very much alive, stuffed with rolls, loads of coffee, breakfast eggs and all the good stuff that makes what the British call a continental breakfast. As if a British breakfast could be considered a breakfast at all...HAH!
Had a rad second day, climbed some classics, got epically lost even though we had GPS navigation (turns out it won´t lead you anywhere if you´re too dumb to set it properly) and then ran into the worse half of the day, that is a Swabian group of competition climbers at Weißenstein! Let´s say that I generally despise competition climbers for their arrogance, their disrespect towards nature which is merely considered an outdoor training facility and their way of behaving at the crag in general. Of course this doesn´t mean that all comp climbers are jerks but the majority of the ones I´ve run into have been, the more youths involved, the higher the percentage of douchebags...Since youths always show up with a family clan of seriously psychic parents and other fan club members who instead of climbing themselves excell at putting pressure on a poor kid that adds some spice as well. Given these particular folks were Swabian, add the fact that I dislike their dialect, here we go! Fortunately some Spanish climbers were there as well; these guys were totally nice and laid back as usual and their beagle pup Nur was as disobedient as a pup can, which balanced everything out again!
Some photos are to come up as soon as Mr. Photo Johannes Loidl has managed to give them to me...
Can´t wait for next weekend...guess what, I´m Frankejura bound...
Out, take care and don´t choke on chocolate milk...it´s not fun (maybe it is for others but certainly not for you...)
Peace!