Elephant Butte 1st rap bolts

[jman]

I took my gf and brother through Elephant Butte on Saturday and we used the new bolts at its new location (less than 18 months old). They were recently moved from the old location to stop the rope grooving which was on the ground located near the north wall. Now those current bolts are developing some fine grooves too. I didn't take any pictures with my phone since my cell-phone battery was depleted from a canyon earlier in the day, but I am including a quick sketch of where the new anchors are situated.

If the stewardship of the canyon is to prevent rope grooves, then it looks like another placement is needed right? In the picture below, I am suggesting bolts to be installed at either location, indicated in blue. The ones in red were the previous (and current) location of the bolts. My opinion is that these need to be moved to a wall rather than the ground to stop the rope from dragging.

Or.....set up for a releasable anchor.

94193

[Iceaxe]

The old bolt station on the right is the best place, and safest because losing control on rappel is a lot less likely on a walk down rappel then a free air rappel, particularly when dealing with beginners.

The biggest problem with the old bolt station is some folks didn't pull their ropes from the base but instead tried to pull their ropes from the base of the short downclimb.

That section of canyon was ruined when the middle bolt station was installed. I'd love to see the new bolt station on the right re-established.

YMMV

[Stray]

The current bolts and bolts on the left require talking a 200 ft rope. The old location was perfect requiring a 120 ft rope and an interesting down climb. I would live to see them reestablished on the right.

Moving the bolts left us quite a surprise as we didn’t have enough rope. Luckily, Shane has everyone bringing 50 ft of webbings. Sadly, we had to rap single line and tie webbing as a pull cord.

I would love to see bolts returned to the right.


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[Iceaxe]

^^^This^^^

The original rappel was so much better for so many reasons... but the biggest selling point should be the original rappel was simpler and much safer. High free hanging rappels are where the majority of serious rappel accidents happen.

[jman]

Looks like someone with bolt experience and a “new fixed gear” application to be filled out (followed by waiting 60 days from them to approve it), according to regulations.

Nps.gov/arch/planyourvisit/rockclimbing.htm

Application, Direct Link: https://parkplanning.nps.gov/showFile.cfm?projectID=31985&MIMEType=application%252Fpdf&filename=Appendix%5FG%5FNew%5FFixed%5FGear%5FGuide lines%5Fand%5FApplication%2Epdf&sfid=159559




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[Iceaxe]

I'm a big believer in it's better to ask for forgiveness then to ask for permission... your mileage may vary.

Interesting side note... the old bolt station was removed and the new one installed after the new bolt policy was established... and you guessed it... no permits were ever pulled.

[samlrs]

The old bolt station on the right is the best place, and safest because losing control on rappel is a lot less likely on a walk down rappel then a free air rappel, particularly when dealing with beginners.
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The biggest problem with the old bolt station is some folks didn't pull their ropes from the base but instead tried to pull their ropes from the base of the short downclimb.

That section of canyon was ruined when the middle bolt station was installed. I'd love to see the new bolt station on the right re-established.

YMMV

looks like that's the route I'm gonna take
thanks for the hands up