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General Climbing Discussion

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re bolting

ron

4-Feb-2004
11:59:59 PM

what is the problem every one has with you re bolting a climbing site?.I personaly would use chem set and not dyna bolts as they are far more superior in strenght.curiosity has got the better of me ,could some one please explain it to me ?p/s idont climb.

mikl law

5-Feb-2004
8:04:31 AM

There are few problems (so long as you are talking about re-bolting and not retrobolting, which is adding gear to an existing route) but there are 3 issues:-

-the technical side is open to ongoing discussion as greater experience and understanding refine the practices to get the best product.

-the "usability" side (not to do with strength, but how easy the anchor is to clip, thread, and retreat from) has some debate, but this also spills over into the "ethical" side, mostly to do with the historical character of the climb, but sometimes visibility.

-the "ethical" side which may include the history and style of the climb and area.

Climbs that are rebolted are done so to maintain the route in it's original condition, often 30 years down the track the problems with the cheap nasty rusted out original gear are becoming severe. In their defence, the alternatives and knowledge were poor then, but the ethic at the time was that you equipted a climb for 1 ascent (yours) and not for all time.

In some cases the number of bolts may be reduced as modern natural gear is much better. One change from the original style on some climbs is the use of lower offs, which can reduce subsequent clifftop and descent gully erosion, but does make climbs more popular.

To asses the "impact of bolts", look at an area like Summerday Valley and balance the Citylink-like interchange of tracks (probably visible from space) with the bolts there (if you can see them).

nmonteith

5-Feb-2004
10:30:04 AM

Hi Ron,

What is comes down to is mostly to do with history. When a piece of rock is first climbed the 'first ascentist' gets their name recorded in a guidebook. The style they climbed the route and the number of bolts they placed is recorded in the guide also. These guides are used by all climbers. When these other climbers 'repeat' this climb they follow in the footsteps of the first ascentist. They use the bolts that the first guys did and try and climb it without falling off. Some of these bolts were placed 50 years ago and have now rusted away. It is these old bolts that need to be replaced. Some climbers think re-equiipping climbs somehow makes them safer and thus easier than when they were first climbed. They have a problem with safety for some reason. We have fixed most of the un-safe and old bolts at Warragul Rocks last year. If you have any further questions please email me directly!

Cheers,

Neil

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