Sunlight Spire Poll

[cedica]

tallgrass_prairie.jpg

Tallgrass is the one who bolted the spire, correct?

Afaik based on reports here, he cleaned up old anchor mess and put new bolt instead.

Photo above depicts lioness in tall grass drinking weizen and meditating about meaning of life, before it eats you.

[TomPierce]

tallgrass_prairie.jpg

Tallgrass is the one who bolted the spire, correct?

Afaik based on reports here, he cleaned up old anchor mess and put new bolt instead.

My photo above depicts lioness in tall grass drinking weizen and meditating about meaning of life (before it eats you).

That's my recollection as well. I know bolting can be controversial, esp for a trad line, but he just replaced an existing bolt. My distinct recollection is that the old bolt was, well, old (maybe a Rawl "buttonhead" or Star Dryvyn) and showing its age. It also was a summit anchor/rap bolt, not on the climb itself. He merely replaced it and cleaned up some old sling tat.

-Tom

[justiner]

He also went through the proper channels to do so - and did a 1 for 1 replacement and he drilled it in by hand!. There's absolutely nothing weird or controversial about it, it was a nice community gesture.

[nunns]

tallgrass_prairie.jpg

Long live TallGrass.


Sean Nunn

[cbauer10]

Dang, I can't believe it has been 15 years since I posted this thread. I had just turned 31 when the thread was posted. The thread reminds me of some of the old posters who have since moved on and reminded me that I miss them.

I miss you too. I haven't moved on to other things, just not posting a lot and mostly staying away from 14ers. I don't like pulling into a trailhead with 257 of my closest friends. I have two daughters now and they love hiking the high peaks of CO. Just need to work them up to the long hikes. About 5 miles RT and 1500-2000 vert is about their limit. I will be out there a lot more this summer as we are preparing for a trip to Kili in October.

I love getting one of these notifications every once in a while and taking trips down memory lane.

[Salient]

Regarding the original topic, it may be a weenie thing to say, but I'd personally change the 300' rule to something more moderate like 150 or 200' which would make Sunlight Spire a 14er. A lot of people would probably disagree, but regardless I'd still like to climb Sunlight Spire at some point in the future.

[jrs1965]

He also went through the proper channels to do so - and did a 1 for 1 replacement and he drilled it in by hand!. There's absolutely nothing weird or controversial about it, it was a nice community gesture.

I'm hoping to maybe do the Spire this summer. Most likely as an aid climb. Do you have any beta on this bolt Justiner? I assume it's at the top for a rap?

[ltlFish99]

What's the width on that crack? Good size for a hand jam? That would be a fun climb.

It looks like a fun climb.... if I was still in my 30ies. At 61, that could be difficult to accomplish.

At least, there will probably not be very many days where the summit will be crowded.

[ltlFish99]

tallgrass_prairie.jpg

Tallgrass is the one who bolted the spire, correct?

I thought the captain bolted it when he was 5.

[CheapCigarMan]

He also went through the proper channels to do so - and did a 1 for 1 replacement and he drilled it in by hand!. There's absolutely nothing weird or controversial about it, it was a nice community gesture.

Glad to hear something nice being said about Tallgrass on this forum. Especially, from a respected 14'er member like justiner. It's refreshing for this site.

Curious does anyone know why he was banned from this forum? Tallgrass claims he doesn't even know. Never got a notification or reason, just banned.

Perhaps we should rename the Spire to Tallgrass in his honor. When you're looking at it, the Spire does resemble a tall blade of grass amongst the Kansas plains.

To agree with a couple of other folks on here. The Spire is a high point / bump on a ridge. What makes the Spire be considered a 14'er or mountain, when there are so many other high points / bumps out there? Because it simply looks cool? Challenging? Just the thought of "What if it were a 14'er!" I probably answered my own question but maybe there's another, more technical answer?

[osprey]

And why was the replacement of the bolt by Tallgrass controversial?

[justiner]

He also went through the proper channels to do so - and did a 1 for 1 replacement and he drilled it in by hand!. There's absolutely nothing weird or controversial about it, it was a nice community gesture.

I'm hoping to maybe do the Spire this summer. Most likely as an aid climb. Do you have any beta on this bolt Justiner? I assume it's at the top for a rap?

Yeah, it's at the top anchor to rap off of. I wanna say there was a small, older bolt that was removed and a newer one put in its place. There's some fixed gear in there as well. I'm sure it's fine for rapping off of. As an aid climb, it would go totally clean. If you can get a list of the exact sizes you needed, I bet you could bring a very minimal kit with you, so you don't have to hump up a whole big wall kit. The crack looks really bomber, so you could probably aid solo it with a lot of confidence. Sorry I don't have those sizes. I'd be interested in doing the crack as a free climb, if we can do it sub-24 If it's IC grades, it's not out of the realm of mediocre climber abilities.