bolt removal

[kevbone]

[video:youtube]

[olyclimber]

I'M PETE DOORISH BITCH!

[kurthicks]

Here's the backstory from what I can tell given that the video was posted a month after the story below.

 

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ROCK CLIMBING 2 January 2009 – Fatal fall, Pierce’s Pass, Blue

Mountains, NSW, Australia

 

A 24 year old Sydney man, Nick Kaczorowski died after falling from a route at Pierce’s Pass in the Grose Valley late on the morning of Friday 2nd January. The man was lead climbing the route Bunny Buckets (a multi-pitch grade 18) with a male climbing partner when the pair got off-route near the fifth pitch and began following a line of new-looking bolts to the right of the original Bunny Buckets route. This line of new-looking bolts – expansion bolts with fixed hangers – is probably a new un-finished route or “project”. Nearby climbers told the AAR that they believed the pair (and a second pair of climbers following closely) thought they were still climbing Bunny Buckets.

 

Part way up this line of bolts the two climbers stopped and improvised a belay (using a single bolt) on a small ledge. Mr Kaczorowski started to lead the next section, clipped into the first expansion bolt and was attempting to clip the second bolt. At this time the nut and fixed hanger became detached from the expansion bolt (leaving the threaded stud remaining in the rock) and he fell past the ledge and his belayer. At this time his rope ran through and was completely cut by a sharp V-shaped notch of ironstone (a hard rock intrusion sometimes present in Blue Mountains sandstone). The rope was slightly aged, a little faded but not noticeably furry or worn looking. No longer connected to the belay the man fell more than 150m to the base of the cliff. Nearby climbers raised the alarm and helped the man’s climbing partner to safety. The man was pronounced dead by ambulance paramedics later that day. His body was recovered by police officers and the

police helicopter around 11am on the 3rd January.

 

Editor comments

 

Expansion bolts are generally not advised for use as permanent

fixtures in Blue Mountains sandstone climbs. They are prone to working loose over time, perform poorly under tension (pull out force) and the nuts usually need tightening before use. Expansion bolts are often used by those establishing a new climb as a temporary measure before more appropriate bolts are placed.

 

Climbs in the Grose Valley are often long and have a higher level of hazards such as loose rock, difficult access and remoteness compared to other more popular cliffs in the Blue Mountains. Route finding is often difficult.

 

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