Areas with Close Bolts

Tradoholic wrote:

You should be very afraid of falling on gear AND bolts, sometimes the gear holds and you still get fucked up.

No, just no, I've fallen on both gear and bolts thousands of times, there is absolutely no reason to be afraid of falling as long as you know how to place the gear, and know how to assess the risk of the fall prior to falling.  Are there times that you shouldn't fall, absolutely (on both trad and sport routes), but being able to assess that is part of the game, and being afraid of falling is not going to help your climbing in any way.

Ken Noyce wrote:

No, just no, I've fallen on both gear and bolts thousands of times, there is absolutely no reason to be afraid of falling as long as you know how to place the gear, and know how to assess the risk of the fall prior to falling.  Are there times that you shouldn't fall, absolutely (on both trad and sport routes), but being able to assess that is part of the game, and being afraid of falling is not going to help your climbing in any way.

Any fall is going to expose the climber to injury. I've seen legs break from 4ft falls. Personally, I don't take chances, I will take or down climb if need be. If you have taken thousands of falls without injury you are simply lucky, or just a sport climber.

What are we arguing about again?

Hi

I want to revive this thread to get some opinions on climbing destinations for my cross country moving trip this July.  I'll have about two weeks to make the trek from Pennsylvania to Arizona.

I could go north and visit South Dakota (Needles, Spearfish), Wyoming (Devil's Tower, Ten Sleep, Wild Iris), and Utah (SLC and/or Moab)

Or I could take the southern route and revisit  Seneca, NRG, RRG then visit Jackson Falls and maybe Horseshoe Canyon.

For the climbing stops on this trip, I'd like to be able to get a lot of mileage on closely bolted sport routes 5.7 to 5.10a by spending a day or two at each spot.

I'll do my own research on this too but if anyone has any info, anecdotes, or funny stories about the bolt spacing, easy routes, or summer climbing along these routes, i'd like to hear it--

• Needles of Rushmore
•  Spearfish
• Ten Sleep
• Wild Iris
• SLC Crags
• Los Alamos Crags
• Jackson Falls, IL
• Horseshoe Canyon Ranch

Trip Plans:

Thanks

The areas along your Northern path would be much more pleasant and less humid/hot in July, I would pick that path, no question.

Needles of Rushmore don't have as much of sport climbing as some other areas, but there are certainly climbs in the 5.7-5.10d range for a few days. I only climbed there for 1 day, so not the best source.
Spearfish (at least in my limited 2-day experience) was not the best place for a 5.10 climber, though there are certainly climbs in that range. Bolting seemed about average for a sport climbing area.
Tensleep would be a sweet spot with friendly bolting and lots of nice tall climbs in the 5.9-5.10d range.
Haven't climbed in Wild Iris yet, my understanding is that there aren't that many crags with easy climbs there, the one I had heard of was OK Corral.

Not sure what SLC crags you have in mind. Uintas would be perfect in summer, in terms of temperatures (though mosquitoes were crazy when we were there in July), and there is plenty in the easy grades. Reminded me a bit of NRG, in terms of climbing. Bolt spacing is fairly close, certainly closer than NRG, though I don't remember much about it, other than not being an issue at all.

Maple Canyon wasn't on your list, but it is good in summer, bolting is close, and plenty of easier climbs.
 

Lena chita wrote:Not sure what SLC crags you have in mind. Uintas would be perfect in summer, in terms of temperatures (though mosquitoes were crazy when we were there in July),

Yes, they can be vicious and plentiful in June and July. 

Maple Canyon wasn't on your list, but it is good in summer, bolting is close, and plenty of easier climbs.

+1. Just remember that Maple is all cobbles - some climbers don't like it that much because the routes of a given grade take on a bit of sameness. I also find it pretty hard to on-sight even a little below your limit since there's quite a choice of holds at any given move and it can take time and energy to find the optimal one.

Michael Palmer wrote:

Hi

I want to revive this thread to get some opinions on climbing destinations for my cross country moving trip this July.  I'll have about two weeks to make the trek from Pennsylvania to Arizona.

I could go north and visit South Dakota (Needles, Spearfish), Wyoming (Devil's Tower, Ten Sleep, Wild Iris), and Utah (SLC and/or Moab)

Or I could take the southern route and revisit  Seneca, NRG, RRG then visit Jackson Falls and maybe Horseshoe Canyon.

For the climbing stops on this trip, I'd like to be able to get a lot of mileage on closely bolted sport routes 5.7 to 5.10a by spending a day or two at each spot.

I'll do my own research on this too but if anyone has any info, anecdotes, or funny stories about the bolt spacing, easy routes, or summer climbing along these routes, i'd like to hear it--

• Needles of Rushmore
•  Spearfish
• Ten Sleep
• Wild Iris
• SLC Crags
• Los Alamos Crags
• Jackson Falls, IL
• Horseshoe Canyon Ranch

Trip Plans:

Thanks

You are going to have to take the north route because it's summer. I would spend most my time in the WY area if I were you.

The needles isn't really a sport area unless alot has changed and I see DL on the map, no bolts there. I could give you the straight dope on all those areas except Los Alamos but don't have time to type it all out. PM me and I will shoot you my phone #

ViperScale . wrote: Most areas outside NC have close bolts. NC is by far the worst state I have climbed in as far as bolt spacing. I have not climbed at a ton of places on the west coast but everywhere I have been has had bolts really close together. 

Agreed.  Except Pinnacles in CA...  Most of the routes are run out and rated "R" or "X"

Seems like the northern route is the unanimous winner with ten sleep as the big destination.  Maybe some hiking in the wind river range and climbing in Utah as additional stops along the way.  Devil's Lake only adds 12 miles to the trip so we'll probably stop there and check out the infamously slippery climbing.  

Weather: I'm guessing the humidity is the big factor since, suprisingly, both ten sleep and horseshoe canyon ranch have the same avg high (~89) in july.

Mosquitoes: I hadn't even thought about them, yikes.

Thanks again!

Michael Palmer wrote:

Mosquitoes: I hadn't even thought about them, yikes.

The climbing in the Uintas is at 10500' in pine forests with numerous wet areas and about 50000 lakes that gets covered by 20' of snow in the winter. Plenty of breeding pools.

Needles of Rushmore has a lot of interesting easy routes under 5.10, but very few of those are closely bolted. Worth a trip if you have never been though. There is good bouldering to be had too.

Spearfish is kind of the opposite. It was bolted well, with safe falls without being over-bolted. However, if you don't climb at least 5.10 you are gonna miss out on most of the good climbing.

Michael Palmer wrote:

Hi

I want to revive this thread to get some opinions on climbing destinations for my cross country moving trip this July.  I'll have about two weeks to make the trek from Pennsylvania to Arizona.

I could go north and visit South Dakota (Needles, Spearfish), Wyoming (Devil's Tower, Ten Sleep, Wild Iris), and Utah (SLC and/or Moab)

Or I could take the southern route and revisit  Seneca, NRG, RRG then visit Jackson Falls and maybe Horseshoe Canyon.

For the climbing stops on this trip, I'd like to be able to get a lot of mileage on closely bolted sport routes 5.7 to 5.10a by spending a day or two at each spot.

I'll do my own research on this too but if anyone has any info, anecdotes, or funny stories about the bolt spacing, easy routes, or summer climbing along these routes, i'd like to hear it--

• Needles of Rushmore
•  Spearfish
• Ten Sleep
• Wild Iris
• SLC Crags
• Los Alamos Crags
• Jackson Falls, IL
• Horseshoe Canyon Ranch

Trip Plans:

Thanks

For the 2 in the list that I know:

• Ten Sleep - go there. You'll get everything you're looking for & then some. The guidebooks prints in bold letter on like the 3rd page "Bolt the planet". They give no shit about some lost-in-the-80s trad climber complaining about safety & everyone being a wuss - they fully accept their wussiness, bolts every body length and go send boy. Plus you get long routes and not too cruxy in general. Go there. You can chase the shade and for the most part you'll be climbing in the afternoon (for shade) meaning you can sleep in. What's not to like?
• Spearfish - wouldn't necessarily recommand for your profile/expectations. IMO Spearfish is awesome if you're climbing at least 11 on lead, preferably also able to dable in easy 12s and want to get off the beaten path a bit. I think to get full value though, you would want to be able to dable in 13s and be a relatively solid 12 climber. Routes tend to be a bit cruxy and the grades may feel stiff, with at times cryptic beta and not a lot of chalk... so you need to figure shit out yourself. It's only 3 hours from Ten Sleep though, you may want to level up a bit in Ten Sleep then give it a try. You could always get back to TS or move on if it doesn't work out, as I think it won't based on what you're looking for. The other thing is that there are some really nice 10s in Spearfish, however a number of them are just kind of average. I don't remember any 9s that really stuck in my mind and I may or not have seen an 8 in the guidebook.... so...
• You mentionned Devil's tower in your intro but not in your list - don't go there there's no bolts (unless you also have a trad rack - in which case absolutely go there it'll be awesome).

I'll be TS/Devils/Wild Iris at some point in July  - if you want/remember let me know perhaps we can meet at some point. We're a couple of crazy frenchies driving out west as well for the summer...

Guy Keesee wrote: ..... but sometimes having bolts 2 feet apart is a good thing... esp if its to keep you off the deck. 

Yes, definitely.  Or swinging into the wall (roofs),  or a dihedral, or working a crux, or soft rock, et cetera, et cetera.

It's Sport Climbing, fer crying out loud, it's supposed to be safe.   

There are also plenty of bolted Traditional climbs (usually bolted on lead with a hand-drill, usually on slabs, usually on granite, and usually older) where the bolts are far apart,  never at the crux, and falling isn't recommended.   Don't confuse the two.