sketchy bolts...

[charlie]

I miss the 80% worn through cold shuts at the top of every route at Pocket Wall. Even the 5.10 climbers were routinely cleaning routes with FULL ON FEAR in their minds they were so shady. We would rap from those anchors (and pray) because it may just take one more person lowering to bend them off so they failed. Those routes rocked though.

I miss the hella runout on To Defy the Laws. 10A, and you had to have yer shit together and a decent belay or you were taking a minimum 20 footer if you blew it going to the anchors. Killer way to learn how to fall (or belay) though.

I miss the weird move on Mr. Bungle before someone carved that foothold. You knew you had to watch yer shit or you were gonna hit the deck. Decent route for a gumby though.

I miss angle iron and poorly welded cold shut anchors, most all of which spun, that were all over the freakin place. The whole follow your rope through so you never have to worry about not being redundant was NOT the norm. But you got to go climbing and it was cool.

I miss the fuxxored bolting job on Danita Dolores (thanks Hugh). You knew when you got on that route that you couldn't blow it for the first 20 feet or you got a big tree root enema. Fun and exciting moves though.

These are all Moderates, the ones we cut our teeth on, the routes that hardpersons wouldn't hang topropes on. We sacked up, didn't bitch, thanked all the crusties for drilling marginal bolts and letting us share the day next to them because we were jazzed to be out there not surrounded by a bunch of Sallies. People really didn't die so much either.

Here's the thing, you saw a jingus bolt, you were careful climbing over it. You knew there was a crappy move, you were careful getting through it. You didn't bitch about it not being Disney World, you just freakin climbed it. There was no illusion of implied safety. There was nobody to call when you ran upon a less than ideal bolt or anchor, unless you planned on fixing it. You didn't rely on Team Suck or RRGCC to do the work for you. You didn't trundle big blocks at the top of routes changing the character of the route. You just dealt with it or moved on to something you could handle.

In short, I miss the times when you weren't really a climber unless your balls had dropped.

So, just in case you didn't get the memo....

You may die in traffic tomorrow, the McDonald's coffee may burn you if you spill it on your nuts, tap water may not be as healthy as the stuff you drink but it doesn't fill our landfills with plastic, your belayer may blow the catch, you may break a nail, the bolt may fail, you may mess up your hair.

Climbing (like life) is occasionally dangerous. Either deal with it or not, but I for one am not up in arms because the Red has only been 95% OSHA approved and some things haven't been dumbed down enough for your grandma.

Go climb in the Black Hills, or Seneca, or RMNP, or bolder at the Bald and see if your trip report sounds like it's coming from such a pussy.

tnkz,
mgmt.

[Pru]

I was with you until you said this:

you may mess up your hair.

I quit!

[heidiramma]

who's the man,?

CHARLIE!

[Saxman]

Oh yes, look at the balls on that wanker. He climbed a scary route without a guidebook, sticky rubber, nylon rope, or modern belay device. Wow, what a pioneer. This is getting old. Can we bitch about nylon ropes, sticky rubber, and rap bolting ruining the sport? Yeah, the people who climbed in "the gorge" in the early 90's were definitely the guys with the biggest balls (insert extreme laughter of those from earlier decades). Unless you have climbed without any "modern" accessories you are a fuckin pansy lacking any balls or real point of view. I don't see how Rick's little guide or people's concern over bolts ruins the sport any more than any other change. Looks like some people need to "deal with" the fact that they thought they had balls and were real bad asses when in fact they were just another bunch of moronic bolt clippers. I'm heading out to buy some hemp rope and studded mountaineering boots, who's with me?

[charlie]

You asked for it.

It's not about the balls, it's about the whining and the dumbing everything down to the lowest common denominator.

Sac up and climb. If that chossy block at the top of the route that has special connotations for the FA don't look like your cup of tea, walk the fuck on.

And yes, this means you douchebag.....

http://www.redriverclimbing.com/RRCGuid ... hp?id=1402

[Buster]

[quote="weber"]

No suggestion or reference is made in this booklet to “authorizedâ€

[weber]

Buster, my message clearly referred to the Bolting Booklet when I wrote:

[quote="weber"]
No suggestion or reference is made in this booklet to “authorizedâ€

[pippen]

Weber,

Dude, it’s clear Buster has a hair up his butt for the Webers and Muir Valley. And he loves twisting your words to distort the meaning. Don’t fall into his trap. Although amusing to some, Buster’s immature bravado and our irresponsible forum rants glorifying reckless climbing could result in some pretty bad things happening around here.

Here is a example of what I mean written by our sweet Mr. “Busterâ€

[pigsteak]

Check your facts. I have bolted more lines in the southern region than in Muir. Does that mean I taste the dinner of the entire board of directors?

[rockman]

Check your facts. I have bolted more lines in the southern region than in Muir. Does that mean I taste the dinner of the entire board of directors?

and you should be grateful that we have allowed this. We typically dont allow swine to scramble on our boulders.