Spooked by bolt-protected climbs in J-Tree: is it just me?

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StahlBro

Trad climber

San Diego, CA

Mar 7, 2012 - 11:27am PT

Understanding and accepting the level of risk associate with a lot of ground-up climbing in Josh was pretty much SOP when the older routes were put up. As many have mentioned, most bolts were hand drilled from a stance or sometimes a hook. There really wasn't much of a choice, but I don't remember too many people getting hurt while leading back then (scared sh*tless sometimes, but not seriously injured). Things have definitely changed.

I still think it is a matter of climbing enough on Josh rock to get relatively comfortable and understand what will hold and what won't. Having a good, attentive belayer is a big plus. I have seen a lot of potential trad-gety averted by good belaying.

TGT

Social climber

So Cal

Mar 7, 2012 - 11:42am PT

ground-up climbing in Josh was pretty much SOP

Still is

RtM

climber

DHS

Mar 7, 2012 - 11:53am PT

I haven't been climbing nearly as long as some of the other peeps here, but when I started climbing (late '80s), climbing was supposed to be scary and dangerous - thats what attracted us to the sport to begin with! The mental challenges were every bit as prevalent as the physical challenges.

I'm not the boldest climber around, and these days I enjoy "safe" routes, but I can say that all of the scariest and most dangerous climbs that I have done all turned out to be my proudest moments in the sport.

That said, JT has something for everyone!

Elcapinyoazz

Social climber

Joshua Tree

Mar 7, 2012 - 12:28pm PT

Still is

While that may be true in the broadest sense, what that crew is doing 80% of the time (or more) has little to no resemblence to what "ground up" meant circa 1980s.

Standing in aiders to drill a successive ladder of bolts as soon as the climbing becomes difficult, is not even in the same ballpark as running it to stances or hook placements and the drilling being dictated by where you could actually stop. And we won't even get into how it's drilled.

Personally, it doesn't bother me...their adventure, their choices. But let's not pretend that these routes are going up the way they used to, because they're just not...at least not in that crew.

TGT

Social climber

So Cal

Mar 7, 2012 - 01:19pm PT

True that.

But there's still a difference between that and TR rehearsing to submission and then rap bolting. It seems like there's little of that going on.

Elcapinyoazz

Social climber

Joshua Tree

Mar 7, 2012 - 01:26pm PT

It seems like there's little of that going on

Yep. Which has more to do with the availability of actual "hard" lines than anything else. If there were tons of untouched high quality 5.12-5.14 faces there, you'd probably see more of it...but another chossy 5.10 pile of grain?

TGT

Social climber

So Cal

Mar 7, 2012 - 01:27pm PT

Not sure if it's PROGRESS,

Or

old age.

Peter Astroman

Big Wall climber

Orange County, CA

Mar 7, 2012 - 02:11pm PT

Wow, a lot of posts here! #Todd's first set of comments are hillarious and have earned him a place at the next Climber's Night at the Improv. (It was good to see you and Bob on Saturday, byt the way).

My first two leads (and one was a crack) at Josh were near death experiences. If my son wanted to learn to climb there I would want him to have a mentor, hire a guide, or practice a lot on TR first!

Having said that, there is something beautiful about conquering something you could have died on. To me, that is not only what climbing is about, but what life is about! Climb on, James Warner

steelmnkey

climber

Vision man...ya gotta have vision...

Mar 7, 2012 - 03:05pm PT

Thing that bugs me is a lot of new climbers can't seem to discern the difference between "scary" and "dangerous" (let alone hurt vs. dead). To a lot of the gym trained crowd, if it's a little scary, it's the same as deadly and should be bolted into submission.

dee ee

Mountain climber

Of THIS World (Planet Earth)

Nov 16, 2015 - 09:44am PT

Hey x15x15, regarding Yardy Hoo and Away, at least one bolt was added after our FA. It was up high where there was a significant runout on 5.8.

When I discovered this additional bolt on a subsequent ascent I was a tiny bit miffed but clipped it anyway. I wasn't equipped to chop it and never went back.