...X in the new book, it seems like a bolt should be added as a protection point near the tree. But I would not even consider doing that without the express permission of a first ascentionist.
Do you still live close enough to Pinns that you could go look at the situation? Are you still climbing? Do you still live close enough to Pinns that you could go look at the situation? Are you still climbing? Any thoughts on what you would like to see done if you are not around yourself? It is a fine route and I for one would like to see it continue without the dreaded X rating."
TWO (Tim to me): "Thanks again for reaching out. I am currently living in Salt Lake, still climbing, and still putting in new routes.
That lead was one of the scariest of my life. I do not know how I managed to get both hands free to drill. I did not use hooks, did not know about that technique. Did not know much about anything!!
We were operating in a vacuum.
That said, I like my routes to be safe. No point in excessive risk. Especially with that rock quality. So feel free to add bolts to any of my routes to make them safe."
THREE (me back to Tim): "Tim, thanks for being open minded about this. I will pass on your thoughts to John and he and I will talk more about what to do. As an example, it is probably critical that any bolt added to replace the tree as a protection point be added low enough that a climber clips it before they might grab the tree as a handhold (so that if the tree then fails, well you get the picture).
I will report back to you, hopefully with a photo or two if/when John does add a bolt. I suppose I should also post to Mountain Project so that readers there do not get an idea that the bolt was just added randomly."
On November 21, 2021 I finally got to Chimney Sweep with Jenn Wang.
I inspected Swept Away from the ground before we climbed. My first observation was that the tree is now dead. Similar species of oak nearby all have green leaves and photos of this tree on the route have green leaves in shots Noal posted to Mountain Project some years ago. There is no green at all on the tree now. All the leaves are brown.
So this issue alone (the tree now dead) would probably compel some action.
But what about the issue John raised, the tree's lack of support in the rock? Well, from the ground there's an obvious fracture running straight down from the base of the tree. That's worrisome. And upon inspection from above and actually at the tree? Holy wow! Yeah, John, I see what you mean. My closer inspection showed fractures to both sides of the tree horizontally and, yes, a serious fracture below it. And rock that was being pried out from the main face. Fists thumping on the rock near the tree sounded like styrofoam.
My estimate is that, even if the tree were alive, a fall onto it (if tied off as protection) would more likely than not dislodge the large flakes it was growing behind and either dislodge the tree or even break it off. If this occurred, a climber would likely continue another 35 feet and hit the ground. The falling flakes could badly injure a belayer.
As John suspected, this tree has become an illusory protection point. Maybe it was adequate once (I tied it off when I led the route in the early '90s), but it no longer is.
With Jenn's help I looked at the possibility of adding a bolt to the route as close to the tree as possible (with Tim's express permission).
The idea being that, with the tree failing, the bolt will be actual, not illusory protection at the same place on the climb.
Finding a place to drill proved challenging. Tapping in the area with a hammer was terrifying. If the rock around the tree had looked loose, the tapping made it all seem much looser, much worse. "Thunk" is not a good sound when looking for decent rock in which to drill.
After some work, I finally found good rock three feet to the right from the base of the tree and two inches higher in elevation. I placed a bolt. I think this new bolt will be exactly as clipable for a leader as the tree was and it's within two inches of the tree's base in height. But the rock left no choice regardless - the bolt had to go in good enough rock so that it too wasn't going to be an illusion.
I got it done, a 3/8 inch stainless bolt that I would give a "6" in quality (on a scale where a 1 will barely stay in the rock and a 10 is the best rock possible). I'm satisfied and would gladly use it for protection if I were ever to lead the route again.
