torching the granite dry?
torching the granite dry?
just watched the vid 'first ascent': in it didier is blow-torching cobra crack to dry it. doesn't torching round or polish granite crystals (think gibbs cave)? if it does damage the rock, climbers should know this, and know that being caught with a torch in your hand is not a good thing. it's a bad call, right?
can't we just wait for the rock to dry?
can't we just wait for the rock to dry?
Re: torching the granite dry?
i personally haven't heard about this issue, and i know a lot of boulderers do it...rich k wrote:can't we just wait for the rock to dry?
as for didier, what would you do if you were from switzerland w/ limited time?
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i realize that, i'm only stating the fact that you too would probably do it if your time overseas was cut short!
besides, i doubt cobra crack suffers from excessive climbing anyways.
i am also curious about the polishing situation? i noticed quite a few boulder problems at the base getting quite polished quite quickly?? or maybe they're just getting attempted by a lot of people
besides, i doubt cobra crack suffers from excessive climbing anyways.
i am also curious about the polishing situation? i noticed quite a few boulder problems at the base getting quite polished quite quickly?? or maybe they're just getting attempted by a lot of people
The issue can be expanded to brushing. Doesn't that eventually smoothen the rock. It is espacially so on rock that isn't as hard as granite.
Then there is the use of chalk, eventually the rock is going to get sooo caked up with the stuff, it'll be like climbing on marble (or those damn so-ill bulb holds).
Everything we use to climb, and everyone (boulders, sport, trad, and aid climbers) is guilty, destroyes the rock somehow or eventually (or at least takes away from its original state).
The only thing we have going is that there is some, however little that is, to try to minimize our impact.
Then there is the use of chalk, eventually the rock is going to get sooo caked up with the stuff, it'll be like climbing on marble (or those damn so-ill bulb holds).
Everything we use to climb, and everyone (boulders, sport, trad, and aid climbers) is guilty, destroyes the rock somehow or eventually (or at least takes away from its original state).
The only thing we have going is that there is some, however little that is, to try to minimize our impact.
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not to change the topic, but how much harder can we really climb? not to be pessimistic but look at some of the slopers people hang onto now. i can see the future going to big wall free climbing (look how far tommy brought it), or dws. take sharma's ascent in mallorca for example...
i don't know, as long as i can climb at least as hard as my previous season, i'm happy
i don't know, as long as i can climb at least as hard as my previous season, i'm happy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propane_torch
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quartz
so are the crystals in squamish granite made of quartz???
if so, the melting point of quartz is about 1650C, according to my research, and propane torches can reach temperatures well above that.
is this correct, anyone?
if so, leave your torches at home!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quartz
so are the crystals in squamish granite made of quartz???
if so, the melting point of quartz is about 1650C, according to my research, and propane torches can reach temperatures well above that.
is this correct, anyone?
if so, leave your torches at home!
Rich you are pretty close. The thing to keep in mind if using a torch is not to keep directly applying flame to an area. You have to keep the movement in a sweeping motion so that you dont create a hot spot. I have torched many a problem and I can touch the hold immediately after applying heat. So that alone says that the rock is not getting much hotter then boiling point, and I dont even think it is getting near that. I have come to learn, that if you apply heat and the hold dries then climb on. If water keeps seeping out of the rock then it is just as well to call it quits and move on!
This is all from my experience of living on the east coast where it is winter for 6 months of the year!
This is all from my experience of living on the east coast where it is winter for 6 months of the year!
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Glenn Woodsworth once told me that the Chief and surrounding cliffs are gradodiorite. Later the story changed, and apparently we're now just supposed to call it granite. Some sort of theological dispute amongst geologists, apparently.
Granite seems divisible into a variety of sub-species. Which one is mostly determined by the proportion of feldspar, quartz, biotite and other minerals. (It may also have to do with crystal size.)
There are also intrusions (dykes) and xenoliths. The dark-coloured ones are usually basalt, the light-coloured ones are aplite. "Xenolith" meaning foreign rock, what we call chicken heads.
"True" granite often has a pinkish tinge, a la Chamonix Aigulles. The rock at Lighthouse Park may be the closest we have to this, although it may have been discoloured by weathering.
There are undoubtedly posters (Drew?) who know more about this, who can perhaps elucidate. Glenn doesn't frequent forums, but I'll mention this one to him.
Isn't natural history fascinating?
Anders
Granite seems divisible into a variety of sub-species. Which one is mostly determined by the proportion of feldspar, quartz, biotite and other minerals. (It may also have to do with crystal size.)
There are also intrusions (dykes) and xenoliths. The dark-coloured ones are usually basalt, the light-coloured ones are aplite. "Xenolith" meaning foreign rock, what we call chicken heads.
"True" granite often has a pinkish tinge, a la Chamonix Aigulles. The rock at Lighthouse Park may be the closest we have to this, although it may have been discoloured by weathering.
There are undoubtedly posters (Drew?) who know more about this, who can perhaps elucidate. Glenn doesn't frequent forums, but I'll mention this one to him.
Isn't natural history fascinating?
Anders
Granodiorite:
"Granodiorite is an intermediate coloured, medium to coarse-grained intrusive rock. It falls between granite and quartz diorite, containing more dark minerals than granite but less than quartz diorite. The light coloured minerals are quartz and feldspar; the feldspar is a mixture of orthoclase and plagioclase. The dark coloured crystals are hornblende and/or biotite. Granodiorite is a very common intrusive rock in British Columbia."
"Granodiorite is an intermediate coloured, medium to coarse-grained intrusive rock. It falls between granite and quartz diorite, containing more dark minerals than granite but less than quartz diorite. The light coloured minerals are quartz and feldspar; the feldspar is a mixture of orthoclase and plagioclase. The dark coloured crystals are hornblende and/or biotite. Granodiorite is a very common intrusive rock in British Columbia."
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