Noal, your post is more insightful than you might have known.
Natalie reached out to me about bolt conditions at The Flumes and about maybe doing some rebolting there.
Yes, The Flumes is very heavily used and it's my perception that bolts have failed there because holes are literally failing in some cases. The Flumes are, I think, a sport climbing area in the true sense of that word (closely bolted face climbs so that climbers can focus on the sport and not the danger). There's enough falling and hang-dogging there that bolts are getting used a lot more and a lot more heavily than in most other areas of the park.
All of this is perfectly normal for any sport climbing location, but in my mind it's raising the issue of whether mechanical bolts can work in places like The Flumes for decades or not (most routes there are around 30 years old). Mechanical bolts can come loose and, I think, they can move within a hole when weighted heavily. Enough micro-movement starts to wear tiny, infinitesimal bits of rock and after a hell of a lot of use, the hole itself can become suspect. That's happened in some cases at The Flumes.
I'd suggested to Natalie that maybe glue-ins were a better solution for the long-term at places like The Flumes. I also told her that I know almost nothing about glue-in bolts.
So we've both reached out to Jim Thornberg on this issue. Asking if he could help with some re-bolting at The Flumes.
I had hoped to "recruit" a group of experienced Pinnacles bolt-hole drillers for a weekend day or two and have Jim and any other person he could recruit who has lots of experience with glue-ins help too (you were on the list of possible recruits, by the way).
So two things have happened since. First, Jim thought that he'd rather teach us to properly place glue-ins and plans on doing an instructional day or two this coming spring (in the north Bay Area though). I hope to attend and I know Natalie plans on being there too.
Second, I've found it hard to focus on this project as my efforts at Pinnacles this season have been resolutely on two other things: First, I've been trying to do some pure cragging there so as to keep my interest in Pinnacles climbing as active as it has been. I've had some tremendously enjoyable days of just pure climbing as a result. Second, as always, this guidebook thing tends to dominate the time I have down there (a self-imposed duty if there ever was one).
I haven't paid much attention to the rebolting issues at The Flumes as a result.
Note how most of the names and issues I've described in this post were also in your post?
And by the way, Steve and I have finished assembling the guidebook up to the end of the High Peaks (coincidentally that's route number 1000). Even though it's slow, we are making progress.
