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.