Stick clips

[111]

Whats everyone think?

 

[montypiton]

stick clip is a form of top-rope, and, as such, is as acceptable as top-roping. this option didn't seem to be available as a voting position...

[rocky_joe]

I will always stick clip the first bolt on BBQ the Pope, but otherwise nope. Even then I'm not gonna waste 35-40 bucks buying one.

[kevbone]

Even then I'm not gonna waste 35-40 bucks buying one.

 

I put one together at home dept for under $20.

[Peter_Puget]

Once I mentioned to RumR that I’d used a stick clip on the first bolt of the Blade at Smith. He told me that he just went for it…for years I felt like a pussy but now after hearing his daily countdown I feel good about myself!

[letsroll]

There has been a couple of times I wish I had it, sack up. If you use one I can make fun of you. In the end I will still respect you in the morning.

 

FYI I don't climb .12's

Edited January 30, 2009 by letsroll

[eldiente]

I've wanted one every so often, and I have to admit I've used make-shift clip sticks from branches for a few routes (Vomit Launch comes to mind) Overall I'd say no, it just isn't a fun way to climb. Feels whacky.

 

Also, if the landing is decent (ie not huge boulders) it is kinda fun to treat the opening moves like a bouldering problem. I'd prefer to drag a crash pad with me rather than a clip stick. Plus, if I'm really having problems making the moves to the first bolt, the route is probably not going to happen no matter what sort of tricks I use.

[dirtysloper]

eldiente, i think i used the same stik on vomit launch 5 yrs ago...

[Ishmael]

I will always stick clip the first bolt on BBQ the Pope.

 

Agreed.

[Cobra_Commander]

You're going to fall down a pit of doom if you fall of v-launch or mcnuggets at smith, clip away. I couldn't imagine wandering out on the blade off that rock w/o a clip in, nor could I imagine the pain endured by the belayer if you fell.

[G-spotter]

The first bolt on Sunblessed is deliberately placed much too high to stick clip.

[ivan]

if you're sport climbing you're gay anyway, so why NOT buy the knee-pads (and the ass-less chaps)?

[eric8]

I will always stick clip the first bolt on BBQ the Pope, but otherwise nope. Even then I'm not gonna waste 35-40 bucks buying one.

 

blue tcu in the undercling before the first bolt no stick clip required.

 

stick clipping vomit launch seems unnecissary if your climbing the grade... the da kline corner seems like it would require one though not that i have been on that route.

[Kimmo]

some routes are purposefully set up with first bolt stick clips, so it's not really a question of cajones, just common sense.

 

sport routes aren't generally head-points or somesuch, although there's nothing stopping one from making them such.

[ivan]

head-points?

[hemp22]

turtle-head-points....kind of like going for the brown-point and falling off in the middle of the crux...

 

back on topic - i rarely use one, and never felt the need for one on some of the routes listed above...but i don't climb hard enough to ever get on one of those routes where the first bolt is placed with the intention that it's always stick clipped...

[eldiente]

Ibolt no stick clip required.

 

stick clipping vomit launch seems unnecissary if your climbing the grade... the da kline corner seems like it would require one though not that i have been on that route.

 

Yeah I use to go up Vomit Launch with no stick-clip. Then all of the sudden that starting foothold started feeling really slick the last few times up it, so I wussed and grabbed the dead tree stick clip up there and used it. The fall is very short but onto some nasty rocks and a long roll down the hill.

[kevbone]

Try climbing "the crumbling" at the zone without stick clipping the first bolt......if you mess it up you will break your back.

[111]

...if you mess it up you will break your back.

Just land on your belayer. Thats what I did a while ago and it worked fine! (except the broken foot...)

[marc_leclerc]

There are a couple routes where you jump from one boulder to the other with a big ass pit of death between them. Then stick clipping is acceptable. But in most cases it is pretty pansy.

[Drederek]

The first bolt on Sunblessed is deliberately placed much too high to stick clip.

what, 25-30 feet or so? Glad it was my partners lead, it took us a while to find and we werent going to walk away. I always feel like I am cheating when I stick clip but I'll do it if conditions warrant.

[matt_warfield]

Vomit Launch has serious potential for danger at the start. A 50 foot fall from high up is nothing like grounding onto a bad landing.

[el jefe]

There are a couple routes where you jump from one boulder to the other with a big ass pit of death between them. Then stick clipping is acceptable. But in most cases it is pretty pansy.

 

there's the voice of youth and inexperience passing judgment on the world. in 1990 i broke my ankle quite badly and spent the next 14 weeks on crutches, nonweightbearing. my orthopedist told me to expect to end up having the joint fused but i was very, very lucky and had a good recovery with full range of motion in the joint, etc. my view is that everyone decides for himself or herself what risk is acceptable or not and it certainly isn't my place to pass judgment on what another person is willing to risk.

[Kimmo]

 

there's the voice of youth and inexperience passing judgment on the world. in 1990 i broke my ankle quite badly and spent the next 14 weeks on crutches, nonweightbearing. my orthopedist told me to expect to end up having the joint fused but i was very, very lucky and had a good recovery with full range of motion in the joint, etc. my view is that everyone decides for himself or herself what risk is acceptable or not and it certainly isn't my place to pass judgment on what another person is willing to risk.

 

yeah it seems a bit silly to make any sport into macho gamesmanship. the youth often seem more susceptible to this, still needing to prove their worth through whatever activities they engage in (been there done that, and gotta say i enjoy myself soooo much more having passed that phase).

 

having said that, competition is still way fun, as long as it stays lighthearted and non-judgmental for me, as is going for it in face of risk, ie soloing and such.