Route Chopping at Bozeman Pass

It came to my attention today that a climber visiting from Washington took it upon himself to chop a pair of local warm-ups.

Dave Stephens of Spokane Washington has admitted in the comments on 'Fat Man' to removing bolt hangers from that route. In a phone conversation with a gym employee he also alluded to removing hangers from 'Fright Train'.

This is not some grey area booty issue, this guy took down established sport routes and stole the hardware.

There's a rumor of a broken bolt . . . photo please.

Ethan and I are planning on heading out there tomorrow to assess the damage.

Based on multiple accounts from Ethan & others, the guy seems absolutely psychotic... hope he gets the help he needs!

Yup, this is amazing that this guy came and decided upon himself that the climbs where unsafe.

I bet what actually happened is his ego was hurt because fat man and fright train were tooo hard. Then he decided well i cant climb these so lets remove the hangers and hammer in the bolts!!

Wow lame, but it will be fixed!!

It appeared that two or three of the bolts on Fatman had been removed, with one stud visible. The first bolt and some of the upper bolts were still remaining.

The bolts on Fright Train were not quite as fortunate as those on Fatman. The studs had been pounded in on all but the last bolt, who's condition should be under question as Stephens reported trying to remove it. The anchors appeared to remain intact, but should probably be checked as well.

While the hangers and bolts certainly weren't fresh steel by any means, I hadn't noticed anything overly alarming while climbing Fright Train the previous week. Especially something warranting their immediate removal. A spot of rust on some bolts or a loose hanger at the most, but I've certainly seen and even clipped into much worse.

I don't know how they do it in Washington, but around here you don't go to a locals crag and chop bolts on classic routes with out consulting the climbers who established them or the local stewards of the climbing area. Concern over the safety of the hardware is a legitimate one, especially at a crag established in the late '80s, but Stephens you have absolutely no right to be the one to make the call to desecrate routes at our climbing area. You could have taken a different and much more considerate approach and alerted the local climbers before taking action of your own. In a small community like ours, word spreads quickly and your concerns would have promptly fallen upon keen ears that would see to the REPLACEMENT of any bad bolts. Chopping bolts without question only to later berate a local gym staff member about their condition isn't welcome in our community, Stephens, and neither are you.

This is ridiculous! i cant believe that would happen! Im all for replacing old hardware and taking care of an area for the safety of others but simply removing hangers and destroying the studs is not the way to go about it. Visitors to an area have no business doing this without first properly coordinating with locals as to the situation. Hope the routes are salvageable. good luck boys, climb hard

Crazy old folks!

Love it! Have fun redrilling those suckers. BTW, I think you can get cams in the pockets.

This is awful. I hope someone finds this jerk!

I have been climbing Fat man for at least 15 years.
As of a few weeks ago the bolts were still is plenty good shape,
So this kind of act was just plan vandilism. I a bit pissed I was hoping to jump on the fat man wall this Friday.

Good luck with fixing the routs guys I hope that the dammage is not too bad. I would hate to have a clasic like these destroyed.

If you need bolts/hangers/drill let me know.

Posted earlier on Fatman page:

All,

Someone just sent me this link and I can't believe I'm commenting in one of these forums. They do, however, provide an effective way to communicate and inform people.

It appears that Mr. Stephens acts were mindless and, like many climbers these days, he has no knowledge or respect for the potential historical significance of a climb. Fatman and Fright Train were two of the earliest routes done at Bozeman Pass. They were originally done a quarter century ago. Their character and bolting style, reflects an age when the very first power drill was used by a Bozeman climber. We were just emerging from decades of drilling on lead with a hand drill and not yet accustomed to blasting in a bolt every five feet. Nonetheless the bolt placements on these climbs were well thought out and the climbs seemed safe enough. If 25 year old bolts are still being used on these routes, perhaps it is time to think about replacing them. In doing so, please respect and try to maintain the original character of the route. Contacting the first-ascentionist might also be a good idea.

Climbing styles and attitudes change or evolve with time, giving our sport a rich and interesting history. The next time you're about to selfishly bash in a bolt, let your dog burrow at the base of a climb, or attach a perma-draw to an established route, stop and consider the thoughts and efforts of climbers that came before you and those that will climb there in the future. Hopefully you'll change your mind.

Happy Climbing

TK

Thanks for the post TK. Food for thought for all climbers everywhere. This was an unfortunate event that could have been easily avoided with a little communication. Thanks to Joe, Kevin, and Peder who are heading up as I type this to reestablish these classic routes.

I'm headed out in an hour to replace the hangers and chopped bolts, I'll be adding pictures of the damage this evening. It should be noted that Kevin, Peder, and I are doing this out of the anger in our hearts and the money in our pockets.

Dear Mr. Stephens, the smcc would greatly appreciate a donation to cover the hangers you stole.

Thank you Joe, Kevin and Peder. And anyone else that's helping undo the damage done. I would like to help donate $ for hardware and beer for the time spent if needed!

Thanks Joe, Kevin and Peder. I trust you'll do a good job. I'd cover the cost, but I already did that 25 years ago. Perhaps Mr. Stephens can redeem his foolish act by ponying up for the cost. SMCC does have replacement anchors for this type of thing.

TK

New bolts on Fatman and Fright Train look awesome. Big thank you to Joe, Peder, and Kevin for getting these classics back up and running so fast.

Seriously, thanks Joe, Kevin and Peder, I'm sure this was tough work.
How ironic would it be if somebody, someday just decided that David's
routes were unsafe?

The Gulcher
??

I've just completed replacing the bolts that were chopped. My opinion is that at most one of the bolts chopped was in need of replacement. None of the bolts on 'Fright Train' needed to be replaced.

The final tally was two bolts chopped and three hangers stolen from 'Fat Man' and five bolts chopped with hangers stolen from 'Fright Train'. Pictures will follow.

Also, thanks tom for the confidence. The bolts are essentially where they were, the furthest a bolt had to be moved was about six inches owing to rock quality.

Thanks for the work guys! The sport climbing masses of Bozeman will appreciate it for many years to come.