|
|
|
|
matisse
Mar 8, 2004, 3:40 AM
Post #1 of 24
(9455 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Jul 21, 2003
Posts: 12
|
I don't post here much if at all, but something I saw today needs to be publicized. The Baby Robbins/Jaws boulder on Mount Woodson is a spit boulder with a classic 5.9 finger to hands crack on its south side and a classic 11- finger crack on its North Side. The crack goes all away across the top of the boulder. Many people solo either or both cracks, although they can be led or set up as a TR with a few cams. Pro placed in the crack has the luxury of being in utterly solid rock as well as being text book placements. It's a walk/off scramble to get off.
As of sometime in the last week, Baby Robbins boulder also sports a brand new shiny stainless 3/8 fixe bolt and hanger, which I saw today. the bolt is placed dead center of the top of boulder about 3 feet from the crack. It's not in a place where you would be using it to TR anything on the formation or back up an anchor, even if your pro placing skills were so marginal that you thought you might like something to back up your gear. It is like some one got a drill and decided to practice somewhere at random, except the random place happens to be on top of one of the Woodson classics. It obviously went in this week, since it poured on monday, and there was rock dust all around the hole, which would have been washed away by the rain. Although I doubt the bolt will last long, I feel sick.
Sue
|
|
|
|
|
dmr
Mar 8, 2004, 3:46 AM
Post #2 of 24
(9455 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Oct 14, 2003
Posts: 54
|
I'm sure that it will be removed within the week. I only hope that when it is removed, that the hole is patched and hidden. I hate seeing chopped bolts and damaged rock.
|
|
|
|
|
mungeclimber
Mar 8, 2004, 5:32 AM
Post #3 of 24
(9455 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Nov 2, 2002
Posts: 648
|
freaking absurd- why do people insist on convenience bolts, when it obviously doesn't need a bolt.
|
|
|
|
|
matisse
Mar 8, 2004, 5:42 AM
Post #4 of 24
(9455 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Jul 21, 2003
Posts: 12
|
Actually it is hard to imagine it's a convenience bolt either. the position is all wrong. there are no rap rings or chains so you could not easily rap from it, if you could, its positioned wrong for pulling the rope and its a freaking 15-20 foot boulder with a fairly easy down climb. If you were going to use it for TRing the cracks (which take bomber gear to set the TR) it would be too far to the left of Baby Robbin's and too far to the right of Jaws for an ideal anchor. It looks like a "practice bolt".
|
|
|
|
|
pbjosh
Mar 8, 2004, 6:40 AM
Post #5 of 24
(9455 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Mar 22, 2002
Posts: 1518
|
In reply to: Actually it is hard to imagine it's a convenience bolt either. the position is all wrong. there are no rap rings or chains so you could not easily rap from it, if you could, its positioned wrong for pulling the rope and its a freaking 15-20 foot boulder with a fairly easy down climb. If you were going to use it for TRing the cracks (which take bomber gear to set the TR) it would be too far to the left of Baby Robbin's and too far to the right of Jaws for an ideal anchor. It looks like a "practice bolt".
Pffft. Retardation never ends, eh? I have a couple free days, I'll see what I can do about it. If you read this, PM me 'bout what kinda bolt it is please :)
Ciao
josh
|
|
|
|
|
asandh
Mar 8, 2004, 7:35 AM
Post #6 of 24
(9455 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Nov 13, 2002
Posts: 788
|
:)
|
|
|
|
|
micronut
Mar 8, 2004, 8:22 AM
Post #7 of 24
(9455 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Sep 11, 2002
Posts: 1760
|
I don't know the boulder and have never been to the area, but I've got an old school climber buddy that would place 1 bolt dead center on high boulders or ones with dangerous landings. Then, with 30 ft. of webbing, he could TR all sides and many lines with just one bolt.; in my estimation an elegant approach. Not to say that this is the case this time, but many modern climbers don't know what to do if the have to rig with anything but QD's.
|
|
|
|
|
crotch
Mar 8, 2004, 7:17 PM
Post #8 of 24
(9455 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Jan 16, 2003
Posts: 1277
|
Josh,
If you can't get around to it, let me know and I'll take care of it.
|
|
|
|
|
sneville
Mar 8, 2004, 8:38 PM
Post #9 of 24
(9455 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Nov 12, 2002
Posts: 40
|
I was there on saturday(6th) late in the day and set up a toprope after completing the climb and did not notice any bolt on top. It is weird that somebody put it up there in that short time. The crack takes great gear and the down climb is trivial. I don't understand.
|
|
|
|
|
pbjosh
Mar 13, 2004, 4:47 AM
Post #10 of 24
(9455 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Mar 22, 2002
Posts: 1518
|
This is no longer an issue.
-pulled and patched this bolt.
-patched the two old holes on Alcoa. Lame that someone would chop these bolts but never pull the sleeves or patch them, now the sleeves were fixed and a pain to fold down in to make room to patch.
-replaced the 1/4" bolt on Airstream with a new 3/8". Didn't seem mandatory to have a second bolt.
-replaced one of the bolts on Right Long's Crack with a new 3/8" as well. The old bolts looked kinda ok but somewhat rusty and had a rusty homemade hanger. After pulling the old bolt and looking at it I'd guess it was probably ok for a few more years but didn't hurt to replace it with a known good anchor.
At some point soon I'll replace the bolts on Right Hand Rule and probably clean up the webbing mess for rapping off of Seminar Wall with some chains or links or something.
Anyone else know any bolts that need help? There are some obscurities (Ballet Ugly, some other weird stuff) that could use bolts but I doubt I'll ever go back and they get zilch for traffic, heh. There are also climbs with one good and one bad bolt (Marshmallow Tower, Blackfinger) but I think they're ok as is.
|
|
|
|
|
pbjosh
Mar 13, 2004, 5:15 AM
Post #11 of 24
(9455 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Mar 22, 2002
Posts: 1518
|
In reply to: It's not in a place where you would be using it to TR anything on the formation or back up an anchor, even if your pro placing skills were so marginal that you thought you might like something to back up your gear.
I'm guessing it was placed to TR the 5.10 mantel boulder problem on the W side of the boulder, as there is a new cairn placed to reach the initial hold (this cairn comes and goes regularly it seems). However this is retarded because this problem and the problem to the right of Jaws can both be readily TR'd from gear if one desires.
|
|
|
|
|
pbjosh
Mar 13, 2004, 5:19 AM
Post #12 of 24
(9455 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Mar 22, 2002
Posts: 1518
|
In reply to: This is no longer an issue. -pulled and patched this bolt. -patched the two old holes on Alcoa. Lame that someone would chop these bolts but never pull the sleeves or patch them, now the sleeves were fixed and a pain to fold down in to make room to patch. -replaced the 1/4" bolt on Airstream with a new 3/8". Didn't seem mandatory to have a second bolt. -replaced one of the bolts on Right Long's Crack with a new 3/8" as well. The old bolts looked semi-ok but pretty old - hard to judge, and had rusty homemade hangers. After pulling the old bolt I'd guess it was probably ok but didn't hurt to put a newer bolt in... At some point soon I'll replace the bolts on Right Hand Rule and probably clean up the webbing mess for rapping off of Seminar Wall with some chains or links or something. Anyone else know any bolts that need help? There are some obscurities (Ballet Ugly, some other weird stuff) that could use bolts but I doubt I'll ever go back and they get zilch for traffic, heh. There are also climbs with one good and one bad bolt (Marshmallow Tower, Blackfinger) but I think they're ok as is. |
|
|
|
|
roughster
Mar 13, 2004, 5:27 AM
Post #13 of 24
(9455 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Apr 3, 2002
Posts: 4003
|
In reply to: This is no longer an issue. -pulled and patched this bolt. -patched the two old holes on Alcoa. Lame that someone would chop these bolts but never pull the sleeves or patch them, now the sleeves were fixed and a pain to fold down in to make room to patch. -replaced the 1/4" bolt on Airstream with a new 3/8". Didn't seem mandatory to have a second bolt. -replaced one of the bolts on Right Long's Crack with a new 3/8" as well. The old bolts looked kinda ok but somewhat rusty and had a rusty homemade hanger. After pulling the old bolt and looking at it I'd guess it was probably ok for a few more years but didn't hurt to replace it with a known good anchor. At some point soon I'll replace the bolts on Right Hand Rule and probably clean up the webbing mess for rapping off of Seminar Wall with some chains or links or something. Anyone else know any bolts that need help? There are some obscurities (Ballet Ugly, some other weird stuff) that could use bolts but I doubt I'll ever go back and they get zilch for traffic, heh. There are also climbs with one good and one bad bolt (Marshmallow Tower, Blackfinger) but I think they're ok as is.
Sounds like you did a the right thing. Good job on the other anchor replacements as well!
|
|
|
|
|
bvb
Mar 13, 2004, 6:18 AM
Post #14 of 24
(9455 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Mar 3, 2003
Posts: 954
|
35 years -- 35 fucking years -- of bouldering on jaws and baby robbins, and some dimwit with a bosch pulls a dipshit stunt like this. godammit, when will it end?
good job, josh. next time i'm in town -- or when you finally get yer butt out to flag -- i'm buyin'.
any idea who did it? thay need a "talking to".
|
|
|
|
|
pbjosh
Mar 15, 2004, 12:48 AM
Post #15 of 24
(9455 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Mar 22, 2002
Posts: 1518
|
In reply to: 35 years -- 35 f---ing years -- of bouldering on jaws and baby robbins, and some dimwit with a bosch pulls a s--- stunt like this. godammit, when will it end? good job, josh. next time i'm in town -- or when you finally get yer butt out to flag -- i'm buyin'. any idea who did it? thay need a "talking to".
No one's said boo that I've heard of.
|
|
|
|
|
a.a.
Deleted
Mar 15, 2004, 1:36 AM
Post #16 of 24
(9455 views)
Shortcut
Registered:
Posts:
|
Glad to hear that got taken care of. It really sounds like whoever placed that bolt was pretty clueless.
Off topic, but the mention of marshmellow tower reminded me, the block at the crux of one of the sides is loose. When approaching the tower from below it would be the left side. I was climbing it a couple months ago and as I jammed the crux move it felt like the block was sliding and then when I grabbed the horn on top, it shifted about 3 inches, scared the crap out of me.
I tried to pull it out on rappel and had it rocking quite a bit but then it somehow locked itself in there and stopped moving. So, it could be in there super solid or it might be waiting to fly out on the next person who climbs it. I thought I should pass it along. It's not super high up but it could potentially be a ground fall.
Aaron
|
|
|
|
|
pbjosh
Mar 15, 2004, 1:44 AM
Post #17 of 24
(9455 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Mar 22, 2002
Posts: 1518
|
In reply to: Off topic, but the mention of marshmellow tower reminded me, the block at the crux of one of the sides is loose. When approaching the tower from below it would be the left side. I was climbing it a couple months ago and as I jammed the crux move it felt like the block was sliding and then when I grabbed the horn on top, it shifted about 3 inches, scared the crap out of me. I tried to pull it out on rappel and had it rocking quite a bit but then it somehow locked itself in there and stopped moving. So, it could be in there super solid or it might be waiting to fly out on the next person who climbs it. I thought I should pass it along. It's not super high up but it could potentially be a ground fall. Aaron
Interesting that it's loose suddenly, It has always moved slightly and tipped out if you yard on the jug at the tip of it but been ok to climb on. Hope you didn't try too hard to force it!
|
|
|
|
|
dmr
Mar 15, 2004, 3:56 AM
Post #18 of 24
(9455 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Oct 14, 2003
Posts: 54
|
I was out there this morning. Josh, good job patching the hole. I had to look really closely to find it. After the rock dust goes away, people will never know it was there.
I agree with you on the bolt was probably protecting the mantle problem. It wasn't even close to anything else, not really that close to the mantle either. Thanks again Josh for your hard work.
Derek
|
|
|
|
|
a.a.
Deleted
Mar 15, 2004, 8:18 PM
Post #19 of 24
(9455 views)
Shortcut
Registered:
Posts:
|
Interesting that it's loose suddenly, It has always moved slightly and tipped out if you yard on the jug at the tip of it but been ok to climb on. Hope you didn't try too hard to force it!
Not too hard, just pulled on it with my hands. It was rockeing a lot but, like I said, seems to have settled itself. I've been up the climb before and had no problems, so it it kinda suprised me.
|
|
|
|
|
pbjosh
Mar 16, 2004, 1:40 AM
Post #20 of 24
(9455 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Mar 22, 2002
Posts: 1518
|
In reply to: Not too hard, just pulled on it with my hands. It was rockeing a lot but, like I said, seems to have settled itself. I've been up the climb before and had no problems, so it it kinda suprised me.
Is it in the same place, leaving the same jamming and protection opportunities as before, or did you notice if it was now a different climb?
Considering that when leading the piece of gear that keeps you off the deck is the (very solid) small cam in the base of the crack, and the crux is pulled with a finger lock in this block, it'd be a whole different route if the block is in a different place!
josh
|
|
|
|
|
illusiondweller
Nov 25, 2009, 5:14 AM
Post #21 of 24
(6377 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Apr 22, 2005
Posts: 124
|
IMHO, there are a lot of "convenience bolts" up on Woodson now. It was standard to rely on your anchor building skills to TR problems b.i.t.d. I, myself, find it convenient to use these anchors today but could speculate fairly accurately the repercussions if I started removing some of these anchors. One of the very first classic boulders you encounter on Woodson, the I Hear My Train A Comin' boulder sports two double bolt anchors, one is next to a crack where an anchor is easily created and the second accepts a sling half hitched around a tree branch directly above the route (Razors Edge). The list is too long to pursue and I'm spoiled with them now. I feel the lead bolts that Troy and Marty placed on The Uncertainty Principle needed to stay. What do you think on all this?
|
|
|
|
|
RADtrad4ME
Apr 10, 2010, 6:11 PM
Post #22 of 24
(6037 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Apr 27, 2008
Posts: 11
|
i haven't been to woodson for ten years. But I'm going tomorrow,taking a crew there for first time since. i will make sure to explain the ethics of this place to the neebies. i respect climbers, routes, n projects. wont be getting any new bolts from our crew.
thanks for your improvements n ethics
|
|
|
|
|
onrockandice
Apr 10, 2010, 7:27 PM
Post #23 of 24
(6001 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Nov 16, 2009
Posts: 355
|
PBJosh, I wish to hell there was some way to credit you for going above and beyond. That was really stout of you.
Nice work and your humility is just a bit odd for rc.com. So I highly applaud you.
Great job through and through. If we ever meet the original bolter I say we give him a thong webbing harness and anchor him permanently off the ground about 12" off the ground that is. Stripped to skin during mosquito season.
|
|
|
|
|
Kevthecoffeeguy
Apr 11, 2010, 5:23 AM
Post #24 of 24
(5932 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Jan 14, 2010
Posts: 149
|
PRACTICE ! BOLT!!? thats the other thing the foundation on your house is for...
|
|
|
|
|
|
