Official Rebolting and Route Hardware suggestion thread

[climberdude]

JC,

I noticed that the single lead bolt on Rook - Regular Route has been replaced, but your master list does not mention this.  I saw the bolt while wandering over there during trail building at PCAD.  I am not sure if the top anchor bolts, if there are any, have been replaced.

[JC w KC redux]

JC,

I noticed that the single lead bolt on Rook - Regular Route has been replaced, but your master list does not mention this.  I saw the bolt while wandering over there during trail building at PCAD.  I am not sure if the top anchor bolts, if there are any, have been replaced.

Hey Mark - thanks for the heads up. It is listed in the guidebook as RB FOP 2003 and Bruce told me some time ago that he had rebolted it solo. I led the climb on 1-21-18

Here are my notes (spoiler alert) - This is a fun route. The bolt was a bit low but it protects in the hardest part so it’s good. You only have to make a couple easy moves to clip it and then it protects the trickiest part. I got past the bolt by moving up until it was at my waist (I had to switch my foot position to lead with the left foot up) and then stepped through to the left and up from there on easier climbing (once you step through). It is not hard but it is tricky and a bit awkward. It did not help that the hands are not great and the sun was right in my face for looking right to find anything for the right hand. Once you step through and your feet are above the bolt, the features get big and the climbing is easy. The upper part is chimney-like and pretty fun but there is some loose rock to watch out for. The middle summit (battlement) at the top feels very exposed and drops away sharply over the other side. The opposite end summits are cool and I had Kat belay me over to the unprotected summit because it looked a bit higher and felt like the true summit.


Here is the current anchor. The rappel is only 35 feet back down to the uphill side.

[Atomizer]

It’s the time for my seasonal migration. Does anyone have any ASCA gear I could use this week? I’m ready to start in on rebolting some of the monolith stuff as time allows. Going to be camping down there starting tonight for a few days.

[JC w KC redux]

Thanks for the offer Atom. Hopefully things will work out for you to be able to get out and survey some of that stuff this year and we can talk more about what needs to be done.

[JC w KC redux]

I worked on the shared anchor for Big Nixon/Little Richard/Watergate yesterday. The guidebook says to use the tree 30 feet back but I found 2 old bolts near that tree separated by a space of about 12 feet. The tree is also totally dead. Both bolts were star dryvins with SMC death hangers oriented toward the climbs. Both bolts were in lodestones. I removed both of the old bolts and relocated the anchor to a spot that will service all three climbs. I only had time to get one bolt in, a few feet a way from what appears to be a bomber, slingable  lodestone. On closer inspection, I am not comfortable leaving this as a one bolt anchor coupled with the slingable lodestone. I will return soon and place a second bolt.

The old upper bolt in a partially embedded lodestone next to a failed hole. Note to aspiring bolters - DON'T place bolts in lodestones unless it is a last resort. I have never had to do this (even as a last resort).





The lower bolt in another lodestone (this one is pretty well embedded but it was still totally unnecessary - plenty of good matrix all around here).





Locations of both old bolts marked by a biner w some hardware and my visor (aka the world's most disgusting tennis visor)





The dead tree showing no new vegetation and no needles. Still a large piece of wood but undoubtedly headed for the afterlife.
I should also mention that the park has a rule about using vegetation for anchors - it's not allowed.





One new bolt next to the large, slingable knob (feels solid but sounds hollow and no way to tell how deeply it is keyed in). Looks suspiciously undercut on this side.





Looking toward the top out for the routes with the big knob (right) and white patch/drill dust/bolt (left)
The haziness is smoke from the Camp Fire near Chico

[F4?]

Hey Adam, are you going to add some bolts to the Monolith?

I can give you a few if you need some.

Hawaiian noises can use a few.

POD can use. 1 or 2.

If you have a bit more energy, there is always knuckle ridge.

[JC w KC redux]

Hey Adam, are you going to add some bolts to the Monolith?

I can give you a few if you need some.

Hawaiian noises can use a few.

POD can use. 1 or 2.

If you have a bit more energy, there is always knuckle ridge.

And PINK hangers too please 

[F4?]

Sure that would help the blend in.

[F4?]

Is it true Clint and Bruce replaced some of the bolts on Wet Kiss?

Cool!

[JC w KC redux]

Is it true Clint and Bruce replaced some of the bolts on Wet Kiss?
Cool!

64 - Wet Kiss - replaced bolts #1, #4, and #5, replaced hanger on bolt #2 - Hildenbrand, Cummins, 2017

[climberdude]

This month I have replaced all of the four lead protection bolts on the third pitch of 830 Serpiente de Cascabel.  Most of the bolts pulled were longer Star Dryvin's with somewhat modern stainless steel hangers, but one of them was a 1-1/2" Star Dryvin bolt placed in rotten rock that would not have held a fall since the entire rock face exploded with a light pull.

The belay anchor at the top of the second pitch now has three bolts.  I left the original large buttonhead bolt attached to a machine shop-made stainless steel hanger.  This hanger was made at a machine shop in King City according to Bob Walton.  While the historic hanger is bomber, these large split-shaft bolts are known to break in the hole, so I would not clip solely into this bolt at the belay without using the other two bolts.

At the suggestion of Bob Walton, I added a bolt in the water chute on the third pitch.  This bolt is at a stance near the end of the extended 5.5 climbing and between the original third and fourth lead protection bolts.  Bob told me that he had intended to place a bolt in this runout section when doing the first ascent, but his drill was very dull.  The bolt does not change the nature of the climbing since there is harder climbing on the route.  Rather, it makes the distance between protection compatible with the rest of the climb.

I upped my game on the re-bolting tools.  I made a few tuning fork chisels and now use a torque wrench.  Thank you JC for the suggestions.  It is a lot easier to use a large tuning fork rather than several pitons at the same time.

[Brad Young]

^^^

Very nice, "Dude." That's a lot of work!!

[Brad Young]

By the way, Mark, I'm curious how you chose that route for rebolting?

[JC w KC redux]

By the way, Mark, I'm curious how you chose that route for rebolting?

He kept seeing the old slings while working on Derringer and surrounding routes.

The dude abides...

[climberdude]

As JC said, the dude abides.

[Brad Young]

I mostly took these two photos for J.C., since he's made a real study of Pinnacles bolts. The first is the first bolt on the route The Hippopotamus. It serves as a belay bolt on the ledge below the first of the fifth class climbing.  I'm pretty sure it's a 1/2 inch bolt (I should've used something next to the bolt to scale it). I suppose it could be 3/8 inch, but with an enormous nut. It certainly wasn't smaller than 3/8 inch. Vintage 1960s?




The first lead bolt on the route (low, left-center of photo). It appeared to be the same type of bolt, but I didn't climb up to check it )being alone and in approach shoes and all):

[F4?]

Bolts look fine.

Larger the nut, safer the bolt.

[Brad Young]

Larger the nut, safer the bolt.

And you, beloved Factor, are our favorite example of the first half of your assertion. As to the second half? I hereby volunteer to hold the rope while you clip that bolt and jump off.

[F4?]

Sure

[JC w KC redux]

Looks like a 3/8 stud to me - using the smashlink for thickness comparison.
Could be an easy replacement if it's a split shaft.