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tymont12
Apr 7, 2009, 6:43 PM
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So I was at Rocky Butte Last weekend on Video Bluff (around April 4th) and all of the top rope anchors looked like rusty hardware store bolts with unrated chainlinks held on by flimsy washers. Now tree anchors are plentiful but everyone I saw climbing was clipping into the sub-par anchors and not giving it a second thought.
What about replacing the toprope anchors with stainless steel hardware? I've talked to the ASCA and I'd be able to get the hardware but I don't want to do it if they're just gonna get swiped or chopped.
Does anyone object to it or wanna help? To clarify, no new bolts would be added, only existing bolts would be replaced.
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patmay81
Apr 7, 2009, 7:04 PM
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I think its a great idea. every top rope I've set up at RB was off trees/nat. pro, those epoxy bolts really sketch me out the way they are all mankily placed with excessive gobs of putty epoxy eeking all over the place!
you've got my vote!
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billcoe_
May 29, 2009, 5:23 AM
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tymont12 wrote: So I was at Rocky Butte Last weekend on Video Bluff (around April 4th) and all of the top rope anchors looked like rusty hardware store bolts with unrated chainlinks held on by flimsy washers. Now tree anchors are plentiful but everyone I saw climbing was clipping into the sub-par anchors and not giving it a second thought. What about replacing the toprope anchors with stainless steel hardware? I've talked to the ASCA and I'd be able to get the hardware but I don't want to do it if they're just gonna get swiped or chopped. Does anyone object to it or wanna help? To clarify, no new bolts would be added, only existing bolts would be replaced.
Lets replace (or back up) all the old rusty mank. I does amaze me that no one gets killed clipping and trusting with no backup ever. On ocasion folks slide off the hill and over the cliff trying to get to the anchors. 10 of them last year alone. Most down on video and silver bullett. I've done 3-4 sets of anchors on new routes which haven't been disturbed (not much I mean) in the last 3 years. I've been asking around for over a year on doing an anchor at Crack Warrior as well and generally no one has ever hear of it:-) I'll help, have gear and experience for this, let me know.
Bill
BTW, I found your post while loking for this one (my brother just phoned me about it.
Hiker Splints Leg, Waits 14 Hours For Help
POSTED: 6:51 am PDT May 28, 2009
UPDATED: 10:31 am PDT May 28, 2009
PORTLAND, Ore. -- A climber who suffered a broken leg in a 20-foot fall survived a long night in the woods after his screams for help went unanswered Monday.
Alex Edington said he was climbing down the face of Rocky Butte in The Grotto in northeast Portland on Sunday night. About 20 feet from the bottom, he lost his grip.
"Shortest way down Rocky Butte is straight down, (so) I tried to climb down it. I ended up holding onto a root that didn't hold and falling," he said.
Edington landed feet first, but his left leg buckled from the impact. He broke his femur, his foot and suffered a compound fracture to his lower leg.
"I knew that something bad had happened and I was afraid to look," Edington said. "When I looked, I could actually see the bone in the side of my leg sticking out."
In severe pain and with his leg bleeding, Edington said instinct took over. He tore his T-shirt and boxers, grabbed some sticks and splinted his own leg. He said he tried to reinforce his lower leg so the bone "wouldn't be popping out of the side."
"I just kind of went into survival mode," Edington said.
With little daylight left, he tried to stand up on his other leg, but the pain was too intense.
Edington screamed for help. He said a group of transients were nearby, but his calls went unanswered.
"I kept yelling and yelling," Edington said. "Finally, I gave up and just decided to stay the night."
The following morning, his yell was finally heard and someone at a nearby BMX track called 911.
"When I finally knew I was going to get help, it was like the sweetest relief," Edington said.
Edington survived what he described as the longest and most painful night of his life. He said he didn't sleep more than two minutes.
He was hospitalized in serious condition at Legacy Emanuel Hospital. Aside from injuries to his leg, Edington suffered a partially collapsed lung and a ruptured disc in his back, but he plans to make a full recovery.
"I'm thankful -- it could have been worse," he said. "It could have been a lot worse."
He said there's a lot to be determined about his recovery, but he regained feeling in his toes Tuesday."
________________________________________________
I don't get there much anymore so I miss all the excitement!
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healyje
May 29, 2009, 5:39 AM
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Yyyyouch - is this really a climber or someone just messing around out there...?
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billcoe_
Jul 6, 2009, 1:55 AM
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tymont12 wrote: So I was at Rocky Butte Last weekend on Video Bluff (around April 4th) and all of the top rope anchors looked like rusty hardware store bolts with unrated chainlinks held on by flimsy washers. Now tree anchors are plentiful but everyone I saw climbing was clipping into the sub-par anchors and not giving it a second thought. What about replacing the toprope anchors with stainless steel hardware? I've talked to the ASCA and I'd be able to get the hardware but I don't want to do it if they're just gonna get swiped or chopped. Does anyone object to it or wanna help? To clarify, no new bolts would be added, only existing bolts would be replaced.
I've started in. Silver Bullet should be next. I agree with you on the no new bolts part but I have been asking around for @2 years about adding 2 to the top of Crack Warrior. You can read that here. I had thought that was a year ago, but time flies I guess.
http://cascadeclimbers.com/...er_questi#Post712112
See, the tree which use to serve as an awesome anchor sheared off in the 1996 storm and the stump, which worked great for a while, finally rotted away. I do not believe that the crack which is visible there is anything more than a spot separating 2 boulders, and not a good or safe place to go all gear. In asking around have ran into a few folks who got pissed that I would even suggest adding new bolts where there never were any ever before, but in discussion, I would find out that they didn't even know where Crack Warrior was. Once I explained the situation those few folks would lighten up. Most folks were fine with it anyway, about 99% of the climbers out there, no matter what their viewpoint was on new top rope bolts, just didn't know where this great route was!
Speaking of which, if you click the link above from 2007 you see the Poison Oak spraying disagreement I had with "Clif". Well, I didn't spray it then. I ran into him 3 days ago, learned that he STILL didn't know where the top of Wisdom Tooth was, and I told him I was going to spray the wall to wall waist deep Poison Oak there anyway. He said he didn't want to discuss it, which is cool I guess. So I finally did just spray it as no one has probably climbed it for 15 years since the last time I was on it. I never went back to wade through the oak and he never went and pulled it out.
Anyway, I was taking a rest day and had all my bolting crap together from some projects I've been on so I headed up to start in on this stuff.
I thought I'd start at Video Bluff and work over to Silver Bullet as all of the anchors on top of Video are 2 old rusty bolts and chains except one which is a single and just needs a tree backup. The ones on Silver Bullet are all 3 bolt anchors. Furthermore, Flaky Old man is perhaps the most climbed route out there.
I am using 1/2" diameter ICC (formerly ICBO) rated 304 Stainless wedge anchors and 304 stainless chain.
The chain had been painted with grey earlier when I had bought it, but it's stainless steel regardless. Nuts were tightened with Red Loctite so as to make it difficult to remove the chain. I'd like to upgrade the materials, but didn't want some nice new hangers (and I just bought a bunch) to be targets for others projects elsewhere so I duplicated what was there and used chains but with larger better bolts.
Added a single 1/2-13 X 6-1/4 stainless Wedge Anchor and SS chain to the following existing anchors at Video.
*Flakey Old Man. This chain was put toward the hill so as to make it easier to grab. These bolts were close together as well, and having the added one off to the side gives it a bit more proper spacing. The others were put in the middle.
Tried to maintain proper spacing naturally the chain length limited my options.
*Robotics
*Live Wire
I had been horrified to once watch a kid jump onto the Livewire bolts (with no backup) to rap and essentially by the way he swung out onto it stress the 2 rusty bolts straight out. This 1/2" monster is placed on top so that it can't be stressed that way, and it will make sure that if the 2 - rusty 3/8" fail it will not cause anyone to die as it is rock solid strong and placed perfect to prevent that.
It was right about here that my drill ran out of juice as I'd been drilling and putting in bolts elsewhere the previous day and forgot to recharge! Dohhh!!!.
I had been at Silver Bullet @ 2 weeks ago and noticed that one of the 3 chains was gone off Jack of Hearts. All those routes on the ledge there had 3, so that still left 2 on this route. I don't know if it failed or was taken off to craft a new one or what: the rusty stud with a rusty nut remained. I was going to head that way and got high centered at Video where the bolts are worse. I'll try to remove that single bolt and replace it. If not I'll just add another one. Although I bought a tuning fork from the ASPCA which is made just for bolt removal (this will be it's first time in use) I think it was Healyje who said, when he did the Beacon anchor replacements, couldn't get the old steel 3/8"ers out, so I think he'd just pound the old one in, and epoxy over it to make it invisible and add a new one. I'll resort to that if I have too, but will take a bunch of oil and a crowbar to try and work that old one out first.
Regards
Bill
Now, this is one which I think we should be looking at too, but it might be pretty controversial. What about adding a hand line for people to clip as they down climb to the ledge on top of Silver Bullet? A rope off the tree and figured 8ed to 2 bolts on the way to down.
...stands back and awaits the explosion......
(This post was edited by billcoe_ on Jul 6, 2009, 1:41 PM)
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billcoe_
Jul 7, 2009, 1:51 PM
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Ok, the bolts which looks so weak are not. Those babies are IN THERE!. The single rusty 3/8" stud on top of Jack of Hearts that didn't have a chain...went back and I tried and tried to pull that with a full sized 2' crowbar and it didn't budge.
I'll go by a 3' bar and try again. Meantime, I did put in a full sized SS bolt to the left which ties in perfectly witht he other one hanging over the edge.
So I've learned that the supposition that the bolts/chains up there, because they are old and rusty, are weak, is incorrect for at least one of them.
Any help on how to get that bolt out of there? Hydrolic press?
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herbaltee
Jul 7, 2009, 6:43 PM
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No idea on how to get those out. But looks like good work. Thanks for doing that!
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