Hi All:

Maybe this is old news, but I was climbing Eyesore in the Trapps yesterday and there is an EXTREMELY large loose block on it about 3/4 of the way up. The block may be located by locating the fixed pin held in place beneath it (!!). The block is now marked with a chalk "X" and measures about 3 feet wide by 4 feet high (it doesn't look like a block, it looks like the cliff!). When I pulled down on the block, it rocked outward about an inch. Not a good feeling. Avoid this route until it's trundled: if this block goes, you will fall, your top gear will fall out, the block will cut your rope, and then kill your belayer. Bad.

I left a voice mail for the head ranger, but he hasn't replied as yet.

Good climbing!
David

Don't expect a response from the Preserve. Their policy is not to get involved with trundling (more, they are against trundling on principle.)

What you are referring to is different from the oblong trapezoid block, also loose, along the vertical crack?

It's been that way for years...it's not going anywhere.

yep, trapezoidal sounds like the one, maybe 40-45 feet up? as I said, there's a fixed pin under the block, and a spot for my blue alien right next to it, so both would have come out if I'd yarded a little harder. I didn't know it was a block I was pulling on, so I was pulling down with both hands on the top of it, and it just slowly tipped forward. Creepy.

anyway, what to do? this is a total trade route and this thing is going to kill somebody (or two somebodies at once, since the belayer would almost certainly get hit). What should I do, just rap in in the dead of night and knock it off?

Yeah, right. Eyesore, a trade route ? Now that's a hoot.

TS

I certainly would not consider this route a trade route. If it is known for anything, it is the giant rocking block, not the quality of the route. As someone else said, is has been that way for a long time, and it is not likely to actually come out.

Trundling is not the answer, as it is against the preserve's rules.

Ok, that all ties together then, it wasn't clear to me before that this was a known thing, so I guess that's sort of ok. And by trade route I guess I mean that it's clear from the condition of the rock that a lot of people climb the route (some folks were just finishing it when we started)...whether they actually like it or not is a different story!

Thanks for the beta. Makes me feel better to know that this isn't a new thing.

If Eyesore has become a trade route, things in the Gunks have certainly declined in the 9 years since I've been there!

BTW, to the OP, often the name of a route can be an indication of its quality.

Rock climbing is dangerous. You may sometimes encounter loose rock. After you pull out the block why not bring up some bleach to sanitize the surrounding area and kill off any germs(:

That block has been like that for as long as I have climbed that route and I am sure for allot longer. There is other gear and other holds available. It is also obvious that the block is loose.