Desert Plaques – Art or Graffiti?
There’s a mini-thread going on over at MountainProject.com concerning the use of plaques in the desert. For those who aren’t aware, it’s a common practice in the Creek to leave record of your ascent by inscribing the name and grade of the route on a thin slab of sandstone. It’s been the traditional, low key way to leave record of your ascent for those that come after, and the practice started long before there were guidebooks or the internet to spread information around. Back then you hiked up to a splitter, if it had anchors and a plaque, it had been climbed, if not, game on! I think it’s really cool to see the old plaques that have survived over the years, a storied part of our climbing history.
Back to the topic on MountainProject, one zealous poster goes so far as to describe the practice as a “disgusting tradition” and “vile.” Seems a bit overblown to me. Killing babies is vile. Plaques in the desert? Come on, get over yourself.
So what do folks think? Are plaques cool? Are they trash? Does anyone really care? Personally, I think they are an interesting part of the desert climbing experience, and it’s sad to hear about people going around breaking these things in a feeble attempt to boost their own fragile egos.
Comments are on.
Sweet & hilarious, we love to climb because...we just do 
Slabs not fun or cool? Since when? 
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Joke's on you! Those were all men posing as women! 
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Video in reviews? Hmmmmm. I'll remember that next time BJ. Thanks Mike. Oh and one more thing I found out ...
That was my favorite part as well. Forget the aid rant, let's see some video of Ryan punching away at ...
Since the begining of time man has left hieroglyphs, cave paintings, scrolls, and etchings to detail history. Is this graffiti or a unique way of relaying our history and achievments to future generations? The way I see it, as long as these plaques are a way of passing on our climbing history to future generations then they are nothing more or less than the cave paintings in Southern Arizona. Imagine being at the base of Devils Tower and finding a small stone etched with a date and a name of the first person to ascend this rock. That, to me, is history. When does it become graffiti?, when plaques are destoryed and replaced, overplaced, or become an eye-sore. If discretion is used, these plaques can be a great way to pass on what we accomplish to future generations. Imagine being at the base of Everest and finding a rock with the words “Edmund Hillary, FA” scratched onto it’s surface.
I guess that seeing the changes at Indian Creek over the past decade mostly make me think that we need to do everything we can to minimize our impact. Tagging new routes is an impact.
I like climbing for lots of reasons, including getting into the wilderness. To me, traveling with a light footprint is essential. So, I wouldn’t tag a crack.