Reply To: New climbs West Cape Howe

Hi Jim (or who ever bolted ‘Dark Arts’),

I am wondering why you’ve placed bolts on ‘Dark Arts’? Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s great there’s a new route, however I managed to find bomber trad placements that were pretty obvious which negated the need for bolts.

The CAWA bolting code states – ‘Fixed protection may only be used on new routes where there is no possibility of arranging protection by removable means, such as slings, nuts and cams’.

The odd unnecessary bolt in a quarry is probably not a huge issue, however somewhere like WCH needs to be treated more sensitively. I also found natural placements for the anchor and there’s actually 5 bolts not 4 as in the description. ‘Vulture St’ is a great example of well placed bolts – only where necessary for runners and anchors.

I suggest that someone from CAWA needs to make an assessment on whether the bolts on ‘Dark Arts’ should be removed. No disrespect, but I want to make sure we look after places like WCH.

Regards
Jonas