Ontario Climbing has received a credible report that the route Zona Rosa, has had its chopped bolts replaced. The route, located at Mount Nemo, was chopped earlier this month, creating a massive controversy in the Southern Ontario climbing community. At this point, it is unclear who replaced the bolts, but we will update the story when more information becomes available.

Zona Rosa was established by David Smart, a prolific Ontario route developer, sometime between 1985 and 1988. On rappel (which some traditionalists considered poor form), Smart added pins, cleaned, and rehearsed the route before bagging the first ascent. As was typical of the time, Smart did not fully equip the line because it was too difficult and time-consuming to hand-drill additional bolts. Zona Rosa was recently retro-bolted with the overwhelming support of the community and the first ascensionist, David Smart. The route was re-equipped to be the pure sport route that Smart would have created if he had the tools and foresight at the time of the first ascent.

Prior to the chopping, the vast majority of Ontario climbers supported the additional bolts, but a small vocal minority preferred to see the route return to its old-school form.   
 
While many climbers will celebrate Zona Rosa's re-bolting, some are concerned that it may spur further bolt-chopping, which could result in a full-blown bolt war.
 
Land managers have historically frowned on bolt-chopping wars and have frequently responded by closing or restricting climbing access. During previous high-profile Ontario bolt-chopping incidents, climbers avoided this type of blowback by having the various parties agree to rational compromises. Unfortunately, the highly polarized state of the current situation may make such a resolution difficult to achieve.

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