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General Climbing Discussion

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Araps Rebolting 13-Jan-2006 At 9:43:50 AM uwhp510

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>Must say I disagree. Why do we bother at all with pitons in this day
>and age.

Because they weren't placed in this day and age. They were placed 30 odd years ago by people that were interested in using the natural features of the rock to arrange protection. Sure its not clean climbing, but it is more clean that a bolt.

>With the advent of cams and micro wires then there may be a better
>natural option instead.....if not then a bolt is surely the answer. Why
>retain a rusty manky pin for historical reasons or so a leader can "evaluate"
>it just like a piece of natural pro......that doesn'e make much sense.
> Instead of evaluating, remove and replace with a better (safer) option

What exactly is wrong with evaluating gear, including pitons and bolts, which you always have to evaluate anyway? Arapiles is a TRAD crag, hence the skill of gear evaluation is important.

Safer and better are not synonyms.

If a pin is so shonk that it needs pulling, and people are still leading the route with that shonk pin (which is comparable to leading the route without the pin), then does there really need to be a bolt in its place? I would say that Kachoong falls into this category in that you don't need the bottom pin/bolt at all (though the pin was quite good I reckon).