You could get away with using them on route tops, out of sight in the trees etc.
Quote from: kc on April 12, 2016, 10:32:47 pmYou could get away with using them on route tops, out of sight in the trees etc.Isn't that exactly what is being proposed?
Lower off's down the Dale are a bit of a mixed bag, so the BMC have managed to obtain a supply of stainless steel maillons and rings which can be retro-fitted to existing good belay bolts. The plan here is to help make lowering off safe and easy, whilst saving wear and tear on the bolts themselves (saving a lot of work and expense in the longer term). It's a system which has worked extremely well where it has been used before (Upper Pen Trwyn) and is less visually intrusive than a chain belay. What's needed is people to check over belays and if they think they are needed, fit the parts. This can be done in the course of climbing a route as per normal. Areas which have been flagged as potentially needing these the most are the Embankment and the Cornice. Peak Area Chair, Rob Greenwood has helped put together a Google doc which can be used to keep a record, starting with the most climbed routes according to the other channels logbook database.Some of these routes might not have lower off's, or share them, and there's probably some really good routes which aren't on the list - I'm happy for the more knowledgeable to make changes to the list so I've left it open for editing.How's this going to work then? We can have a stash of rings which people can PM me to get hold of, but it might help if folks who go down the Dale a lot took some with them to either fit themselves, or hand out to other people down there. PM me if you fit the bill.Make sure you update the Google Doc, and you can help the process even if you don't have the rings by flagging up routes which need them.Finally, I have a small amount of spare rings and low stretch rope which might be useful for routes with tree belays/lower offs. The same process applies, flag up a route if you do it and it needs the belay sorting, likewise you can pm me if you plan on doing a flagged route and are happy to spend time fixing the belay.
No that is not how it reads and many of the routes listed are in full view.
IMO the darl/countdown belay bolts are old rusty and horrendous and an accident waiting to happen
On the most part these are not a welcome sight down Chee dale. It seems to go against the efforts that have been made to reduce the visual impact of fixed gear. You could get away with using them on route tops, out of sight in the trees etc......But really we should spend more effort replacing all fixed chains and crabs with a proper pair of lower off bolts. We even have the gear, lots of it waiting, sat there in my garage tripping me over.Oh but that won't happen so just do what's easy and worsen are relationship with the wildlife trust even more.
It's all just talk and don't try to say other wise. There's been two workshops so far that has resulted in only a handful of completed routes, about a days worth or less of what Gary would do.
This thread finally started getting somewhere. I'll trial some grey spray paint. Guy, your PM didn't arrive, maybe the forum email is broken? FB me or chat in the pub about it.
It'll wear off pretty quickly I'd guess.
Surely the paint would come off the ring first time it's used which would be straight after fitting.
As I've already heard of 2 routes which need new belays (Darl and The Sissy) I'll run a bolting workshop for those who've already expressed an interest in sorting these out, which will be open for anyone wanting to get involved/refresh their knowledge.