Is Climbing A Stalactite Ok?

While scanning through a local climbing Facebook group, I came across a recent post. I don’t know his whole story, but based on the post I think one could fairly gather that the author was asking for new partners because he had recently moved from Mexico, and is clearly a psyched individual. Like many climbers looking for a belay on Facebook, he included a few photos of himself. One picture was of him starting up a column of cave flowstone.

The picture in question…

Being a small group, only a few comments were posted. A few lit into him, one deriding his “entitled” nature.

One arguement debated the safety of these fragile features. The comment stated, “[This is] super reckless. That stuff isn’t “rock” per se… it is merely crystalline calcium carbonate deposits that are much weaker than even sandstone. I’d be pretty surprised to see some kind of expansion bolt or cam/nut hold on that kind of substrate.” The area in question, most likely Gruta de las Candelas, is a developed area. Bolts have held falls and anchors have been lowered from. 

While I’m no expert, in the experiences I’ve had in cave tours I’ve come to understand that calcium-based flowstone features common in subterranean limestone caverns like the one above are rather delicate. Not only have I come to question it’s load bearing properties, but also the great impact climbing on them would have. Tour guides for caverns like the Timpanagos Cave in American Fork Canyon encourage visitors to keep their hands to themselves, lest they disturb their mind-numbingly slow (yet fascinating) development with oils from your hands. Since fondling such features with our greasy paws would be required in order to practice our sport in cave-like environments, it makes me question the judgement of our friend from Mexico. 

But could it be ok to disrupt these processes? Should we neglect these awesome routes because of some slow-growing stalactite? This brings to mind the argument of preservation (protection from use) vs. conservation (sustainable use). If it’s acceptable, where do we draw the line? Can we climb on similar features (ie. Kalymnos) that aren’t subterranean? Would a permit system need be imposed to prevent excessive impact? 

Assuming it is not ok, we must also keep in mind that our friend is from Mexico. As pointed out by one of the commenters, “[C]limbing ethics in Mexico don’t necessarily have anything to do with access issues in the states.” The climber in question likely has not been educated on the impact of these routes. He’s just an excited climber, and rightfully so considering these routes (environmentally friendly or not) are really cool. 

I think this debate brings to light our hypocrisy. While climbing in a true cave is widely frowned upon, why is a wall of tufas ok? But we must also consider the culture of the area, not just the American opinion. Before we degrade a foreign climbing comrade, perhaps we should consider these things before we’ll call them, how did one comment put it? Oh yeah, “douche bag climbers”.