Sport Climbing - An Instructional Guidebook

Aimed at beginners and experienced sport climbers. It covers all the technical skills needed to climb bolted sport routes worldwide, from short single-pitch entry-grade routes, through harder modern test-pieces to classic multi-pitch crag and mountain routes.

1 Bolts and Bolting

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A ‘bolt’ is a generic, cover-all term used to describe a piece of metal protection fixed to a rock face. There are many different styles and types, and which one to use in any particular location will depend upon a number of factors. Rock type, location (coastal or inland), local ethics, type of climbing and the financial situation of the bolter all play a part.

Types
The majority of bolts can be categorised into three main styles of placement:
•    Glue-in bolts – provide a very strong protection point that will last for years if placed correctly.
•    Hammer-in or screw-in bolts – ready for immediate use, whereas a glue-in style bolt has to be left to cure for a period of time before being loaded.

The placement of bolts is fairly easy to achieve, although it does take experience to position them appropriately and in context with the moves of the route they are going to protect. Placing them badly is even easier: missing out crucial bolts on crux sections, placing them under bulges with little thought as to the run of the rope, or right on the lip of roofs where repeated falls could weaken the very rock into which they are drilled.

Glue-in bolts come in a variety of shapes and sizes. The commonest will consist of a lightly threaded shaft and a D-shaped head. In terms of width 10mm and 14mm are the most usual, with those around 70mm long being used in hard rock types, and 100mm long in softer rock. Some glue-ins look like a large staple, and need two holes drilled in the rock in order to seat them properly.

A hammer-in bolt will often be used by those who are protecting technical climbs at altitude or on very long, technical routes, because neither spanners nor similar tools are needed to place them. The bolt comes as a single unit. A post protrudes from the hanger down the centre of the bolt. Once the hole has been drilled and the bolt placed in it, the post is driven in with a hammer. This expands the outer casing of the bolt, causing it to grip the drilled hole internally.

A very common style of expansion bolt seen on sport routes is the screw-in bolt, where a nut assembly is turned, drawing a stud through the centre of the bolt, causing it to expand and jam in the drilled hole. These are very quick to place and can be used immediately, a bonus if a climber wishes to equip a route and climb it the same day.

Lower-offs
Generally, the tops of routes are equipped with points from where climbers can lower off or abseil. Although there are variations, these can be placed in two broad categories:

•    Where you can clip in the rope and go down.
•    Where you need to untie the rope from your harness and thread it through before descending.

Lower-offs can consist of either one or two bolts, sometimes joined together with a chain or similar linkage, sometimes not.

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TIP

It is extremely important that you satisfy yourself that the bolts on the route you are about to climb are well placed and appropriate for the job in hand. If you have any doubts as to the security of the placements, go and climb somewhere else. Factors that may determine whether you climb or not, having examined the protection, may include the following:

•    Evidence of rusting, such as rust streaks under the placement, particularly on sea cliffs.
•    Bolts that have been damaged.
•    Bolts not placed flush with the rock.
•    Any glue-ins that do not display signs of glue at the outer edge of the drilled hole.
•    Bolts that move.
•    Rotating hangers.
•    Bolts placed in areas of loose rock.
•    Bolts placed very close to the lip of a roof.
•    Bolts or hangers that are obviously home-made.

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Equipping a route
Although I am not going to go into particularly technical detail about the specific mechanics used when placing a bolt, it is interesting to have some background knowledge about how this is done. Assuming that the route has been chosen, the next decision is whether to bolt upwards or downwards. This will depend upon a number of factors, such as the provision of anchors at the top of the proposed route and how steep it is. It will often be best to descend the route, drilling as appropriate on the way down. On a very steep route this is useful as the rigger can use the rope clipped through an extender on the previously drilled bolt to hold him close to the rock as he prepares the next one down. The following photographic sequence shows the stages of equipping a steep sport route with expansion bolts.

The placing of glue-in bolts is treated a little differently, as these cannot be used for a period of time while the glue, or resin, sets. This can take as little as 20 minutes through to four days, depending on the type of fixative used and the ambient air temperature.

1     A hole is drilled into the rock at precisely the correct location, width and depth.
2     Any loose material such as dust is cleaned out by blowing and using a bottle-brush.
3     Many glue-in bolts are supplied with a handy capsule of glue, ready to go. This is placed in the hole.
4     The bolt is then placed into the hole and driven in whilst being rotated so that the glue completely covers the light thread on the shaft.
5     Any excess glue is wiped away from the outside of the hole, and the placement is left to cure for the recommended time period.

Equipment
Apart from the bolts, a rigger’s gear will consist of a few decidedly non-technical-looking bits of kit. Out-of-the ordinary gear will include spanners, a torque wrench, rags, hammer or old ice axe, and a drill. The drill will normally be a heavy-duty battery-powered industrial hammer type, capable of making short work of a variety of rock types. In some circumstances, however, the rigger may have no option but to use a hand-held drill operated by striking the back of it with a hammer. This has the effect of rotating an internal mechanism at each blow, which in turn rotates the drill bit. The obvious disadvantage is the time and effort that it takes to drill a hole. This style of hand drilling is very useful where the location is remote and there is no chance of carrying in a heavy industrial drill, or where it could be used as a back-up should the drill battery fail and none other be available.