Fools' Gold

Hey Reg. I think you should consider the following points: you were climbing well below your limit in a style you are particularly well suited to; you slung that spike with a thin sling which was quite shallow (I could see the whole sling from high at the anchor on Flowers on your grave) which you had clipped 1 m below your feet when pulling the delicate crux moves on the occasional brittle right hand hold; your next piece above was a BD C4 #4 cam. I carried an old style #3.5 and it wasn't big enough for that pod up and left. Beyond that I agree the gear looked good (I even placed a piece above the last bolt). The description in Rock deluxe is exactly the type of route description envisaged by Ewbank when he devised the grading system - it warns of the gear needed, and the rock quality. I think if you choose to remove the bolts then you should certainly update the route description on this page and do it properly including hammering in the bolts (if possible) or removing and filling the bolts (if possible). Otherwise I think simply removing the hangers (and even sawing the bolts) is inappropriate. My vote would be for at least leaving the first bolt now that it is there. I'd also ask you to consider whether you should adopt the same approach in principle and remove the bolt from Warrior. As far as I can see it is a retrobolt.

Climbed this at the weekend on trad gear without clipping the bolts. I was surprised to find that the gear was adequate. It's a little bit unprotected around the first bolt (sling over small flake below the bolt) but after that it goes on good cams in solid rock so I'm not quite sure what the justification for the retro-bolting of this route was? Also I'd say it was more like 18 than 19, certainly a lot easier than some of the other 18's at Charleston. Unless anyone has an opinion (speak up now) I was planning on removing the bolts (except for the top anchors) on my next visit. This would be in-line with its first ascent and the prevailing ethic of Charleston not having bolts where natural gear is available.

Really quality route with nicely technical but not strenuous moves - thoroughly recommended as a trad route.