Single Pitch Anchors

I feel like if it’s gear lines with an optional walk off just leave it that way people. People can just build  gear anchors and belay from above . If the walk off is nasty or out of the way maybe think about a single rap station accessible from the top ledge . 

Salamanizer Ski wrote:

Not equipping a crag for someone else’s convenience or not posting the crag online or in a guidebook is not “gate keeping”. Gate keeping is when you refuse to share info with anyone, even when they specifically and personally ask for it. It’s not your obligation to tell the world about anything, unless that’s your prerogative.
The question you should be asking is to yourself. Is this crag worth the coin? Yes or no? If it is, well there’s your answer. If it’s not, then leave it be. You could always do what I do on obscure trad routes. Go buy a few pitons or booty some nuts. Climb the route and somewhere along the line, fix a piece. Then when the next guy is all stoked on discovering the crag again and about to top out on his rad new FA, he finds your old rusty gear lol. It’s not cruel, its character building. 

Agree with most of this. My first thought when I read the OP was: Are you really sure you're the first person to climb there? Just because there's no evidence in the form of fixed hardware doesn't mean you're the first. Maybe you are and good for you if so, just be sure before you bolt. That said, if there's good natural pro for anchors on top and an easy walk-off, then I'd leave it natural. They are trad climbs after all.

If its unlikely to get popular... you could start with just a few top access anchors to facilitate TRS or future development, if there isn't great features for building anchors already... and maybe put on the MP page that I presume you will add for the area, that if the routes get more popular, more bolted anchors may be added.

For 40m routes... you have to consider... will you add anchors for rapping with a 50m rope? 60m? 70m? 80m? Or will the situation be preferred to have bolted anchors around 25-30m without rap hardware and assume people will do a 2nd short pitch to walk off vs. rap. Or just long single pitches with walkoff.

It may be hard to justify much of an investment of time and money without the traffic... but without the hardware to make it convenient, it may not get traffic... unless the rock is great and you take pics to show that.

KrisG wrote:

Agree with most of this. My first thought when I read the OP was: Are you really sure you're the first person to climb there? Just because there's no evidence in the form of fixed hardware doesn't mean you're the first. Maybe you are and good for you if so, just be sure before you bolt. That said, if there's good natural pro for anchors on top and an easy walk-off, then I'd leave it natural. They are trad climbs after all.

My philosophy is that if the true FA party makes no attempt to make their ascent known and leaves no fixed gear, they cede the right to dictate the direction of the development of the crag. Shrug

What’s the top like? Is topping out and walking off likely to lead to erosion issues? If you don’t put anchors up, will people be building anchors off trees or gear? 

Ask yourself how you would enjoy the crag the most.  Totally natural and untouched by people?  Or fully cleaned with mussy hooks, just uncrowded?  

It takes time, money and work to develop a crag.  Do it in good style.  The terrain will dictate most decisions.  If you do bolt anchors, consider each one carefully.  

There’s room to develop in your own style at remote crags.  Few people will care.  Worst case, someone else comes along and chops your bolts.

I'm certain I'm the only person to have climbed on these walls, maybe even the whole area. It has almost no recreation activity other than a handful of crystal hunters, and some of the obvious lines you can make out from the car still had loose holds that you wouldn't have been able to easily climb past. 

I just made another trip out there and found several more crags with even more potential than the ones I found previously. My current plan is to first establish at least a full days worth of climbing in one crag so climbers can justify a trip out there. For now I will only use anchors for situations where the walk off is too much of a PITA for me to want to keep doing, where the top anchor is very awkward to set up, or if a route is fairly difficult so the leader can clean it. If the area receives some traffic I'll think about adding anchors in more locations to speed things up.

Why does everyone feel they have to “develop” an area sufficiently before unveiling it like it’s a new theme park? I get that you’d want to pick a bushel of cherries before the birds come. But I don’t understand why people have the idea that it needs to have a certain number of routes, topos drawn, trails built and all that first. Ask around if anyone wants to go cherry picking, post a photo etc.. You’ll get a few takers. You’ll get the fattest cherries, word will eventually spread and the crag will fill out naturally. The floodgates almost never open up when you unveil a secret new spot as if it were a Walmart on Black Friday. It usually takes years before an area gains its popularity. It’s not like you just discovered a new pocketed wall at Smith Rock. So that argument of developing it before the crowds come for safety reasons is just an excuse. People have been putting up routes at Owens River Gorge for 40+ years and I’ve never heard of an accident from someone cleaning a route.

So pick some cherries, tell a few friends, have a blast projecting. Word will slowly spread, pictures will leak and the worthies will come. More will get cleaned, documented, topos and photos will be shared. If the crags is convenient or spectacular enough, the crowds will trickle in. If not, it will be a nice secluded and obscure area fit for the introverts. Just my opinion. It’s really all up to you though. So do as thou wilt. But do so knowing judgment will be forthcoming. 

Salamanizer Ski wrote:

Why does everyone feel they have to “develop” an area sufficiently before unveiling it like it’s a new theme park? I get that you’d want to pick a bushel of cherries before the birds come. 

I totally agree, it’s already on mountain project as 

https://www.mountainproject.com/area/127055343/kingston-range

There’s potential for a very large amount of routes so I’m not worried about other climbers coming and grabbing all the FA’s. I’d love to see the routes other people establish.

Salamanizer Ski wrote:

Why does everyone feel they have to “develop” an area sufficiently before unveiling it like it’s a new theme park? I get that you’d want to pick a bushel of cherries before the birds come. But I don’t understand why people have the idea that it needs to have a certain number of routes, topos drawn, trails built and all that first. Ask around if anyone wants to go cherry picking, post a photo etc.. You’ll get a few takers. You’ll get the fattest cherries, word will eventually spread and the crag will fill out naturally. The floodgates almost never open up when you unveil a secret new spot as if it were a Walmart on Black Friday. It usually takes years before an area gains its popularity. It’s not like you just discovered a new pocketed wall at Smith Rock. So that argument of developing it before the crowds come for safety reasons is just an excuse. People have been putting up routes at Owens River Gorge for 40+ years and I’ve never heard of an accident from someone cleaning a route.

So pick some cherries, tell a few friends, have a blast projecting. Word will slowly spread, pictures will leak and the worthies will come. More will get cleaned, documented, topos and photos will be shared. If the crags is convenient or spectacular enough, the crowds will trickle in. If not, it will be a nice secluded and obscure area fit for the introverts. Just my opinion. It’s really all up to you though. So do as thou wilt. But do so knowing judgment will be forthcoming. 

Generally, I think developing just becomes more difficult if you're doing it an an area where people might be climbing - it's hard enough as it is. I do agree that often folks wait too long and end up just clogging up a potential new area, but there's 3 reasons to legitimately batch release new routes in my mind:

1. For areas that need extensive cleaning, it doesn't make sense to clean one route well enough to open when it'll just get dirty again from cleaning routes next door. Might as well scrub a whole sector down. This also applies to approaches/base areas that will just get pummeled with blocks, dirt, and trees from overhead.

2. Safety while cleaning is real - I've been in situations where folks came up to an obscure area to climb and didn't know to announce their presence, with a developer overhead dropping blocks without taping off the approach because this crag was not posted yet. Doesn't take a stretch of the imagination to imagine this could end poorly if even one party comes up when trundling is happening.

3. Sometimes putting the finishing touches on a route, getting dope photos, and creating an approach is the difference between someone thinking the new route is just ok vs getting psyched to go and recommending it to friends. As someone who wants my routes to be climbed, I don't want to pull my fixed lines and take away my stashed gear until this is done, so it's usually left until the very end when finishing up a crag.