Given what I am seeing, maybe it is time to take the concept of "adventure" out of route development at Pinnacles. Given the scarcity of rock and permanence of bolts (even if you pull them and fill them, the damage is still done), it is a FA parties duty to think hard about every time they are going to put a drill to the rock.
The biggest problem I have seen at Pinnacles has not been ascent style, but the overwhelming number of routes that lead to nowhere, routes that deserve negative stars, and routes that simply don't make any sense. Seriously, how many "No Star" routes does Pinnacles need? Given all the limitations that I have seen proposed, what you end up with are routes that go up to a high point and stop. Why? Because the climbing became too hard, the bolt line headed to a feature that didn't pan out, the climbing became too unaesthetic, or the original party just lost interest.
If you are not bolting onsight, from stance, with no rest, then the sense of adventure is going to be gone anyway. If you are going to hang on a hook, then own it; you are aiding. Take that as an opportunity to place the bolts where they belong and not in a place that meets some arbitrary criteria.
I really think it is time for everyone to take a step back and think about what they are preserving and for who. When someone raps down a potential route to see if the rock is good or pulls on a hook to reach for a better hold or bolting stance, it in no way takes anything away from the efforts and styles of other people. The history of climbing is not tarnished forever and the only danger is that the potential new route might not get done or that a bolt might be in a better place.
Just something to think about.
