Gunks - Trust the Pitons?

if the biner sets corectly clip it  directly. the reason you sometimes need to thread a pin with a sling is if the pin is placed in a way that loads the biner poorly with risk of a broken biner. seems to happen mayby 1 out of 10  placements??

Nick Goldsmith wrote:

if the biner sets corectly clip it  directly. the reason you sometimes need to thread a pin with a sling is if the pin is placed in a way that loads the biner poorly with risk of a broken biner. seems to happen mayby 1 out of 10  placements??

Except in the Gunks, where 85% of the ancient pins - many going on 50+ years - are so horribly overdriven that there's 5, 10, 15, 20mm or more distance from the eye to the edge of the crack. 

its been awhile since i have been in the gunks. 15 years or so...  just going on my NH and VT , WY and MT vibe. lots of pins you can clip. some of them you should thread... just need to know which ones ;)

The only  way to know if a pin is good is to test it with a hammer. It should   ring  nicely. I thought they were mostly there as route  markers.

Simon Bloch wrote:

Took a huge (20'+) on the MF piton, and it held. 

Me too!

jonathan.lipkin wrote:

Me too!

Seriously? About the only way to do that is to bypass multiple protection opportunities.

I clipped the ring pin on thin slabs today. Made me chuckle a little... but I got moving quickly because that's definitely not OK gear to fall on, so no sense waiting around.

Emmett Lyman wrote:

I clipped the ring pin on thin slabs today. Made me chuckle a little... but I got moving quickly because that's definitely not OK gear to fall on, so no sense waiting around.

Having never done the climb before, had a partner hang on that thing for a while. When I pulled up to it I couldn't believe it. The things freakin bent.

The one on tough shift is very questionable

Simon Bloch wrote:

Took a huge (20'+) on the MF piton, and it held. Also watched my good friend whip over and over and over on the Try Again pin as well.. I trust 'em but after my MF fall I back up any and all..

Took this exact fall. Slapping around the corner, can't find the hold? I had a small X4 below but many of these are solid. 

Molly Zhu wrote:

The one on tough shift is very questionable

Molly please tell me that you (and Leo!) place a piece to back up that pin. You have to make another move up to place something but there are good nuts or cams up there to be had before moving left. That fall would be quite a winger even without blowing a piton!

Seth Derr wrote:

That's the first one I thought of too.  Was afraid I was going for a much longer ride but reading through this thread it sounds like it's the most whipped on piton at the Gunks... 

Seth G, quit procrastinating on this thread and finish your next blog post already! Seriously, I'm waiting for it : ) 

Ha ha thanks! I'll get to work.

Second pin on Falled on Account of Strain looks like garbage and didn't seem easy to back up but held body weight. Pin below it looks a lot better and is easy to back up.

Just toproped Intergalactic Hitchhikers - thx for adding to the database Seth! Pin there looked like garbage. Seems like an intense lead for 9+...

Nearby pins on City Streets look not great too but there are 2 to clip. Alas, I have hung there too.

A partner hung on the pin on Commando Rave next door. Also not that inspiring. Can take a big whipper there if you don't hang out to place pro above as one of the commenters on the route did decades earlier.

I always back up the MF pin but caught a light partner falling several times in a row on it once a few years ago.

SethG wrote:

Molly please tell me that you (and Leo!) place a piece to back up that pin. You have to make another move up to place something but there are good nuts or cams up there to be had before moving left. That fall would be quite a winger even without blowing a piton!

Hey Seth, 

Leo led graveyard and we top roped tough shift. He came down saying that he can almost pull that pin out by hand. Definitely no fall on that thing!

Pulling it out would probably be doing everyone a favor. 

Again, pins and bolts both need to be maintained over time. It ain't rocket science, if you find a pin that you think is bad then get a funkness and hammer, check it and either reset it or replace it if there's any issue. 

Took a 46 footer on the Tough Shift pin back in 2007, lucky it held. 

Healyje wrote:

Again, pins and bolts both need to be maintained over time. It ain't rocket science, if you find a pin that you think is bad then get a funkness and hammer, check it and either reset it or replace it if there's any issue. 

Do regular climbers (as opposed to the GCC or rangers) replace pitons at the Gunks? I'd always assumed there'd be big drama if anyone was seen hammering pitons into the wall - replacing or not. Thought that was why all the pitons are so old.

JSH wrote: