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The Eyrie, Mt Boyce retrobolted! Badly... 1-Jan-2017 At 2:18:26 PM Mr Curly

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The citadel has been stormed!

This is a travesty. Although the person responsible now appears to be committed to removing the new bolts it is worthwhile highlighting the deficiencies in the thinking that led to their placement.

I agree with some, not all, of the general thoughts of timfreddo, but they don’t lead me to the same conclusion.

Yes, it would be good to have some more grade 10-15 & 15-18 multi pitch routes. But Boyce will hardly fill that gap given the wall is barely 50m high. And yes, there are many old routes that were poorly protected {Honeycomb at Porters comes to mind: used to be graded 14} and see no traffic at all. But The Eyrie is not one of them. I have been there many times in the last few years, mid-week included, and there is always another party seeking to do the route. Why? Because it is an absolute classic AND an important piece of climbing history.

Contrary to the post, it is not poorly protected and although there are runout sections these are many grades below the crux moves on either pitch. The natural protection is, comparative to other climbs, easy to find and place. Don’t own a rack? Then don’t do mixed or natural routes. It is not expecting too much for a simple rack to be considered essential equipment once you start to lead.

There needs to be a distinction made between easy (low grade) and beginner climbs. The Eyrie is an easy climb but not a beginners climb. We need to allow for and acknowledge the benefits of there being climbs that suit absolute beginners, and then climbs that have adequate protection for people pushing the grade and then climbs that require a bit more thought.

Totally agree with the frustration of there being so many climbs > grd 20 with a bolt a metre through the crux but climbs < grd 15 are death routes. At the risk of sounding old .. if you think it’s bad now …. you shoulda been around in the ‘80s. The solution is not retro bolting a mega classic but adding new routes: and it’s been and is being done. Have you tried Boadicea: modern multi pitch (must admit haven’t done it myself yet) There is also a 3 pitch grd 15 at Reservoir Dogs.

What is lost in the thinking behind the addition of the bolts, is that just as there needs to be beginner routes for leaders, there needs to be routes that allow teaching the placement and removal of natural gear – on a climb, not just standing on the ground. And the wall that contains The Eyrie is one such place: the low angle allows time to work things out.

Some other points:
- Why should old climbs be stuck in the past: because they reflect the period in which they were first ascended. Take a walk down Macquarie St Sydney some time: those old sandstone buildings don’t look half bad.
- Climbers did wear helmets all those years ago: my first was called a ‘Joe Brown’.
- Why do we aim to eliminate rests (M0) on the old routes rather than do them in the initial style: because we are free climbers, and the objective is to tick a route in one continuous push from the ground up. Begs the question: why consider it a first ascent if the leader had a rest or pulled some gear. Because it was an acknowledgement of the attempt and often, like Janicepts, quite possibly at the limits of what was then considered possible.
- Want more low grade multi pitch routes in the Bluies: go find em and climb em. They are out there. And hats off to you if you do.
- Not everything from the past should be discarded. There was once the idea of lifting yourself up to the climb, rather than bringing the climb down to suit yourself. Of the people on whose behalf the route was retro bolted, how many of them have attempted the route and then backed off because it was too hard. Went away, did some more climbing, came back, attempted it again, maybe succeeded maybe not, so went away and climbed some more and then attempted it again. Try it sometime. And if you can, find a way to bottle the feeling when you finally get to the top.
- People getting in above their head: will always happen, it’s also known as pushing yourself. The key is learning the techniques that allow you to extricate yourself from the sticky situation.
- There are already some low grade ‘modern’ rap in climb out routes at Boyce – Baby Carrots – plenty of experience to be gained by getting on something like that. Unlike Bell Bird, if it all starts to go bad, the rap to the ground and walk out ain’t that bad.