Jason Kruk's account of fair means ascent and removing bolts

[squamish climber]

Check out Jason Kruk's great account of his and Hayden Kennedy's fair means ascent of the Compressor route in Alpinist. Kruk also gives a strong rebuttal to those who are criticizing their decision to chop most of the bolt ladder Cesare Maestri put up in 1970.

There is lots to ponder over what Kruk wrote. This paragraph grabbed my attention in light of the firestorm they are now facing.

There has been a lot of talk over the years about chopping the Compressor bolts. Undoubtably, it is a lot easier to talk about it than to actually do it and deal with the consequences. After a lengthy introspection on the summit, we knew the act needed to be initiated by one party, without consensus. The tribes will always remain too polarized to reach a common ground.

Seems to me like Kruk and Kennedy exhibit a lot courage to do what others only talked about and chop the bolts. Some people say the decision showed a lack of maturity, but to me it's the exact opposite. It takes someone who really knows themselves to do something they know is right but unpopular.

[NateDoggOG]

I'm no alpine climber and therefore don't really have much of a say, but reading that article, as well as reading a bit further into the history of Maestri and the Compressor route, makes it sound like they had fair enough reason to chop.
It seems that some of the other established alpinists are behind Kruk and Kennedy on their decision as well, and the main group condemning them for their actions are those who would not be able to summit without the bolts.
On that note, apparently when he bolted the 'route', he didn't continue up the snow mushroom at the peak and claimed it wasn't a part of the mountain..... So if someone had been to follow the bolt ladder up expecting to summit that way, they still would have required the necessary skill to climb to the top, in which case they might as well climbed it properly in the first place.
Sounds like the bolt ladder was a huge excuse for a copout to me.

Or maybe I'm waaaaay off base here.....

[staven]

Do 8a free climbers have more rights to chop than bolt ladder aiders? I still think it's bullsh*t.

[psi4ce]

Great article about it, here. Explains everything, but judges nothing.

http://ngadventure.typepad.com/blog/201 ... olted.html