Who should bolt?

[MiaRock]

Is it just me or do you find it frightening that just anyone can buy a drill and start bolting? bolting is such a delicate thing, you could break the bolt in the rock and never know it until someone takes a whipper off of it.

[Guest]

I think only someone who has been mentored by someone with experience should ever consider taking up bolting. Bolting is more than just drilling a hole and shoving in hardware. This is why sport climbing has always wigged me out a little. At least when I place my own pro I know that it's good.

[Rags]

I agree with both of you. I have a problem with someone bolting a route who is new (or even an intermediate) to the sport. Putting up a route requires technical knowledge of the hardware but also sense of how a route "flows".
A monkey with a bolt gun is still just a monkey just as any idiot with a microphone isn't necessarily an artist or entertainer. He's just a louder idiot.

[canadaclimbergirl]

I agree. It has to be someone who is experienced. I don't lead 5.12's but I have either helped bolt, or bolted over 25 routes at my local crag. So it isn't a question of climbing ability. It is important to know the rock, know the physics of the bolts (glue in or otherwise), and important that it gets done properly.
I think that a person should be able to speak confidently about their reasons for a particulart bolt job (poor rock quality, place for trad gear, runnout sections etc) I also think that the 'bolter' should have 'apprenticed' under someone with experience for some amount of time.
Anchors can get screwed up easy too. Inexperienced bolters can put anchors to close, to far apart, put 3 bolts in the wrong place. The list goes on.

Anyone who 'thinks' they know what they are doing...probably doesn't. Either you KNOW or you DON'T KNOW.

that is all.

[andy_lemon]

I agree. It has to be someone who is experienced. I don't lead 5.12's but I have either helped bolt, or bolted over 25 routes at my local crag. So it isn't a question of climbing ability. It is important to know the rock, know the physics of the bolts (glue in or otherwise), and important that it gets done properly.
I think that a person should be able to speak confidently about their reasons for a particulart bolt job (poor rock quality, place for trad gear, runnout sections etc) I also think that the 'bolter' should have 'apprenticed' under someone with experience for some amount of time.
Anchors can get screwed up easy too. Inexperienced bolters can put anchors to close, to far apart, put 3 bolts in the wrong place. The list goes on.

Anyone who 'thinks' they know what they are doing...probably doesn't. Either you KNOW or you DON'T KNOW.

that is all.

I couldn't agree more... bolting has nothing to do with your abiltity to climb. It has to do with THE ABILITY TO BOLT.

[Wicked Tribe]

Experienced bolters can screw up a route as well. I could cite specific routes and bolters but I won't.

The only specific bolter I will mention is Porter Jarrard. He could spot a great line but he didn't make his routes to last. Many of them he equipped with inferior hardware which has long since been replaced. No one would argue that Porter was an inexperienced bolter, but you could argue that he was a poor dirtbag climber more concerned with getting the most bang for his buck. He made some poor decisions that fortunately have been rectified (in most cases) by other climbers since then.

[andy_lemon]

Experienced bolters can screw up a route as well. I could cite specific routes and bolters but I won't.

The only specific bolter I will mention is Porter Jarrard. He could spot a great line but he didn't make his routes to last. Many of them he equipped with inferior hardware which has long since been replaced. No one would argue that Porter was an inexperienced bolter, but you could argue that he was a poor dirtbag climber more concerned with getting the most bang for his buck. He made some poor decisions that fortunately have been rectified (in most cases) by other climbers since then.

He was also bolting back before climbers came up with bolting standards... today, a Jarrard would be using the proper hardware and I would not have any objections to climbing one of his lines. Southern Illinois has bolting standards and for the most part, people follow them.

[rhunt]

Easy with the Porter bashing, if it weren't for his efforts....need I say more

[Wicked Tribe]

Porter was saving money, not ignoring (or ignorant of) good bolting techniques. He had access to real hangers but chose to use angle iron (bedframe hangers). Even competent people make poor choices at times.

[the lurkist]

To stroke porker even more, I think his lines demonstrated a keen eye for the aesthetic. He had a natural ability to see the route and the bolt placements. He could equip the routes in a quick top down one pass mode and almost never need to change a placement. His routes stand as a testament to his talent. Unfortunately his gear didn't stand up to time. Thats okay. He still gave us the routes.
I know of no one doing routes now in the Red who doesn't spend quite a bit of time planning placements, asking for input from peers about placement choices, being open to input. I feel the most important quality in a route developer is the quality of humility- to change something if it is not right the first time.
The great thing about routes is that they are a monumnet to the first ascentionists efforts- if the route is a poor choice or a p.o.s. choss pile, poorly bolted, squeeze job, etc, it will remind everyone of the guy (or girl) who put it up and they will be remembered in not a good light. The opposite is true too. Good routes are remembered well.