In reply to nickcanute:
who is that decided dry tooling is aid climbing?
someone whos done neither, or someone whos done both?
im not defending DESTRUCTIVE tooling, ie destroying something valued by non-drytoolers. and im not saying drytooling is less impacting than aid.
im just saying that drytooling is obviously not aid to anyone whose done both (or even seen both) so its uninformed to treat it as such.
yes, you hang off placed bits of metal, but those placements are very different and the routes very differently protected. its immediately apparent to anyone whos done either.
sure, drytooling is A0, but that doesnt make it aid climbing - aid climbing is defined by a helluva lot more than hanging on placements, it has an entirely specialised set of gear, used to protect a different kind of route (many tooling routes would be unprotectable with normal aid), the movements, technicalities and risks of both are very different. the routes (which is what this is all about yeah?) are very different.
criticize aid, tooling, impact all you want - but be informed.
surely after years of lengthy arguments about dry tooling weve all learned enough to not just wallow in emotive and uninformed opinion yet again.