Teale Tower Route 

The belay for the second pitch was junk so I bolted an anchor on the 2nd of July 04. I didn't throw chains or webbing on so if anyone is so inclined, feel free.

You've got a lot of fucking nerve adding bolts to this route, Bubba. The traditional gear anchor at the top of the first pitch of the route was totally adequate, consisting of a couple of equalized medium hex placements, with an inverted #4 friend or Camalot to handle an upward pull in the case of a leader fall on pitch 2. I know this for a fact because (1) I did the first ascent of the route, and (2) I have climbed the route numerous times with partners who could not follow, or got rained off, and had to leave a rap anchor to clean the first pitch.

Bob, I have no problem with removing the bolts. They were added without contacting the first ascensionist. Do you know who the FA is for the route? There were 3 routes on this rock that were used to teach clean aid climbing techniques in a mountaineering course. This was the convergence point and allowed easy and safe belaying and bailing in bad weather. The location of the anchor makes for a much better belay and allows safe retreat. This is a weak point for changing a route, but I would like to at least try to contact the FA before removing the bolts. Any info on this would be appreciated..Larry.

Just for the record: Brian Teale did the first ascent of the route, with several points of aid on the first pitch, and a spot of aid on the roof of the second pitch, around 1974. Peter Williams and I did the first free ascent on the last Saturday in April of 1979...the day before we drove to the Big Rock Candy Mountain to start work on Fields of Dreams Growing Wild. I might add that this was before camming devices were available (I got my first set later that year), yet we found the protection, and anchors, to be excellent. We were armed to the teeth with enough bolts to do Fields of Dreams, but we would never have considered placing a bolt on a crack route like this.

Please respect the efforts of those who have gone before you. Retro-bolting has become pandemic in Elevenmile Canyon in the last few years. I know of at least a dozen routes, including a few of my own, that have sprouted shiny new bolts recently that were actually first climbed in the seventies and early eighties. If you need to drill bolts, find your own "private idaho", and do a little research before you break out the Power Drill.

Oh yeah, and God forbid, don't go adding bolts to any of my routes....It really gets my blood pressure up!

Pete Gallagher Manitou Springs, CO

Excellent Route....could use a few more ascents to make this superb quality.

Probably a two of three or a three of five star route in Yos. An anchor on the ledge would be pretty nice as the next pitch looks like a piece . IMHO putting an anchor on a ledge you can walk around on and retroing a crack are two different things, but whatever.

The second pitch is pretty entertaining, you should try it before assigning "piece" status. As said above, it looks harder than it is and is fun to figure out. The walk-off is easy in climbing shoes. I would like to repeat the request not to add any bolts to this climb (it would indeed be retrobolting, as in adding new bolts after the first ascent). If folks think that the first pitch needs cleaning up to get better, then set up a TR and run some laps. It's a great crack.