Vote on the poll! I voted for aid. Dont withhold the aid.
What about aid with holds?
What about all the routes that were established using aiders or all the short bolt ladders that went free?
I like the way Richard's kept both the free and aid ratings although information must have already been lost before he published. Maybe clink has it in the Indiana Jones archives.
Is it still good style to do these routes on aid the way they were established?
Is there a secret purist sect that only repeats the old routes the way they were originally done?
Is something lost when the original aid rating is dropped - or never reported?
Take something like Doodlin' Dody. The only lead bolts (2) are 4 feet apart - clearly done using aid but not recorded in any guidebook. Maybe the bolts were placed using aiders and then freed. Want a modern example? - climb Disposable Income on The Bachelor. I placed all but the first bolt using aiders and then freed the line.
Third Sister 10a is another of many examples. First recorded in Richard's guidebook as 3 meters of 5.8 past 2 bolts...a small saddle...and a walk to the top rappel bolt. Clearly a two bolt bolt ladder that went free - now with a virtually useless first bolt and a 2nd bolt right in the middle of a hard crux with a serious risk of z-clipping - ouch! Either Richard's had the count wrong or a third bolt was added above the shoulder by a later party. 5.8 must have been a lot harder in the 70's. FA unknown.
Clearly sitting at home today causing trouble...
Maybe I should make a list
Poll