Add appearing in Rock and Ice Magazine
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In June, 2004, a former longtime Spokane area climber raised concerns about issues
including the presence of two artificial (bolted on) holds, hold chipping, and retrobolting (including retrobolting
gear-protected routes) at the Dishman crag in Spokane. An employee of the land owning irrigation district (himself
an occasional climber) also got involved and expressed dismay. The issues became personalized and inflamed over
the Internet. The concerned climber paid for an advertisement in Rock & Ice magazine, and the magazine ran
an article that focused on the issues at Dishman.
The concerned climber organized a meeting to discuss the issues in August 2004. The issues were not resolved at
that meeting, however, and in fact they were largely avoided. The discussion instead focused on general efforts
to clean up and possibly purchase the Dishman crag. A general clean up day took place in September 2004. During
the clean up, some climbers decided to remove the bolted on holds, remove some bolts, and fill in some drilled
(chipped) pockets. Shortly after this was done, another climber (or climbers) came back and reinstalled the removed
bolts. Another round of bolt chopping followed.
In October, the concerned climber made a presentation regarding this conflict to the board of the irrigation district
that owns Dishman. The land owners questioned whether in addition to a management headache, they also had liability
exposure in allowing climbing to take place on their property.
At the early stages of this conflict, the Washington Climbers Coalition got involved in contacting individuals
on "both sides" of the conflict, asking them to stick with the discussion and to seek a resolution without
escalating the situation. Some of these individuals were unhappy when the steering committee of the Coalition elected
not to take a direct stance on the issues, but rather to try to get the climbers involved to work out a solution
that they, the local climbing community, and the property owners could live with.
Eventually, the WCC helped fashion a "letter of resolution" for Spokane climbers to sign. Among other
things, the letter provides that artificial holds are inappropriate at Dishman; that holds already chipped should
be left undisturbed; and that no bolts should be added or removed from existing climbs.
In June 2005, the Washington Climbers Coalition presented this letter to the Dishman owners and made a presentation
on land owner liability associated with allowing rock climbing under Washington
law. Washington has a state law that specifically immunizes landowners from such liability, including with respect
to accidents involving fixed anchors (such as bolts). The land owner board was receptive and appeared to appreciate
the presentation. It appears that access to the Dishman crag is stable for now. |
