We get it. You’ve got questions, and you deserve some answers. Here are some of the most frequently asked questions that we hear and a few answers that we hope will help to educate the climbing community. Still got questions? Feel free to get in touch via our Contact page!
Where did my bolt go and what’s this piece of wire clothes hanger that’s sticking out of the rock in it’s place?
Let us guess, you’re climbing a route on the welded tuff at Smith Rock. Don’t worry, that’s not actually a clothes hanger. That’s what’s called a resin anchor, or a “glue-in”, and it is the preferred bolt type in relatively softer, or less homogenous types of stone. For this reason, when re-bolting a route in the welded tuff at Smith Rock, the HDCA replaces all bolts with resin anchors.
Other more commonly seen bolt types, like the 5-piece bolt or wedge-bolt, are what are called mechanical expansion anchors. While they work great in very hard, homogenous rock types, like basalt or granite, they have a higher risk of failure over time in softer rock. The resin anchors are bomb proof for life, and are probably what would be used in all rock types if they didn’t require a bit of specialized equipment to install and weren’t so difficult to remove, should that ever be necessary.
Sweet! There are mussy hooks at the top of this pitch! It’s OK to top rope with the rope running directly through these giant hooks, right?
As always, you should seek qualified instruction before you try to re-create a climbing technique that you read about on the internet!
Actually, under most normal circumstances, the HDCA recommends and politely asks that you top rope in such a way that the wear and tear is applied to your own gear. Then when the last person is ready to lower, they clip the mussies, clean their personal gear and lower away. There obviously are always extenuating circumstances, so use your best discretion and climb safely. But if we’re all good stewards of this equipment, it will last a lot longer between necessary replacements!
If you’d like to contribute towards a shiny new set of mussy hooks for your favorite route, head on over to our Donate button and then tell all your friends that you paid for the 192nd pair of mussies on 5 Gallon Buckets!
This technique is also possible even at anchor stations where mussy hooks have not been installed. Petzl has published a great article explaining the how-to.
The route that I’d like to climb is equipped with perma-draws, but the perma-draw on the first bolt is missing! Should I report this to the HDCA?
The first quickdraw on a sport route is generally the one that takes the most wear and tear of all the quickdraws on the route. For that reason, and using the same logic that we use for not top-roping through permanent mussy hooks, the HDCA intentionally does not install perma-draws on the very first bolt of the route. That way, the majority of the wear and tear is applied to the climber’s own personal gear, and therefore that wear and tear is spread out across the quickdraws of all the climbers who start up a perma-draw route instead of all being focused on the first perma-draw. This makes the permanently installed gear last a lot longer between necessary replacements. So, no, please do not report perma-draws being absent from the first bolt of a climb. Simply hang your own first quickdraw and then focus on going a muerte for the send!
Is this piece of permanent hardware (bolt, hanger, mussy hook, etc.) sketchy enough that I should report it to the HDCA?
When in doubt, absolutely feel free to contact the HDCA about sketchy or dangerous hardware via our Bad Bolt Reporting Form in the Contact page of our website. However, just because a bolt is old doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s in need of immediate replacement. Here are some examples of items we would definitely want to know about.
Significantly worn-through lowering carabiners, rap rings, or mussy hooks, like this one that was removed by the HDCA from Planet Luxury.
If a mechanical bolt is spinning and cannot be tightened, or any type of bolt (glue-in or otherwise) is pulling out from the face of the rock, the HDCA definitely wants to know about it.
Sometimes the rope can tend to catch and rub on permanently installed hardware on a route, creating a razor sharp edge over time, like this one that was removed from Papillion by the HDCA. If you encounter a sharp edge like this on a climb, the HDCA definitely wants to know about it!
For more detailed information, read on below:
These are guidelines for recreational climbers trying to assess bolt quality out at the cliff. Think of there being 4 tiers of bolt quality:
1.) UNUSABLE (For example-hanger has been flattened, or is missing)
2.) POOR (For example- physical damage, heavy corrosion, significant wear, improvised material)
3.) ADEQUATE (functional, but light wear or corrosion, uneven chains, improper spacing, mixed materials)
4.) GOOD (For example- no visible damage or wear, well constructed)
5.) VERY GOOD (Replaced or installed with known history and/or documentation)
Tier 3, 4 and 5 bolts don’t need to be reported and you can clip them with minimal concern. Tier 1 and 2 should be reported to the HDCA.
General Considerations:
Size: generally speaking anything smaller than ⅜” in diameter should be treated as at least a 1st or 2nd tier bolt. For reference ⅜” is just under 10mm and most climbing ropes are somewhere between 9 and 10mm. One caveat is that many glue in anchors are made with relatively narrow rod stock. If it’s a glue in anchor and isn’t cracked or deformed, narrow metal stock isn’t a concern. In harder rock, developers can use smaller bolts, but the minimum standard across the board is ⅜”. All new bolts placed by the HDCA are ½” or bigger (12mm+). Many years ago, the use of 1/4” bolts was much more common, and these relics are still sometimes found today. If stumbled upon today, not only are they undersized but also likely very old. they should be treated with great scrunity and reported to the HDCA.
Material: stainless steel is best. Plated steel is probably fine (3rd or 4th tier) Aluminum should be treated with suspicion. (1st and 2nd tier)
Corrosion: (rust) if all other parameters are okay, bolts can be surprisingly corroded and still hold a fall. That being said, if you see a heavily corroded bolt, it’s best not to fall on it. One major difficulty is that a bolt can look totally uncorroded on the outside, but be heavily corroded inside the hole. One entirely unscientific or tested metric is that if the bolt is more than half corroded, you can consider it a 2nd tier bolt.
Deformation: Bolts can be damaged by rockfall, repeated hard falls, and/or the rubbing of a weighted rope. If the bolt or hanger looks bent, cracked, or deeply grooved, (>30% worn through or grooved to the point of making a sharp edge) then it can be considered 1st or 2nd tier depending on the severity of the deformation.
Expansion Bolts: These are typically two part anchors composed of the bolt and a separate hanger. In an ideal environment, they rely on mechanical expansion to work. You can generally identify them as such by the bit of metal coming out of the hanger (called the stud). It should either have a hex shaped nut that is installed on threaded rod or a flat hex head holding the hanger in place.
If the hanger spins, this isn’t by itself necessarily a safety concern and is a common issue in 3rd tier bolts.
If the stud spins, that’s more of a concern. If you can tighten it down, do so (but be careful not to over tighten it if you’re using a wrench) and report it when you get done. If it tightens, it’s a 3rd tier bolt. If it won’t tighten, it’d be considered a 1st or 2nd tier bolt.
If the stud is tight, (won’t turn any more) but the whole assembly can be wiggled or worse yet, removed from the hole, that is about as bad as it gets and would be considered a 1st tier bolt.
Glue in Bolts: these are basically pieces of metal rod epoxied into the rock. They typically have an integrated hanger and stud.
The most common concern with glue ins is deformation of the hanger. If it’s bent, cracked, or deeply grooved, then it’d be considered a 1st or 2nd tier bolt.
If the resin has failed or never properly cured, then the placement is fully compromised. If you can scrape the resin away with a fingernail or if the stud moves in the hole, that’s bad and the bolt would be considered 1st tier.
One caveat to all of that is that Metolius used to make a mechanical bolt that looks a lot like a glue in, but usually turns 360º in its hole. These are increasingly uncommon, but you still might encounter them at Smith. If you encounter one, (you’ll know it by its look and because it easily spins) just spin it in the tightening direction, clip it, and carry on. It’s a 3rd or 4th tier bolt depending on the quality of the placement.
That’s all good and fine, but what do I do if I run into one while climbing? If a bolt is truly bad, strategies to minimize your risk while climbing are backing them up with natural protection if possible, reframing to more of a ‘soloing’ mindset to minimize reliance on the bolt in question, or downclimbing/retreating.