UKC

Did Fool's Gold (E1 5c) at the weekend and the flake is moving what I thought was more than was safe. I would urge great care on this route as all the gear on the crux is dependant on this feature.

I know it's a trad route but it might be worth considering one bolt on the left hand wall to prevent further strain as I believe it's a route that people drop on gear a lot as it is a tough crux on what would otherwise be a safe route.

It's fine above the flake

In reply to aostaman:

There's good gear below and above the wobbly bit. No need for a bolt.

In reply to aostaman:
Don't be daft. A route being a bit dodgy or having poor gear is not a reason to bolt it. If it's changed in character maybe change the grade in the next guidebook or put a note to that effect, but don't bring it down to some arbitrary level of safety with a bolt.

It's a long time since I did it, but I don't recall it being a ground fall if the gear at the crux pulled out - and even if it was, just change it to E2 in the next book rather than bolt it.

In reply to Mowglee: I think the point is being missed here. It is that the constant falling on the gear (as well of course the weight of climbers) that is slowly but surely moving the flake and the bolt is to lengthen the life of the route as it stands, although I appreciate it changes its risk factor.

If/ when (but who knows) the flake comes off under loading it feels like it would shear a good two metres off as if you tap this area it is clearly hollow and already separated from the bedrock. The crux gear in this area would almost certainly fail and result in a ground fall as its integrity is the flake itself

I won't be doing the route again, I'm an occasional visitor to Wales these days and I'm not on a bolting campaign but one of the values of forums such as this is that it enables us to share safety concerns and where appropriate propose a solution. For what it's worth I don't think that is daft.

Did this route the other week and to be honest it all felt pretty solid. Had a bomber nut high on the left (before moving right) then moved up and placed a solid feeling nut in the crack to protect the crux.

In reply to aostaman:

I climbed this yesterday and thought it was fine and perfectly steady. I understand that you want to share concern re: safety for other forum readers and that is fine, but I do not think a bolt is the answer as it fundamentally changes the route's character. The flakes on Sterling Silver (which I also climbed yesterday) are far more dubious I'd say.

In reply to charley:

No need for a bolt. It wasn't that bad when I did last week.

In reply to aostaman:

Umm it's slate; it's intrinsically unsound!