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noface
Mar 5, 2004, 1:21 AM
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Bolt in the World
The climbing trip is to Draper’s Bluff in southern Illinois. The climber is you. The route is rated 5.6 on the Yosemite climbing scale and called “Bloody Nose”. The climb is a very exposed nose of sandstone that ascends to one hundred-twenty feet from the ground. Climbing all day has made you weak as you peer up only ten feet from the top of the cliff. Your arm reaches up for the last handhold on the climb but does not reach. You are going to have jump for hold. This is dangerous since if you miss you will fall until your rope catches 10 feet below at the last piece of protection wedged in the rock You decide to jam a piece of protection to keep your body from smashing on the ground. A thin, natural crack is easily able to fit a number two-sized cam. But you notice someone has drilled a hole in the rock and rammed in a bolt to be used as protection. In your disgust you fall and get caught by your earlier protection pieces. You curse the bolt that shocked your brain. The extremely popular climbing style of sport climbing requires bolts to be placed in a rock wall. This method is unethical in the recreation of climbing. Rock climbing areas or crags all over the world are plagued with an infestation of bolts in the walls. I am an avid lead climber with such accomplishments a 5.11 rated route up Devil’s Tower in Wyoming. I believe, as hopefully all rock climbers will, that the bolting of rock walls and mountains is anti-environmental and unethical in any situation.
Rock of any kind has a place in the world and climber’s hearts. “Respect the rock and it will allow you passage” (Rock n. pg.). Drilling holes into rock is destruction of the natural world. Rock even though not alive and not moving are just as much a part of the environment as a frog. Rock cliffs and mountains interact with ecosystems. More than ninety-five percent of the world’s mass is rock. Without rock there would be no world. Destroying rock with bolts is aiding in the slow degradation of our home earth. All rocks climbers love climbing and should love the rock they use. Does someone abuse something they love? Few people commit abuse because most abuse is illegal. Climbers around the should world cherish climbing and the rock that is there to be climbed. Drilling is abusing the actually thing that gives climbers pleasure.
An avid sport climber may say I only put in a few bolts that can not hurt much. The more people climb the more it adds up. Two million bolts are estimated to be placed in rock as of 2003 (Mike n. pg.). Every bolt took approximately three cubic inches of rock to be removed from the rock walls. Multiply the two figures together and the amount of rock removed is equal to six million square inches of rock. This is an equivalent amount of rock comparable to many popular climbing spots. Unlike a forest, this rock removed can not be replaced. Rock mountains and cliffs take millions of years to be born on the earth’s surface. Weathering and erosion destroy and change the rock over thousands of years. Traditional climbing techniques destroy little if any inch of rock that would have been taken away by erosion. Bolters remove the work of millions of years in seconds to make themselves safe.
A rock is an object of beauty while man made objects have yet been able to surpass nature in this awesome beauty. All human art is a mimic of nature. When rock is covered by man with bolts, the rock is changed and the natural beauty is lost. Bolts pollute the faces of rocks. The visual pollution of bolts can ruin nature experiences for non-climbers. Imagine you are hiking through Yosemite National Park. The huge granite domes stretch vertically in all there splendor. Vertical cracks lye in parallel pockets. Then you see a line of bolts next to a crack and wonder "what the heck are those doing on the rock." You may ask why would someone deface nature in this way. Old bolts have been known to rust and leave large red stains on walls all around the world. This sight is not only ugly but also damaging as it changes the rock’s chemical structure.
Placing bolts is opposite of what the nature of recreational rock and mountain climbing is based on. Traditional climbing consists of placing wedges into rock cracks that can be removed later on. The traditional placements are not always able to stop a body in the event of a fall. Yet this is the nature of climbing. Climbing is dangerous and a climber takes these risks to enjoy the activity. This risk is taken with each climb. The sport climber can not live this risk and thereby purposely drills holes in the rock to place “bomber” (safe) protection on climbs. This act of cowardice and destruction is against the real joy of climbing. The feeling of a life or death situation hanging hundreds of feet off the ground is gone when bolts physically hold you to the rock. Mike Baker of The Never Stop Climbing Team states “if someone can’t do a climb they might feel obligated by their ego to put in bolts to help them up. Well I ask instead of bolts why not get a ladder” (Mike n. pg.). The act of bolting or sport climbing should not be considered un-aided rock climbing. Climbing was never intended for people that are easily scared by compromising situations. These people have only been able to climb since the drilling of “three inch guts in the wall” (bolts) have given that extra safety they need in their lives. Climbing is an act where calculated risk is taken and should not be augmented by destructive safety measures. Sport climbers say that bolts save lives. Climbers can blindly put their lives at risk by using bolts that they have no information about. New climbers gain a false sense of security by walking up to a wall and finding permanent protection for their actions. Climbers may not know who put them up or if they were put in correctly. Climbing is a physical and mental activity taking years of learning and practice to keep a person safe. Death is more unexpected to people that put their lives in bolter's hands and not there own. Ascending mountains and walls with bolts is not rock climbing, it is building a safety ladder to the top.
Many people are with me in saying bolting should be banned. Almost all National Parks have outlawed bolting to protect the rock in its natural state. Other parks have limited bolting to permit holders. This is a good start to ending the scourge of rock climbing and the world. Sport climbers believe that this is ruining their sport. Their sport style of climbing is ruining the rock and the spirit of rock climbing. All rock climbers impact nature slightly. Trails to crags destroy undergrowth. Feet scrape lichens living off the rock. This impact is not permanent and definitely doesn’t destroy anything that took millions of years to create. Any kind of destruction of nature including bolting should be stopped.
I do not wish for this to become a mud slinger war. This is my opinion and am open to constructive critisism only.
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drkodos
Mar 5, 2004, 1:23 AM
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In reply to: This is my opinion and am open to constructive critisism only.
One word:
paragraphs.
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jtme
Mar 5, 2004, 1:30 AM
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..........actually, if you look closely. There are paragraphs. He/She didn't skip a line!!!
-r-
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mlcrisis
Mar 5, 2004, 1:41 AM
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...hmmm guess you shouldn't sling a tree then, either? I would be willing to bet that trees at the top of any route have a shorter life expectancy than those in the valley....
while I generally agree with you, destruction of any form of nature is bad (duh), I wonder which is more precious to the fragile ecosystem...that few grams of rock, or that oxygen producing tree....just a thought.
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roughster
Mar 5, 2004, 1:43 AM
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I think you need to check your math:
3/8" (average bolt) = 0.375 inches Diameter = 0.1875 inch radius
Volume of a cylinder= (3.14)X((radius)^2)Xheight (Height will equal say 3" though that is a high # but whatever)
so 3.14 x (0.1875)^2 x 3 = 0.33 Inches^3
Thats 1/3 cubic inches per bolt, not three.
.33 "^3 x 2,000,0000 = 660,000 Cubic Inches compare this to your 6 million cubic inch figure and you were roughly 11% correct. I don't know about where you went to school, but 11% is not so great of a math score eh? :lol:
Besides, Drapers Bluff is privately owned by Eric Ulner and it literally is HIS rock. He can do with it as he chooses.
You loose more rock in 1 season of natural weathering than all the bolts that will ever be placed throughout time.
Nice try though!
I give you:
Length: A+
Content: C-
Structure: F
Math: F
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rmiller
Mar 5, 2004, 1:43 AM
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Or the destruction caused by trails to the base of climbs. Better stop climbing all together!
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rmiller
Mar 5, 2004, 1:45 AM
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In reply to: ...hmmm guess you shouldn't sling a tree then, either? I would be willing to bet that trees at the top of any route have a shorter life expectancy than those in the valley.... while I generally agree with you, destruction of any form of nature is bad (duh), I wonder which is more precious to the fragile ecosystem...that few grams of rock, or that oxygen producing tree....just a thought.
Or the destruction caused by trails to the base of climbs. Better stop climbing all together!
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nobody
Mar 5, 2004, 1:50 AM
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I thought this argument had died years ago.
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okinawatricam
Mar 5, 2004, 1:57 AM
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It's rare that I meet a 5.11 trad climber from Devil Tower who gets scared on a 5.6 route at Drappers. Of course what do I know?
I wonder; when you summit, or don't summit, on Devils Tower, how do get down?? I’m sure you wouldn't even consider using those bolted rappels.
In reply to: Almost all National Parks have outlawed bolting to protect the rock in its natural state.
In reply to: In reply to: Two million bolts are estimated to be placed in rock as of 2003 In reply to: Seem low to me. How did we get this figure? In reply to: Trails to crags destroy undergrowth. Feet scrape lichens living off the rock. This impact is not permanent and definitely doesn’t destroy anything that took millions of years to create. Any kind of destruction of nature including bolting should be stopped. I agree one hundred percent; let’s get rid of cars, roads, houses, and of course the biggest destroyer of nature-man. In reply to: Imagine you are hiking through Yosemite National Park. The huge granite domes stretch vertically in all there splendor. If you had your way, all we could do is imagine, after all, walking around would only destroy the environment. I wonder, since when did the environment become more important than man’s survival, or my entertainment?
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j_ung
Mar 5, 2004, 3:31 AM
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Hi noface, and welcome to RC.com. Please take note of the Forum Search feature. By looking before posting an unreadable stream of semi-linguistic crap, you can avoid crowding the forums with the 1578th version of this worthless excuse for a troll.
Thank you, and have a long-winded day of sixth-grade-level reading and writing.
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angry
Mar 5, 2004, 3:51 AM
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No-face, we'd get along. I firmly believe that 95% of the bolts in the world should be removed, and permits should be required to place new ones.
I wish you hadn't posted. Something of this length should have been submitted as an article. If you look at my history, you'll see that one of my favorite things to do on this website is slam bolters. I'd like to team up with you, however, I can't excuse the lack of research, boring writing, poor hooks, bad lead ins, soft points, and weak visualization. If you are in 8th grade and submitted this as a writing assignment, great. If you are any older or more educated (me, just shaking my head sadly).... I really wish you hadn't posted. You didn't help.
Still you are one of the good guys, refine your skills and try again.
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okinawatricam
Mar 5, 2004, 4:34 AM
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Removing 95% off the world’s bolts would ruin 90%percent (if not more)of the world’s routes.
Think about places like Verdon Gorge, Kalmuntz (Germany), and the sea cliffs of Spain/Italy not to mention places that can only offer bolt protected climbing. Eliminate those and what do have.
Not to mention routes that have some bolts in Yosemite, Devils Tower, Rocky Mountain NP, Whitesides… the list goes on and on.
1. A few routes getting climb by every climber.
2. Lines on all routes.
3. Miles of vertical rock not climbable.
Bolts are here to stay, get over it. Given the choice, I prefer gear routes too, but I an not willing to give up climbing because the local rock is unprotect able and needs some bolts.
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angry
Mar 5, 2004, 4:51 AM
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See no-face, that's how it's done. One line and someone in Okinawa is wetting himself with frustration. Trying to change my mind with mere words. Someone in Japan will dream of Fshizzle tonight.
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escale
Mar 5, 2004, 5:07 AM
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I don't think bolts should be placed where there are natural methods to protect the climb. I guess where there is some serious run out someone will place a bolt because they couldn't handle it. I don't have a big problem with that.
Do bolts ruin the environment? I would say I suppose they are not normally a part of the wilderness, but consider:
We are dumping tons of excess carbon dioxide into our atmosphere every year with our cars and industrial machines which are not part of the "natrual" environment. Our oceans and the rainforest and other agricultural stands are absorbing most of this. But how much can they handle before they become saturated. Chemicals are affecting our rain that could potentially destroy our living forests, well, those that are not being cleared by burning. We have no real way to safely contain, store, and transport high radioactive materials. Only 3% of water on this planet is fresh unsalted water, 1% is in the Arctic zone and another 1% is in Antarctica. That means we get the last 1% as rain or snowfall.
I don't see a lot of people protesting by the road against cars or at gas stations against people buying gas.
And BTW, I pedal 2K miles a year in nice weather to get to work and back and use my M/cycle on days with hard weather. But I do own a van that I try to car pool when I go climbing. So, I am not perfect, just conscious. So I really shouldn't be standing on a soap box.
So, lets see, we were talking about some stainless steel bolts right. Let me think about that one. Maybe we should go back to those that rust so that they can return naturally to the environment.
---Escale
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davem
Mar 5, 2004, 5:17 AM
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In reply to: Length: A+ Content: C- Structure: F Math: F
Roughster, you're my hero!
So if I sit at home, stare at my wall and remain absolutely motionless for the rest of my life, will I be doing my part to not hurt the environment?
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casco
Mar 5, 2004, 5:34 AM
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i´d say it would be better to outlaw beer, thus it´s the cheapest version of alcohol, normally drank by the less educated (besides the educated ones). Im pretty sure a beer is much more damaging then one bolt, in average, ofcourse, cause one beer is harmless, but statistically, 95% of beer drinkers don´t drink one beer, but at least 3, then, they´re bad. wanna help the world? get rid of beers. wanna help yourself? buy your own rock and ban bolting.
I have never done trad climbing, but have never hated trad climbers, nor boulderers, nor gym rats. I consider myself a REAL climber, one with tolerance. and you should be thinking of the same, I mean, besides your writing and math skills.
btw, if you find my writing poor, I could write it in spanish pretty good, but since statistics say you don´t know spanish, you´ll have to stick to my bad writing (in case it IS bad).
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casco
Mar 5, 2004, 5:40 AM
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In reply to: The sport climber can not live this risk and thereby purposely drills holes in the rock to place “bomber” (safe) protection on climbs. This act of cowardice and destruction is against the real joy of climbing.
I suggest you to drink 30 beers and drive 30 kms home at rush hour, that must be pretty dangerous, could you enjoy that? I´d bet you would think a person doing that is stupid. But hey, you are not a coward, you risk your life every day at the crag, cmmon, for the sake of adrenaline and joy, do it.
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coylec
Mar 5, 2004, 6:08 AM
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In reply to: See no-face, that's how it's done. One line and someone in Okinawa is wetting himself with frustration. Trying to change my mind with mere words. Someone in Japan will dream of Fshizzle tonight.
I am impressed.
WARNING: RANT -- NO USEFUL INFORMATION
Are there bolts that shouldn't be there? yes.
Are there places that should have bolts? yes.
Do I wish there was a better solution? yes.
Is what we have now better than what we had 15 years ago? yes.
I like the environment. I'm going to school in order to help legally represent the environment. I believe that people should minimize their impact on this planet. Bolts are a concern, but there are other concerns, including erosion from overuse/bad trails and trash left by all people.
escale has already said much of what I think ... I clip bolts when they are there, but if I could place gear, it doesn't make sense. there are unprotectable faces that require bolts to climb, but its not every face.
this debate has already happened regarding clean climbing: clean climbing is always the better style. but, there are unfortunate times where other methods must be used and they are used as a last resort. that's how i think about bolts -- there are times and places for them, but they do not belong everywhere.
being at odds is counter-productive to both sides.
coylec
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okinawatricam
Mar 5, 2004, 8:24 AM
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In reply to: Roughster, you're my hero! So if I sit at home, stare at my wall and remain absolutely motionless for the rest of my life, will I be doing my part to not hurt the environment?
That would be a good start, if you live naked in cave and hold your breath so you don't deplete any of the Earth's precious oxygen.
No one in Okinawa upset. I have been climbing long enough to know that this battle was solved long ago. I just come here to read about people who are stuck in the dark ages of climbing rant about bolts being the cause of our problems.
I bolt some routes, I leave other unbolted, depends on where I am and the nature of the local ethics.
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swede
Mar 5, 2004, 11:08 AM
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Noface is of course completely right - but do write veeery long posts. It would have been enough with something short about "I would never abuse my girlfriend. Please explain how some climbers rationalize abusing the rock".
There will always be people who says "I won´t do anything because something is worse". They just try to hide behind an excuse.
Lets vote for a highway to the top of Mt Everest :twisted: !! And a parking place.....
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okinawatricam
Mar 5, 2004, 12:49 PM
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I guess a highway to the top of Everest is the otherside of the no bolt pendulum. Life sure is nice when you have a balanced mixture.
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swede
Mar 5, 2004, 1:11 PM
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Yes, a highway to Mt Everest is on the other side. On the other hand - there sure has been worse things done to the environment.
Personally, I think more of the abuse thing. Every time I think of a bolt I imagine a knife into a non-vital part of my body. On the other hand I am lucky with my local crags having granite close by and can toprope all the limestone.
Just don´t take the easy way and bolt without really thinking of alternatives.
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photon
Mar 5, 2004, 3:03 PM
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think of the carrots man, you just shovel those things
down your throat never once thinking about harvest day
that's the holocaust for them
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j_ung
Mar 5, 2004, 8:17 PM
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In reply to: think of the carrots man, you just shovel those things down your throat never once thinking about harvest day that's the holocaust for them
:lol: :lol: :lol:
Those poor carrots! I never though about them! Thank you, photon, for showing me another perspective. Note to all you sport carrot eaters out there: Shape up or we'll kick your asses! The trad bunnies have spoken! Long live the carrots!
Hey noface, how's it feel to see all the non-English-speaking posters blowing your English away?
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joneiche
Mar 5, 2004, 9:14 PM
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I have but one word for this entire thread......
wow
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