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Shadows on Ethic

Rock climbing ethics 

Let's go back to the origins: what does Free Climbing mean?

"Climbing on rock crags using only your own body as a means of progression. That means without using artificial means of progression. The use of artificial means of protection is provided exclusively to reduce risks to the minimum in case of a fall."

So, the Challenge contained in this definition is the "fair" confrontation of the man with the rock, of the climber's technical, physical and psychic capacities with the difficulties of the route, it doesn't matter how long it is, 2, 20, 100 or 1000 meters... The climber accepts the challenge of climbing up without any help, without any trick!

Free Climbing means fair climbing, accepting a challenge with no compromises.

Starting from these considerations we can point out that in many cases we are overlooking this interpretation of Free Climbing.
There are cases in which the use of artificial methods, of little tricks to climb up where it wouldn't seem possible it is accepted, cases in which are not simply used removable methods as etriers, steps or others, that once used are removed, leaving the next climber free to accept the original challenge, but these methods are definitively sticked on rocks, they become indelible, tangible signs that the man has lost the challenge to that route and has felt the need to modify it artificially just to believe he has won.

We're talking of chipped or sticked holds, of artificial changes to the rock morphology, not just for cleaning or barring reasons, but with the only aim of taming the route to make it climbable or, even a more useless goal, to make its difficulty homogeneous and near the average difficulty of the routes in a crag.

Chipped holds have always been the subject of heated arguments, but recently a lot of famous personalities in the vertical world, taking up a definite position, have helped in awakening climbers and equippers to a "return to the original ethics".
Many equippers who chipped holds in the past have now decided to stop, so it is correct to admire their maturity, because now they are aware of the fact that chipping means creating artificial means of progression, and this has nothing to do with the original principle of Free Climbing.

 
If the reason related to the "fairness of the challenge" wasn't enough, we must consider that chipped holds are also a lack of respect towards other climbers who should have been able to climb that route in a honest way, without compromises. Chipping holds we eliminate their freedom of choice.

And if the equipper thinks that route was really impossible for the current human capacities, we have to remember the progress that climbing has done in high difficulty, and the potential that's easy to guess for the climbers of the new generation.
What yesterday was objectively impossible, today has been overcome by man's ability to adapt himself, to make plans, to fight, to accept and win extreme challenges...
There are no reasons to believe that it will not be the same also in the future. Chipping holds means preventing the climbers of the future from dealing with difficulties that today are unimaginable.

At the same time we are altering the rock, of whom we are not owners. In modern times, fixed protections like bolts or spits are normally accepted despite the visual pollution they cause, for the elementary reason that "they save your life".
Chipped holds don't save a thing, they spoil the rock as a writing on a wall, they're like an indelible cut on a natural beauty that we have not the right to spoil.
Obviously this reason has no sense in the case of crags that have been made out of quarries, that already are artificial crags by definition, but the reasons related to the fairness of the challenge and to the respect towards our neighbour are always good.
 

Now we don't need to look at what's been done, it is useless to look at the past making those who chipped holds feel guilty... All negative experiences, as well as all positive ones, have to be the heritage on which we can build the future.
We're asking you to take up a definite and strong position against any kind of rock alteration caused by man:

- chipped holds are artificial means of progression
- chipped holds are in contrast with the principle of fairness of the challenge
- chipped holds represent a lack of respect towards our neighbour and towards nature

Climbing on a partially or totally chipped route cannot be considered Sport Climbing or Free Climbing!
 

This text, written by Lez, is the result of a wide debate on this subject and of the experiences, skills, sensations, ideas and principles shared in the space of months, mainly through pietresupietre mailing list www.pietresupietre.net
 

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