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TR - Mt Buffalo Southside Gorge FA 15-Apr-2018 At 5:13:37 PM Duang Daunk

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On 13-Apr-2018 bigchris wrote:
>I raised a point the other day with another climber (who's
>got the second ascent), that if drills were around in the early days, there
>would be a heap more bolts about. The "old yardstick" isn't going to hang
>around forever because I can't do anything about when I was born.

Thin end of the wedge slippery slope here bro, and sure, the old guard will drop off the perch sometime, but the legacy they leave is worth remembering.
>
>I also think that this is one reason why people.dont climb at Buffalo
>- they think it's run out and dangerous.
>>
Yeh? So why have there been countless ascents of climbs like Grunter (see the old guidebook photos M9 posted earlier on your other thread - something about questions about ascents), and suddenly given ten or fifteen years of forgetful memory, or never-was a memory, the new kids on the block being all safety conscious and drill obtainable don’t believe what a great experience something hard to achieve mentally and or safely can be?

>Running a whole pitch with no gear is not smart.

Maybe for you bro, but using a drill changes it for everyone.
I’m not against your bolts, just your perception that it’s still bold as f--- etc.
I’ve seen your line, now known as Typhon, and the reason it wasn’t done earlier is twofold.
1st it is leftovers given the majesty of Monarch just around the corner.
2ndly, re bold yadda yadda, yes it’s out there and takes a headspace attitude to even consider, but reality is unlike your last photo of it that includes a large portion of other nearby lines, that it isn’t a whole lot of new climbing, hard though it is.

>There's a reason no one climbs Monarch - no gear.

And isn’t it good that something like it exists for you to get to if you ever stop getting a thrill out of your present level of climbing?
I also reckon if you do further homework that you will find it does get climbed more than you think, just not by those who feel a need to record it on the interweb.

> I'd love to give it a go, but I won't be if it's not protectable. On a side
>note, I dont even know how to get to the bottom of it :D
>
Your call on that bro. No one is twisting your arm, but beware the what-if gremlins that assault your senses in your dreams.

>
>Being bold is great, and being dead or munted is not. There's only 4 bolts
>over 35ish meters. None on the slab, none in the bottom of the cave, and
>only bolts on the face. I actually climbed it from Agrippa because that's
>where the comfortable belay was for my Belayer.

Even though there are plenty who have died free soloing etc we are glad that you didn’t place more, or inadvertently retro any of the climbs around it.
>
>**********************
>
>I also pulled the lip of Country Road and then fell out of the headwall.
>Those bolts need to be replaced. Or even for historical value, it would
>be much easier if they stayed where they were and two bolts were put in
>the wall to the right. That's an accident/death waiting to happen (we actually
>had a couple of cams in the crack which made the belay freaking uncomfortable
>- but you get my point).
>
No I don’t. Maybe M9 might, but I suspect he and others think differently to you about it.
Why not just create a trad pro hanging belay at top of the first pitch?
Yes, hanging belays can be uncomfortable, but discomfort isn’t enough reason to retro belays.
If the bolts are unsafe then replacing, not adding another belay to them is sensible, unless it can like in this example easily, be done with trad gear.