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Chockstone Forum - Crag & Route Beta

Crag & Route Beta

Area	Location	Sub Location	Crag	Links
VIC Buffalo	The Horn Environs	(General)	The Horn	[ Horn Guide ]

Topic Date User

Bolting at The Horn, Mount Buffalo 4-Mar-2013 At 9:19:46 AM Nick Clow

Message

An observation about bolting and/or retro-bolting:

Bolts are part of climbing in Australia. Unless one has no bolts whatsoever (the only consistent position and where there can be no argument), there are always going to be arguments about what is a 'good' bolt and what is a 'bad' bolt.

One of the factors strongly influencing what makes a bolt 'good' or otherwise is WHO put it in.

If you take the example of The Point, this is a trad area - and a rare and precious one at that. Natural lines abound on vertical rock. You could spend (and many people have spent) a long time climbing there without utilising any bolts at all as there is a large number of wholly natural lines, most of which are of great quality. The aretes and other lines of strength have been climbed (as ODH says), for the most part, in 'mixed' style.

Various people have put up new climbs at The Point, including Rob and Ivan. I use them as an example because:
1) they have both climbed at the Point for years and years. They have done their time and paid their respects to the place;
2) they have bolted routes in the style of the crag, relying on trad gear where it exists and carrots. Indeed, some of their routes are unclimbed cracks going on trad gear;
3) they have added routes spaced out all over the crag where there are worthwhile climbs, NOT just in one concentrated area.

No-one (to the best of my knowledge) has ever complained about Rob and Ivan's bolts/routes.

When you have a problem (and I would suggest this applies to ALL bolting/retro-bolting, including that at The Horn) is when the wannabes turn up.

The wannabes haven't done their time or paid their respects to the crag. Their judgement about the style of routes and whether they will be worthwhile is compromised by their lack of taste/experience and their feverish desire to whack the bolts in and get their names in a guidebook. They typically exercise no discrimination about where and how many bolts they put in. For some reason they seem to travel in packs, generating a sort of schoolboy machismo associated with this drilling and bolting. Finally, many of the wannabes don't even climb on trad gear.

Windjammer Wall is (or was) the jewel of The Point. I support ODH and anyone else who is going to tidy up the mess, both at The Point and The Horn.