Wow, what a very fluffy cat!
Writing about climbing is something I’ve chosen not to do over the past few years. It's not that I can't be angry, but the fact is that climbing has changed so much from what I was originally exposed to that I really don't feel like what I'm saying is relevant or has any impact. I'm sure the vast majority of climbers don't understand where I'm coming from because my perspective is that of a dinosaur. They probably don't know what the hell I'm talking about (I'm not sure I know myself). They probably don't care and that's okay, things change and you just go with it or you fight it with your head or you become bitter and drink and end up at UKC Rant on the forums, or maybe you choose to do what I'm doing now; continue to do your thing quietly and pay less attention to the all-encompassing activity you once enjoyed as it has transformed from a fluffy little caterpillar into a giant cabbage-eating moth, (I actually really like moths, so that's a bad metaphor, but I'm sure you get the idea, things change). The time I used to spend writing about rock climbing is now spent annoying cats, which is more relaxing and less stressful!
Most of my writing has become pretty boring over the past few years because I can't get over how horrible and destructive social media is, and my distaste for it is baked into much of my writing, so we'd all be better off without it, especially me, but low down, you see, that's… ARG!
Anyway, yesterday I went climbing at Craig y Forwyn and led The Groan, a fantastic E2 5c that I've climbed many times. Admittedly I didn't climb it before my friend Tim cleared it, but once Tim cleared it I started guiding it at the beginning of almost every visit and it's a pretty good route. It seems a lot of people agree with me; it has had over a hundred logs on UKC since it was cleared and almost without exception everyone has commented on its quality. Around the same time the climb was being groomed, (maybe read UKC log comments later) someone drilled two bolts and glued them on and added rings so the leader didn't have to summit if they didn't want to, as long as they had 60m of rope they could put in a couple of drawers, or a locker and then descend and belay the second rope from the ground.
When I was leading it a few days ago, my climbing partner told me that the lower section might have been chopped off, so we installed a lower section before going down to check it out and found that yes, it had been chopped off.
I've been thinking about felling since climbing The Groan and it intrigued me so much that I stopped teasing the cat and went to the sofa to write something.
I really can't conclude whether cutting the lower price was the right decision? Personally, I think the drilling and gluing of these nail-looking bolts is a very delicate matter and depends on a lot of factors such as its location, rock type, how it affects the feel of the climb, what it's replacing, whether there's other protection available, and other loads. I know this is a rather emotive topic and I have my own opinions, but I'm not prepared to get involved on the internet because, generally speaking, internet debates turn into a bunch of people (some more knowledgeable than others, some more serious than others) shouting and not listening, and I really can't get angry, so I shy away from participating in many online debates about these things because it's a minefield and in my opinion people will never resolve this issue on the internet by putting forward their opinions.
This time, though, I wanted to broach the subject because I find it interesting why someone would suddenly decide to chop off these bolts after they've been in place for about six years? Seriously, I really want to know why you chose to do this, I am neither supporting nor disapproving of your actions, I just find it interesting to know why and why now? Staying silent isn't really going to help the situation, and if you feel so strongly about these bolts, maybe having the courage to stand up for what you believe in and say why you do what you do would help others understand and agree with your actions? I know not everyone will be looking at the UKC logs and feedback, but it would be helpful if just letting people know there are no longer lows and they need to summit or pre-set lows, especially for climbers who regularly do this route and climb it and expect it to be the same as they have been for several years.
Like I said, I don't mind them being chopped off, summiting on this route is not difficult, no different than summiting on other routes, but another question I really want to know the answer to is, why is this route, why is it so low? It seems to me that Forwin has other low-level stuff and bolt glue that might be better suited for chopping than this, but since this was done without dialogue and without (to my knowledge) any notification, no one knows why or can understand why it was done. So, if you are one of the people who canceled the price drop, it would be great if you could leave a comment below and let me know why. It's also good to know if you plan on cutting off any other bolts and lower layers so I don't end up repeating a route and find myself in the middle of no man's land without a paddle.
Yeah, it's probably three years now, so I'm grooming the cats again,
Cheers, Nick.
