Chopped bolt on Sunblessed

[Cloudraker]

Anyone know why the first bolt has been removed from the first pitch of Sunblessed?

[Cloudraker]

The reason I posted this is because the first bolt is about 30' off the deck and a lower bolt had been removed leaving a blownout scar. I figured it had been vandalized. I hadn't done this route in the past but I was up there on Sunday and was planning to get on it. 30 feet of face climbing with no pro wasn't too appetizing so we didn't go for it. Apparently that bolt is supposed to be the first on the pitch and the lower bolt has been added and removed numerous times.



I think the first bolt is now about 6 feet above this guy....hard to tell from this photo but when I looked up there it was a free solo with numb fingers.....so ya, we pussied out.

Does anyone have any comments on this? Seems like a fairly bold lead for a moderate pitch.

[Aaron]

Many moons ago some fool went and placed a bolt to avoid that run out to the first bolt. That bolt go the chop. Then it was bolted again and got the chop again. So now you've got two bolt scars on one of the most classic routes in all of Squamish. Too bad, so sad.

Yes, it's a little run out. So what... the climbing aint' that bad and goes at 5.7 to the first bolt.

The bolt job is the way Robin Barly put it up and there is no reason why it should have been changed. Proof of this is fact that thousands of climbers have done the route as is. So if it's good enough for the thousands who have come before you, it should be good enough for you now.

[thebigchin]

Its classic Barley. No one will argue that it isn't a brutal bolting job, but it IS the way it was put up so until Barley, himself, comes to add a bolt, then that's the way it should stay.

If you wanted to hang out and mess around, there IS a sketchy, small nut placement somewhere up that dyke. Its 5.7 or less to get to the bolt, but it definately gets my attention every time I climb it.

Like the gear belay on the 1st pitch of St Vitus, its just one of those Squampton features.

[Peter]

It's Barley that chops the bolt being that it always gets placed without his permission. He has written in the new route book at MEC something to the effect of "if you can't solo 5.7 on a 10b climb then you shouldn't be there". You decide if you like that logic or not.

[harihari]

Barley told me he put it there because he was doing it on lead, and it was the first spot he could get a stance to drill. To me, his comments make sense-- if you can't climb a moderately runout 5.7 which has no tricky moves, you shouldn't be on a 10b route. There are lots of heavily bolted routes in places liek CHek to practice on if runouts aren't your thing, or you can't yet climb at the 10b level.

Besides, the experience-- entirely doable-- is much more satisfying the way it is. Imagine what other classics, like Double Cross, or Figures on a Landscape, or Solid Gold in Josh, or most routes in the Valley, would be like if sport climber ethics had put them up-- BORING! But you'll only know the rewards of risk after you TAKE that risk...

[Cloudraker]

Barley told me he put it there because he was doing it on lead, and it was the first spot he could get a stance to drill. To me, his comments make sense-- if you can't climb a moderately runout 5.7 which has no tricky moves, you shouldn't be on a 10b route. There are lots of heavily bolted routes in places liek CHek to practice on if runouts aren't your thing, or you can't yet climb at the 10b level.

Besides, the experience-- entirely doable-- is much more satisfying the way it is. Imagine what other classics, like Double Cross, or Figures on a Landscape, or Solid Gold in Josh, or most routes in the Valley, would be like if sport climber ethics had put them up-- BORING! But you'll only know the rewards of risk after you TAKE that risk...

Thanks for the pep talk . I don't have a problem climbing a runout pitch. The intent of this thread was simply to inquire why a bolt had been removed. When I was looking up at that first pitch it was close to freezing and my partner and i were not into climbing a runout pitch with numb fingers which appeared to be vandalized. We had initially gotten on the 11a seam to the left thinking it was the start to the route.

With regards to comparing Squamish bolting to Joshua Tree bolting, there is NO comparison. J-tree bolted routes are consistently runout while those in Squamish are usually not nearly as bold. If I was in Josh looking up at the first pitch of a route like Sunblessed I wouldn't be surprised to see the first bolt 30 - 40' off the deck, but in Squamish this is unusual.