High wire anchor removed, White Rock NM

My anchor for a high wire set up has been removed. It consisted of 11 pitons near the edge of pajarito gorge in White Rock, NM. I imagine it looked totally over kill to a climber, but it was to secure a steel cable which had over 6000lbs of tension on it. If someone thought that this was abandoned gear, it was not. I did not want to scar the rock by placing and removing the pins every time I set up the wire. If you know anythiing about the whereabouts of this iron please let me know.

thanks jamie hamilton

P.S. This is a pic of the pins supporting the rest of the rig from the last time I set up the wire.

Pic of high wire anchor

Out of total curiosity, why didn't you just drill a couple bolts? Is there some kind of anti-bolting ethic there?

Very cool picture, beautiful work. Sorry to hear about the gear.

I have your pins. I'll get them back to you somehow. PM me.

I pulled them because they were an eyesore, they appeared to be abandoned property of no particular function (my friend and I kept tabs on them for nearly a year before I decided to yank them), and they possibly created an attractive nuisance, in a relatively high-traffic area used by hikers, rock and ice climbers, and canyoneers/rappellers. Eleven fixed pins at eye level, really?

You may want to seriously rethink the installation of an anchor such as this. Your setup is located in the middle of a residential neighborhood (albeit on County Open Space land), in a town that has suffered decades of debate within the climbing community about the appropriateness of installing permanent anchors at the numerous crags that are popular with top-rope outings. Although the White Rock bolt-anchor debates have simmered down lately, visually obnoxious installations such as this one don't help, even if it wasn't used for climbing per se.

//Also, some of those pins came out with only a single sideways tap, so...

jamie Hamilton wrote:My anchor for a high wire set up has been removed. It consisted of 11 pitons near the edge of pajarito gorge in White Rock, NM. I imagine it looked totally over kill to a climber, but it was to secure a steel cable which had over 6000lbs of tension on it. If someone thought that this was abandoned gear, it was not. I did not want to scar the rock by placing and removing the pins every time I set up the wire. If you know anythiing about the whereabouts of this iron please let me know. thanks jamie hamilton P.S. This is a pic of the pins supporting the rest of the rig from the last time I set up the wire.

Chris Wenker wrote:I have your pins. I'll get them back to you somehow. PM me. I pulled them because they were an eyesore, they appeared to be abandoned property of no particular function (my friend and I kept tabs on them for nearly a year before I decided to yank them), and they possibly created an attractive nuisance, in a relatively high-traffic area used by hikers, rock and ice climbers, and canyoneers/rappellers. Eleven fixed pins at eye level, really? You may want to seriously rethink the installation of an anchor such as this. Your setup is located in the middle of a residential neighborhood (albeit on County Open Space land), in a town that has suffered decades of debate within the climbing community about the appropriateness of installing permanent anchors at the numerous crags that are popular with top-rope outings. Although the White Rock bolt-anchor debates have simmered down lately, visually obnoxious installations such as this one don't help, even if it wasn't used for climbing per se. //Also, some of those pins came out with only a single sideways tap, so...

Thanks for removing those pins Chris! I grew up in LA in the seventies/eighties and remember the controversy that climbing caused. Those pins and their location are total BS!

took errr jerbbss/

looks like a good place to put bolts just a little to the right

or

you leave the pins and just don't leave the webbing cluster chillin

orrrrrrrrr

either way... don't leave all that webbing there.

I rig highlines. I wouldn't dare leave my anchor webbing just lying around at the anchors.

at least he's willing to give you your stuff back

I would like to commend Jamie Hamilton and Chris Wenker for using this forum to communicate. They have both set a good example by acting as adults and following the one rule we all should follow. Thank you Gentlemen.

Jeremy Aslaksen wrote:You left it there for a year and are now whining about it being "missing"? Sounds like booty to me son.

Since when are fixed anchors booty? I've come across many anchors in my life, most of which had been there for many years, and have never taken one.

safetyfourth wrote:either way... don't leave all that webbing there.

I was under the impression only the pins were left there, which I don't think would have been that bad an eyesore. But yes, if the webbing was left too, that's pretty rude.

Chris, I do agree with David: why would you go to the effort of pulling all the pins without asking about it here first? I'm not necessarily saying you were in the wrong, but a 30-second post would have saved both you and Jamie a lot of effort and inconvenience.

BTW, here's the 2010 amendment to the bolting agreement to the LA area: lamountaineers.org/pdf/Bolt…. Note there are no bolt restrictions in Pajarito gorge. If it were me, I'd contact the LA Mountaineers, go install a few bomber bolts, and call it a day.

When you take gear from a crag, it is most likely stealing.

Jeremy Aslaksen wrote: Ha. You left it there for a year and are now whining about it being "missing"? Sounds like booty to me son. Just saying... JA

So do you regularly steal people gear as well when it pleases the ego? That's nice, I already knew you were a ridiculous troll, but now we can add thief your list. You must be the new Alf, except you can't climb and are not brilliant. Next time before you post, don't: you have never once helped the situation come to an amicable end, you are not entertaining, and you make trad-climbers look bad.

Christian "crisco" Burrell wrote:Out of total curiosity, why didn't you just drill a couple bolts? Is there some kind of anti-bolting ethic there?

There's tons of bolts in White Rock....not sure this rig was so necessary

Ian Stewart wrote: Since when are fixed anchors booty? I've come across many anchors in my life, most of which had been there for many years, and have never taken one. I was under the impression only the pins were left there, which I don't think would have been that bad an eyesore. But yes, if the webbing was left too, that's pretty rude. Chris, I do agree with David: why would you go to the effort of pulling all the pins without asking about it here first? I'm not necessarily saying you were in the wrong, but a 30-second post would have saved both you and Jamie a lot of effort and inconvenience. BTW, here's the 2010 amendment to the bolting agreement to the LA area: lamountaineers.org/pdf/Bolt…. Note there are no bolt restrictions in Pajarito gorge. If it were me, I'd contact the LA Mountaineers, go install a few bomber bolts, and call it a day.

Why would Chris feel the need to post on MP? I doubt most rock climbers even know of this site.

J Q wrote:When you take gear from a crag, it is most likely stealing. So do you regularly steal people gear as well when it pleases the ego? That's nice, I already knew you were a ridiculous troll, but now we can add thief your list. You must be the new Alf, except you can't climb and are not brilliant. Next time before you post, don't: you have never once helped the situation come to an amicable end, you are not entertaining, and you make trad-climbers look bad.

Oh, and JQ calling someone who uses their real name a troll is ironic.

Since the OP's conundrum has been solved, here is a sick video of him climbing some hard shit at the Gunks:

vimeo.com/30287711

Video by Christian Fracchia

"...except you can't climb and are not brilliant."

Aslaksen's trip reports suggest otherwise.
Can't recall seeing one from you JQ.

jamie Hamilton wrote:My anchor for a high wire set up has been removed. It consisted of 11 pitons near the edge of pajarito gorge in White Rock, NM. I imagine it looked totally over kill to a climber, but it was to secure a steel cable which had over 6000lbs of tension on it. If someone thought that this was abandoned gear, it was not. I did not want to scar the rock by placing and removing the pins every time I set up the wire. If you know anythiing about the whereabouts of this iron please let me know. thanks jamie hamilton P.S. This is a pic of the pins supporting the rest of the rig from the last time I set up the wire.

Have walked my share of highwires and also regularly climb basalt and I gotta say that, structurally, the rock in the pic makes me a little queasy thinking about cranking a wire down hard against it. But then what can you really tell from a picture...

Here is a link to a video of one of Jamie's wire walks of Pajarito Gorge: arecibo.c1h2.net/movies/paj…

That's fantastic, Darien. Thanks for sharing the link to the video. I'm glad to hear Jamie can get his pins back.

As an aside, something I'd really love to see for that gorge is a cleanup of all the residential junk that's been tossed down in there. It's pretty sad. I'm afraid, though, that the junk would pile up time after time anyway.

Yes, Jason, that gorge is a mess! Chuck and I rapped all the way down last week to climb on those lower (loose!) cliffs....anyway, it would take quite an effort to remove the accumulated junk...but count me in if any kind of cleanup is organized.

I would be down to help with a clean-up. Aren't there refrigerators and stuff like that down there? It is a mess, and most likely the trash would build up again, but at least we could move some of what is there to a land fill. It is such a majestic place.

Jeff Kent wrote: Oh, and JQ calling someone who uses their real name a troll is ironic.

So is thinking your slave name is important in a world of seven billion, but, we all find irony somewhere huh?

Healyje wrote: Have walked my share of highwires and also regularly climb basalt and I gotta say that, structurally, the rock in the pic makes me a little queasy thinking about cranking a wire down hard against it. But then what can you really tell from a picture...

Obviously you have never climbed in the wild wild west, structurally, most of the rock in NM makes climbers queasy.

Jason Halladay wrote:something I'd really love to see for that gorge is a cleanup of all the residential junk that's been tossed down in there. It's pretty sad. I'm afraid, though, that the junk would pile up time after time anyway.

I don't think moving those refrigerators and trash is a good idea at all, now they are artifacts to be interpreted by trained archeologists, if you move them, you are disrupting the historical record.

Jeremy Aslaksen wrote:My anchor for a high wire set up has been removed. It consisted of 11 pitons near the edge of pajarito gorge in White Rock, NM. Ha. You left it there for a year and are now whining about it being "missing"? Sounds like booty to me son. Just saying... JA

What is a good idea is to freak out as much as possible at other climbers for what they like to do whenever you feel ethically superior, that much is clear.

My apologies for attacking your homophobic idol, I will be more careful in the future.

ken nichols is the only person who is ethically superior, all others are frauds