guangzhou wrote:
No lack of clear ethics, maybe you should be about Lama's plans. Seems like he doesn't see this as a clear choice.
I was not talking about Riders of the Storm, I was talking about a change. Climbers hate and resist change. The old guard are scare of losing ground to the new school.
Clean climbing, sticky rubber, cams, hang doging, bolting, sport climbing, climbing gyms have had resistance.
Again, the most interesting thing to me is that people who use pitons are normally the loudest at denouncing bolts.
Rap bolting wasn't acceptable in any area until someone took the first step and started the process. More and more people are accepting the practice and more and more will.
I personally don't care how the first ascent party places it's bolts. I prefer to care about how good the bolts are once placed. How good the route is once it's completed.
I learned to climb on cracks and resisted sport climbing when it came to America, not I still climb cracks and I clip bolts.
I have never been on a established routes and said, wow, this route would have been much better of the bolts were placed on lead. Or, this route would be much better of it had been rap-bolted.
This is not an argument about whether bolting is good or bad. Arguments about whether bolts are good or bad don't interest me. There are lots of bolted sport routes on the volcanic crags right next to El Chalten. If you wanna put up another one there, GREAT. This is about (what should be) the accepted ethic for climbing and establishing new routes on the peaks.
If you think Lama is trying to put up this route as some kind of service to other climbers who will repeat it, then you REALLY don't have a clue.
