Condor Condiment Rebolting

[NOAL]

     Rebolting Condor Condiment has been on my to do list for quite a while.  About a year or so ago Marco said he would be up for working on it with me.  My busy work schedule was back to normal and Marco was recovering from a finger injury so we both had time to start on the project the first weekend in March.  About 1/2 of the bolts for the route are on the first pitch.  There are 11 total.   Our goal for the first day of work was to replace all 11 and we were successful!  We were able to reuse about half of the holes.  In some cases it was not possible to reuse the original hole due to it being drilled at an extreme angle, deep cratering behind the hanger, or chunks of rock that came out when the bolt was extracted.

    This weekend the weather and our schedules allowed us to return to finish the rest of the route.  Our friend Ryan joined us on this trip.  Ryan has worked on some new routes with Marco but this was his first time rebolting.  Having a third person really enabled us to get the all of the work done on Saturday.  I am super grateful for all of Ryan's and Marco's hard work.  These two guys have a super positive attitude and are hard workers who do excellent work.  We all worked hard ,had a lot of laughs, and even got to do some climbing.  It was a really enjoyable and fun day!

Here's some photos from Saturday.  There's a few in there that I took but most of them were taken by Ryan.

Here we are at the base of the route.  We probably got started a little before 10.


Marco starting the first pitch


Marco starting 2nd pitch

Marco drilling new anchor bolt for Pitch 2


Noal drilling first bolt on pitch 2 while Marco is drilling new anchor bolt.  Note the backpack.  The backpack was heavy and it was comical to watch whoever got the chore to climb with it on.  Like having a midget on your back.  I had it for the first two pitches and then Marco had the pleasure of having it for the next two.   



Marco and Noal replacing the three bolts on the top of Pitch two.  We were able to reuse two of the holes for these bolts.  There's a lot of talk online how the rock quality on this route is not good.  IMO this section is the only part of the route that has poor rock quality but it is protected really well and the bolts are in good rock. If you are a Pinnacles climber most of the holds on every pitch that you need to use are pretty obvious.  All three of us were able to climb the route without pulling anything off.  O.K. that's not entirely true I had a foot hold crumble in the loose section becasue I was wearing the pack and weighed about 300lbs.



Here's Ryan drilling the bolt before the 3rd pitch anchor


We finished up work and all made it to the summit just as the sun disappeared and hiked back to the West Side parking in the dark.

Here's some shots of the old hardware that was removed and a one of the button heads before it got pulled.  The button heads are the really short compression bolts.  They came out super easy.




Much thanks to John Cook for letting us borrow some of his gear and fronting us some bolts to get pitch 1 done while we were waiting for an ASCA resupply.  And of course BIG thanks to Greg Barnes at ASCA for sending us hardware, patch material, drill bits etc.  Greg rules.  If you enjoy having the new bolts on the route make a donation to the ASCA if you can.

Thanks Marco and Ryan!  I really enjoyed climbing and working with both of you!  Hope to have more fun adventures with you in the future.

[squiddo]

Nice work. Time to repeat it again for sure.

[Brad Young]

Re-bolting the entire four pitch route in two days!!??

Hard-core.

Those short, 5/16th inch buttonheads were scary the minute they were put in.

[NOAL]

Re-bolting the entire four pitch route in two days!!??

Having Ryan along was super helpful.  We were able to send him ahead to drill a new anchor bolt and fix a line while we worked on pitch two.  Then we sent him to the summit while we were working on pitch 3,  4/5.

Would love to hear from Waldo any recollections of how they put up the route seeing they were also a party of three.  We were wondering how many days they worked on it and at what point did they just push it to the top.  I'm guessing 3-4 days.  2 days on the first pitch and then one or two for the rest of the route.

[clink]

Thank you! I once tested one of those old bolts while breaking a foothold.

Waldo said it was best to not lean out while clipped to the anchors.

[NOAL]

Did you weigh close to 300lbs?

Waldo's advice was most likely true.  The button heads on the route  could of come out with an outward pull of body weight.

[Marco]

EDIT: previously this was a post about retrobolting in the spirit of April fools, due to not wanting to risk the safety of the 12 older men reading this I have since removed the comment

[Brad Young]

^^^

Are you aware that some innocent people read this forum and do not know (yet) that you are a punk who loves to jest?

Besides, Noal wouldn't have just "voted" no. He would have beaten you with a hammer (thick skull - possibly no effect).

[NOAL]

Edit:

deleted due to stick clip up butt.

[Brad Young]

It's bad enough having to drag that big crowbar up the climb.  Imagine having to have a big stick clip.  Maybe a Via Ferrata style cable across the 4th pitch traverse could be good.  Could do a Via Ferrata with steps cut out and a handrail up the bottom three pitches like the trail......

This made me wince.

About 10 years ago, Bill and Joel and I did a two-plus hour hike up Queen Mountain in Joshua Tree. We intended to and did climb two highly recommended climbs there, both three star routes.

Hiking back out we passed a formation that we had not seen on the way in. It had a steep wall up high that was grid-bolted and, to get to the base of that wall, someone had cut literal steps in the rock (you could see that they'd used a drill to repeatedly put holes right next to each other before "chunking" the rock out). The steps led right up to the base of the relatively new, hard, sport routes. None of this was in the book. Less than 50 feet away was an obvious campsite along with a fire ring and, hard to believe this even as I type it, charred Joshua Tree remnants.

Some months later the Park Service learned of all this. It was my perception that they were not happy with any of it.

The climbing ranger there, Bernadette, publicized the Park Service's displeasure to the climbing community on several internet sites, including Supertopo. Among her more formal comments was this less formal, biting gem making fun of the "need" for steps (paraphrased to my best memory):

"And as to the steps cut in the rock - I walked up the slab next to the steps without using them all while in my ranger uniform and hiking shoes."

Actually, if she posted on Supertopo, this might have been more like 15 years ago.

[NOAL]

I remember seeing that on Supertopo.

I have to say the contrast in traffic on the trail both Saturdays was way different than when I originally climbed this route in 2011 when Pinnacles was a National Monument.  I think then there were maybe less than a dozen people who passed by on the trail.   Sound carries very easily in this area so you can pretty much talk in a normal volume and someone standing all the way over by the Sponge can hear you.

I lead the second pitch that day.  There were two hikers over by the Sponge watching me when I was about mid pitch.  One guy was saying to his friend stuff like" You see that guy...if he falls from there he is gonna die.  What a dumb ass."  The two hikers continued standing there watching talking shit.  Eventually, my climbing partner couldn't take it anymore and shouted out "WE CAN HEAR EVERY WORD YOU ARE SAYING!!!"  I guess he was upset.  I kind of thought the whole thing was funny.

This Saturday we had a lot of people waving , taking photos ,and few asking questions like what are you doing?  The funniest one was a guy trying to impress his lady friends saying " I can do that if the holds are really big"  I told him there's lots of big holds and to come on over and I'd drop a rope down for him.  He changed his mind.

Point is if you pick your nose on this route some hiker is most likely gonna see you do it .So be on your best behavior and definitely don't eat the booger because if you do you'll end up going viral on Instagram or TikTok. 

[Marco]

Maybe a Via Ferrata style cable across the 4th pitch traverse could be good.  Could do a Via Ferrata with steps cut out and a handrail up the bottom three pitches like the trail......

I'm all for it. This would be the time to use a rebolting get together. Everyone hand drilling 2 1/2" holes every two feet so we can get the rebar in ethically.

I thought there was only about a dozen old dudes who actually take the time to read this stuff.

That seems like a generous estimate.

Sound carries very easily in this area so you can pretty much talk in a normal volume and someone standing all the way over by the Sponge can hear you.
...
"You see that guy...if he falls from there he is gonna die.  What a dumb ass."

The best quotes come from climbing on the Monolith. Every dad of the group will then explain to his family how climbing works (it's never correct).
"The amount of chalk shows how difficult the route is", "they place those pieces of metal in the wall on their way up", and "the park supplies the ropes" are some of the top ones I've heard.

[NOAL]

This made me wince.

.

I thought it was the stick clip.

[clink]

Did you weigh close to 300lbs?

 Notwithstanding, when leaning, I weighed about 175lbs at that time. I did carry a big chalk bag though.

[clink]

EDIT: previously this was a post about retrobolting in the spirit of April fools, due to not wanting to risk the safety of the 12 older men reading this I have since removed the comment

 I could only come up with 6. Yep, 6. Did you throw some of us younger middle aged men into that category by mistake? Shame on you!

 On the other hand, but not on the Hand, reading Noal's post while dexterously wielding chop sticks in the company of a vanishing tuna roll and sipping a Sapporo made me realize that some of my early bolts were placed over 40 years ago. Holy flocking sheep!

 Another thing that came to mind is the lack of any first free ascents of aid lines in what seems like ages. Brad, have any established aid routes been freed at Pinns this century?

[NOAL]

   I could only come up with 6. Yep, 6. Did you throw some of us younger middle aged men into that category by mistake? Shame on you!

I originally posted the number of 12 with myself included.  I turn 50 this year and almost all the hair on my head is grey.  I'm an old man and you are too.

  I did carry a big chalk bag though. 

Maybe it had rocks in it like Marco's backpack.

[clink]

I turn 50 this year and almost all the hair on my head is grey.  I'm an old man and you are too.

 My complaint was dished out tongue in cheek, and I was waiting to be called out on it by one of the dear over 60 persons who knows my own proximity to the age.  I turn 60 next month and have been treating being barely on this side of that passage as glorious! Which is relatively meaningless. 

 I didn't expect the 50's to be so great and feel so young!

 

Maybe it had rocks in it like Marco's backpack.

 Brad was shaking his head at rocks in my backpack pouch, he said something about replacing the ones I'd lost out of my head. What were Marco's rocks about?

 I remember going to the climbing gym with my large chalk bag and looking at all the small chalk bags and feeling like I was wearing a sweater while all the cool kids were wearing vests. At the bottom of my bag there always seemed to be, broken fragments of Pinnacles routes.

[NOAL]

My complaint was dished out tongue in cheek,

Tongue in cheek is not allowed here but stick clip in old man's butt definitely is.

[clink]

 You just made me involuntarily clench.