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boswellr
Feb 9, 2005, 11:08 PM
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Registered: Nov 20, 2003
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This area is also known as "Kernville Rock," and "Kern Slabs." Greg Vernon's, "Needles," guidebook has all of the routes pretty well covered -- if you can get hold of a copy. Most of the routes are fairly low angle, on superb granite, close to 200 feet, and run out. It’s a lot faster to get down with two ropes.
There is a mix of trad and sport but the latter are what me and my cohort call, "Trad Sport," which is to say, set from the ground up, so being on amazing, fine-grained granite with few features, are by necessity run out. To give you an example, the last climb to be set is called, “Dirty Dishes,” 5.7, and thirteen bolts, and is adjacent to two climbs the same length each with four bolts. Very exhilarating.
Most of the old 1/4" bolts have been replaced. Unfortunately, someone, perhaps one of the orgs that conduct classes there, added bolts to at least one of the premier routes. I don't mean to start an argument, but, "Cheonard Special. 5.8*** R/X" was a route to shoot for; you could TR it a hundred times and never slip once, but, ah, to launch off your last piece from the pillar to the last bolt then off the last bolt to the anchors was a milestone in your repertoire. It now has four additional bolts, which makes it a nice, friendly, safe, fun, 5.8 and I use every bolt. But, I miss not having that route in the back of my head.
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msarad
Dec 9, 2005, 1:35 AM
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Registered: Nov 24, 2005
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I told a group of friends slacklining iin Bakersfield on Thanksgiving about the dubious retrobolt of Chouinard Special. We had all climbed it and were in awe of the party who put it up and ran it out. We were equally pissed at the unknown party who ruined it with 4 new bolts
My guess is that one of the outfits that guides out of Kernville took it upon themselves to make it less of a climb worth doing.
The next time you climb it, skip the bolts and take your chances.
We all did when it had the 30 foot runout and a sixty foot fall.
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fixdpin
May 19, 2009, 3:59 PM
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Registered: Jul 18, 2006
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This is the way it is going to be in the future. This is what we worried about when sport climbing evolved from Europe. The old ethic was to use as few bolts as possible and depend on natural pro whenever possible. On face routes this necessitated long runouts. We tried not to use aid such as hooks to drill bolts either, but sometimes we justified the use of hooks too. Most routes put up before 1986/87 were done in the "Trad" style, and even many of the 5.6 and 5.7 routes were too scary for 5.12 sport climbers trained in gyms and used to clipping every 6 to 8 feet. I am sorry to say that pretty much every trad route put up will eventually be retro bolted to suit the comfort level of the whimpiest gym-trained sport climber out there.
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marc801
May 19, 2009, 4:20 PM
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Registered: Aug 1, 2005
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fixdpin wrote: The old ethic was to use as few bolts as possible and depend on natural pro whenever possible. On face routes this necessitated long runouts. We tried not to use aid such as hooks to drill bolts either, but sometimes we justified the use of hooks too. Most routes put up before 1986/87 were done in the "Trad" style, and even many of the 5.6 and 5.7 routes were too scary for 5.12 sport climbers trained in gyms and used to clipping every 6 to 8 feet.
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