Snake Buttress

Kevin Stricker is my hero and should be yours, too. This bad ass not only crushes, he also replaces more bolts down in the Platte than probably everyone else combined. Considering he only gets out once a month or so these days as most of his time is consumed with being a super psyched new dad, he is by far the coolest and most humble steward in the area I know. For example, he literally replaced every bolt on the entire Snake Buttress a year ago with the only exceptions being Ride um Rueboy (rebolted by another person) and Dr. Demento. My count was 60 bolts, give or take one or two. Who does that!? Very few, exceptional people. Buy that man a beer.

Thanks Jason, I wanted to credit Fremont Shields for getting the ball rolling on the Snake Buttress replacement, which was done in 2007. He replaced the bolts on Rue Boy and the first pitch of Hodge Podge. Also thanks to Dave Russell for helping with logistics, and especially to the ASCA who provided all the hardware.

Snake Buttress is a fun place to climb, but be considerate of the private property in the area and don't park on the closed mining road.

I too want to thank Kevin for his selfless efforts to replace the many aging bolts in the South Platte. He does this with ASCA hardware, but still at considerable expense using his own equipment and equally valuable free time. His work is strictly replacement of like-for-like hardware and he does a quality job not scarring the rock. The one day I worked with him at Snake I hammered all day and had replaced 5 bolts by the end of it...my forearms were pumped and my ears were ringing. Hand drilling 12mm holes in granite is a humbling experience.

Fremont,

I usually bring some of those little cheezy foam earplugs when I am doing any hand drilling, it is definitely really hard on my ears otherwise. Thanks to you and Kevin both. Snake Buttress is a fun little crag. I'm always surprised it doesn't see more traffic.

Somewhere back in the distant past I was in on one of the slab routes at Snake Buttress, unfortunately I don't remember which one. We placed 1/4" bolts on lead on that route and I recall some differences in our feeling how reliable the bolts would be after they were in as some stances were easier to drill from than others, etc. Thanks to Kevin and others for replacing that old junk with something that might actually hold a fall.

Tod, according to Climbing #111, you, Curt Fry and ?? Frizzell put up Wake of the Flood. Sound about right?