So for such climbing do they use earlier runs to put the rings (whatever they are call) for the safety lines during the actual climb?
And yes, the bolts here were originally installed earlier, possibly back in 70s by the first ascensionist, although I'm not sure what the history of the present-day bolts are. I'm guessing they were added by Caldwell/Jorgeson as they were preparing the free variation of this classic aid line some years ago.
There are various ethical considerations in bolting and it gets very contentious among people who care about this sort of thing.
Suffice to say, to free climb a route like this, yes, you have to be incredibly strong, mentally and physically.
Do you mean that if people put in bolts that it might somehow dilute the climb?
1 - You're drilling a hole in a rock. It's a small action, but it can't be undone. Can you justify forever altering part of a beautiful natural landscape to support your ambition? Keep in mind that the outdoors community in general has a leave-no-trace ethic.
2 - Every piece of permanent hardware makes the route safer and logistically and psychologically easier (to a certain extent). There's an argument that just because YOU want/need a bolt at a particular point on a route, there's no guarantee that someone stronger/tougher/better-equipped couldn't come along and forgo that bolt. What right do you have to bring the challenge down to your level? Perhaps the most extreme example of this was Cesare Maestri hauling a gigantic compressor powered drill up Cerro Torre and drilling a line of bolts all the way to the top [1]. Reinhold Messner called this 'the murder of the impossible.'
There's a forever-ongoing debate in the climbing community on these subjects, trying to determine what good 'style' is. Part of that discussion is determining the appropriate circumstances for installing permanent hardware. Personally I'm happy to clip bolts when they're needed, but I can understand the perspective of those who don't like em.
Some people think that bolting a wall "spoils" it ecologically, damages it's pureness. Once you've run a line of bolts up a route you can't un-do it. There's always going to be at least bolt holes or bolts there.
Some people don't think "sport" climbing (where you clip into quickdraws on the way up) is "real" climbing, but "trad" (where you place "pro", or protection, on the way up that you later "clean" or remove) is.
You can still trad climb a route that's been bolted, you just ignore the bolts, but some people might consider it less pure as a result I guess.
The amazing thing is that if you apply yourself to climbing and train for a few years, you will be able to move off similar holds in similar positions.
It's a pretty cool feeling.
https://www.8a.nu/images/news/large/636002137114161240_13320...
A famous bouldering problem, "Witlness the Fitness" that inclues a cieling:
you can train a bit with various squeezy thingies, what helps too is just hanging by hands from some thicker bar (so you cannot grip it comfortably). but by far best training, especially in beginning is just climbing. it takes time for all connecting tissue to build up (tendons, ligament etc. - it's not about muscle for fingers). fingerboard can indeed be dangerous if attempted early - say from 6b-6c in french scale.
much of the art of staying on the wall is about proper balance - this can be trained a bit on slackline for example, but again best training is just climbing often.
For pitch 15 of the Dawn wall, Caldwell drilled bolts with hangers into the granite likely while rapelling down from above and pre-placed quick draws (two carabiners connected by a short loop of webbing) on the bolt hangers- this was all done ahead of time in preparation for the redpoint, (the official climb done from the ground up) You can see Tommy in the video clipping his rope in as he goes along.
The permanent bolts are only used on blank sections of the wall where there are no cracks available to place removable anchors such as nuts and cams.
