Lake Tahoe, Emerald Bay (Eagle Creek Canyon) -- 90 Foot Wall and Bolting

Just curious if anyone knows any of the background information regarding 90 Foot Wall and bolting. Why are there so many routes that are only TR (or very badly protected, should you choose to lead them)? What is the ethic here on placing bolts? It seems kind of silly to just have TR routes when you could add a few bolts, making for some fun lead climbs. Could it be because the place sees a lot of tourist traffic, and bolts are considered ugly by a lot of people? Thoughts?

Jared Moore wrote:Just curious if anyone knows any of the background information regarding 90 Foot Wall and bolting. Why are there so many routes that are only TR (or very badly protected, should you choose to lead them)? What is the ethic here on placing bolts? It seems kind of silly to just have TR routes when you could add a few bolts, making for some fun lead climbs. Could it be because the place sees a lot of tourist traffic, and bolts are considered ugly by a lot of people? Thoughts?

Whew...probably best to leave this one alone Jared. 90 foot wall is a traditional wall and folks are not going to be okay with you adding any bolts (to be clear, I own a drill and have sport bolted, so I am not a "no bolt" person). Just like its okay to have sport bolted areas, it is also okay to have TR and/or heady trad areas. If you want to clip bolts, just head down the hill to Mayhem or down Christmas Tree Valley to one of the Luther's.

For starters, it's in Desolation Wilderness area. Not sure what the rules are about bolting this area and the use of power drills vs. hand drilling, so that's be one issue to look into.

IMO, this place is fine as a predominantly TR'ed spot. You can lead some of the routes on gear if you want. If you want to lead, there are plenty of nearby places in the Eagle Creek canyon or at other nearby locations.

Your question is best answered by looking at the crag. It's full of cracks, no bolts needed. If you did add bolts they would be one, squeeze jobs or two pointless. Buy a rack and learn how to use it.

Most routes are safely led on gear, and its super easy to walk around to the top to setup a TR. Yeah it might be fun for a couple of the face routes to be leadable, but I think its an okay ethic to reduce impact by leaving some routes TR only. Especially in this case because the TR anchors are so convenient and there are not sensitive cliff top issues (erosion, lose rock, sensitive vegetation). If you want to go lead some sport take a lovely 6 minute walk to Mayhem Cove.

Thanks guys for your replies. I do own a rack and I do lead there often. I just thought I would inquire about the couple of face climbs that might be exciting on lead. I climb at Mayhem regularly as well, so I know that it is an option. Again, I just wondered if there was some reason for the lack of bolts on the face climbs. It may in fact be a squeeze job and that seems like maybe the most obvious reason.

J. Albers wrote: Whew...probably best to leave this one alone Jared. 90 foot wall is a traditional wall and folks are not going to be okay with you adding any bolts (to be clear, I own a drill and have sport bolted, so I am not a "no bolt" person). Just like its okay to have sport bolted areas, it is also okay to have TR and/or heady trad areas. If you want to clip bolts, just head down the hill to Mayhem or down Christmas Tree Valley to one of the Luther's.

Thanks, this makes sense. I don't really think about some areas specifically being for TR, but that seems useful for sure.

Paul Zander wrote:Most routes are safely led on gear, and its super easy to walk around to the top to setup a TR. Yeah it might be fun for a couple of the face routes to be leadable, but I think its an okay ethic to reduce impact by leaving some routes TR only. Especially in this case because the TR anchors are so convenient and there is no sensitive cliff top issues (erosion, lose rock, sensitive vegetation). If you want to go lead some sport take a lovely 6 minute walk to Mayhem Cove.

Really good point. You are right about the ethic to reduce the impact. Hadn't thought about that. Just a few of us climbing yesterday were wondering and I appreciate everyone's insight on the topic. I think these are all really great points. Thanks