[jwi]

Hayden Kennedy and Jason Kruk made a very fast ascent (13 hours from the Col of Patience to the top) of the SE ridge of Cerro Torre at 6c A2, not using Maestri's bolt ladders, chopping the Maestri's bolts from the head-wall (but not on the traverse afaik).  Rumour has it David Lama just freed some version thereof at 8a R.

[slackline]

Hayden Kennedy and Jason Kruk made a very fast ascent (13 hours from the Col of Patience to the top) of the SE ridge of Cerro Torre at 6c A2, not using Maestri's bolt ladders, chopping the Maestri's bolts from the head-wall (but not on the traverse afaik).  Rumour has it David Lama just freed some version thereof at 8a R.

So proud of UKB. Whilst on lesser forums innumerable shitstorms rage over this chopping/ fair means/ freeing saga, on here ... comment?: there is none.

Death of a much loved Patagonian Via-Ferrata by Andy Kirkpatrick.

 

[Jaspersharpe]

 

I have neither the time nor inclination to investigate the shit storm which is presumably raging amongst The Borg but I really don't get how this can be in any way controversial. I'm no expert on this sort of thing but even I know that The Compressor Route was universally condemmed as not a good thing, or at least I thought it was.....

 

[Grubes]

  what jasper said.
The shit storm last time was putting more bolts on a route that many thought should be stripped. Now its been stripped whats the issue?

I got linked a good write up on rock and ice from Jason kruk yesterday on twitter http://rockandice.com/news/1787-cerro-torre-update-official-statement-from-hayden-kennedy-and-jason-kruk yesterday thats worth a read

[Johnny Brown]

There isn't actually that much support on the Borg - maybe two or three arguing for the bolts, none of whom are resident in the UK I think. The Supertopo thread is quite something though - 1000 posts including a few gems, eg the likes of Leo Dickenson, but lots of yanks likening the compressor's bolts to the final ladder on the Nose. ie idiots.

[Nibile]

it must be said that an international commission of alpinists had voted to leave the bolts in place.

[slackline]

The Supertopo thread is quite something though - 1000 posts including a few gems, eg the likes of Leo Dickenson

Well worth reading purely for the historical insight.

[Johnny Brown]

it must be said that an international commission of alpinists had voted to leave the bolts in place.

Hmmm, not sure about that. My impression is it was a committee of people in Chalten. I'm sure there were locals, internationals and alpinists present, but I'm not convinced it represented international alpinists. We've had enough such votes in the UK over bolts to know how hard it is to make such a meeting representative of anything other than the organisers' opinions.

Have you read that Supertopo thread Nibile? What's all the ranting in italian about? I'm not sure how relevant the nationalist schtick is here, but it seems like there are a few italians skipping round the world's forums defending the bolts. I've never felt that comfortable with the treatment Maestri has received either, but there is a world of difference between the appropriateness of a bolted direttissima in the dolomites and the compressor route.

Fascinating story though.

[Nibile]

I'll read it and report!

[Nibile]

well, I didn't manage to read the entire thread, but read a few of the Italian posts.
they just seem pointless to me, not particularly in the content, which is a personal point of view and therefore maybe wrong but to be respected, but in the attitude.
the nickname of the poster "fòradaiball" means roughly "piss off".
moreover, replying in Italian on an Eglish forum is very rude to me, and implies the will to take the piss out of the others without them knowing.
those posts defend the bolts, and also mention the fact that I also mentioned about the "democratic" decision of leaving the bolts in place. they say that many many climbers enjoyed the "compressor route" and all the parties who reached the top also via other routes used the "compressor" to get down.
so, as I said, it's not the content, it's the way it's expressed that's stupid and rude.

[Johnny Brown]

Cheers Nibs, interesting! Seemed a bit wierd as the guy clearly has a usable grasp of english.

[ghisino]

What's all the ranting in italian about?

In the days/weeks preceding this bolt removing affair i've read several irritated posts about how garibotti and haley have been arbitrarily changing some toponyms that are linked to maestri (col of conquest, col of patience) as well as an unclear position about another italian ascent by de donà & giongo on Torre Egger (the ascent is not openly labelled as BS but is given very low priority in pataclimb's sketches and reports - later variations sharing most of the climbing with this line are strangely given much more credit and honour)

Of course the two choppers are perceived as Garibotti's followers.

I wouldn't speak of national pride but rather of local pride as the climbers being questioned, the "direttissima" ethic mentioned to defend Maestri's bolt ladders, and the top posters about the whole affair belong more or less to the same regions and climbing culture (italian-speaking part of trentino, veneto, dolomite alpine climbing).

Which is also why some comments like "why are they angry about it, they still have the real 1st asc" (Lecco Spiders) don't get the point: there is no such thing as italian national pride, especially in a local-centered environnement such as mountaineering.
1st, Lecco Spiders are from Lecco, which is in Lombardia, not Veneto.
And even within Lombardia, Lecco climbers and Lecco Spiders (excellence climbing group whose memebership is based on invitation and assembly decision, similarly to rotary clubs or freemasonry) are not popular everywhere.
So someone might even defend Maestri just for the sake of not giving more credit to the Spiders!!!   

Well, shortly put, Italy is complicated sometimes

[ghisino]

edit:
last, consider that maestri's controversial character is probably more appreciated, or judged in a more indulgent way, in italy than elsewhere for reasons that don't belong to national or local pride.
Personally speaking, when i read about the man's history, actions and declariations i can't help but find many parallels with my grandfather, who is two years older, and i'm inclined to feel an indulgent tenderness for the "spider of the Dolomites".
It might be a coincidence, but my wild guess is that many details such as the anarchist/individualist "fuck you all" attitude, the ungraceful/messy way of getting things done at all costs, the stubborness, the extreme machoness regarding women, the exxagerations in speech... all fit a certain cultural mould which is typical of men who where children under fascism and became adults during the war... 

[Muenchener]

significant but not a repeat.

Quite. From what I have read it appears to be two new routes, one with a couple of points of aid and one free, that happen to be quite close an old aid route. 

[BB]

Thanks to the insect overlords for splitting it. Now I can easily identify it as one to ignore. Oh...wait...d'oh! 

[yorkshireman]

how many boulder problems on top of each other is this or is it classed as a route?

[Oldmanmatt]

significant but not a repeat.

Quite. From what I have read it appears to be two new routes, one with a couple of points of aid and one free, that happen to be quite close an old aid route. 

Agree.

Pretty sure the mountain didn't give a toss...

Imagine the telescope you'd need to see the bolts from the ice cap...

I mean, well done for freeing it and all that, but why chop the bolt ladder?

Bloody elitist really "the only people who shall stand upon this peak shall be those who can follow my route!"

Can't help but think, it must have been quite a feat, to lug that damn compressor up a bloody mountain...

And, not sure that having put in the effort to free the route, I'd have been inclined to spend time and effort chopping bolts. Seems a little obsessive.

Still, not on my tick list for this summer...

[Johnny Brown]

Quite. From what I have read it appears to be two new routes, one with a couple of points of aid and one free, that happen to be quite close an old aid route. 

Maybe on a sport crag. On Cerro Torre I'd say they were three variations on the south-east ridge.

Climbing is elitist, full stop. The most difficult mountain in the world should not have an artificial easy way up.

[Palomides]

Article now on Kairn (in French, translated from Spanish) I haven't read it all, but it appears to give a pretty full history and has some interviews.

It also has some good pictures, including the (in)famous compressor:


And the removed "bolts":

[galpinos]

Bloody elitist really "the only people who shall stand upon this peak shall be those who can follow my route!"

Isn't that all of climbing?

There are plenty of routes out there from boulder problems to big routes on mountains that are out of my reach due to them being harder than my current ability allows me to climb. I'd prefer for them to stay that way than have them reduced to my level by adding bolts, chipping holds, whatever.

I'm all for leaving things to aspiriation and those more talented/determined/fortunate/actually getting out there and giving it a go etc.

[SA Chris]

I'm all for leaving things to aspiriation and those more talented/determined/fortunate/actually getting out there and giving it a go etc.

Indeed. Not like there isn't a lifetime's worth of amazing things to climb at your grade across the world, regardless of wether your grade is Mod or E xx.

[Davo]

Read this today from Rolando Garibotti. Thought it was a really good analysis of Maestri and his claimed 1959 route up Cerro Torre:

http://pataclimb.com/knowledge/articles/pdf/amtunveiled.pdf

[Stubbs]

More words from David Lama on the free ascents http://rockandice.com/news/1793-tnb-lama-disagrees-with-ct-bolt-chopping

[lukeyboy]

More words from David Lama on the free ascents http://rockandice.com/news/1793-tnb-lama-disagrees-with-ct-bolt-chopping

Haven't seen the term "clusterfuck" used in a journalistic piece before. Nice touch.

[El Mocho]

pretty level response from Lama, sounds like he has learned a lot (both in terms of climbing and ethics) from the bolt adding year. also says it is hard for 13b yowsers, and 10m+ runouts on 5.12 climbing yowsers again!