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Anyone climb Tatoosh lately?


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i dont. i cleaned that pile. there werent even gear placements there when i began. the bolt is there to keep the climber from decking if he/she falls going for the top. the highest gear placement was gardened out of compacted sand/rock/dirt. the right side of the placement is hollow. did you tap it with a hammer to investigate? i placed the bolt because i was very familiar with the placements, how they came about, and the rock surrounding them. i talked about it with a lot of folks i climb with (almost all of climb well above that level). its not an unfounded placement. you can opt to not clip it.

its a great pitch. so far everyone ive talked to who i see climbing say the same thing.

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Chris/ BackcountryDog:

 

Thanks for cleaning it up! Also cool of you to post on this spray-infested den of craziness. I had tons of fun on the newly cleaned route. It's longer than it looks (I think you need a 70m to TR it).

 

For what it's worth from one random climber, I thought the bolt was perfectly fine. There is a spot below it where you can get in a good .5 camalot/red alien for your first piece, by reaching around the fin from the left. Kinda a blind placement, but it's good. Above that, it seems totally appropriate for a bolt to be in place. I remember it as a flaring corner with no crack in it, and groundfall potential mantling onto the first big ledge if there were no bolt there.

 

Flashclimber... if you want to talk about bolted cracks @ Index, check out Angorra Grotto, not Tatoosh.

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Backcountrydog, I guess my post came across as I personally have a problem with the bolt, which I don't. It seemed warranted and well located. I was just answering the "what's the problem" question everyone was asking or at least what I think the OP is getting at.

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I've climbed it twice post clean, pre bolt. Its a great route and I'm glad somebody had the vision to see its potential.

 

My partner led the bottom laying back the flake after placing the red alien, this seemed pretty spicy. I led it as a flare (staying behind the flake) and was able to place the red alien and another (green or blue) higher up.

 

The rock didn't seem great for either placement and will probably get worse as dirt washes down there. I can't argue with a bolt there, particularly if the placements are as hollow as backcountrydog says.

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When I said I had recently climbed the first pitch of Tatoosh, I meant the first pitch of Free At Last. I thought they were one and the same.

 

I don't remember a bolt, so I'm guessing I didn't do the pitch in question.

 

I don't have any photos that I think would be helpful in this discussion, but THIS might help.

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Just wanted to see how people feel about the bolt. I climbed the route for the first time 2 days after Chris placed the bolt. I chose not to use the bolt, instead using a C3, and a large nut. Both bomber placements. As with a lot of routes with a bolt next to a gear placement, you can either choose to clip it or move past it. I do give props to Chris for cleaning the route. I'm sure he gave a lot of his own time in making the route more accessable to all. Cudos to you. I was more worried about someone chopping it and causing an issue. If people most people spoke out against the bolt, it would be best for the person who placed it, to remove it. That way we could avoid contoversy. IMO sometimes its best to speak about an issue before someone does someting stupid. Have fun climbing the route and bring lots of small pieces and runners!

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Most people who complain about a suspect bolt usually do not climb with a hammer.

The few of us who do have hickory and steel in tow understand the random bolt placement and the bullshit that will eventually come beacuse of it.

They rest of you just see the bolt and make up your own self gratifying backstory.

 

When we clean your routes for you, we use a hammer to really see what lies under the surface.

Sometimes a nice looking crack is total shit, a partner once had gallons of freezing water jet out of a hole he was drilling on lead, the crack you galliantly dance up was cleaned by a guy clawing his way through the shit, his eyes, ears and mouth full of dirt and moss, just so the rest can enjoy it.

 

Try it sometime to fully realize just how rotten, hollow, and generally manky "bomber rock" can be.

People like BCD who clean up existing routes for everyone to enjoy are doing the work most of you would never do.

 

There is no FA glory, no guidebook "fame" for guys like BCD, only the satisfaction of a job well done.

 

I bid you good day.

 

 

 

Edited by lancegranite
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Most people who complain about a suspect bolt usually do not climb with a hammer.

The few of us who do have hickory and steel in tow understand the random bolt placement and the bullshit that will eventually come beacuse of it.

They rest of you just see the bolt and make up your own self gratifying backstory.

 

When we clean your routes for you, we use a hammer to really see what lies under the surface.

Sometimes a nice looking crack is total shit, a partner once had water jet out of a hole he was drilling on lead, the crack you galliantly dance up was cleaned by a guy clawing his way through the shit, his eyes, ears and mouth full of dirt and moss, just so the rest can enjoy it.

 

Try it sometime to fully realize just how rotten, hollow, and generally manky "bomber rock" can be.

People like BCD who clean up existing routes for everyone to enjoy are doing the work most of you would never do.

I have much respect for the former, and very little for the latter.

I bid you good day.

 

 

 

Word - you nailed it. The bolt is warranted and a welcome addition IMHO. Thanks Backcountrydog for the work.

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Backcountrydog, I guess my post came across as I personally have a problem with the bolt, which I don't. It seemed warranted and well located. I was just answering the "what's the problem" question everyone was asking or at least what I think the OP is getting at.

 

Yet another route climbed a brazillion times without a bolt and without an accident.......and now we need a bolt. Of course, one can choose not to clip the damn thing. What a joke. Backcountrydawg, your efforts would be appreciated if you had just cleaned the route instead of substantially changing the nature of the climb. Argus, no need to apologize for protesting yet another attempt to transform the proud tradition of rock climbing into a replication of a top-rope ascent of the REI plastic wall.

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