Kruk and Kennedy Free the Compressor Route on Cerro Torre

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Messages 61 - 76 of total 76 in this topic << First  |  < Previous  |  Show All  |  Next >  |  Last >>
deuce4

climber
Hobart, Australia
Jan 21, 2012 - 04:34pm PT
The amazing things about those bolts--I think they were made by Cassin--is how bomber they are, after 40 years. They don't seem to rust, and I suspect if pull tested would still be worthy of typical moderate fall factor lead falls. They are actually a small tapered piton, semi-soft so the tapered bit really conforms to the hole. When I climbed Cerro Torre, I was really amazed at how consistently solid they all were--there were none that seemed to have become sketchy with time.

In contrast, the construction bolts put in by most modern climbers will be pretty ratty after 30 years, and the bazillions placed since sport climbing became commonplace will all need replacement.

Curious thing, as to those old bolts...



ALPINEMAN

Trad climber
bogota
Jan 21, 2012 - 04:48pm PT
congratulations for the other bolts in SE ridge (on the variant, but the same history)

sh#t

and congratulations for 100 new hold for the future free ascent
KyleO

Gym climber
Calgary, AB
Topic Author's Reply - Jan 21, 2012 - 05:13pm PT
^
Yea and if you slip once, your finger is gonna stay up there, sounds intriguing.

healyje

Trad climber
Portland, Oregon
Jan 21, 2012 - 05:28pm PT
This image


is such an improvement over this image


that it could only be improved if that were a garbage collector instead of a cop.
bhilden

Trad climber
Mountain View, CA
Jan 21, 2012 - 05:44pm PT
Do you have a problem with the bolts or the tat strung between them? Maestri put in the bolts, but is that his tat or tat left by other climbers? I guess you could argue that the bolts allow the tat to be there, but that might be a stretch.

And about tat...a couple of years ago Clint and I removed a whole bunch of tat(two old, rotting fixed ropes and a bunch of slings) from the East Ledges route on El Capitan that had been used by climbers to get to the top of El Capitan quickly so they could work the upper pitches of the Salathe Wall(or so I was told). Should we remove the fixed protection on the East Ledges route because it allowed the tat to be there?
david albert

Trad climber
argentina
Jan 29, 2012 - 09:51am PT
couchmaster

climber
pdx
Jan 29, 2012 - 10:06am PT
Like many, I have a bunch of conflicting feelings, thoughts and emotions. At the end of the day, the anger and charges of people like David Albert above, which is that these guys took it on themselves to do something which most climbers disagree with, will remain like a dark cloud instead of it being a sunny day like one would expect from a ascent like this. I'm sure this will be talked to death till we all grow old...how they selectively used "some" bolts but removed others. How they chose to destroy a classic route which was put up in bad style....blah blah blah. Maybe having a few bolts is good, but more than that is bad....hard to say, but they said it via their actions and don't give a f*#king rats ass what any of you think to the contrary.... anyway, congrats to the kids on getting up one of the most badassed places on the planet and using less bolts to do it.

I suppose.
Toker Villain

Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
Jan 29, 2012 - 11:08am PT
Somebody ought to post Teddy Roosevelt's "in the arena" speech from a century ago.

This is going to be the subject of endless debate, but will serve as a pivot point upon which future climbers will formulate and crystalize their own personal climbing philosophies.
I, for one, see both sides, however it is the contradiction between plan and spontaneity that troubles me most.

At the end of the day you have a vicious fang of granite thrusting over a kilometer into the sky of Patafukinggonia that climbers have come from far and wide to throw themselves against. From Bonatti to Bridwell, from Ferrari to Rolo, the best and the bravest have been drawn to this lodestone.

Cerro Torre is so iconic that, arguably, the unattained summit has driven one of the great Italian climbers to a sort of madness.

Be that as it may, the Torre endures, and shrugs off these controversies like just another collapsed cornice in the wind off the icecap...
philo

Trad climber
Somewhere halfway over the rainbow
Jan 29, 2012 - 12:05pm PT
Great and Great.


All these pathetic whiners who are so butt hurt that now they would have to actually climb Cerro Torre should go get short roped up the Big E so they can still have empty bragging rights.
Mighty Hiker

climber
Vancouver, B.C.
Feb 18, 2012 - 12:25pm PT
There's an article about it in today's Vancouver Sun.
http://www.vancouversun.com/life/Cheers+jeers+climber+unbolted+famed+peak/6174897/story.html
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Feb 18, 2012 - 12:55pm PT
I love the Sun's translation of Cerro Torre - 'Tower Hill'! LOL!

Mighty, sounds like K&K are lucky that Baltasar Garzon is off his bench, eh?
MH2

climber
Feb 18, 2012 - 02:03pm PT
Thanks for the warning, Anders. Better skip the show tonight. Sounds bad to be near the centre of an international storm.
marty(r)

climber
beneath the valley of ultravegans
Feb 18, 2012 - 04:20pm PT
How surreal to get accosted after such a huge climb on top of the death of a friend.

http://squamishclimbing.com/2012/02/15/jason-kruk-feature-interview/
bonin_in_the_boneyard

Trad climber
Oak Land, California
Feb 20, 2012 - 01:58pm PT
Wow, bad a$$!

As for the controversy... I'm not in a league to judge. But I will enjoy the debate.

splitter

Trad climber
Hodad surfing the galactic plane
Feb 20, 2012 - 02:28pm PT
i don't really give a sh#t one way nor the other, but "...Free the Compressor Route..." ??/??!

i'm sure this has already been discussed...but...it's worth repeating since we will have to see this & the other thread for the next 30-40 years along with dicktor.f.'s atheism(religion he espouses)thread on the front page of this site. so maybe shud bring it up once every cuppa moons, eh!!

the point i'm making is: tharz uh big dif between freein' a root and puttin' up a variation to one...eh?
Teddy TT

Mountain climber
Shizuoka
Jul 13, 2014 - 02:55am PT
I like Mr. Haiden Kennedy. I want him to do the North face and North ridge of Latok I, Pakistan, by fair means, the mountain Father Mr Kenndey bailed in 1988. The north formations of the mountain repelled more than 30 parties of would-renowned climbers.
Messages 61 - 76 of total 76 in this topic << First  |  < Previous  |  Show All  |  Next >  |  Last >>
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