travelin_light wrote:The Chief wrote:And my point is that over bolting, or bolting of any kind, in the "Mountains", totally redefines the reality of what is climbing. Just as Bonatti , Messner and many other "Legends" of this game have told us time and time again.
As those Legends have told us, it is far easier to drill and place a bolt than it is to say no, leave the rock and the impossible to lay as it has for millions of years.
The intrusion of any bolt in the high mountains, is simply taking away the virginity and purity of nature. And imposing the artificial eight Aces that says look, I won!
What about your bolted rap route Granite Spire?! No bolts in the mountains huh? What you got about 10 bolts or so up there?
Does the ability to rap your route give it the ability to exist in a practical sense? Which is fine! Just like MSMR requires bolts to exist the very same practical sense? Remember Chief, nobody is arguing with you on the rules pertaining to the method of bolt placement - which are based on bureaucratic line drawing.
Again your point has been made.If your rap route is not pertinent to the existence of the route and a walk off IS viable - then wtf are they doing there? That rock has been there for millions of years and now you have altered it and "over bolted" in your definition. Which side of the story are you on?
There is NO VIABLE SAFE WALK OFF on White Peregrines. It is a Spire with no ridgeline what so ever to walk off.
And there are only 6 original hand drilled bolts on 900 feet (6 Pitches) of rock. We placed 4 Pins and five fixed nuts to accompany the 3/8 X 2 3/4" Fixe Wedge SS bolts/Hangers. All to safely rappel off the route.
NOT TO ASCEND THE LINE. There
ARE NO LEAD BOLTS on the entire route... NONE! I returned three weeks later and replaced two of the pins with bolts. Again, hand drilled.
Pitch 5, the "Crux Money Pitch", entails a 40' runout traverse out onto the face, place one very marginal #2 TCU as a directional and then another vertical runout of 35-40' before any decent pro can be placed.
Brutus confessed the following morning that this was the most committing Pitch of his life. We agreed NO BOLT would ever go there. Only style and ability will be ones protection.
There are over 12 sustained sections of .10a-c climbing with runouts of up to 40-50'. The .10c variation of P2 is runout for over 55'. I led that on the second ascent.
This route as all the others that I have been a part of in the High Sierra, are all done in "Old Skool" bold boltless lead style.
Big difference than the 34 PD'd LEAD bolts ya'll have on just three and half P's.
BTW, your bolts/hangers weren't SS. Shame... that entire section of the SFLPP is a water trough in Winter and those bolts will get weathered and compromised in a very short time.