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Hi Guys,
I went out with my husband climbing at Mountain Quarry today and noticed some new climbs on the Penthouse/PlayBoy wall. Appears to look that Redback and Black Slab have now been bolted, plus 2 extra climbs. Just wondering if you have any information on the climbs, grades etc.
Greatly Appreciated,
Kristal Stys
Had a look down the line just to the right of Aerobics with alan. Not a great example of neat and tidy bolting!, seriously messy!(glue smeared in a decent sized ring around each bolt), the ring bolts on the anchor are not even close to being recessed, one has 2cm of shaft out of the wall!!( and glue all over the place).A big of pride people!!
Mark,
The mess was the result of a very bad day. First set of glue did not mix due to a problem with the tube, the second sent in the gun, then the mixing bag split (Bolts already on half of the routes so they needed to be finished). You get the picture.
I am still to return to tidy up the mess; I will sort it over the next few months.
I am going to put some separate rings via chains as I noticed ware on the bolts at the top already, which is a bit of a worry.
As for the grades;
The single route on the LHS of the cave thing – We recon an 11
There is a single blot to protect the trad route, though I would advise you abb down and give it a look over first!
You then have two 15 and another 11 all as yet to be named and should be in the next book.
Again apologies for the mess
Ash
What sort of glue are you using ?
If you have problems with the basics (mixing, glue tubes) how good are you are cleaning the hole and ensuring there is no air trapped in there when you glue the bolt ?
An abseil inspected grade 11 trad route with one bolt ???? wtf ???
And retro bolting is ok now I take it ?
It is not the best form to retrobolt Mike Adams routes from 1965…..
Bolting that looks like an ugly mess from the outside suggests you don’t know what you are doing and there will be a bunch more problems withe the glue/hole/bolting on the inside that you can not see.
Retro bolting is not cool!
The Sika tube was the issue, one part did not come out hence the mix went wrong.
Each of the holes was fully cleaned before we started, again. The mix was piped in sections so that any airlocks could be removed. Next time I am going to use the glass tubes, less time and less mess.
As a check before we left I tried to pull each bolt out of their hole as well as taking a small fall, and tugging from left to right etc. Nothing moved and there were no signs of any fractures in the resin. This was done after the recommended curing time in case your wondering.
As for the retro bolting, I have yet to see anyone do the route though people were interested in trying a few times. Given the loose rock we found near the top you’d have to be nuts to do it at the mo. Hopefully when its been cleared of loose rock we will see people on it again, thus removing traffic from other routes in the quarry.
When I do get back there to remove the reminder of the loose rock I will attempt to tidy up my mess on the other routes, top rings included.
I’m sorry, since when did retrobolting become ok because you haven’t seen anyone attempt the climbs ?
As said by Ross in another thread, it sounds like the routes already have a FA and names. Sometime soon they will loose their bolts too I am willing to bet.
It’s a fair stretch of wall. Be amazed if anyone even knows where the old lines were. Though one of them crossed Aerobics with Allan which I guess you will also chop.
Hey ‘Friend of Numbat’! Are you really??? Show me your termites!
I think if any of the ol’ timers complain, then lets chop the bolts and tie Ash down on an ant-hill and cover him in mayonnaise. (mmmm ants… almost as good as termites! A bit crunchier however.)
Otherwise, who cares? No one has hardly ever climbed there and I have never seen anyone ‘lead’ the climbs there. So what if someone soloed it 40 years ago? Good on ’em! I remember soloing up there a few times 30 years ago (when I was young and silly. Now I’m just old, demented, arthritic and … I forgot what else…) as there is no natural protection. Same with Penthouse, and Pink Knickers, Caledonian Way and other climbs. Having soloed up there ages ago, doesn’t mean that everyone has to now.
My only concern is whether or not the bolts are safe and the place isn’t a complete mess from the blobs of glue splattered everywhere. But Ash wrote that he plans on cleaning it up, so if he does, then well and good!.
Pink Knickers doesn’t have any natural pro ?
Numbat rhymes with Dumbat I am thinking.
A lead ascent by Mike Adams in 1965 is something not to be retrobolted. Don’t blame me if you can’t read a route description to find the line. It is fing obvious ! If you were Mike wearing hiking boots which bit of the wall would you climb ?
Once again, arguments like “no one leads it” and “there is no pro” do not justify retrobolting.
What a bunch of girls.
Since when is it ok to spread glue mess everywhere and say “I’ll clean it up in a few months” ?
OK, bad grammar… I didn’t mean to say that PK has no natural pro – it has plenty – but that just because a climb has been soloed by someone (or ‘lead’ without any pro of any sort), there is is no reason for it not to be bolted properly by someone – if there is no reasonable natural pro – or lead by someone using natural pro.
As for the mess, well, if Ash cleans up all the splattered glue, then good. If not, then he needs a kick up the you-know-what. But I’m willing to give him a chance to do so before changing my climbing shoes for steel-caps.
sigh, topic of the month is retro-bolting. that means next month it will be chipping, and the month after that it will be the ACZ.
boring…..
Thanks Mark, you just gave me ideas for two new threads.
The cleanup has started!
I popped into the quarry today to make a start on cleaning up the routes. Can I say thanks to whoever cleaned of a lot of the gunk from the top bolts much appreciated.
I’ve made a start at give the routes a cleanup starting with the top rings and their surroundings; it will take a bit of time as I don’t want to damage the rock anymore than I have. Most of the gunk has gone just little speck here and there, which should brush off with the assistance from the weather.
As for the glue around the bolts and other assorted splashes I will do that in due course when I get back to the routes over the next month or so weather permitting.
As for the mess I left, well, I was not too chuffed when the job was done myself or part way through for the record. Given the problems encountered and detailed in brief above I had a choice, leave a half bolted route with the risk of people starting and getting into trouble (It has happened), or get something in and make the area safe and sort the mess out later. I will always take the make safe option, even it if does in tale the fully justified abuse I have been getting.
As for this post I think it’s time to move it to a specific post on the development of the quarry.
Ash
