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Chockstone Forum - Crag & Route Beta

Crag & Route Beta

Area	Location	Sub Location	Crag	Links
VIC Buffalo	The Horn Environs	(General)	The Horn	[ Horn Guide ]

Topic Date User

Bolting at The Horn, Mount Buffalo 18-Feb-2013 At 10:38:23 AM Ben_E

Message

On 18/02/2013 simey wrote:
>Just out of interest, is there any chance that the top of the flake on
>Pintle LHV could have broken away due to the effects of contraction/expansion
>of the rock or freeze/thaw?

Not in this case, I don't think. The (admittedly slightly rotten) flake near the top of Profanities also showed signs of having been deliberately snapped off (either that or someone had a real adventure!), so I assume it's part of a broader "clean-up" effort.

Having played about up at the horn on Saturday, my impressions were:

Profanities has been relatively "well" retro-bolted (if there can be such a thing), and is a great climb which I otherwise probably would not have done. The anchors 2/3 of the way up seem unnecessary (why not just go straight to the top and trail a second rope, as we did?), but that's a fairly minor point.

Overall however, there seem to be carrots popping up like mushrooms in the horn area, including on some "climbs" that I'm not even sure would warrant bolts in a day trip area like Black Hill, let alone at Buffalo. Bolting next to protectable cracks is a clear no-go in my book, even if it does make for a friendly beginner's lead for the local scout or TAFE group.

There was even a 2-carrot anchor in the low angle slab below the Pintle. Admittedly, Mike and I had a great time belaying our 4 and 5 year old daughters up the slab from them, but I'm not really sure that developing the area for 4-year olds is the way to go (talk about bolting for the lowest common denominator!).

All in all it just seems over the top. Any chance of the bolter(s) taking a well deserved holiday and leaving their drill at home for a while, or at least having a chat with other users to come up with a consensus vision for the area?