For several years, I was pretty focused on new route development in the Roaring Fork Valley. There were three cliffs in particular that we had a vision for, knowing that when they were complete they’d offer fun, unique climbing that was much closer to town than anything currently established. There were only a couple of us toiling away at adding routes, and it was a lot of hard work. Finally, in about 2007, the crags were developed enough that whether you were in the mood for granite, sandstone or something else, you’d have about 50 pitches to choose from at each spot.
Since then, my focus has moved more to actual climbing, and less developing, though I’ve authored a few random routes here and there at the Gash, East Elk and Independence Pass. There are entire CRAGS waiting to be established within an hour of town, and several motivated locals are still working away at making these a reality. In fact, I just received an email from a friend, raving about this beautiful new wall with potential for two dozen routes from 5.10 to 5.12 on beautifully featured stone, at 9000 feet. Sounds perfect, I replied, let me know when the trail is in and you have some ropes hanging that I can jug. Because, as nice as it sounds, the truth is that route development is crap-ton of work. My friend Tristan has a great post about that very thing today that I think sums it up nicely:
I bolted a new route today, and it got me thinking how stupid putting up new routes is. It’s stupid because of all the work that goes into it. Now, I know that there are still plenty of yet-to-be-climbed splitter cracks out there that require no cleaning or anything, but let me tell you what I went through today for a 50-foot tall, six- bolts-long limestone sport route:
And like he says, that’s just for one, six bolt route. Longer and/or steeper routes take even more effort, and the chossier the rock, the longer you’ll be there as well. And it’s not like you can do this stuff on a rest day, because it’s brutally hard work. And while it makes you strong in a hard to kill, alpine climbing sense, it does very little for your climbing technique and finger strength. And so for the last couple of years, while I still really enjoy the creative process of new routing, it’s been nice to go out and just enjoy the cliffs we worked so hard to establish.
So for now, I’m content to add a route here and there, and mostly just enjoy climbing for climbing’s sake. But I’m always drawn to undone lines, and maybe I’m just recharging my batteries for another surge of route development, once the memories of how hard it is truly fades.
Hayden Carpenter and Tom Bohanon recently repeated an obscure ice climb on the south side of Mt Sopris. Given a brief mention in Jack Robert’s ice guide, Bulldog Creek Walk is described as being 100 meters of WI 4. What they found was seven pitches of ice in a remote setting that makes for one […]
“And while it makes you strong in a hard to kill, alpine climbing sense…”
Hahaha. That’s one of the best lines I’ve read in a long time! It’s true though. I dominate my buddies on trails and in the mountains, but I kind of suck at climbing now 🙂
‘Easier’ to set up new routes when you aren’t using bolts.
For sure, and it’d be a lot cheaper too! But depending where you live, that might not be an option. Here in Western Colorado we have lots of limestone and other rock types that don’t lend themselves to trad climbing, so bolt we must.
Where do you buy your bolts? Do you use Powers (Rawl) or Fixe bolts?
I was planning on getting some SS Powers bolts and didn’t know the best place to buy them. A recommendation for an online retailer would be great!
Hey Luke,
For the bolt type, it depends what kind of rock you are drilling into. The Powers are good for any and everything, though in really hard rock they can bind up in the hole if you don’t drill it right. Still, they are used most widely, and are relatively easy to replace. Unfortunately the SS versions are super duper expensive.
The Fixe wedge bolts are stainless, and are great for hard rock, and they are about half the price of the Powers stainless. They are also simple and easy to place. Unfortunately, wedge bolts are next to impossible to get out, so you have to add a new hole when replacing them. To compensate for this, I usually drill the hole for wedge bolts deep enough that when the time comes, you can take off the hanger and pound the wedge into the hole, and cover with a patch.
As for online retailers, I’ve heard good things about these guys: http://www.fastenmscstore.com/pobypo.html
Where is that bolting pic from? just curious
I’ve promised not to say anything for now, hopefully we’ll have some beta up in a month or so. Sorry to be like that, but it was the only bolting pic I had!