RJRiha

I have absolutely no problem with these new anchors. If there were no anchors on top of Jello Tower, or only ONE set of anchors, then the hordes going up Midway would jam up the other routes, which can currently be climbed and rapped off. Last time I climbed the Fault, I noticed the large collection of tat on the bush (that can be easily seen from the ground) was GONE. I thought someone had done a good deed. What I didn't realize until my partner pointed out, that there was a nice set of bolts near that bush. Also, now with new anchors, a bunch of those nice looking climbs at lower castle are now cleaned up and look like they could provide a nice day of climbing. Before recently, the only clean routes there were Brass Balls, Mr. Clean, and the Fault. Now I can't even name all of the clean routes. I personally like that. Some don't. The crowds aren't going away in Leavenworth any time soon. But the crowds aren't going to Lower Castle....

It felt 5.9 to me. No harder than Ski tracks, The Bone, Deception Crack, etc...Actually, I think it's easier than P1 of Canary or S. Face Jello Tower. The feet are excellent on that pitch. If you thought that was a sandbag, have you been to J-tree or the Gunks?

Has anyone seen this yet? http://county5.blogspot.com/2012/06/liberty-ridge.html

How about the two belay bolts at the top of the first pitch of Outer Space?

Found some Smith sunglasses at the farside. Tell me where you were climbing and describe them and I'll get them back to you.

Here's some happy new year Index stoke....

Ummm....wow!

Sounds like a strange sequence. I do this, but there are other sequences: -Move up current aider as high as possible (using fifi, biner, or draw as necessary to maintain balance) -Place new piece -Clip other daisy/aider to new piece -Bounce test new piece if questionable by stomping on aider, then fully weighting and bouncing up and down (keep other foot in previous aider and hand in grab loop to prevent daisy fall if bounce test fails) -Move onto new aider -Remove other aider/daisy from previous piece -Clip draw/rope to previous piece Repeat until you are bored. If I'm doing really easy aid (City Park), I'll have daisy on the aider biner to avoid cluster, but if I even THINK I'm going to disconnect the daisy, I'll have a separate biner for the daisy to aider connection and aider to piece connection.

I climb with 2 daisies. One for each aider or pair of aiders (if using 2 etriers per piece). No switching daisies. As I said, I would consider unhooking the daisy from aider if I thought my top piece was crap and I risked a daisy fall (but would clip the rope to the lower piece first to eliminate the risk of losing the lower aider/piece).

If you're on the top piece, that means it's either: 1) Bomber, no need to test, 2) Tested, or 3) Downright scary and moving on to it is necessary. If it pulls, yes, you would daisy fall on the lower piece if using two daisy chains. But it's unlikely that a piece would pull between the time you move onto the upper piece, and retrieve the aider from the lower piece (you bounce tested the piece that you're on, right?). I would consider clipping the rope to the lower piece and unhooking the daisy prior to moving onto a piece in option #3, but one daisy is too risky for my personal preference (dropped aider) and it just adds another step to keep clipping and unclipping the daisy. If you think it's a bad technique though, you might want to inform Chris McNamara that he has it wrong in his "How to Big Wall" website and video series.

For basic gear (in addition to the aiders, daisies, and jugs), get a fifi hook (it's cheap). Then for pieces in addition to your free rack: DMM offsets (brass and aluminum) will be used ALL THE TIME, get a cam-hook or two, and some tiny nuts (sometimes you can get a great deal on these from someone who tried and didn't like aid). After you start making some money, start filling in the rack with small and offset cams and ball nuts.

Wishing death upon a fellow climber is seriously wrong.

One major bit of advice: Don't clip the rope above you before you move on to a piece. If it blows (which is what you are protecting against in the first place), you just made your fall longer. Clip your pieces after you move to the next one.

Well, that's one opinion; who's to say that opinion should rule the day versus this one: Since I haven't changed my opinion on what *I* believe adequate bolting is, you can chalk that one up to me being more specific on one post (death or serious bodily harm). Bodily harm is too broad, and I realize that (since it could mean a little road rash, bruises, etc). That's my opinion and I'm doing nothing but voicing it. I'm not against the existence of death routes. Nor am I necessarily against over-bolted comfort routes. What I am against is a mentality that one or the other is correct.

Who decides? You're immediately back to the lowest common denominator problem. Your perception of 'adequate' may not be shared by the next person who still considers your notion inadequate. What about the person who wants a clip every body length? Adequate should be defined as that which will not be expected to result in death or serious bodily harm should a fall occur. Should every climb be bolted like that? No. Variety is good. If you want skull and crossbones routes, well, lucky you (they exist all over the place). If you want moderately bolted routes, climb moderately bolted routes. If you want every body length, go climb Endless Bliss.