Retro bolt Snake Dike

While we're at it, Black Magic in the Needles has (had?) an entire pitch with ZERO pro--a long, beautiful slab of impeccable granite, easy/moderate 5th class--5.5?  WAY more run-out than SD. Get the hell up there and bolt that sumbitch, will ya?  I was GRIPPED when I led it 20 years ago, and it has NO place in modern climbing.

Kevin Worrallwrote:

Goodrich pinnacle, both sides, The Cow, both sides, Grack routes, Harry Daley Route - all on the Glacier Point Apron. The Royal Arches, South Face of North Dome. After Six, After Seven, and Nutcracker. Munginella, The Hanging Teeth, Selaginella, The Commitment. You want to feel good on 5.9 slab before you lead Snake Dike.

Thanks!

Just checking in to see if this has been settled yet.  

Carry on. 

Kevin Mokracekwrote:

Just checking in to see if this has been settled yet.  

Carry on. 

definitely will be more very serious and lengthy essays.

Poll options are still needed.

Maybe there needs to be an 8yr old ascent of it

Darren Mabewrote:

Maybe there needs to be an 8yr old ascent of it

Ha I was thinking exactly this...and when retrobolted should be considered for someone only 3ft tall. Only then will it be safe for the masses

Gregory Hwrote:

MP: Respect the wishes of the FA party!

FA: Add more bolts! If we had more bolts we would have added them! This is not supposed to be a test piece!

MP: NOT LIKE THAT!

This thread should have ended right there.

That's all I have to say.

Cookie cutter entities have no appeal. :)

Robert Swrote:

This thread should have ended right there.

That's all I have to say.

Yup. That's where I stopped reading.

11/10

Everyone else, get bent.

Well fuck off then.

so I think Isaiah is a yes?

M Mwrote:

so I think Isaiah is a yes?

Maybe.

Plus you got your essay. ;)

I think we need to solicit the opinion of the indigenous people.  They were there before Beck.  Probably soloed it as part of a spirit quest.  The route is likely sacred..

M Mwrote:

hey I'm on your side of the argument, I just call the mansplaining as I see it (Allen's post) . The idea of adding bolts to this climb is ridiculous enough as it is, people should be laughing at the idea instead of getting too serious IMO.

what would be really cool is if someone got approval to drill a sport route up half dome nearby. via ferrata up el cap would be sweet too. maybe Sloan and Snyder could team up?

And really she has a point in her quote, modern lines should be a bit safer, just not historical lines with thousands of repeats.

Good on you for calling out behavior that might make a reasonable contributor to a discussion less likely to post the next time. Helps keep our echo chambers a little less echoey. @Anna, hope you keep sharing your perspectives. 

M Mwrote:

via ferrata up el cap would be sweet too.

There is via ferrata on Half Dome. It's called Cables Route.

Isaiah aka Zay Foulks wrote:

Kevin, I have always held nothing but the highest respect for your exploits, accomplishments, and genuine love of this amazing sport we all share.

That said, your comment astounds me. Sure, the climb doesnt have a choice because it's a rock. It doesnt care one way or another, and that includes adding a bolt. The culture of climbing has always held that adding bolts with the permission of the first ascentionist is perfectly reasonable (unless of course the FA went crazy and demanded a bolt every 3 inches - i've never been a fan of absolutes). But thats not what we have here. We have a perfectly reasonable declaration from Beck himself that the route should have more bolts and subsequently be less dangerous. 

This whole thing reminds me of an episode of Black Mirror, the one with the teddy bear mascot. Theres some weird, human condition shit going on here that defies reason. Absolutes. Conservatism. Zealotry. I can't put my finger on it, but it frankly scares me.

You can't beat back the hoards. Snake Dike has and will always attract novice climbers. Novices aside, shit happens. Hersey fell out of the Steck Salathe. Bachar fell of 5.10. Feet slip, and gusts of wind push people over.

Its a numbers game. The runouts on Snake Dike are real, and down right fucking deadly. Climbing continues to grow. People are going to die. Beck says add more bolts.

Please, Kevin, listen to reason. 

It's a rock. 

It's 5.7.

It doesnt have to be a test piece.

We all exist in a flash of geoligic time and trod over mountains who truly melt like sand. In the end, our futile squables amount to nothing and no one will look back and remember the "good times" when Snake Dike "meant something."

I would like this 1000000 times if I could.

Ug.  Humbly, the last post lacks the perspective of the ages.

I dunno man, sometimes with the benefit of hindsight we find that the perspective of the ages was warped.

Gregory Hwrote:

I dunno man, sometimes with the benefit of hindsight we find that the perspective of the ages was warped.

Future mainly … not so much the past although the past  has an important part to play here.

Climbing is pointless

It's just a rock

So, bolt the $hit out of every rock?

Why risk serious injury for a pointless pursuit?

Or is climbing pointless, so there must be some other reason we do it?