UKC

Chilam Balam. I guess most of you have been following the discussion on 8a.nu. They way I see it, the discussion has been, for the most part, very good and necessary. The way I see it, a few questions have arisen, such asoes a climber have any kind of obligation to prove a claimed ascent?Does the...

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Some of these replies were posted on Björn's old blog website, and so won't be from registered UKC users

Nobody has any obligation to prove any ascent as long as you climb just for himself.
Only if the climber seeks after recognition from the climbing community, only then it´s inevitable to be transparent in what you are doing.
Climbing is based on trust. Reporting about the achievements in our sport is based on trust. But this works only if the climber´s word is good enough.
There are many top-level-climbers (like Ondra, Sharma, Andrada, Usobiaga, Hirayama...), which are of high credibility, because it´s not the big deal to get: all these climbers simply climb and by doing it they demonstrate their on almost endless occasion.
In fact, it´s less than a handful climbers, which want the full reputation of the climbing community and wich are in the same time not willing to accept these basic rules of our small world.
Alexander Huber

No a climber does not have any kind of obligation to prove a claimed ascent. The climbing community will make up its own mind, but the problem is that some people will always cast doubt. Sometimes for good reasons, but sometimes also for other reasons.

The climbing media does have a responsibility to report accurately and without bias. Too often, "big numbers" are reported too quickly

"the problem is that some people will always cast doubt. Sometimes for good reasons, but sometimes also for other reasons."
Exactly, and if the climber have chosen not to be transparent, there's no way for the media, or anyone for that matter, to know whether the doubt is reasonable or not.