Chockstone Forum

      Sponsored By
      ROCK
   HARDWARE

Chockstone Photography

Australian Landscape Prints

Chockstone Forum - General Discussion

General Climbing Discussion

Topic Date User

Choose life - Choose a trad rack 10-Feb-2005 At 11:15:59 AM SteveH

Message

Those who have seen Auto-Route may understand where I am coming from, when I state that I have
come to the conclusion that bolted routes in the Blue Mountains are unsafe.

This is not the fault of the bolters/rebolters, they may do everything alright and the bolts still be unsafe.

As per last weekend ring bolts and fixed hangers have the potential to break carabiners.

All glue purchased in NSW is only solid for 3 months from setting, after this all routes should be deemed
unsafe.

Due to our annual storms more and more lines of bolts are being struck by lighting, weaking the bolts to
the unsuspecting.

Due to the massive changes in temperature in the Mountains which causes great expansion and retraction
of the rock around the glue and bolt, what do you think happens then?

You know the old saying of never put metal on metal - What about quickdraws on bolts - Danger!

The steep sport crags in the Blue Mountains are the worst, gravity is forcing you to play a game of
Russian Roulette.

After every 5 falls/lower-offs on a bolt the strength is reduced by 5% - Do the maths, stay off the 3 star
climbs!

I feel obligated to offer selfless advice to protect all the unsuspecting climbers and masses of new-
comers to the dangers of sport-climbing in the Blue Mountains and offer some alternatives. Above are
only a few of the dangers, without getting technical.

Alternatives;

Avoid all sport crags - they are death traps anyhow - Invest in a trad-rack and be happy

Avoid climbing in the Blue Mountains - It isn't that good/pretty anyhow - Climb on the Sydney sea cliffs or
commute to the Grampians and Mt Araps

Stay inside - there is less chance of getting hit by a car too

If you arrive at a crag with sport-routes and trad-routes and somebody, like myself is climbing sport-routes
- Get out of there as quickly as possible, else you need to waste a day calling emergency services, filling
in incident reports, dealing with media and the head-issues related to seeing someone deck-out in front of
you.

Listen to Jackie and Simey's advice and go to Victoria where there is always a bolt between your last and
you hitting the ground - none of those in the mountains.

So take care out there, heed my warnings and if you meet a sport-climber from the mountains stay well
back, they only interact with there own.

Looking out for the masses, making the world a better place....

Steve