Utopia New Routes

[F Côté]

And I openly apologize to everyone I have offended with my poor choice of words and/or poorly delivered message

[PeterA]

On a side note, does anyone know why there appears to be bolts but no hangers on Thing 1?

I believe we took them off and put them on thing 2 because I think they were put up during the great hanger shortage, and thing 2 is the better route Pretty sure Jon plans on putting them back on at some point

-PJ

[sloaner]

I believe we took them off and put them on thing 2 because I think they were put up during the great hanger shortage, and thing 2 is the better route

I agree that thing 2 is a very fun route. Is the first bolt on thing 1 & 2 up so high because of the great hanger shortage as well? If so would you be opposed to the addition of a bolt on each route in the name of safety? I would gladly put the bolts in if you are okay with it.

[PeterA]

I believe we took them off and put them on thing 2 because I think they were put up during the great hanger shortage, and thing 2 is the better route

I agree that thing 2 is a very fun route. Is the first bolt on thing 1 & 2 up so high because of the great hanger shortage as well? If so would you be opposed to the addition of a bolt on each route in the name of safety? I would gladly put the bolts in if you are okay with it.

The 1st bolts are up pretty high because the routes were bolted ground up on lead. On thing 1 natural pro could be found down low so the 1st bolt went in when the pro disappeared and on thing 2 the tree was slung as the 1st piece and the 1st bolt was put in after that. I think Jon did Thing 1 and Steve did Thing 2 so they would be the ones to ask about putting more bolts in.

-PJ

[sloaner]

The 1st bolts are up pretty high because the routes were bolted ground up on lead. On thing 1 natural pro could be found down low so the 1st bolt went in when the pro disappeared and on thing 2 the tree was slung as the 1st piece and the 1st bolt was put in after that. I think Jon did Thing 1 and Steve did Thing 2 so they would be the ones to ask about putting more bolts in.

-PJ

I was fairly certain that the guidebook listed you as having the FA. I will try in get in contact with them (or hopefully they will see this) to see if they would be opposed to the addition of a bolt.

Thanks,
Eric

[JonA]

Utopia is still very much in development, there is still plenty of work to be done there.

I thought SteveA had the first ascent on thing 1, I didn't think I was involved in those routes (? I know we were all there , maybe it was me, I dunno). Regardless, on my list of items to be done @ Utopia was removing the trees on the slabs, and de-limbing the big birch, and adding a bolt down-low on both of those routes. I can check w/ SteveA to confirm he's ok with adding that bolt on thing1 (in case he was the one who did the FA), but I don't see it being a big problem as my attitude here is that this is a sport area. The only route I personally would like to avoid bolting is the crack at the upper end of the slabs/overhang corner.

I assume PeterA is ok with adding a bolt to thing 2 if we remove the tree.

I think thing 1 is still missing an anchor as well. Adding that anchor is on my list too. And putting hangers back on thing 1. Hopefully I'll get out there in the next week or so and get some of this done.

[PeterA]

The 1st bolts are up pretty high because the routes were bolted ground up on lead. On thing 1 natural pro could be found down low so the 1st bolt went in when the pro disappeared and on thing 2 the tree was slung as the 1st piece and the 1st bolt was put in after that. I think Jon did Thing 1 and Steve did Thing 2 so they would be the ones to ask about putting more bolts in.

-PJ

I was fairly certain that the guidebook listed you as having the FA. I will try in get in contact with them (or hopefully they will see this) to see if they would be opposed to the addition of a bolt.

Thanks,
Eric

Yeah I think it does list me as the FA but I don't think they we done by me. Pretty sure the only involvement I had was on thing 2, I was trying to bolt an extension to it but took a big whip when my foothold blew apart half-way into drilling a bolt I certainly have no issues with bolts being added though

-PJ

[JonA]

If anyone feels like adding a bolt to the start of either of the slabs, adding hangers to thing 1, adding anchors to thing 1, cutting down those trees, and cleaning the slabs I won't be really disappointed if you get to it before I do.

[JonA]

Send Badge 5.13a 30m/S(16)/R(2)
FA: J. Adamson, P. Adamson July 2016
This route climbs the large, overhanging bombay-chimney/corner just right of the giant fin on Utopia Wall. Begin in the center of the small slab under the large overhanging corner's. Climb past 3 bolts on the slab to reach a short, steeper section. Clip a long draw on the 4th bolt and move left to a corner and roof. Clip the fixed chain draw and pull up and around the large hanging block to gain the start of the corner/chimney section. Move up and right along the chimney until it is possible to exit right onto the face. Continue straight up the face past 5 more bolts to the anchor.

This route is definitely one of or possibly the coolest route I've ever been on, let alone put up. It combines hard bouldery moves, interesting chimney climbing and absolutely wild exposure. It is so good; if you can climb in this range you should check it out.

However it still requires a bit more TLC before it is truly good to go. The upper face needs more cleaning, I need to chop a couple bolts I had to move, and I may need to replace the bolt protecting the crux (with the long fixed chain) with a glue-in as the rock is a bit soft in that area and the wedge bolt is spinning in the hole. It was solid enough to hold my whips for now, and I doubt it will fail catastrophically but I don't feel I should leave it like that. I'll post up when I've finished the last bit of work.

It should be noted that despite two fixed draws this route is tricky to clean on lower. It is manageable but requires all the usual tricks for cleaning very steep routes.
Thanks to Peter Adamson and Kristen Maillet for the help putting this route up, and thanks to Kris for the awesome photo.

[JonA]

Updated Utopia Guide is available here:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B-iWE ... Xhuc0NsVXM