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Bolting Ethics - Anchors 20-Dec-2007 At 5:28:55 PM Ronny

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On 20/12/2007 steph wrote:
>I see all your points but i still think limiting ambiguity is better than
>encouraging it.

What's ambiguous about "don't belay or rap off a single bolt" (which is what most beginners are told). Its only ambiguous if you see the existence of a bolt at a belay as some sort of representation to a person arriving at the belay that it is ok to belay off the one bolt that's there. Put simply - it isn't.

Anyway are there many routes that have suspect belay stations?
> I was under the impression that most (if not all) frequently trafficked
>routes do not have this problem.** In rare circumstances I've seen trad
>climbs with a fully bolted anchor (especially when it doubles as a rap
>station).

I can think of a few times where hanging belays were not all that attractive and an extra bolt was useful.
There can't be an absolute rule - just horses for courses. It doesn't seem right to me to say just because a bolt is needed for belay safety that it necessarily must be suitable as a rap station.

Example:
On the great wall at Moonarie there used to be a single carrot at the end of (pitch 1 of) Robbing Hood and a single carrot at the end of (pitch one of) Rip Off. Each is a semi-hanging belay. The Robbing Hood one is probably fine on gear, but the Rip Off one would be a bit scary with just the gear so benefits from the bolt.
About 5 years ago both bolts were replaced (with fixed hangers).
As you've suggested people started rapping off the single bolt at the end of Robbing Hood. On the basis that it made sense to have a rap anchor there anyway (and after asking around), about 3 years ago I added a bolt to the Robbing Hood belay and rap rings.
But the Rip Off one is still a single bolt. From there its only a short pitch to the top of the wall where there is a rap chain. Against the Wind finishes there and some harder routes. I'm sure that people have rapped off that single bolt - but any one who has done so would have known what they were doing and made an educated decision.

I can't see a problem with just making a call based on each situation, and not having any blanket rule.

J