Scrambled Eggs

[Ammex]

We took a trip out to the Eggs boulders today and well... there were some unfortunate mishaps. Two holds were broken, affecting three problems (don't worry, nothing hard, we're terrible).

On the backside of the small boulder there is a V2 i believe, a few crimps and then a small slab portion. The left hand crimp is gone leaving a pretty big ledge. Dropped the grade of what was probably already an inflated problem.

The other hold is the rib right between the two V3 sit-downs (Vedges and Julien's way, both 1 star in zig's guide). As soon as we moved up to that hold it was obvious it was quite loose, so rather than trusting it to not break and trash our faces I cranked on it pretty hard to make sure it was stable and it completly came off. My opinion is the problem to the left of Vedges became slightly easier but remains pretty much unchanged, and Vedges became a bit harder because the big rib is gone at the top.

Nothing classic like Orangutan, but just though I would give people someone to point the finger at.

[Mike w]

So it seems I couldn't figure out my old login but I made a new one! LOL
I guess it's up to me to go around LOC and make sure all the holds on v3 and below are secure

[Scooter]

Seemed pretty safe a couple of weeks ago when I was yardin' on er...

2 holds is one day... wow...

[Scooter]

I wouldn't advise pulling any more off for you lack of comfort btw. Easy grade or not.

[Nette]

I like a good sketch hold

[Ammex]

I wouldn't advise pulling any more off for you lack of comfort btw. Easy grade or not.

Sounds good. Next time when we see something loose and dangerous we'll leave it be and cross our fingers that the next person gets some hideous scar, broken nose, impaled anything, or other injury as a result. Seems better that way.

[mick]

I agree with Scooter and Nette.

I was climbing at Eggs two weeks ago also. That hold doesn't (didn't?) get pulled on from the loose side on while on the problem and it felt plenty solid to me. There are many holds on many boulders that will come off if you yard on them the wrong way, but the forces exerted on them when climbing would never cause them to snap.

Also, I very much doubt that "some hideous scar, broken nose, impaled anything, or other injury" would result from someone bailing off a V0 lowball with a flat and clear landing. Get some better spotters and work on your static technique.

I recognize that, in the grand scheme of things, the placement of a little piece of rock out in the middle of the woods doesn't make a lick of difference to anyone. However, if you aren't developing a new climb, you should try to avoid pulling off holds. Holds break sometimes when you are climbing but that's an unfortunate part of the game.

On the other hand, if you don't like the look of a hold so you take a photo of it and then rip it off and take another photo, then you are likely to upset people and make them think you are a jerk. Don't pretend that you are some noble protector of those who come after you. We're all adults and we can make the decision to climb something that looks suspect or to walk away. In my opinion, you should have chosen the latter.

[Quinn]

What's done is done. Like mick said, not the end of the world, but community awareness is important to shape future practices. I don't want to add to the roasting, but I was also out at Eggs recently, and agree with the rest. I am a heavy guy by climbing standards, and I did laps on that problem to warm up and it was solid. Not that much pressure is applied by static movement to a hand hold with four-point contact. A four points cut loose dyno would be a different story, but that wasn't the case.

Anyways, not a big deal, but best practices would probably be to only break off holds by climbing on them.

[Ammex]

On the other hand, if you don't like the look of a hold so you take a photo of it and then rip it off and take another photo, then you are likely to upset people and make them think you are a jerk. Don't pretend that you are some noble protector of those who come after you. We're all adults and we can make the decision to climb something that looks suspect or to walk away. In my opinion, you should have chosen the latter.

I'm taking pictures of every area for the purpose of an eventual online route guide. Have a look at the lighting it's clearly a differnet time of day. The first picture was taken before we even had our shoes on.

Also, I very much doubt that "some hideous scar, broken nose, impaled anything, or other injury" would result from someone bailing off a V0 lowball with a flat and clear landing. Get some better spotters and work on your static technique.

The 4 inch scar on my leg from a few years back as a result of a sit start on a flake would probably beg to differ, and that was less than a foot off the ground. The spotters I have aren't normally expecting to swat away large pieces of granite that come flying down from a weak hold.

Have a look at the dirt that was behind the hold, obviously it was slowly eroding and would happen eventually. What gets me is that you all think we purposely went out to smash this hold off. If i was smashing holds just for the point of smashing wouldn't I have walked away and not posted anything here?

Mike's a pretty big guy, the hold moved a lot when he was on it. I will always pull on a loose hold to make sure it is stable before we have our body weight on it. In this case it was not, atleast not enough for our fat asses. As for the other hold that was broken that day I wasn't even on the same boulder when that happened so I can't even say anything about that.

I started this thread as an apology for being the one responsible for altering a problem. I'm not trying to hide the fact that it was me even though we could have left and no one would have been the wiser. Apparently it's always going to seem intentional and malicous though, so I guess if it ever happens again I should just keep my mouth shut and leave it for the next person to find.

[Danger]

Apparently it's always going to seem intentional and malicous though, so I guess if it ever happens again I should just keep my mouth shut and leave it for the next person to find.

I don't think anyone thinks you broke the hold maliciously, but saying "I cranked on it pretty hard" probably led some people to believe it was some what intentional.

flowers happens, lesson learned.

[Ammex]

I don't think anyone thinks you broke the hold maliciously, but saying "I cranked on it pretty hard" probably led some people to believe it was some what intentional.

flowers happens, lesson learned.

Fair enough. Misleading choice of words. It wasn't done intentionally I just wanted to make sure it wasn't going to come off on us.

[Eager]

Why don't you just glue em back on there and everything will be all hunky dory!

[Fred]

wasn't Mega Man glued back together?

sorry, just stirring the soup

[Mike w]

Ya gonna have to go with a my bad here folks. I "was" a small little climber guy but I am no longer! BUT at least I'm climbing . It's not a matter of "pulling the wrong way" on any holds. I grab a hold, bring my feet up and sometimes they simply can't hold my weight LOL. Sometimes flowers breaks right? I snapped a plastic hold in half at Ground Zero a little while ago as well (they told me that style was prone to breaking, so I didn't feel too bad )

Either way, it's not my intention to break things!!!

[Nate]

nah, mega man never got glued back on. Breaking climbs to fit the grade though, definitly a revolutionary idea. Ben?

[jeremy benjamin]

nah, mega man never got glued back on. Breaking climbs to fit the grade though, definitly a revolutionary idea. Ben?

How about breaking holds to prevent ascents by big brothers. Kate?