I climbed this the other day. The section leading up to the first belay is easy, but there are 30 feet between there and the previous bolt. I didn't test this, but I'm pretty sure I would have decked had I have fallen around that point. Why is it this way? I guess people like to exhibit the size of their balls by taking this kind of exposure. Thing is, no one is going to be impressed if you become a bit special after falling from a 5.0/4th section of a sport route. I imagine someone might say that you have demonstrated your ability to climb at above that level by getting there, but mistakes are made.

So, why are bolts sometimes so far apart when they don't need to be?

Well...
IMHO, a route that easy doest not need that many bolts. Its really based on personal safty and comfort. The origional route setters set the bolt spacing for what they thought was good.
Consider you can climb a 5.0+ in flip plops 30-40 foot runs is not that out of line.
Now Im not sure about your neck of the woods, but the local craigs here, a route setter will build and estbolish a route for him self and him self alone (at least thats the mentality) he equips the rout with the number of bolt he/she feels is nessary. The route is available for the public to enjoy but the Fa/FFA dictates what they want out of that route. Any changes should be brought up with the origonal route setter.

Welcome to outdoor climbing.

Trollin?

Your either up to the challenge or need to spend more time getting ready for such scenarios. That's not runout. Bachar-Yerian, now that's runout.

There's no cut and dried answer for when its acceptable to space out bolts really far, but you can basically expect something like that when there's a big difficulty shift on the route. That is, if the route has a pronounced crux with considerably easier climbing (say, for somebody who can onsite the crux) elsewhere, the easier sections will have a larger bolt spacing. The reasoning being not simply that you *should* be able to climb that without falling, but moreover that you *should* be so deeply in your comfort zone that most unexpected events that would cause you fall were you at your limit, wouldn't be enough to cause a fall there. If you cruise the 5.12 crux of a route, but end up eating it because of a bee on 5.0 terrain, there's something fishy going on there, and it has nothing to do with the bolt spacing.

Also, this isn't linked to a specific route, so this really could be anywhere.

If you're going on about Goldline, that's a sport route in the same sense that shoving feathers up my ass makes me a chicken.

It is an artifact of an era where the only style was "traditional" which was ground up, and the leader must not fall. The bolts, by and large, were placed on lead, from hooks or stances, and reflect what was available to the hand-drilling first ascensionist.

Its not a sport route in the modern sense, it is a traditional route with only bolts for protection, and should be approached accordingly.

Was down climbing an option? If the bolts were too far apart for you to feel comfortable climbing it you most likely would have said "to hell with this" and retreated. It sounds like you didn't. This would indicate that the route was adequately bolted for, at least, you and the FA. Probably adequately bolted for most people on that climb. The internet will not help you become comfortable with runouts. Not to say that this particular runout your speaking of isn't just laziness or ego masturbation by the FA. Since you haven't posted what route it it, it's hard to say.

The "deal" with running it out is what climbing has always been about. Until sport climbing came along and it suddenly became acceptable to turn the rock into your own personal gym. There is no route in existence in which a fall from ANY point will ALWAYS be safe. It's just not possible. If you don't feel comfortable I'd suggest retreat and more laps on easier climbs.

Welcome to outdoor climbing!

I've kind of come to the realization, that on easy stuff, not falling is the main part of my safety strategy. It's simply prohibitively slow and uses too much equipment to protect every 5.2 move, and there is always another ledge just below you.

If you fell on a section of climb in the 5.2 range, you would at least have the peace of mind to know that all those big ledges will slow you down...

Bolts and hangers get expensive, so why over-protect 4th to 5.easy climbing? I would not suggest getting into alpine if you are worried about a 30 ft runnout on 4th class terrain

i mean... you'd basically have to jump off 5.2...

I normally climb trad. If I have to run it out, then I just figure that it's what has to be done to do the route and get on with it. When I saw a potential ground fall from a decent hight on a sport route, I wondered why not stick in a bolt. As some of you have worked out, I had no issue with finishing the route. My question really wasn't specific to goldline.

Just because it was bolted, (obviously) does not mean it's a sport route.

Honestly if there was a bolt every 10 feet on the snake dike the climb wouldn't be worth it in my opinion.

That said yes there are times when it's more about the ego than anything