i’ve climbed all over the world and have never, ever heard of a situation like this

from my very limited understanding of local issues it does seem that

the local climbing group CAWA had no prior knowledge of requirements for bookings/waivers

the department seems to have set a precedent favouring use by commercial operators over legitimate recreational users (as evidenced by the commercial operator knowing the booking system existed and calling the rangers in when they felt that thier booking had been violated)

i have been a professional instructor/guide for over 20 years and wherever i have operated it has been possible to find room for commercial and recreational groups to use the same areas. in fact its a necessity that commercial groups maintain sensitvity toward recreational groups by not monopolising crags/routes. this recognises that recreational users are primarily responsible for the development and upkeep of climbing areas.

Had the instructor in the weekend been reasonable he would have realised that his activitys could have happily coexisted alongside the climbers, everyone would have been happy

any hazards created by the numbers of users at the quarry were created by the actions of the instructor in throwing ropes without warning into areas where climbers and their kids were sitting, and by behaving in such a belligerent and threatening manner that he may have been at some risk of being clobbered

it seems that the department is happy to provide large concrete picnic shelters, toilets and interpretative signage consistent with use by large numbers of people and yet have a well hidden policy of limiting numbers. this seems very strange

the idea of booking to use an outdoor climbing area is ludicrous and i believe local climbers should be very concerned with the implications that this policy has for the future of their ‘sport’

picture this… you turn up at the quarry having forgotten to book, a commercial operator reaches for the phone and dobs you in to the rangers……you run, then think no i

‘ll morph into a walker and just go for a hike into the quarry, sorry says the ranger your number 41.. out you go!… so you decide to book for next weekend but its booked out, and the next , and the next, and the next…. but finally in late january you get a free spot , for one, so you and your wife toss a coin and she gets to go and takes your 1 year old … but the one year old counts as one adult , and has to be left in the car….

if the booking system must remain then should their be quotas for numbers of recreational vis commercial users? why is it limited to 40? the quarry can accomodate hundreds… should CAWA block book every day from now till say 2097?

and as for waivers!! jesus has australia turned into the states in the few years i have been away?

good luck to all involved in resolving this issue, if thier is anything i can do to help please let me know,

but on waht grounds can they kick you out? fair enough if your damaging the environment/facilities, doing unlawful stuff… but can they really kick you out for climbing?

it does sound like you dont have a choice with waivers, so ignoring them may not be an option…

I reckon we should vote for Ed in the upcoming Federal Election. Well put Ed, I agree 200 % Maybe if the Department won’t budge, then it might be something that an Investigative reporter may be interest in. I reckon CAWA should book the quarry every Saturday and Sunday until 2035. And lets not forget also allow the other Commercial Companies and groups that do co-exist with Recreational climbers a spot there too.

hi shane and all climbers,

i think about a lettre to Department of Enviroment, expressing intrest from climbers to sate our interest to keep this recreational activity going without paying money to an commercial outdoor organisation to go officialy to the quarries.and additional the.hopefully the lettre will be available from [email protected] not written yet but in weeks time it will,additionaly we should put up a note and the lettre in the gyms so anyone just can make a copy and send it to the Department of Environment and i think resources have you got by the way their adress and tel number, y we just book for next year the cliffs for every day!

Thanks Toc, keep us posted mate

By the way you look 20 years younger without the beard mate.