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The Inconvenient Side of the Glass 12-Nov-2009 At 12:21:35 PM alex_f

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Thanks for the explanations Peter, and many thanks for the re-bolting. Even with the variant second pitch (and the variant third pitch...) it is a great route. But it seems like we have to do it again....

>In fact the first pitch was originally led on trad gear only (including
>1 or 2 pitons), so even the two bolts that are there may be unnecessary
>(although I doubt it - some of the cracks on the lower part of the arete
>look a bit sketchy for pro).

I agree, I was quite happy about the two bolts being there :-)

>Ah sounds like you did the variant 2nd pitch, which we did not
>rebolt. The original 2nd pitch is basically a horizontal traverse to the
>right along the obvious rail, passing a single ring bolt about halfway
>across. The "runout" after the ring bolt is a bit unnerving, but it's
>a clean (and spectacular!) fall for the leader.
>The same can't be said for the second though - they have to unclip that
>bolt then do the crux, and a fall at that point is onto the belay with
>the sharp edge of the belay ledge biting into the rope.

Looks like Dominik and I will swap the lead next time we do it :-)

>From memory there would have been one new glue in carrot (the first bolt
>on the pitch), where the original second pitch heads right, but the others
>would all be old. As I say we didn't touch the variant 2nd pitch, as I've
>never done it and had no idea what condition the protection was in.

That's right, yes. The condition of the other protection can be described best with "very dodgy".

>You must have missed the bolts. The original 3rd pitch trends up and
>left across some crozzly rock, rejoining the variant after about 20m at
>the base of a hanging grey slab right on the arete. The grey slab is about
>grade 14 and has 2 or 3 bolts (which we replaced with glue in carrots)
>plus some small cams, while at the top there are 2 ring bolts on a block
>a few metres back from the top of the arete.

Yep, definitively missed this.