On Monday, July 16th, Ken Nichols pled guilty to
trespassing and pled no contest to willful destruction of property in
Orange County Court in Orange, MA. Charges were filed after
Nichols was caught chopping 'Mass Production' (5.10d) at Farley Ledges
in April of 2007.
The judge signed off on the plea deal negotiated by
the District Attorney, Nichols’ Attorney and the Western Mass
Climbers’ Coalition. The deal, which allows Ken to avoid a
trial and possible jail time, stipulates the following:
Nichols must pay $249.99 in restitution
Undergo 24 months of probation
Is banned from entering five Western Mass crags
Must never chop another bolt anywhere.
The guilty plea stays on his permanent record; that coupled with the no
chopping decree make future prosecution easier and the penalty more
severe. Additionally, Ken had to pay various court fees, attorney
fees and buy an ugly suit.
However, the most satisfying part of the day was
Ken’s time before the judge. As part of the plea deal, Ken
had to admit the facts he was pleading guilty/no contest to: he finally
owned up to the trespassing and chopping the bolts in open court.
At one point, as the D.A. and WMCC President Jeff
Squire were arguing for the two year probation - both were concerned
about Nichols' vow to return once he has chopped a route - Ken offered
a rationale for his behavior. Nichols explained to the court that
his actions were ethical ones: Ken was saving the cliffs from the
“sport climbers”. The judge told Nichols he sounded
like a like a school yard bully and that an “ethical”
stance would not involve destruction of private property and
endangerment of the lives of others. It was then that the judge
added the stipulation about “no chopping anywhere” to the
plea deal.
The D.A. later explained that the “no chopping
anywhere” stipulation, while difficult to enforce outside of
Massachusetts, means that Nichols will definitely go to jail if he is
caught chopping in Western Mass again. One imagines it would also
make a criminal case in Connecticut or Rhode Island easier to prosecute
as well.
Monday’s day in court comes at the end of a
two and half year battle - starting in May of 2005 - fought by Western
Mass climbers to rid themselves of the vigilante. It was then
that Ken’s truck was spotted and Nichols was identified by
a land owner as present at Farley during this first act of vandalism at
the crag since the bolt wars in the 1990’s. No other
climbers were present because Nichols chose the falcon ban as an
opportunity to visit Farley. (How’s that for ethics?)
After Ken hit Mormon Hollow the following week, the
WMCC pursued and quickly obtained no trespassing orders at four Western
Mass crags. The landowners had all given climbers permission to
place fixed anchors and they were disgusted by the pictures of
Ken’s vandalism. A Connecticut Marshall hand delivered the
No Trespassing orders to Ken in June of 2005. Additionally,
several Western Mass climbers (including this one) either attempted to
or did contact Mr. Nichols in an effort to stop his behavior.
Obviously, he paid little attention to any of
this. He returned to Western Mass at least once in 2006 and at
least three times in 2007, bringing the chopped bolt total to just
under 500. When confronted, Nichols maintained his
innocence saying he hadn’t been to Farley since the 1970’s.
It was during his third 2007 visit, on the morning
of April 27th that a local climber caught Ken - on a single line
rappel, tools in hand - chopping. When the local called out to
him, Ken dropped to the ground and broke the world record for a gully
sprint in a harness, leaving his rope behind.
And so it goes, a 59 year old,
“semi-retired” man in a cheap suit trying to convince a
judge that he is really saving the rock.
Rob Sullivan