Chipping culprit filmed in NY

The link provided shows the video. There is an article that accompanies it; http://www.dpmclimbing.com/articles/view/just-cleaning.

I can't tell whether it is Ivan or not. He normally wears glasses and it would seem a bit strange to take them off while banging on chisels.

Ivan is a really good boulderer and led the charge that brought the Gunks out of the bouldering doldrums it had languished in for a decade or more. It would be really sad if, after opening so many eyes to the possibilities all around, he would turn to manufacturing routes as he aged, and I for one hope it isn't true.

Dave Graham once stated, "It’s different in bouldering , I think no hold chipping is universally accepted, even if unfortunately there are some sad exceptions. The problem with hard lines is finding them."

Dave suggests that our boulders are a finite resource. There is only so much rock out there and creating new holds to make a problem easier erases the possibility that a more talented or driven climber could come along and climb the problem.

One such instance happened last year in the 'Gunks, a popular bouldering area in New York State. There was a boulder problem that had been a long-standing project for local climbers and had spit off all suitors since their first attempts as early as 1996. It was no secret, even being listed in the guidebook as a project. Many top-climbers had tried it, and it was estimated to be in the V13 range. One local climber was particularly invested in the project. "I'd been looking at that thing since I was 16," he said. "I tried it on and off for 12 years and much of the time I thought it probably didn't go, but after 15 years of climbing, I finally started to unlock some sequences."

Last spring, he finally did all the moves and had done it in two sections. A send of the problem seemed close until one day, he returned to the problem and found that an unknown person had altered the holds. "It was definitely different and easier. I have no doubt that someone carved out a thumb catch to make a hold better. I lost all motivation for it. It's not even that I'm upset that the problem was stolen from me; I'm more upset that it was taken from the climbing community. It was always a problem that I aspired to climb and it would always have been there for other climbers to aspire to."

Other local climbers began noticing that the project wasn't the only one that got chipped in the area. Another local stated, "We started to see these problems that were completely manufactured- like every hold. It was happening all over. We had suspicions about who it was, but there isn't exactly a police force in the boulders to prevent this stuff from happening."

Recently on a snowy day, the ring of hammer and chisel on stone rang out, and the climbers were able to film a person in the act of altering the rock. What, exactly, they caught on film is debatable. Sometimes, when establishing rock climbs, a dangerous flake is pried loose to prevent injuries to future climbers. Sometimes that loose flake is 'scored' with a chisel so that when it breaks, it leaves a handhold, and sometimes holds are blatantly created with the use of tools.

The local climbers presented the video to DPM with the request that they remain anonymous. "We don't want this to come off as a personal attack," they said. "We've tried speaking with the person and it obviously hasn't had an effect. Our intent isn't malicious, we just want this to stop happening to our boulders."

Most climbers will likely agree that the actions portrayed in the video cross the line. We spoke with the Access Fund to hear their stance on the issue and how it could affect the future of climbing. The Access Fund stated that they, "vehemently oppose intentional alteration of the rock by gluing or chipping for the purpose of creating or enhancing holds. We believe such actions degrade the climbing resource, eliminate challenges for future generations of climbers, and threaten access."

Comparing Gutzon Borglum to Ivan Greene is like comparing Banksy to GDavis.

...or have future projects destroyed.

Here's one I "chipped" with my fingers of steel trying a direct exit. Missed me by THAT much.

Bonus points if you name the east side location ...