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Removing bolts to create trad paradise 5-May-2007 At 2:36:35 PM uwhp510

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I don't see why the pro-bolting lobby are so fired up about this. It is pretty clear that you are in the majority (or are maybe just more vocal) and if the relative propensity of people to place and chop bolts stays the same the number of bolts on both predominately sport and trad cliffs will grow over time. Just look at the relative amount of retro bolting versus bolt chopping at pretty much any major cliff. The logical end point point of this situation is that there will be fewer and fewer bolt free routes, for people who like that sort of thing (this is clearly a long way off, but you see what I'm getting at).

Take Booroomba for example. The number of retro bolts (several of which were placed afterwards by the FA) would be something like 20 or 30, whereas I can think of only a couple of bolts on worthwhile routes that were chopped and stayed chopped.

So in short, I can't see the removal of a few bolts from a few routes at ONE cliff setting some kind of mad bolt chopping precedent. In fact it probably would lead to less bolt chopping elsewhere.

And on a related topic; as for the mexicans whinging about sport routes with one or two bits of gear; suck it up homos, the rock and quality of gear placements is the envy of the rest of the country.