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The north ridge route of table rock, a 3-pitch 5.5 at Linville gorge, has 3 old pitons hammered in for the 2nd belay ledge. The cord is manky, but the pins look solid..

That route is the equivalent of bedtime for bonzo. Hard to imagine that one with pitons still in place in 2012. NC keeps it real.

Day Dreaming had a pretty classic anchor up until last fall--2 small, rusty half-frayed nuts and one mank pin in a super awkward spot--but that's since been replaced.

The Nose (5.8, 4-pitches) at Looking Glass, NC has a new(ish) looking pin low down at one of the belay ledges in spite of have shiny bolted anchors.

dustonian wrote: it is highly unlikely that the free routes on El Cap would have gone without the scars!

I could be misinterpreting the exclamation but it reads to me like you think the pin scars are a good thing?

sure, they're good. just not as good as drilled pockets, that's all.

I almost placed a pin last night, but was just shy.

JR wrote:

dustonian wrote: it is highly unlikely that the free routes on El Cap would have gone without the scars!

I could be misinterpreting the exclamation but it reads to me like you think the pin scars are a good thing?

"Interesting" maybe, but ! didn't really mean "good." It doesn't really matter to me one or the other since I'll never climb 5.13-14 trad. Figuring out sketchy clean aid (cam hooks & hybrid aliens) in flared scar-pods is kinda fun tho! I'd take that over a bolt ladder next to a nailing seam any day.

dustonian wrote:
It doesn't really matter to me one or the other since I'll never climb 5.13-14 trad. Figuring out sketchy clean aid (cam hooks & hybrid aliens) in flared scar-pods is kinda fun tho!

Do you feel the same way about manufactured sport routes? If the sport climb didn't have a few sinker manufactured pockets (Thug Life) you couldn't have "fun".

JR wrote:

LK Day wrote:But I have never heard of anyone nailing a cracks around here until the old pin placements turn into fingerlocks.

Is it ever the same person that nails the crack then uses the ensuing flaired fingerlocks???

It is my impression that hammering routes is shortsighted.

Bridwell pioneered the use of repeated pin placement and removal specifically to create a freeclimb. They were known as 'thank bridwell fingerlocks'. If my memory serves, the first time he used the technique was a short section of thin dihedral near or on Geek Tower.

512OW wrote:

JR wrote:

LK Day wrote:But I have never heard of anyone nailing a cracks around here until the old pin placements turn into fingerlocks.

Is it ever the same person that nails the crack then uses the ensuing flaired fingerlocks???

It is my impression that hammering routes is shortsighted.

Bridwell pioneered the use of repeated pin placement and removal specifically to create a freeclimb. They were known as 'thank bridwell fingerlocks'. If my memory serves, the first time he used the technique was a short section of thin dihedral near or on Geek Tower.

Interesting. Tell me again how this is not analogous to manufacturing a sport route?