SEWS: Is this bolt new?

[skykilo]

On the South Arete yesterday, all the old tat was gone and there was one brand new sling on select trees all along the route. Bravo.

 

Additionally, there was a bolt to protect the hand traverse that I hadn't noticed the two times I've been there before. Was the bolt there previously? It looked shiny new. It seems a bit silly to put a bolt there to me, but what do I know? Just to refresh people's memories, pictures of the hand traverse and the bolt follow...

 

[skykilo]

Bolt:

 

[DPS]

I recall seeing that bolt back in 1997. I thought it an odd place for a bolt.

[archenemy]

I think I remember that bolt when I was there two months ago.

[Alpinfox]

Not sure when the bolt was placed, but it's been there for at least 4 years. I believe it's been hammered flat at least once.

 

Cool factoid: I once watched a mountain goat send that "hand traverse" in high style.

 

 

[mattp]

I think it has been there for more like ten years, maybe even longer.

[layton]

dumb place for a bolt, but might as well leave it

[skykilo]

I was just curious if it's been there and I didn't notice it. I'd rather go climbing or skiing any day than pulling, placing, or doing run-out slab climbs clipping, BOLTS.

[catbirdseat]

The bolt was always there. You just never noticed it. It does seem like a strange place. Maybe whoever placed it wanted it that way.

[Crackbolter]

There you go gettin more booty again. New slings a plenty here mmmm?

[archenemy]

Not sure when the bolt was placed, but it's been there for at least 4 years. I believe it's been hammered flat at least once.

 

Cool factoid: I once watched a mountain goat send that "hand traverse" in high style.

 

Good times. I watched a goat eat the gravel I pissed on. It took everything I had not to yell, "You want fries with that?" to it. A rare instance of self-control.

[skykilo]

Tat, tat, tat... no, I left the single strands of brand-new webbing since that seemed like a tastefully-performed community service (for the hordes of people who need to rap the whole way down the South Arete ). But nevertheless the temptation was there, my man. That was a lot of pretty, shiny tat. I was fondling the tat, fresh nylon so smooth it made my synapses surge but NO! I resisted the devil's directive.

 

I could hear a voice in my head, 'Sky, come to the dark side of the booty!'

[skykilo]

Better yet, how 'bout a little P-Funk:

 

Do fries go with that shake?

 

With this booty talk, I'm gonna jam some George Clinton cuts and shake it.

[Off_White]

I never knew that was a hand traverse! (or noticed the bolt for that matter)

 

[Alpinfox]

 

 

 

Cool to compare lichen/plant growth between the two pics; not to mention digital image quality.

 

When was your picture taken OW?

[larrythellama]

rumor has it, that the bolt was placed to make guiding the route easier.

 

cbs, the bolt has NOT always been there

[Off_White]

When was your picture taken OW?

 

I don't exactly recall, '99 or '00 I think. I suspect part of it is the difference in the lighting, sky's is much more dramatic than that midday sun shot, and his color saturation much more lush than my crappy scan.

[catbirdseat]

I used the term "always" in a relative sense.

 

If the bolt weren't there, guided groups would probably take that much longer to get past that section and everone else would suffer.

[kurthicks]

If the bolt weren't there, guided groups would probably take that much longer

 

or Mounties

[archenemy]

Oh, and did you find a broken #4 when you were there?

[catbirdseat]

If the bolt weren't there, guided groups would probably take that much longer

 

or Mounties

Yes, or Mounties.

[skykilo]

That's part of the reason why I asked...

I took my Dad there for a first 'alpine' climb a few weeks ago and we got to the base of the route just behind a party of, say about 8, Mounties. This lady looks at me and says, "Do you know what you've just done? You're stuck behind THE MOUNTIES!" It was pretty funny; she had a sense of humor about it.

 

So I sat there with my pops and waited for them to get most of the way up the route. It was fun telling him about all these cool niners we could see that just got skied. We simuled most of it, caught them on the summit, then descended before them... no great Mountie inconvenience at all, really.

 

BUT they left a fixed rope across that spot, and I didn't notice it clipped to any bolt. Surely they would have clipped the bolt if it was there? Maybe this bolt has came and went??? Is there a bolt in a superposition of states on SEWS, oscillating between being there and not being there?

[archenemy]

Yes.

[specialed]

Tat, tat, tat... no, I left the single strands of brand-new webbing since that seemed like a tastefully-performed community service (for the hordes of people who need to rap the whole way down the South Arete ). But nevertheless the temptation was there, my man. That was a lot of pretty, shiny tat. I was fondling the tat, fresh nylon so smooth it made my synapses surge but NO! I resisted the devil's directive.

 

I could hear a voice in my head, 'Sky, come to the dark side of the booty!'

 

You should never feel bad about cleaning garbage from the mountains.

 

Plus, the people who rap the S Arete usually carry reams of 1" tubular or cord on their harnesses anyway.

[pms]

Seems like the bolt is in a good place. Out of sight, but still there for the parties who want some pro.