Daryl's Manifesto
"Disturb nothing but air, take nothing but
photographs,
leave nothing but footprints."
A new manifesto for Irish Climbing
By
Daryl O' Toole
Thou shalt not use bolts: Few routes in Ireland cannot be
climbed by
means of a top rope. Therefore there is no need to use bolts to make
the route safe
as this can be done from above.
Leave the rocks as you found them: In the beginning there were
three
rockclimbing grades, Easy moderate and difficult. There are now 19 on
the open
ended extreme scale. What was impossible 15 years ago is now possible
without
the use of bolts. After all it was believed that no man could run the
mile in
under four minutes. We should not set limits on the abilities of those
who will
follow us. The greatest climber the world has ever known does exist.
The hardest
climb belongs to them, we have no right to steal it from them.
Safe climbing happens indoors: climbing by its nature is
dangerous.
We must reject those who impose restrictions on its danger. Attempts to
sanitize
climbing defeat the essence of climbing. True safety can only be
achieved
through good practice, experience, ability and belief. Encouraging the
incompetent by making it easy gives them a false confidence in their
abilities
and promotes delusions of adequacy.
It is the duty of climbers to teach those new to it: climbing
is not a
formally organized sport. Those who are experienced have a duty to pass
on good
practice to beginners. Each of us must point the neophyte on the road,
by proper
training but it must be for themselves to discover their own
potential.
Subjective danger is the climbers own problem: it is sometimes
possible
to reduce the effects of objective danger (such as loose rock, rope
failure,
equipment failure or lightening). Only climbers can challenge their own
fears.
Five foot off the ground can challenge some people while 5,000 foot up
the Eiger
nordwand is heaven for others. We must not legislate for the lowest
common
denominator but for the highest level of achievement.
Climbers should have some level of environmental awareness: If
a segment
of the society who wallow in the tranquility of the outdoors are unable
to
discipline themselves to preserve it; then why would we expect anyone
to respect
our environment.
Date: January 2000
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