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General Climbing Discussion

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THE AUSTRALIAN RE, RETRO-BOLTING OPEN FORUM 17-Apr-2004 At 6:29:13 PM Robin

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Sad story and interesting thought. But my opinion is leave the climbs as they are.

I climbed D-minor at Easter and was surprised at just how good the protection was. Perhaps the issue is whether or not climbers are adequately trained in placing protection. Just say ring bolts were placed on D-minor...my bet is that everyone will just clip the bolts and not practice placing protection. Then when they do get on a bolder route they're stuffed.

I think learning how to place gear and make judgements on personal safety is the key. You can practice placing gear at ground level, you can top-rope and place gear or you can second a climb and see how gear is placed. Adding bolts will not encourage climber to practice gear placement.