The history of climbing has been pushing the limits of what's possible. Outside of modern sport climbing, that usually means balancing safety with a bunch of other things. Context is key here because safety exists on a huge spectrum. If I'm climbing on a steep snow slope or under a serac, should I rope up and be slow but "secure," or solo it because moving too slow could mean being getting caught in an avalanche? If I'm putting up a trad route at my limit, do I place a piece from a strenuous position, or run it out 15 more feet to a good rest? It's a balancing act and "safety," in the traditional sense, does not always top of the list of priorities.
Even in sport climbing, people will sometimes skip bolts in order to send because it's that close to their limit.
And people die and get injured in even the most mundane settings. Gyms, toproping, sport climbing, etc. If you want to be safe all the time, don't rock climb.
This goes way deeper than retro bolting old routes, but I hope I was clear in my messaging.
2
u/Dotrue 22d ago
The history of climbing has been pushing the limits of what's possible. Outside of modern sport climbing, that usually means balancing safety with a bunch of other things. Context is key here because safety exists on a huge spectrum. If I'm climbing on a steep snow slope or under a serac, should I rope up and be slow but "secure," or solo it because moving too slow could mean being getting caught in an avalanche? If I'm putting up a trad route at my limit, do I place a piece from a strenuous position, or run it out 15 more feet to a good rest? It's a balancing act and "safety," in the traditional sense, does not always top of the list of priorities.
Even in sport climbing, people will sometimes skip bolts in order to send because it's that close to their limit.
And people die and get injured in even the most mundane settings. Gyms, toproping, sport climbing, etc. If you want to be safe all the time, don't rock climb.
This goes way deeper than retro bolting old routes, but I hope I was clear in my messaging.