Was setting this route up for a friend to top rope, but when I got to the top I saw that the ring nuts were really loose, so i tugged on the one and it came about a centimeter an a half out, i then notied that it had been tightened to the end of the thread already. Checked the other bolt which had similar issues so down climbed the route. The shackels apeared not to be rated either, please people the local hardware store is not the place to buy climbing equipment, esp if you going to leave it up there. So until ARF gets round to lakeside i strongly suggest you give this route a miss!!!! Esp if you climb 16

Hi

The shackle is mine, it is rated, just old It's been on my harness for years, never had to use it before.

While the one bolt is loose, it won't come out. The real problem is that the rings are screwed on to the end of the expansion bolts (This route is the only place I've seen this) and the expansion bolts are too long, and they project into the rings, making it difficult (read impossible) to get your rope through them.

Someone had tried to fix the problem by placing a U-bolt onto one of the rings, but they had placed it with the U-part through the ring and the locking bar at the bottom. So when you fed your rope through it, your rope runs over the locking bar and unscrews it... ...and you are only lowering off one anchor...
I guess that whoever put the U-bolt up there is really brave to lower off on only one anchor...

I have some hangers with rings and have been meaning to put them on the route just haven't been back for a while

Meanwhile did you see that on the route to the right, the hanger is missing from the third (or possibly 4th) bolt, making a huge leadout to the next one bolt, with a very good chance you'll deck!

I climbed Pinnacle Route on Saturday and took my first ever outdoor lead fall (been climbing about two months) above the bolt with the missing hanger. Hit the ledge under the bolts on my way down - nasty. The ring at the top of the route is also very rust, which is probably fine strength wise, but not so nice to the rope as you lower off.

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I don't think, therefore I'm Not

Hi guys
Although the pinnacle route is not the best quality route at Lakeside, it is still climbed a lot.
I have inspected the bolts/hangers/anchors on most of the routes at this venue and they show clear and definite signs of corrosion. Please people, treat this climbing area with extreme caution until ARF can get to it. In other words, feel free to backup anchors with trad gear if you're toproping (also, please don't just toprope off the anchors, clip the draw into the bolt below the anchors for added backup). Hardware that has looked better has broken in the past. We can expect more of this.

I would suggest that if these are your redpoint grades don't spend lots of time hang-dogging.

This is a good time to ask folk to please donate to ARF, and support the guys when they go out to replace bolts. It's usually a small number of regulars, they could use your help. Remember that most of the folk working for ARF climb grades way above that which is at Lakeside, but they're still prepared to put in the graft to make easy-graded areas safe. Give 'em a hand. Look out for notifications on CapeRockNews, and ClimbZA.

The pinnacle route IMHO should simply be chopped. The entire edifice will eventually end up on Boyes drive anyway. Rather like Hallucination wall at Monteseel the gap between it and the rest of the crag is slowly widening. Its seems silly to go clambering up something that is obviously unstable. The popularity of the route is due to the accessibility of the grade and has nothing to do with quality of climbing experience.

Hopefully the ARF will see fit to just remove the route and not waste precious hardware on substandard creations such as this. Surely the bolting committee (or whatever the steering body that approves routes is called) should apply stricter quality control? There have been so many crappy routes put up in recent times, its a shame that the resources of the ARF will need to be employed to maintain these things. Just because something is easy to climb and accessible to a wider range of the climbing public does not mean that it should automatically sprout bolts. Why cant novice climbers simply be taught how to safely set up topropes? They can then practice on a vast number of crags, not just those that are bolted. One hopes that these novices will quickly hone their skills to the point where they are seeking bigger and better challenges than a puny boulder like the pinnacle. Surely novices wont stay at an entry level of skill indefinitely?? Why then must the cliffs be subjected to the development (bolting) of every easily climbable surface? Development, lets not forget, that does not necessarily guarantee safety for any lenght of time (as is so blatantly demonstrated by recent bolt failures) and which will require ongoing, expensive maintenance further degrading the natural appeal of the cliffs.

I urge all would be bolters to think really long and hard before picking up the drill, if the line is not an absolute classic alongside a whole host of other classice lines, then it just shouldnt be bolted period! Come on people, I know that nice shiny new drill is sooo seductive but it's appeal should not make us trigger happy! I must also appeal to the bolting committee as well to take far more stringent measures, than are presently employed, to ensure that all future lines are truly worth the effort it will require to maintain them.

I can understand the idea of: Just set it up on top rope if you are a beginner - but then how on Earth do you learn to lead? At the end of the day, I really appreciate grade 15 and 16 climbs since I can feel really confident while I clip in. I know the obvious response is going to be learn at the gym, which removes one of the main draws of climbing for me - the fact that I'm outdoors, in beautiful places, on rock.

I have decided to donate to ARF, and am trying to convince all the guys who started climbing with me (about two months ago) to do so too. I would really like to volunteer to help, except that the ARF page says bolting volunteers need bolting knowhow - again, how one learns this is a mystery.

I say please do consider putting up easy routes, everyone must start somewhere. The people climbing the easy routes should however help with the maintenance, and support ARF

Thanks ARF for making it safer for us to climb.

BTW is it possible to "sponsor a route"? I'd really like to pay for some routes to be re-bolted (perhaps help do that too). For instance the route I did my first lead on, my first redpoint etc...

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I don't think, therefore I'm Not

Ok, firstly, the group that is involved with handling access and bolting issues is the Sport Climbing Working Group, aka the rock subcom of the MCSA. We don't do this for money (but we'll accept beer and belaying - preferably both, but not at the same time... well... maybe at the same time too).

But I digress...

It is very hard for a bunch of volunteers to police route quality. We try. We come in for flak when trying, mostly 'cos people want to bolt everything in sight. Some quality control is applied, in a genuine attempt at maintaining a standard, and enhancing the safety of all climbers while still encouraging route development in an already crowded crag scene.

Not everyone who puts up bolts applies through this group, although they are supposed to. Yes, we have taken decisions in the past to chop routes, for various reasons. We try hard to be constructive and fair about such decisions. We appreciate the work that bolters are putting in, and fully support them within the limits of the rules (the 'rules' being the Sport Climbing Management Plan, which was created by climbers, for climbers, and which has allowed the continued development of the sport and relatively good relations with National Parks).

There are plenty of easy routes around for beginners to practise their leading. Good routes. Safe routes. That said, there are exceptions, so please take care out there. ARF not only needs skilled bolters, folk who are willing to help will be welcome on ARF meets - they can carry gear, belay, and also learn how bolting works. So feel free to contact any of the ARF guys if you're prepared to help in any way.

Huge thanks to those who have contributed time and beer money to the venture.

Just to clarify; Im not against easier routes going up at all, I have bolted my share of these 'community service' lines and have taken a beginner through the process of bolting his own line. Additionally I am appreciative of the effort put in by Rock subcom and ARF people without whom our scene would be a deathly mess by now (no jokes!).

My point is aimed more at the bolters; please by hypercritical of your choice of line, take longer than you ever dreamed necessary when planning the placements, toprope the thing several times marking your planned placements with chalk, get others to toprope and criticize your line and bolting plan, be open to their criticism. I realise the pickings in the peninsula are slim, perhaps there are already enough routes (as much as the cliffs can hold) at the existing crags? In this way we have some hope that the end result will be of the highest caliber and the route worth the effort and expense of maintaining it.

I walked past a local crag last weekend that has some classic lines on it. 6 easy ones and 4 hardish looking, 25+m high, perfect! Do I think it should be bolted? - no. There are too few routes, it is an hour from the car and it is easy to get on top and set up ropes (as we did some years back). We have had many long discussions about what makes or breaks a potential sport crag, surely a set of criteria could be drawn up to at least guide would be route openers?

Guys and gals - please feel free to take the initiative to arrange an ARF meet at Lakeside. You arrange the people and more drills, ARF will bring the bolts and some qualified bolters.

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AndyDavies

Learnt a very important lesson here. A few years back, some person/person's unknown sabotaged all the bolts and anchors they could access. The chains at the anchor stations were hacksawed through almost all the way through the chain links and camouflaged with dirt to hide the cuts. Bolts were either swiped or hammered flat against the rock. Fortunately, the potentially lethal chains were spotted before anyway came short. The lesson? check and double-check the anchors before trusting them!
There was a rumour doing the rounds that charges were laid at the cop-shop against unknown perpertrators for attempted murder. Just a rumour tho'.