Pinnacles Route History

I climbed in the Pinnacles quite a bit in the early 80's. My friends and I put up a half a dozen new routes, many of which seem to have fallen into well deserved obscurity. I gave a summary of all of the routes to the rangers, so I was surprised that when David Rubine's book came out, none were listed. He was kind enough to add several of them in his second edition.

I live in the east now, so I am totally out of touch with the area. I just found out there is a" new" guide, 07 or so and the route info still isn't quite right. If anyone cares, here are a couple tid bits. If there is interest I will provide more info.

I put up "Happy Married Bachelor" with Stan Leis in Nov of 84. His wife had just left him and he had a new girlfriend, thus happy, not happily as listed in the book.

Swept away was in 83 with Jeff Levin. It is on the smokestack and I rated it 5.9. We did everything ground up then, and I still remember climbing to the only stance trying to come to balance, let go and hand drill a 3/8 star drivin. I was terrified! While no one thinks much of those star bolts, they were a big improvement on the 1/4 rawl which was the only other bolt we could get then.

Has anyone replaced those old bolts? Is it legal to do so, and can you use power drills for replacement?

Thanks,tk

The best source of info for Pinns on the web (and the best place to post questions or updates and get a response from area regulars) is the Pinns-centric Mud 'n' Crud forum. They have a well-maintained official rebolting thread that catalogues the ongoing efforts of a dedicated few to maintaining a reasonable level of quality on the huge variety of routes out there. I did a quick search, and both of the routes you mention popped up in one or two of the forum threads, although I didn't see either in the rebolting thread (and "Happy" seems to still be colloquially called "Happily").

Mud 'n' Crud forum main page: mudncrud.com/forums/index.p…

Official rebolting thread: mudncrud.com/forums/index.p…

Incidentally, the ethic at Pinns remains ground up, hand-drilled bolting only. There are definitely a smattering of bolts out there that have gone in on rappel, but it's frowned upon.

kemple sr. wrote:Has anyone replaced those old bolts? Is it legal to do so, and can you use power drills for replacement? Thanks,tk

Yes, Mud'n'Crud is the best place to go. Many of those folks post frequently on Supertopo as well.

3/8" Star-Dryvins are actually not all that bad as far as old bolts go, but of course their age and the typically poor hangers mean that they are always suspect.

As far as bolt replacement, all of Pinnacles is Wilderness and it's legal to replace bolts with hand drills only. There are no restrictions other than the main raptor restrictions which affect many walls and formations - with very good reason, Pinnacles is one of the few places where the California Condor nests in the wild!

Most bolts the ASCA supplies for replacement at Pinnacles are 3/8" x 3.5" stainless 5-pieces, although some people do drill stainless 1/2" instead (which is what I came to prefer when replacing there). As you know Pinnacles rock quality is highly variable. Long chains are typically used at anchors to reduce torquing stress that might cause hanger rotation if short chains are used.

Many climbers have been replacing bolts at Pinnacles for a long time (before the ASCA even existed), and a tremendous number of bolts have been replaced, but there is always more work to do. Pinnacles climbers owe a huge debt of thanks to Bruce Hildenbrand and many others for decades of work replacing bolts down there!

Cool guys, thanks! tk

kemple sr. wrote: I put up "Happy Married Bachelor" with Stan Leis in Nov of 84. His wife had just left him and he had a new girlfriend, thus happy, not happily as listed in the book. Swept away was in 83 with Jeff Levin. Has anyone replaced those old bolts?

Hi Tim,
I am part of the current rebolting crew at Pinns. I apprenticed with and still go out occasionally with Bruce Hildenbrand and Clint Cummins. Those two have replaced over 400 bolts in Pinns - including those on Chimney Sweep. I have been actively recruiting my climbing buddies to help me with my current rebolting efforts. The current guidebook shows Chimney Sweep's bolts replaced in 2003. The FA on Bachelor is listed as unknown - possibly Tom Templemen. Brad Young is on the Mud N Crud Forum and he is always interested in feedback and info. We have a "sticky" thread at the front of the Masters of Mud section for guidebook corrections. Brad will no doubt read the link to mtn proj too and see your info.

cool unearthing the history!

Greg said all of Pinnacles is a "Wilderness" - which is a typo, I believe. All of Pinnacles is a National Park (formerly Monument).

cheers,
M

JC w KC redux wrote: Hi Tim, I am part of the current rebolting crew at Pinns. I apprenticed with and still go out occasionally with Bruce Hildenbrand and Clint Cummins. Those two have replaced over 400 bolts in Pinns - including those on Chimney Sweep. I have been actively recruiting my climbing buddies to help me with my current rebolting efforts. The current guidebook shows Chimney Sweep's bolts replaced in 2003. The FA on Bachelor is listed as unknown - possibly Tom Templemen. Brad Young is on the Mud N Crud Forum and he is always interested in feedback and info. We have a "sticky" thread at the front of the Masters of Mud section for guidebook corrections. Brad will no doubt read the link to mtn proj too and see your info.

JC w KC redux: Perhaps this is as good a place as any to say that I'd be interested in helping out with local rebolting, at least to the extent that I'd like to see the first pitch of Shake n' Bake get the treatment. My partner and I talked about posting in Mud'n'Crud offering to chip in financially to get this one done, but I'd just as soon learn from one of the locals how to do the job right and actually put in some sweat equity. I have zero bolting/rebolting experience, but would be pleased to learn, if it'd help contribute to the ongoing efforts and overall body of routes at Pinns. Fire me a PM if the help would be... helpful.

My friends Frosty, Clint and I replaced the three protection bolts on Clean Sweep and the first protection bolt on Swept Away(the second bolt was a good looking 3/8" Rawl split shaft) in December 2003. We fixed the anchor on top of the pinnacle and added chains for rappel.

Fixing Shake and Bake is on the list, but the route is currently closed due to raptor nesting. Now that we have the tool for getting out 3/8" split shafts(thanks Greg!) we should go back up there and clean up the second pitch as well.

Cool guys! Thanks a lot for your efforts. Rebolting is hard work at best, and doing it by hand is a major pain. It is too bad power drills aren't allowed at least for reequipping. Best to all! tk