Bolting

● Routes should only be established where permitted by the appropriate land manager
● New routes are not to be established on historical, cultural or ecological sensitive areas
● The installation of bolts are used where temporary or removable protection are not reliable or durable enough for long-term recreational use.
● Bolt anchors are used when the installation of a durable, reliable, and non-retrievable anchor for rope descent.
● Chipping or creating artificial holds is prohibited
● Loose rock is removed when: it possesses a risk to the developer, future climbing parties and it does so in a way that does not damage the resources or other routes.
● The use of putty, silicone or adhesive around mechanical bolts is not best practice and should be avoided.
● Natural vegetation is not a sustainable anchor. Place long term sustainable bolts to preserve this vegetation.
● A corresponding SDS drill bit (metric or standard) shall be used with desired bolt (mechanical or adhesive)
● Highly corrosive resistant metal should be used. Stainless steel hardware is strongly encouraged for all permanent anchors and protection bolts
● Screwlinks or Quicklinks should be stainless steel and be slightly tightened down with a crescent wrench
● Stainless steel adhesive bolts (glue-in) are the preferred bolt for sandstone.
● All stainless steel adhesive (glue-in) bolt are to be ⅜’’ (10mm) wide, or greater, and 3 ½’’ (88mm) long, or longer
● Manufacturer’s specified instructions for the installation, handling, and curing of adhesive anchors are to be followed.
● All mechanical bolts should be a stainless steel five piece sleeve bolt that is ½’’ wide, or greater, and 4 ¾’’ long (or greater)
● If mechanical bolts are installed, bolt, hanger, washer and nut should all be the same metal type to avoid unintentional corrosion
● The bolt and hanger should be the same corresponding dominators
● Manufacturer’s instructions for the installation and torque specification for mechanical anchors are followed.
● Bolts should be placed apart 6’’ or grater
● All bolts and anchor material should be camouflaged to mimic the area’s natural rock colors. Paint should not interfere with manufacture installation requirements.
● Modular anchor systems are strongly encouraged to facilitate inspection, maintenance, and replacement without removing the primary bolt.
● Bolts should be installed in manner that promotes future anchor maintenance
● Shared anchors between routes should generally be avoided
● Anchor should be vertically aligned when possible
● Textile permanent anchors shall be avoided
● Bolts should be installed in flat surfaces where no obstructions interact with carabiners, quick links or other hardware is used.
● Hole for hole replacement is strongly encouraged when possible and ideal
● Any old or unused holes should be patched and camouflaged to the surrounding rock
● Anchor should be vertically aligned when possible
● When replacing anchors, reduction to resource damage such as rope drag, rope
grooves into rock and the safe and efficient pulling of the rope should be taken
into account
● If using existing bolt hole, sizing up is preferred: ⅜’’ hole into a ½’’