Reply To: Another route at Gibraltar Rock, following on from Dinosaur

@ John
Fair enough, so it doesn’t share as many caves as I thought  Do you know anyone who has done Bjorn/Jim’s route Zepplin ?

@ Ang and Tim
If you are not sure where Dockyard Wall goes, I kindly suggest you figure out where it does before you bolt anything else that may share similar ground. Retrobolting is not just placing bolts on an existing line. It is also placing bolts “near” an existing line that may negatively influence the climbing experience or character of the original route. This is a little vague as it depends a lot on the route / crag. E.g quarry clip ups can have neighbours as little as 1m away and I expect it would be fine. However something like Dockyard Wall is a fairly special experience in WA climbing and a lot of that comes from climbing alone in a sea of granite with no options to scamper 1m or even up to 10m either side to clip or escape to a bolt on another route. As eluded to by some of the locals and others who have climbed the route – it deserves some (considerable) respect. Please ensure your activities keep this in mind as a very high priority. Given the cluster that occurred at Peak Head I would have expected some sensitivity to these issues.

Apologies if this comes across harsh or like a troll as sometimes it’s hard to get the right emotion across on the internet. But I guess myself and some others are a bit worried. The West Face of Peak Head is one of the most special places in WA climbing. Indeed bolting was stopped at Peak Head for a long time after the original routes and only reinstated after considerable consultation by Ross and others. I would think that more than a few people contemplated bolting the line that was retrobolted (I know I did), but I suspect everyone top roped it, checked all the guide BOOKS and talked to others before deciding against it. Same goes for Dockyard Wall. This route has one of the biggest reputations in WA climbing given the nature of the first ascent and it’s boldness. Maybe the grade is somewhat passé these days… but I’m still sure that anyone who leads it is pretty psyched up for the experience. There is no shortage of rock on the south coast that has plenty of blank spots for new routes with nil chance of impacting existing lines. So get out there and have fun. But please be careful. If you are not sure, climb the existing routes first or get someone who knows involved before the bolts go in.

Mini guide – maybe tidy up the descriptions when you have climbed all your new lines and send me an email and pics and I can update the existing Porongurps mini guide. Same goes for Raven and anything else people are doing. I don’t have any great pics of the east face of Gibraltar so post some up if you do.