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Fully sick bolt wars at Araps 25-May-2016 At 8:05:10 AM Wendy

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On 24/05/2016 kieranl wrote:
>Yesterday afternoon I went up for a look at Master Blaster (look as in
>with eyes, not as in try to climb).
>
>For a route that has sat in mossy obscurity for most of my life and has
>recently lost it's fixed gear, I got a bit of a surprise. You could just
>about mine the chalk on this. Have a bunch of people sudenly decided that
>this is the most attractive lead at the mount or has it just been top-roped
>to death in the last couple of weeks?
>
>I attempted the start of Morfyne many years ago but it never occurred
>to me to try this but it now looks like it might not be a bad route, as
>long as you live (but then again, who does?).
>
>I didn't see the bolts before they were removed but I can't see how they
>would be more visually intrusive than all the chalk that's caked on this.
>It'd be interested to know if people are actually leading it or not.

Do you mean the chalk on the layaways out right of the crack? That was there from the ethical debolter whose sequence goes up the layaways before I put the bolts in. I and the other ascent went up the crack.

I haven't been back there as it's way too cold for me and I'm waiting on a decision from Glenn (who's happy to go with consensus if such a thing is possible) and yet a few more consultations about the bolts. But there was a lot of chalk on the route before I got on it and the only people I am aware of climbing it were the well rehearsed ascents just before and just after the debacle, plus the original toproping session leading to the bolt discussion 6 months ago, so I'm guessing it's the same chalk. The chalk on the layaways was not there when I did Morphyne a few months ago, so I'm guessing it wasn't from the early toproping session before the ethical debolter. No one said there was consistency in ethics.

My understanding is that the specific concern is that there is a blue alien placement next to the piton therefore the piton shouldn't be replaced and I have taken the unforgivable action of bolting a trad route, dragging the cliff down to my level, ruining the experience of others and demonstrating my pitiful ethics, the list went on. I did look at the slot next to the piton and if you hadn't preinspected the route, you aren't going to find it. The experience of the first ascent was clipping a piece of fixed gear here so the experience of leading it ground up remains the same. No concern was expressed about the appearance of the bolts, and therefore I guess, the appearance of the chalk is not of concern either.

I have only received feedback since that I should go put the bolts back in.