Bolts at Long Wall

Post by **tsparks** » Tue Apr 13, 2004 9:20 pm

Can anyone tell me if the bolts at Long Wall are "safe" to fall on? A friend of mine told me that they were 1/4 inch bolts and that Rock and Ice did a story on how unsafe 1/4 inch bolts are.

Post by **t bone** » Tue Apr 13, 2004 9:23 pm

What route are talking about?

Post by **tsparks** » Tue Apr 13, 2004 9:30 pm

I think that they were looking at Are the Pies Fresh and Back Door to Paris.

Post by **t bone** » Tue Apr 13, 2004 10:06 pm

those routes dont have1/4 inch bolts.

Post by **Jeff** » Tue Apr 13, 2004 11:59 pm

Been on both routes and they are good bolts. At least they *look* good to me.

Post by **tsparks** » Wed Apr 14, 2004 1:39 am

I'm glad to here those bolts are good. Like I said I was going on second-hand knowledge and I wanted to check it before I went up there and got on anything.

Thanks.

Post by **Sco Bro** » Wed Apr 14, 2004 1:58 pm

The routes that tsparks is talking about start at the ledge on top of the 4 bolt 5.10a and span over through Back Door to Paris. There's probably four routes on top of the ledge that go from 11a to 12a. I didn't bring a tape measure, but the bolts look to be old 1/4 bolts, some with a bit of rust.

If you don't fall, the bolts probably won't break.

Post by **the lurkist** » Wed Apr 14, 2004 2:09 pm

If they aren't big standard Rawl 5 piece 1/2 x 3 3/4 bolts, then they are sub standard and should be replaced.
Nick Cocciolone (sp?) put those routes up. Maybe someone could ask him. If they need fixing, someone is going to have to belly up and buy the gear and fix them. Maybe Nick would want first option, but if not, how about you, tsparks? You are looking at $1.50 per bolt. new anchors too. $10 per anchor is reasonable if the routes require totally new set ups.

Post by **tsparks** » Wed Apr 14, 2004 2:48 pm

If they need replacing I would be willing to contribute to the cause. Obviously I wouldn't want to replace all the bolts on all the routes (selfishly because I can't climb all of them), but I wouldn't mind paying for some of the equipment. Oh, and I know nothing about bolting so someone else would have to do that part of it.

Post by **the lurkist** » Wed Apr 14, 2004 3:22 pm

Why not extend beyond your own interest and invest in the community. You have raised the question of the integrity of the bolts, so assuming they are in need of replacement, why not volunteer to replace them all. Are you interested in the your own experience or the good and safety of the community?
An example- Terry Kindred replaced the bolts on Sunshine and Moonbeam as well as the anchors. Terry can climb those routes without ever having to weight the bolts, and probably could never climb those routes again in his life and be happy, but he did it any way- Why? Because it needed to be done as a community service.
I am not trying to bust your balls, and be an overt ass, but your reaction is emblematic of a bigger problem in this climbing community. "Who is going to provide me with a climbing opportunity and why haven't they done so yet?"

To quote a guy who came up to a group of volunteers at Roadside in front of the slabs (Kampsite, etc) who were working hard, improving the base, shoring up the erosion, etc... - he asked " you guys with the park service or something?". After he was informed that there is in fact no park service, but that all climbiing venues (bolted routes) are provided with volunteer labor and gear, and at that time Kampsite was closed to climbing for trail improvement, he huffed " You mean to tell me I drove four hours to climb here and I can't get on this route?".

Again, I recognize your offer to contribute to the effort, and that is more than most people would offer.