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THE AUSTRALIAN RE, RETRO-BOLTING OPEN FORUM 12-Apr-2004 At 9:56:58 AM Estey

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In reply to Damiens post on the 9/4/04.

O.K the jibe about the intermediate 29 was meaningless. What one climber finds impossible another finds easy. While 29 is no where near cutting edge the majority of climbers would consider it hard. And by the way there are heaps of French who bumble around on 5+, even if they do it with more style.

But sorry dude the rest of your post was a load of bollocks. Yes climbing has changed over time. And I agree it has changed for the better. And this is because it is now much more diverse. We now have plastic, bouldering, sport, trad-sport, trad etc. None of these genres is necessarily superior to any other. Many climbers would get more satisfaction from leading a bold 17 in the Bungles than redpointing a 24 at Nowra. In my view "safening" climbs does not equal progress. Your allusion to racism, the world is flat view, etc suggests you believe that the new routing ethics of previous generations were ignorant. Just because their philosophies differ from your own doesn't mean they were wrong. There is a place for both. Are you also saying that the reality TV popstars currently gracing the top of the music charts are superior to Dylan, Bowie, Led Zep etc?. Is Harry Potter more valuable than Carlos Casteneda?

You also call climbers who put up the old death routes egotistical. Sure ego probably had a part to play. However the clean climbing ethic of the day would have also had a lot to do with it. So would the lack of bolting technology at the time. I believe the motivation of any would-be retrobolter is even more crucial to the debate. Do they want to open up a route so that it can safely be enjoyed by more climbers? Or is it because there own ego has been threatened by there inability to do a route in the original style?

Finally the act of 'safening' routes by adding bolts could also be more dangerous in the overall scheme of things. Bold routes are necessary for climbers to develop mental control and judgement. Even death routes can help us develop as climbers ... mainly by teaching us that it is better to keep off some climbs. Climbers are better of learning these lessons on their local crags before they wander off to less forgiving arenas such as high end grit or Patagonia.