In reply to Richard Alderton:
Nowadays, it seems everyone's at it.
>
> - Don't fancy the underwhelming top pitch?
> - Can't be arsed to walk down?
> - It's started spitting?
> - Climbing with a weaker partner who can't second but still want that hard lead?
>
> Meh. Just ab off.
I can't see anything wrong with any of that at all. Why on earth would I want to climb some crap top pitch and then 'walk' off (probably scramble up for a bit then slither down some scree) when I could just ab back down in a jiffy (as in, the short period of time, not the padded envelope)? Or climb in the rain?
> Nothing inherently wrong with abbing, of course (although I do think it has a slight hint of unsport about it), but please put some thought into it. It's natural to finish a route and make to ab straight back down it because that's they way you've come. But as well as trashing a route
Oh come on. Trashing the route? What absolute cobblers.
> and/ or tangling with other climbers,
All it takes is a bit of consideration, which is a more sensible thing to ask for than to go on some pointless tirade against abseiling full stop.
> it may not be the best line to take anyway.
People only ab off where there is fixed tat, climbers are tight and do not leave gear willy-nilly. No one has enough good fortune to successfully set up naturally retrievable abs all over the place, so given the presence of tat, one can safely assume it's the most convenient way off.
>
> This particularly affects climbers who, like me, operate in the easier grades, where 'the ab line' (if there is such a thing) coincides with a classic easy route.
I don't think ab lines tend to coincide with low-grade classics. They tend to just go back down whatever route is underneath them, as likely E5 as Vdiff or VS.
> And - for the love of God - please shout BELOW, *and* wait for any response before you chuck the rope.
Well yes. But I think saying that to those who chucked a rope on your head might be more constructive than lecturing the climbing community at large about abseiling.