Rock Climbers Etiquette

Video Transcript

"Hi, I'm Bill with Zoar Outdoor on behalf of expertvillage.com. We're here today at Chapel Ledges in Ashfield, Massachusetts, the Trustee's of the Reservations Property and in this series I'm going to be talking about preparing to climb. In this segment I want to talk about climbers etiquette and we're not talking about which fork to use at the table, but how to be a responsible climber. Climbers are land users and it's a good idea to know who owns the land you're at and how to take care of it well. So as a general rule bringing in what you bring out, leaving the place at least as nice as you found it, maybe even pickup someone else's trash and take it out. Leave No Trace is a national organization that has a great website that promotes opportunities and ideas about how to be a good responsible land user. This property where we're at today, Chapel Ledges in Ashfield, Massachusetts is a land trust owned by trustees of the reservation, it's member supported and the trails here, the beautiful trails are maintained by volunteer efforts. There's a workday every spring, which I try and volunteer for whenever I can. It's a great idea to know who owns a cliff in your area and how you can help out, get involved. Keep the reputation of climbers as good responsible land users. The access fund is a national climbers organization that's instrumental in securing access to lots of cliffs and if you can get involved in them, they can help you out as well. So on a more personal note how to be involved with other climbers at the cliff; respect them, respect their gear, don't walk on peoples ropes, don't kick around their stuff. If you find their anchors at the top of the cliff, be real gentle with them, leave them alone. Don't be the guy that walks by and has to give the advice about how to climb the climb. "Hey go, go left, go!" People don't want to necessarily want to hear that. If they ask for it then that's fine. So be responsible about the land, be responsible to other climbers, leave the place as nice as you found it, then you're a good part of the climbing community."