I lowered into a herd of goats and sheep. A few minutes before I flaked my rope in a corral below Conde Dracula, a steep 8a limestone sport climb in Otinar, Spain. My partner, Blake wanted to climb the route as well. The land surrounding the cliff remains pasture for many animals. Their bells rang as they walked towards the protection of the cave. A shepherd pushed the sheep towards the base and we began a strained access discussion with the man.
The climbing in Otinar, one of the best caves in Southern Spain, exists on private agricultural land. Local climbers arranged a tentative agreement with the owners to climb on the property. The access there has been maintained through a respect for the land. There’s two parts to every land management discussion and problems arise when there’s poor communication. Most climbers only think of the first part.
The Access Fund discusses the first idea well when they say, “Poor compliance often arises in situations where there has been limited communication between climbers and resource managers, where management policies show poor understanding of climbing activity and use patterns, or where new restrictions have arisen without the identification of problems through field observation.” In Otinar, the shepherd had some understanding of what were doing. He had little concern about us climbing on the wall. He didn’t fear lawsuits or that someone would tear a flapper and kick a sheep. The problem came from the other side.
¨Diaz minutos por favor?¨ Blake asked if he could quickly try the route.
One of the biggest problems in climbing access is when climbers feel entitled to the cliffs, especially on private property. Spanish shepherds have used the land for thousands of years. While it´s easy to complain about the smell of goat and sheep excrement, it´s better to acknowledge the generosity of the land owners and treat them respectfully. A problem also exists when climbers show poor understanding of land activity and use patterns, where they neglect to understand the position of the shepherd.
The goats bleated outside the gate. The shepherd shook his head, indicating that we should return the next day.
“Gracias, amigo,” Blake told the shepherd and then in his best Spanglish, hethanked the man for allowing us to climb on the land. We continued to climb on another section of the wall. The sheep bleated happily under the cave and the goats settled down for a dry evening. We returned the next day to slightly better temps. Blake flashed the steep route for his hardest flash to date. Respecting access pays off.
