How to Bolt (in Western Australia)

Ross Weiter, Perth, Australia, July2016, Rev.1

This document is not prepared or endorsed by the Climbers Association of WA (CAWA). It represents my own opinion, with feedback from one other well respected local frequent bolter. Other people may have their opinions, but beware: if they do not have much bolting and climbing experience, those opinions may be way more suspect than whatever you will find written here.

Putting up new climbs is fun..in a hard-work sense of the word. It is also a responsibility. Our creations will probably outlast us, and so whether we like it or not, they will form a part of the climbing legacy for an area. How we bolt a route will have a large impact on how many people climb the route again (or if anybody at all does), and what sort of experience they have.

In the State of Western Australia, good quality rock is limited. If you have been here for a while, you would have noticed that no Dolomites mountains, Elbsandstein towers or El Cap monoliths pierce the clouds. There is much single pitch sub-vertical granite, little limestone, and few truly steep sport routes. Given the scarcity of the resource, it does not take many screwed up bolts to screw up a route. Screw up a few routes and you have screwed up the crag. People who bolt badly are a hindrance to climbing development, not a boon.

Having bolted a couple of hundred climbs on two continents over the last 20 years, and having screwed up a few jobs of my own initially, I have acquired some knowledge along the way. Im not perfect, you may think that you know better and maybe you do, but this could still be worth reading. Maybe you dont want to be known as the the guy who screwed up. Maybe you dont care. Whatever.

My personal motivation behind writing this is to decrease the number of bolting atrocities out there, because although other more saintly people will spend their time and money fixing them, I wont. Time is money, knowledge is power and ignorance is no excuse. Also see the CAWA Code of Bolting and New Route Development.

STEP 1: Decide if Bolting is the Right Thing to Do

If it is less than 6m high and has a half-decent landing, it is a boulder problem. If it is higher than 6m, it may still be a boulder problem so check the bouldering guides to the area first (CAWA web site, thecrag.com). Never place bolts on boulder problems.

If it has slots and cracks, it is a trad route. Trad climbing is valued by many, as it practices the skill of placing gear, a skill completely separate from the one of moving upwards. This makes trad climbing more multi-dimensional than sport climbing and hence more interesting to some, and also gives access to far more rock in places like the high mountains where trad gear is often all there is available. Trad gear is cams up to #5 Camalot and all nut sizes from big to down to tiny RPs. It is not reasonable to expect that trad climbers will lug BigBros or slider nuts. Pitons are not trad gear.

Some routes are mixed: with some bolts and some trad gear. In such cases, if it is just one or two pieces, it is considerate to give a hint in the route description as to what the trad gear is. It is not reasonable to expect someone to carry a full rack on a sport 22 just because it has one gear placement on it.

Some routes have already been done, with massive runouts, not bolted and are not in guidebooks (again, see CAWA and thecrag). Some are in guidebooks but are not marked correctly. If you are looking at bolting at an established area, the onus is on you to do your research.

If it is a new area it may have Native Heritage status or it may be a Nature Reserve, or it may have some other access-related issue. The management plans are a good place to start the research. In some cases bolting may cause a problem for the climbing community and for you personally. National Parks in Western Australia are generally boltable, but not always. It depends. In WA, no bolting zones are called Adventure Climbing Areas (ACZ). Currently they are: within the Stirling Ranges National Park anywhere east of Chester Pass Road; at highly frequented tourist areas near Albany including the Gap, Natural Bridge and the Blowholes, and Cape le Grand National Park near Esperance. There are others: get lots of opinions from local climbers and maybe have a friendly chat with the Ranger.

Rangers generally do not see climbers as trouble, having larger problems to worry about..like pig shooters, trail bikers and illegal rubbish dumpers. They tend to agree that climbing, mountain biking and even bushwalking all need infrastructure, whether it is access roads, walking trails, MTB single tracks or bolts. The Access Fund in the US has long and successfully used the argument that climbs are basically vertical trails and so if bushwalkers are acceptable then so are climbers. Occasionally the red herring of public liability raises its head in the mind of the national parks service, but as far as I know, in Australia there has never been a case of a rock climber suing anyone for anything.

However, private property is a different matter from public land for obvious reasons and access without owner permission should not be contemplated. How would you like someone in your back yard?

STEP 2: Remove Lose Rocks

Test all the flakes, blocks and loose rocks. If it does not seem like it will survive decades of climbers pulling on it, pull it off now, with a piton hammer or a 750-900mm crowbar. This may create some scarring for a while, generally showing as pale rock. The scars fade surprisingly quickly, over a couple of years. Weathering, moss and oxidation do their thing quickly. Better a temporary scar than a belayer with a rock in their forehead, safety wins.

Crowbar

Some moving flakes cannot be dislodged and should be glued in. Some essential holds on hard climbs may also need to be glued in. The bright pink Hilti HIT-RE 500 glue looks hideous when new, but fades into a dull red in a few months, so chill out if a new gluing job is a bit offensive.

The above cleaning work is best performed on abseil, with no one and nothing below you, not even rope. The hanging rope should be flaked into a cheap $1 shopping bag which is clipped to the harness. That way there is no rope hanging down or lying on the ground and liable to get damaged by falling rocks.which can be many, especially in quarries. The climb Turbodiesel Excavator in Mountain Quarry is not called that for nothing.

Rock removal varies hugely, from none at all to a solid day of work. The main tools needed here are the crowbar, hammer, safety glasses (to prevent rock chips in eyeballs), and fingerless leather gloves. Bunnings sells safety glasses for $17. For gloves I use $10 soft leather jobbies from Bunnings and just cut off the fingertips. I got this idea from aid climbing and it works. They tend to stop grazing of knuckles and slashing of hands and wrists on sharp edges. Good solid boots and trousers are a good idea to save legs.

Piton Hammer

On natural crags, do not chip, drill or in any way modify the rock to make the climb easier. If you do it, you will be laughed at, and your pathetic effort filled with epoxy putty (two-part KneadIt putty sticks are available from Bunnings just for this purpose). This stuff is also good for fixing botched bolting jobs, e.g. filling holes.

STEP 3: Mark the Bolt Locations

This can be done with the aid of a belayer or using a static (i.e. abseiling, non-stretch) line and self-belaying with an appropriate device. Generally these things have either teeth or lobes that allow the rope to slide down as you climb but lock if you hang or fall (which would make the rope go back up through the device). I could recommend devices and systems but wont for liability reasons. Do your research. A $1 shopping bag with some rocks (or a drill battery) in it, hanging from the bottom of the static line, keeps it nicely taught and ensures that the device slides up well enough.

Some places (not in WA) had (or still have) the ethic of placing bolts on lead, because of multi-pitch routes, noise regulations or just regular machismo. This inevitably means that bolts are placed where there is a convenient stance or a possibility of placing a temporary aid hook; not in locations where leaders ideally want to see bolts so as to protect them. In Western Australia there is basically no need to do this, this is not Yosemite Valley (with its manual-drilling regulations) and we do not emulate it.

Bolt locations can be marked with chalk, scratched with a small rock, or for a more durable option (if coming back later) use a crayon a shortened crayon will fit into a chalk ball quite nicely (clean off rock with a wire brush).

Dont place bolts out of reach of average people. Since I am very tall (6ft4in), I will generally extend my fingers as far as I can possibly reach, and then place the bolt at my elbow height. I have not always done that.

There is often much crag-side banter about why the bolts are spaced-out too much or so little, where the first bolt goes etc. There are no solid rules here as it is another it depends kind of answer. But as rough guidance, the first bolt should be as high as the average leader for that grade route would be comfortable to boulder up to, using the belayer as a spotter. Note that I said for the grade. The first bolt on a grade 16 should not be set by the comfort level of a grade 24 leader. Some routes (like Rage in Mountain Quarry) start with many really hard moves making it almost impossible to clip a bolt, so the first bolt is deliberately placed high so as to be stick-clipped.

The second bolt should then be wherever there is decent stance or hold to clip it. You really dont want to fall trying to clip the second bolt, as the chance is that you will end up on the ground. Often this is the most critical bolt placement on the route. Subsequent bolts are then placed so that the leader does not hit the ground, ledges, edges of roofs and blocks, and other things. The spacing tends to be greater if the terrain eases off, e.g. on a grade 20 it is reasonable to assume that bolt spacing may be longer on a grade 12 section than at the crux. Cese in France has legendary run-outs on top and so does the Mt Cuthbert slab.

After you marked the bolts, climb the route again, this time imagining clipping the bolts. Do the spacings still make sense? Where will the rope run if the climber falls: will it rub against any sharp edges when it comes taught? (Dont forget that draws will straighten a taught rope.) There are some at-first-glance strange bolt locations out there..for a reason.

Give the proposed bolt locations a tap with a hammer. If it makes a ringing sound, it is hollow and a bolt cannot be placed there, find a safer location even if it is not ideal. If you dont know what a ringing flake sounds like, find an obvious one and test it out.

The bolt location should be at least 15cm (6) from any crack lines or edges. Sometimes this is just not possible so just do your best. Never place a bolt into a crack..you may laugh but I have seen it done!

STEP 4: Decide on the Bolt Type

Here is how different bolt types (columns) compare, based on different evaluation criteria (rows).

Evaluation criterion

The carrot

GIMB*

GIMB* with fixed hanger

Expansion bolt with hanger

Ringbolt

U-bolt

Price per installation**

$2

$6

$10

$9

$12 (304SS)

$7

Installation

Tricky/difficult

Needs gluing skills

Needs gluing skills

Easiest, but some can spin

Needs gluing skills

Needs gluing skills

Suitability for rock types

Hard

Hard/Medium

Hard/Medium

Hard

Hard/Medium

The only bolt type for weak limestone

Visual impact

Low

Low

Medium/High

Medium/High***

Medium/High

High

Ease of clip

Needs hanger, can be fat/overdriven

Needs hanger

Hanger can spin

No issues

No issues

No issues

Tamper proof?

Yes

Yes

Yes

Hanger theft

Yes

Yes

Durability

Can bend or creep out over time

High

High

Hanger may come loose: re-tighten

High

High

Easy escape?

No

No

No

No

Yes

Yes

Need to return to send?

Climb same day

Climb next day

Climb next day

Climb same day

Climb next day

Climb next day

* Glued-in Machine Bolt** Includes: bolt, wear on drill bit, hanger (if applicable) and glue (if applicable), AUD, 2016 basis.*** Some hangers are very large (Fixe, Petzl Coeur) some are much smaller (MadRock)

Basically each type has its pluses and minuses and the selection depends on the circumstances. The carrot (a machine bolt with sides ground to a slightly tapering carrot shape) is generally the worst choice, which is why it is used nowhere in the world for free climbing but..er.in Australia (some carrots were used for aid climbing in USA ages ago). Yes it is super cheap, has a low visual impact and you can climb the route on the same day as you bolt it, but its installation is VERY dependent on the skill of the installer and type/angle of the rock it sits in. Time is not kind to the carrot also: it is probably bomber on the day it is placed, but often deadly a few decades later. In the Perth quarries, some carrots have actually pulled out when fallen later. In other places there are carrots which have become bendy (due to sticking out too much) or fat (due to being smashed by a hammer so hard that their diameter is increased). Since 2009, the CAWA Code of Bolting prohibits their use in Western Australia for these reasons. If you insist on using these things and if someone gets injured because of your carrot pulling out, you may end up in court. Again, ignorance (or arrogance) is no excuse.

Carrot, sticking out

The Glued-In Machine Bolt (GIMB) is the lowest visual impact yet safe bolt there is, and hence best for use in sensitive areas, i.e. those visited by the public (e.g. bottom of Mt Frankland). In its stainless 316L guise it provides the most cost-effective long-term durability out there, resisting both pitting and crevice corrosion (no crevices due to glue). On the downside, it is hard to see when spaced out on large slabs with large white grains.

Machine bolt

Also, it is not suitable for wire gate carabiners as the removable hanger can be removed with the carabiner clipped into it. I have never heard of this happening while climbing, but have managed to do it when playing around at home. The GIMB needs to stick out a fair bit to make this possible. In any case, use a solid gate on the hanger end of the quickdraw.

Normally a 10mm diameter x 80mm long bolt is used, glued into a 12mm hole. Note that the bolt should not be fully threaded (all the way to the head) as this weakens it: the thread tends to be 1mm deep so wherever it is threaded the bolt effectively has a diameter of 10mm-2*1mm=8mm. This decreases it shear strength by 36%.

GIMBs are almost always glued in without a hanger, simply because if you add a hanger to it, the cost is as much as that of a ringbolt anyway.

Expansion bolts are easy to install and convenient for remote locations where you may not want to return to for route sendage. The main problem is that anyone with a spanner can tamper with them. In WA this tends not to be a problem but when I bolted in Oman the hangers just kept being bagged by local villagers. Who knows why? On hard routes, they are also not escapable by lowering off without leaving a biner behind.

Ramset Trubolt

12 x 75mm Dynabolt

There are two basic varieties used: the partly-sleeved Ramset Trubolt (or similar) only requires a 10mm hole but can spin when installed, becoming impossible to tighten. The larger fully-sleeved 12mm Dynabolt will not spin in a hole. Note that 10mm Dynabolts should not be used. The internal bolt is fully threaded and hence the cross section is only 10mm 2*1mm for the sleeve 2*1mm for thread = 6mm wide. Not enough.

Fixe Ringbolt

Ringbolts are the preferred modern bolt and overall have the fewest problems (see table).

U-bolts are also glued-in, just like ringbolts, but have two major problems. (1) They tend to be home-made; hence their safety depends on the know-how of the maker. (2) Secondly they are large and very visible hence they should never be used wherever any other bolt can be used instead. Their main use lies in their design - they have two attachment points which makes the bolt-rock attachment stronger than for any other bolt (meaning they are difficult to rip out); a critical feature for weak rock like karst limestone (e.g. Bobs Hollow). To be strong in weak rock, they must be large the two holes must be far apart to engage as much rock as possible. Conversely, two holes placed close together would weaken each other.

They can also be glued into overhangs as the bolt can be wedged into dual vertical holes. Gluing horizontal rock is a mess beyond belief, and thankfully is not needed in WA. U-bolts these should be made from a stainless steel bar of at least 8mm diameter.

In general, all glued-in bolts (GIMBs, rings or U-bolts) can be trickier to install than expansions, but using the gun and mixing nozzle recommended by the glue (also called injection mortar) manufacturer and preparing the hole properly (brushing and blowing out the dust) fixes that problem. Never use two-part glue cartridges which require spinning to mix the two parts together: this is easy to screw up which will result in the glue not setting properly giving a deadly but hidden problem. This problem cannot happen with the two part sausage type of glue, e.g. HILTI HIT-RE 500 as it mixes in the mixing nozzle provided with the pack (you need to dump the first tablespoonful that comes out as the sausages do not break at exactly the same time).

Besides safety, the main bolt selection consideration is the visual impact, especially on the non-climbing public. The more public an area is, the lower the impact should be. Choose GIMBs, rather than other types of bolt. It is even possible to paint the metal (and the glue) to match the rock. This will remove the attention-drawing shine. To make the paint stick, you will need to pre-scratch the bolt or hanger, e.g. using sand paper or a metal file. Stainless steel is relatively soft. The sanding and painting should be done at home before you set out.

The minimum material grade for any climbing fixture in Western Australia is stainless steel 304. This is stamped as A2. Stainless steel 316, stamped as A4, is preferable to 304 for coastal cliffs as it better resists various corrosion mechanisms (pitting, crevice, chloride and salt). Nothing carbon steel, galvanised or plated should ever be used on WA rock, coastal or elsewhere.

Climbing fixtures should be sourced from either climbing shops, or reputable industrial fastener outlets (whether online or a traditional shop), not eBay. Australian shops and stores have a reputation to lose and a law suit to fear, which tends to make their sourcing more diligent. You dont want imitation stainless steel.

STEP 5: Consider Placing Anchors

Maillon (Quick-link)

Unless there is big tree or boulder on top, bolted routes will need bolted anchors as no one will carry a trad rack for that purpose. Muddy top-outs are not cool.

Using anchors that can be used for lowering off (rig bolts or horizontally placed fixed hangers with chains or maillons/quick links) are the environmentally friendly solution. Walking down creates paths and erosion gullies. However the visual impact is not negligible. Maillon or maillon rapide is the French terms and climbers use it; industrial fastener stores call these things quick links.

Beware of non-stainless steels maillons; some of the climbing shops in Perth sell them and they have all the strength and UIAA stamps on them but if it does not say INOX, 316 or 304 on the unit, then it is not stainless. I got caught out like that, placing some rated maillons at a sea cliff and boy, did they turn into rust quick fast!!

Anchors should be located so as to minimise rope drag and damage while lowering or abseiling off. This means avoiding rock edges and low angle slabby placements on tops of steep routes..

Chain with Hangers

Ring bolt anchors should be oriented so as to minimise drag, as shown in centre and right diagrams below. The left diagram maximises drag.

If making an anchor by combining standard fixed hangers and maillons, make sure the bottom edge of the hanger is HORIZONTAL, which will ensure that the maillon then hangs in the vertical plane (centre picture). FIXE hangers have three nubbins on the rock side that will stop them from rotating when placed horizontally, and a good geometry that lends them to this purpose. Note how the bolt hole is only slightly vertically offset from the carabiner hole, creating only a small lever to encourage rotation. This idea will not work with most other hangers: either they lack nubbins or the offset is too large. If you install the anchor hanger as recommended for a runner (left picture) the resulting position of the maillon (try it at home) will twist the crap out of the rope when lowering (you can solve that problem, by using two maillons on each hanger but why cause a problem in the first place?). Of course you can buy purpose-made hanger-ring combos (right picture) or pre-twisted maillons / shackles, this will solve the same problem, for a price.

One last thing, do not use maillons of less than 8mm bar diameter. Smaller maillons do not have enough metal for wear and tear (erosion by sand caught in a rope), and the hole asize is annoyingly small to clip.

STEP 6: Placing Bolts and Climbing

This is not a how to install bolts guide, because I really dont want people to read 2 pages of prose and then woo-hoo! head out bolting. There is much to say, but I will only say this:

All installation work must only be completed by a competent, experienced person familiar withal the equipment and techniques. If you do not know, please seek the assistance of an experienced bolter who can instruct you, like me or Neil. We will not disclose your crag or route. We can stop you from making an ass of yourself though. You can find us through the CAWA Committee.

We are not on the Committee but the Committee knows who we are and what our email is.

No you cant borrow my gear. Yes it does cost about $1000 to get set up.

Do not experiment with bolting on climbing-quality rock. Do not bolt if you have been climbing for less than two years and have led less than 100 bolted routes. You dont know what you dont know.

You can also try these links, but they do not necessarily reflect how we do things locally:

http://www.fixehardware.com/shop/fixe-videos by Kevin Daniels of Fixe

http://www.safercliffs.org/code/bolting_guide.html

Once done, clean up the drilled-out dust off the surrounding rock by using a dust brush or a blowing tube (which you will have for cleaning out the hole anyway). This decreases the visual impact, which may last for weeks if it does not rain.

Check for any glue drips: they can be eliminated by either rubbing them into a rag or smearing across the rock (somewhere inconspicuous). Weathering will make the pink glue translucent in a few months.

Once finished, if you want to reserve the route as a project, place pink tape on the bottom bolt (or two). This means do not climb, it is someones project. Having spent considerable time, effort and $ to clean and put the thing up, the climbing community will generally give you a year or so to get on with the red point. Consider putting tape on bottom two bolts rather than one to make it less easy to remove by a passer by.

The grade given to a route should be relative to other routes in the area, not to some routes 100km away. For example Kalbarri routes are graded in comparison with other Kalbarri routes, not in comparison with Power Play in Mountain Quarry. The grade is probably best checked with someone who is of average height and build and does not have the intimate knowledge of every hold that you as the route author have acquired while scoping it out. Place the route under First Ascents and ask for feedback. Place it on thecrag.com and you will get feedback.

Hopefully you have created a route that you can be proud of, others will enjoy, no one is annoyed by and which will last for a long time. If not, please re-consider where it all went wrong and do your best to fix it up.

CheersRoss

APPENDIX: Bolting Screw-Ups I Have Seen

Use of 10mm Dynabolts (a full sleeve design) 6mm bar diameter is not enough, use 12mm Dynabolts

Bolt hole drilled into a crack this is THE line of weakness/movement, stay away

Droopy carrots bomber the day they were placed (and were not droopy), will pull out one day, it is just a matter of when

Use of fixed pitons bomber on the day the first ascent was done, rusty/dodgy as hell 20 years later. I removed one by hand while leading.

Professionally installed, tagged bolts spinning inside hole when pulled by hand, due to use of glue capsule and inadequate spinning/mixing dont ever use glue capsules

Using cheap hardware store glue (e.g. Araldite) glue weak, runs out of hole, looks bad

Galvanic corrosion between stainless steel hanger and galvanised bolt

Use of homemade or eBay gear such as hangers, U bolts no quality control, hope for the best approach.

Carrot bolt lower-offs (impossible to thread) yes, really

Retro-bolting a solo route because the guidebook plotted the route incorrectly bolter did not use judgement when scoping out (look for obvious line of least resistance) and saw blank rock as an opportunity. Use head.

Using plated or galvanized carbon steel slow corrosion, rust streak developing after 5 years, looks bad

Lazy unnecessary anchor placements - installing belay anchors (not lower-offs), on horizontal ground, on top of a sea cliff, 4m away from a massive boulder there is no need for bolts even if it is a sport climb, just wrap rope around boulder

Installing massive U-bolts in granite, 10 meters from a busy tourist track this is just asking for complaints and there is no need for this kind of bolt in granite

Maillons installed on vertical fixed hangers lots of rope twisting if rapping down multi-pitch route

Anchors installed above and behind an edge lots of drag

How to Bolt Page 2