
Yosemite bolt replacement and Death Block removal (2012) - gerbilly
http://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/climbing/yosemite-bolt-replacement-and-death-block-removal.html
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vhost-
Having removed a couple death blocks myself from climbing routes while doing
maintenance, I can tell you how scary these things are. They are very heavy,
but someone using it as a hand hold can dislodge it very easily.

One block I rapped in on to remove was only being held in place by a stone
about half the size of my hand. All I did was push that stone away and then
lightly pull with a pry-bar and the entire block plummeted and destroyed the
trail I had just performed maintenance on 2 months prior. Better the trail
than a belayer or hiker. The block had chalk all over it, so people used it as
part of the route. It had to go immediately.

If you are a climber and climb outside often, I highly encourage you to donate
some money to the ASCA because they send people who do maintenance new bolts
and equipment to make sure routes are safely climbable.

~~~
KGIII
I don't do much climbing anymore, but I figured it'd be nice to send them a
few bucks. So, that's done.

If anyone else wants to help keep people safe while they climb, even if you're
not a climber, here is the donation link:

[http://www.safeclimbing.org/help.htm](http://www.safeclimbing.org/help.htm)

They even give you stuff, if you donate more than $25. Somehow, donations
sometimes 'feel' more meaningful when you know you're not really going to
benefit from it.

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snowwrestler
"The problem with society is, everyone wants to build things, but no one wants
to do maintenance." \- Kurt Vonnegut

I remember when Chris McNamara founded the American Safe Climbing Association
to fund bolt replacements. It was such an obvious idea in retrospect--
something the American Alpine Club should have thought of years before. I
think they're affiliated now somehow. But it seems almost certain that they
have saved the lives of some climbers by doing maintenance.

~~~
Stratoscope
> "The problem with society is, everyone wants to build things, but no one
> wants to do maintenance."

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15526878](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15526878)

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steveax
Roger Brown is a solid human. Replacing old fixed gear is mostly a thankless
task, but Roger just keeps fixing things.

[https://web.stanford.edu/~clint/rep/08614.htm](https://web.stanford.edu/~clint/rep/08614.htm)

~~~
Sujan
Meh Photobucket.

~~~
jannes
Such a shame.

Why wouldn't he have hosted the pictures on stanford's server alongside the
HTML? They should have the resources to host a few JPEGs...

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Faaak
Curious question: Why are electric drills not allowed but manual drills are ?

~~~
DugFin
The idea is that the sound of an impact drill adds to the noise pollution of a
supposedly "natural" area, and that they're "too easy" so they result in a
proliferation of bolts in the rock. There's a lot of argument back and forth
on the subject in places like Yosemite, where it sees so much traffic that it
could hardly be called natural anymore. Personally, I'd rather hear 12 seconds
of a Li-ion rotohammer than 30 minutes of some dude whacking a hand drill with
a hammer, and since they make better holes, a rotohammer drills more
symmetrical holes and is going to let the bolt seat better and it won't result
in a proliferation of cratered out rock where old bolts pull out and have to
be replaced by drilling new holes next to it. It's a touchy subject for a lot
of folks. Some don't like "permanent" protection at all, but in places they
don't allow bolts you end up with "temporary permanent" nylon slings tied
around rocks all over the place. Doesn't really seem better.

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rav
Needs (2012) in the title.

~~~
dang
Thanks! missed that one.

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nickwanninger
Was going to say that this was a joke about MacOS bugs, but then I opened the
article. :P

~~~
zakk
I’m relieved to see I am not the only one!

