Trad Frustration
Let me start by saying my perspective may well change on this. No malice meant either. I’m just venting.
Does anyone else feel a certain kind of frustration that so many of the best crags in the UK (I’m thinking mainly about Scotland, where I’m from) cannot be bolted, because to do so would piss off an increasingly small and aging community of trad climbers?
I come from a family of climbers and I know personally many trad climbers who are now in their sixties who saw some terrible accidents, and very much support the rise of sport climbing. Yes, it would be beautiful if the best routes in Scotland offered great protection, but this is often not the case, and the trad centric resistance of bolting means that many people may have to risk their lives in order to experience those lines.
I totally see the value of trad and the beauty and simplicity of being able to ascend the rock without altering it in any irrevocable way, but the risk to personal safety and fear factor is a massive commitment and not one most people are interested in making. I feel that competing to see how big your balls are, so to speak, has little to do with the quality of your climbing. That said, I think multi-pitch adventurous routes with good pro should be left to traditional methods. It just frustrates me that some of the best single pitches in the country will be left mostly unbolted and therefore rarely climbed for generations to come. Am I missing something here? I’m very much open to hearing a range of perspectives, both those that align with mine and those that don’t.