Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Aug 20, 2011 - 06:13pm PT
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Touch them all...Bumps, that is
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Kris Gorny
Trad climber
Rochester, MN
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Sep 15, 2011 - 09:23am PT
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As of August '11 there are NO bolts on Superpin. Zip. Henry Barber had them all chopped. Check out updated route description and related posts on Mountain Project
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Sep 15, 2011 - 03:36pm PT
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Henry don't need no stinkin' bolts!
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Patrick Oliver
Boulder climber
Fruita, Colorado
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Sep 15, 2011 - 05:40pm PT
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Yes I saw the other thread. IF any of this is true, and
Henry did recently chop a bolt, well, I would tend to respect
the judgment of someone of his ability. I know Henry, have
climbed with him many times, and he was one of climbing's
true genius free climbers. I think he would see an added bolt,
on a climb as significant as Super Pin, as a desecration,
while I understand others would see it as a way to make a
climb accessible that would not be otherwise. I understand
both views but support the view of the master, who adheres
to the high principle that we should not bring a climb down
to our level but rather raise ourselves to the level of the
climb. I've done several routes without a bolt to which
climbers later added a bolt (Athlete's Feat, for example,
and Super Slab, in Eldorado). I got tired of arguing the point,
as they would replace their precious bolt if I chopped it,
and only the rock lost. Super Slab, for example, a recent
question was whether or not to change the location of the bolt,
move it up higher to a more strategic place, and make the climb
easier and safer. I voted no, in part because the bolt was
an added one anyway. It shouldn't have been there in the first
place. I did the climb several times with no need of it, then
suddenly everyone needs that bolt... whatever. I'm retired, so
I really have no voice anymore, but our history is worth preserving.
Pete Cleveland did something very special on Superpin, something
more important than whether or not future climbers feel
safe on that route... Best to leave some climbs alone, perhaps?
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funkazzista
climber
Italy
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Sep 26, 2011 - 02:43am PT
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@rgold: I have sent you a message.
Did you receive it?
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jaaan
Trad climber
Chamonix, France
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I went to the Needles in 1978, inspired by a cover of Mountain magazine. We had no guidebook - just some suggestions from Bob Kamps and the Mountain shot (I'm sure Steve will have a scan of it somewhere).
I don't remember anything about the Needle's Eye. I suspect that I never got any higher than where I am in the photo, though could be wrong...? I think maybe I just wanted the photo. I just assumed the route went where the Mountain shot had it. I never suspected that it should be on the outside of the eye. Is there a route where I am? If so where does it exit? How hard is it?
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rgold
Trad climber
Poughkeepsie, NY
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Topic Author's Reply - Jun 9, 2013 - 11:32am PT
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We heard stories that Kor had chimneyed up to the top of the eye and then aided out from there. I think Pat Ament told me that Kor had no memory of doing this, however. In any case, the route, or something close to it, has been freed at 5.9+ (old-school grade warning). Apparently, there is no protection after the top of the eye, and there has been an eighty-foot fall as a consequence. I don't know who did it, nor did Piana when he put it in his guidebook.
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Patrick Oliver
Boulder climber
Fruita, Colorado
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I remember in... about 1970... leading up that Needle's Eye
in the rainy evening, and I knew nothing of the route or which
way to go, only that some route had been done. I climbed to the
very top of the eye, as I recall, leaned out behind me and
made a wildly exposed move onto the south face. I was scared
and had no protection. I thought I must have been on the wrong
route, or else it simply was too unprotected for me. I have a
memory, though, of seeing some kind of horizontal indentation up
to my right that looked as though a piton or two might be driven.
But I carefully reversed the moves and downclimbed that chimney....
Layton certainly never shared with me anything about an attempt
on the Needle's Eye, though I do seem to recall he did some
climbing in the Needles. Not much. I don't think it really suited
him....
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Patrick Oliver
Boulder climber
Fruita, Colorado
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I always wanted to go back but for some reason never did....
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SuperTopo on the Web
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Let us know!