Official Rebolting and Route Hardware suggestion thread

[briham89]

Gnarly!!! Those may be some of the worst bolts I have seen.

[Brad Young]

Wow, talk about a route that REALLY needed it! Good job.

[Brad Young]

You deserve the first lead of the route in its new condition.

[JC w KC redux]

You deserve the first lead of the route in its new condition.

Um...I would prefer to deserve something good 

[climberdude]

Recently a friend gave me a bunch of Fixe stainless steel, single-wedge 12 mm bolts that are about 3" long and Petzl 12 mm hangers.  Fixe Hardware currently does not list the 12 mm bolts on their website, but they look similar to the 3/8" single-wedge bolts.  Does anyone know what the recommended torque is for these Fixe 12 mm bolts?  I am probably not intending to use them at Pinnacles, but I want to make sure I do not over torque them when I install them somewhere.

[JC w KC redux]

Recently a friend gave me a bunch of Fixe stainless steel, single-wedge 12 mm bolts that are about 3" long and Petzl 12 mm hangers.  Fixe Hardware currently does not list the 12 mm bolts on their website, but they look similar to the 3/8" single-wedge bolts.  Does anyone know what the recommended torque is for these Fixe 12 mm bolts?  I am probably not intending to use them at Pinnacles, but I want to make sure I do not over torque them when I install them somewhere.

I'd go with the same torque as the Triplex. I think those are actually rated at 28 ft-lbs but 25 ft-lbs is plenty.

[JC w KC redux]

On Tuesday, December 1st, I replaced bolt 2 on The Smokestack - Swept Away 5.9*

The old 2nd bolt was a time bomb/accident waiting to happen. It was a 2 1/4 inch long wedge bolt that was bent by too much hammering into an underdrilled hole and the cone never engaged the clip. The only thing holding it in was the two little bumps on the sides of the clip. It was pointed down (no shear strength) and pulled out with disturbing ease.



The old bolt



You can see how bent it is and the lack of any clean metal on the cone = no engagement of the clip. Not to mention a wedge bolt with the cone engaged will not typically be pulled out without a serious fight. 



The replacement bolt

[JC w KC redux]

On Wednesday, December 2nd, I replaced the lead bolts on April Fools Route (Papa Bear).
This is an old, bold, runout route established by a climbing legend (Tom Higgins) in April 1976.

The old bolts were well placed in excellent rock and both produced a nice "pop" when I cranked down my puller tool.

Here are the old bolts (top bolt on the left - 2 1/2 x 3/8, bottom bolt on the right - 2 x 1/4). Both are split shafts with Leeper hangers.





and the beautiful replacements

bolt 1 - 30 feet up





bolt 2 - 15 feet above bolt 1



The bolts are no longer hard to see (as described in the current guidebook) 

[mynameismud]

love the old bolt shots

[JC w KC redux]

love the old bolt shots

They are cool but I like the replacement bolt shots better 

[Brad Young]

On Tuesday, December 1st, I replaced bolt 2 on The Smokestack - Swept Away 5.9*

The old 2nd bolt was a time bomb/accident waiting to happen. It was a 2 1/4 inch long wedge bolt that was bent by too much hammering into an underdrilled hole and the cone never engaged the clip. The only thing holding it in was the two little bumps on the sides of the clip. It was pointed down (no shear strength) and pulled out with disturbing ease.



The old bolt



You can see how bent it is and the lack of any clean metal on the cone = no engagement of the clip. Not to mention a wedge bolt with the cone engaged will not typically be pulled out without a serious fight. 



The replacement bolt

I followed up John's rebolting and this post by contacting one of the first ascent party who put up Swept Away. I explained the concerns with the tree and the flake it grows behind. I told him that to me the solution was obvious - put in a bolt to serve as a protection point instead of the tree. I also asked him if he had time in the near future to look at the route.

He lives halfway across the country and won't have time to look at the route. He emailed back though:

"That said, I like my routes to be safe. No point in excessive risk. Especially with that rock quality. So feel free to add bolts to any of my routes to make them safe."

I was also interested in what he said about getting the bolts in in the first place:

"That lead was one of the scariest of my life. I don’t know how I managed to get both hands free to drill. I didn’t use hooks, didn’t know about that technique. Didn’t know much about anything!!
We were operating in a vacuum."

Pinnacles climbing has an incredible history.

I shared all of the above with John who thinks he can reinspect the route and eliminate the need to use the tree for protection. If anyone can do that safely it would be Mister J.C. himself.

This all seems like a very positive set of developments.

[JC w KC redux]

I was all packed and ready to go to the Flatiron for some rebolting right before the shit hit the fan last Spring.
Kat and I trekked up there this past week to get some of that work done.
I started with the mid anchor at the top of The Regular Route. I had a choice of either adding 3 foot lengths of chain to each side or relocating one of the bolts.
I chose the latter. The two existing bolts were about 2 1/2 feet apart - both with flat ring hangers, in okay but not great rock.
They were on a flat surface behind a significant edge. The rope pull was extremely difficult - unless you walked 50 feet out from the base of the formation. The existing bolts were carbon steel 5 piece with stainless hangers. I have a stash of Fixe carbon hangers, so I swapped the hanger on the right bolt and added a screwlink and a 9 link chain. I drilled a new hole for the ring hanger in excellent rock - to equalize the rig and get it over the edge. Here is the new configuration with an X in the spot where the old left bolt was placed. I patched that hole and another failed hole right next to it.





Next I dropped into the Regular Route and replaced the only remaining old bolt (the first one). I remember looking at this old bolt when I did my first ever lead climb on December 23rd, 2011. I didn't have a clue about bolts back then. I just saw that it was rusty and it made me wary. The old bolt is one of the strangest I've seen at Pinnacles. It was a split shaft with slots milled down the sides. The cut washer on it had little tabs that aligned it in the slots. It had one of those Italy hangers with red primer paint. Here is the old bolt and hanger (nut was barely flush with the stud).





All the bolts on the route are good now. Here is the new bolt.





I had one bolt left so I replaced the first bolt on Lost Fortune. The old bolt was a split shaft with stainless SMC hanger, crooked bolt, improperly aligned hanger, cratered hole and minimally surfaced. This bolt came out really easily with the puller tool.





Same bolt with the hanger removed. Note how the threads end - indicating a split shaft. The bolt was barely in deep enough to allow proper tightening of the hanger.





and the replacement

 


More later today...

[Brad Young]

...I remember looking at this old bolt when I did my first ever lead climb on December 23rd, 2011. I didn't have a clue about bolts back then. I just saw that it was rusty and it made me wary....

Two things:

-  God you're old;

-  You knew a lot back then without even knowing what you knew. Most new climbers just clip whatever's there and give it no further thought (correct me if I'm wrong?).

[F4?]

Brad, that was a positive response.

Cool they would say to add bolts to make safe.

Was this the same person whom also used to epoxy his bolts?

[Runout]

I mentioned this to JC in the parking lot, but leaving here. There are several bolts on White Tail that are in a bizarre, hangerless state. In a couple cases the bolt is sticking out 1", but the sleeve still seems flush. Someone seems to have plans for these? I think this affects both Peon's Delight and Mission Impossible.

[squiddo]

I mentioned this to JC in the parking lot, but leaving here. There are several bolts on White Tail that are in a bizarre, hangerless state. In a couple cases the bolt is sticking out 1", but the sleeve still seems flush. Someone seems to have plans for these? I think this affects both Peon's Delight and Mission Impossible.

thanks. I remember when those were put up and climbing one of the routes and noting studs.  Interesting, any if they are old or new?

[F4?]

Correct on the routes. That would be cool to upgrade to hangers.
Surprised no one ever did.

Would they qualify for ACSA hangers? New bolts even better.

[squiddo]

Correct on the routes. That would be cool to upgrade to hangers.
Surprised no one ever did.

Would they qualify for ACSA hangers? New bolts even better.

Coastanoan and Mission Impossible used to have Doug's homemade hangers....made in his garage. And not exactly art like some others i have seen. Workable. Perhaps someone wanted the keepsakes....

[F4?]

I would do it given the replacement hardware.

Mulling for a late spring project?

[squiddo]

I would do it given the replacement hardware.

Mulling for a late spring project?

Spring....why wait. Eyes on the prize