Mountain Project Logo

Bolted Cracks?

Original Post
skiclimber · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jul 2006 · Points: 30

Hi all,

I took a long sabbatical from climbing and Colorado but now I am back. Since leaving and all my travels I was only able to sport climb here and there. I am afraid I have lost my head for placing gear and want to ease back into Colorado Crack climbing but I just don't think I want to get back into trad and all the gear it requires.

Can anyone suggest some Colorado areas with well bolted cracks, for someone that doesn't want to trad climb but wants to spend more time crack climbing?

mark felber · · Wheat Ridge, CO · Joined Jul 2005 · Points: 41

Clear Creek Canyon.

Dylan Pike · · Knoxville, TN · Joined Sep 2013 · Points: 488

Not Colorado, but Ten Sleep Canyon in Wyoming has tons of bolted cracks.

matt c. · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Nov 2009 · Points: 155
ROC · · Denver, CO · Joined Feb 2003 · Points: 155

Shelf Road has some nice bolted crack climbs. Turkey Perch also has quite a few moderate routes that you could hang a TR from. Lookout Mountain in Golden is a very small crag but has some nice TR crack lines also. Castlewood Canyon also has some TR cracks to choose from.

Sean Brady · · Boulder, Colorado · Joined Aug 2012 · Points: 125

And we're off! It's Cornelius Jefferson out of the gate with a passive aggressive "sport climbing is neither" variant. I for one can't wait to see the follow up to this, as I'm sure I'll learn something useful...

Jonny 5 · · Squamish BC · Joined Aug 2013 · Points: 1,220

around here we have...

mountainproject.com/v/maste…

its really weird. the crack puts me into "trad" head. which for me is climb and only stop when i feel its time to protect. This caused me to skip many bolts. One of which was my first skipped bolt ever. Kinda weirded me out when I first noticed what I was doing.

Justin Manring · · Tucson, AZ · Joined Feb 2010 · Points: 0

Bolted cracks are the devil.

Long Ranger · · Boulder, CO · Joined Jan 2014 · Points: 619
mountainproject.com/v/cryno…

It's a great climb, albeit short. You might not want to put gear in this limestone, anyways.
Ian Cavanaugh · · Ketchum, ID · Joined Sep 2010 · Points: 620

Well if this is real and not just someone looking to go chop a bolted crack (which I could support), how about the biggest topic in the last year or so...Archangle! That got retro bolted!

Creed Archibald · · Salt Lake City, UT · Joined Apr 2012 · Points: 1,016

I like sport climbing, but "bolted cracks" makes me cringe. Bolts should only be used when they're necessary. If you want to climb cracks, learn to slam in a camalot. It's not rocket science.

Matt Wilson · · Vermont, USA · Joined May 2010 · Points: 316

I think all cracks should be bolted for safety's sake.

Dylan Pike · · Knoxville, TN · Joined Sep 2013 · Points: 488

Brittle limestone/dolomite can often not be reliably protected with traditional gear. Sure, you can place cams, but will they hold?

I too cringe at the sight of bolts near cracks/pockets on solid rock, but I can understand bolts in limestone.

Creed Archibald · · Salt Lake City, UT · Joined Apr 2012 · Points: 1,016

^^^ That could be true. I mostly climb sandstone and granite. The limestone that I have climbed didn't have crack systems, thus the bolts.

beensandbagged · · smallest state · Joined Oct 2013 · Points: 0
Matt Wilson wrote:I think all cracks should be bolted for safety's sake.
Troll
Fat Dad · · Los Angeles, CA · Joined Nov 2007 · Points: 60

It should be pointed out that the bolted crack at Shelf Road that everyone was referring to was first climbed in '86 and then not retrobolted until 2000, so the route clearly had a history and likely saw many ascents before it was bolted. Also, just because the rock is limestone doesn't mean cams would be a problem. That would suggest that alot of trads areas in the British Isles, France, Italy, etc., how somehow not been safe to climbs for all these years.

Also, I kind of chafe at the OP's comment that he was looking for

skiclimber wrote:areas with well bolted cracks, for someone that doesn't want to trad climb but wants to spend more time crack climbing?
You want to climb cracks, which are trad, but you don't want to bother using the skills needed to climb trad, which means placing gear. Wouldn't it be nice if the world were equally dumbed down to make our lives easier?
Mike Marmar · · Salt Lake City, UT · Joined Aug 2013 · Points: 67
Fat Dad wrote:Also, just because the rock is limestone doesn't mean cams would be a problem. That would suggest that alot of trads areas in the British Isles, France, Italy, etc., how somehow not been safe to climbs for all these years.
I don't care about the tired argument in this thread, but this is a cool and scary video showing why cams can be a problem in limestone youtube.com/watch?v=MW1teH6…
Sean Brady · · Boulder, Colorado · Joined Aug 2012 · Points: 125

What do you want to bet some genius drops a "man up" or "don't be a pussy" or some other tired old line here?

Paul Irby · · moab, ut · Joined Jan 2010 · Points: 141

Hahahaha! Don't forget to feed the troll when you cross the bridge.

skiclimber · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jul 2006 · Points: 30

Thanks for all the advice everyone.

I was hoping to find more stuff like this.

Sport Crack 1

Sport crack 2

sport crack 3

Matt Wilson · · Vermont, USA · Joined May 2010 · Points: 316
beensandbagged wrote: Troll
No no no, you have me all wrong. Look, the fact of the matter is that cams and nuts slowly scar the rock over time, whereas a bolt is small and discrete and the same bolt hole can be used when replacing it, making bolts the more ethical choice for crack climbing.
Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

Colorado
Post a Reply to "Bolted Cracks?"

Log In to Reply

Join the Community

Create your FREE account today!
Already have an account? Login to close this notice.

Get Started.