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TR: Alive in a Bitter Sea (Katoomba Cliifs) 10-Dec-2016 At 12:37:28 AM simey

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On 9/12/2016 gnaguts wrote:
>Simes, if wazza hadda bolted AiaBS 'ground up' in exactly the same bolt
>placements as he did on rap, would it still B a mess?
>Or RU simply objectn 2 cajones bigger than Urs, err boldness?

I have no doubt that Warwick had far bigger cojones than I ever did. And I won't deny that his ascent of Alive in a Bitter Sea (despite my criticism) still required every bit of them.

Would I still call the route a mess if it was bolted exactly the same way, but established ground up as opposed to being rap bolted? No I wouldn't. The ballsiness and vision required to have done the route in that fashion would have been exceptional. It would also have set a standard far above what would be required for repeat ascentionists. At the moment any climber who wants to onsight that climb needs to take a greater risk than Warwick did. I just feel that if your aim is to establish bold routes from scratch then you shouldn't be treating yourself to an unfair advantage over the people who might come after you.