UKC

Quickdraw Thief Caught!Fri Night Vid

© UKC News
In this video from Ian Caldwell on Vimeo, Ian and his climbing partner catch someone 'stealing' their quickdraws from their sport projects at Smith Rock in America.

On hard sport routes it is common practice to leave your quickdraws in place to make working the route easier, meaning you don't have to replace them each time you visit the crag.

On some really hard or steep sport routes key quickdraws (or sometimes all quickdraws) are left in permanently as stripping them out is a very difficult task due to the steepness of the rock.

In this interesting video Ian and his friend confront a 'quickdraw thief' at the base of a route and explain the ethics to him.

In trad climbing it has been common that a piece of gear left or stuck in a route has been considered 'crag swag' and has often been kept by the lucky climber who manages to free it from the rock. But this tradition seems to be changing as internet lost and found forums and other communication methods make it easier for climbers to return found gear.

Forum links:

VIDEO: Quickdraw Thief!


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31 Dec, 2010
what a c u next tuesday!
31 Dec, 2010
Haha, what a dick! Fair play to the other climbers for being so calm about it, nicely handled.
31 Dec, 2010
stupid beardy bastard. i would crimp his face in.
31 Dec, 2010
Would love to know what went through the guys head when the dude with the camera (Ian?) shouts "They're my draws, I was here 2 days ago, they're all fine" haha eejit
31 Dec, 2010
Yes, admirable restraint shown. I would have been sorely tempted to thump the Jeremy Hunt... ...largely for the beard, but I'd have kicked him a couple of times for the draws too.
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