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Posted (edited)

Bill, both shots are from dolomites. Kept hearing how these euros like to bolt everything to oblivion but they must've run out of rawls by the time they reached the dolomties since all we saw there was mank. the 2nd pic is Comici's route on cima grande's n. face but (as much as I'd like to think otherwise) I doubt it's Comici's original :)

Edited by fgw
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Posted
Nice photos peeps.

 

Here some original buttonheads from a belay on Humpty Dumpty.

What those guys use to trust.....

Placed in 1977 and removed 33 years later.

 

IMG_9429.JPG

 

Many of those buttonheads are made of a metal far stronger and harder than any

modern bolt and remain still essentially bomb and indestructible today - something

that unfortunately can't be said for most of the hangers attached to them.

Posted
Nice photos peeps.

 

Here some original buttonheads from a belay on Humpty Dumpty.

What those guys use to trust.....

Placed in 1977 and removed 33 years later.

 

IMG_9429.JPG

 

Many of those buttonheads are made of a metal far stronger and harder than any

modern bolt and remain still essentially bomb and indestructible today - something

that unfortunately can't be said for most of the hangers attached to them.

 

Aside from the hanger issue, it seems like most people's concern with those bolts isn't the bolt breaking, it's the bolt ripping out of the hole - no?

Posted
Nice photos peeps.

Here some original buttonheads from a belay on Humpty Dumpty.

What those guys use to trust.....

Placed in 1977 and removed 33 years later.

Many of those buttonheads are made of a metal far stronger and harder than any

modern bolt and remain still essentially bomb and indestructible today - something

that unfortunately can't be said for most of the hangers attached to them.

Aside from the hanger issue, it seems like most people's concern with those bolts isn't the bolt breaking, it's the bolt ripping out of the hole - no?

I once tried pulling two at Beacon, had all the requisite gear down to custom-made LA tuning forks. Nada, no-go, not budging, never-going-to-come-out. Then I went and got the battery powered Sawzall with a brand new Lennox T2 bi-metal blade - and I can cut 5pc bolts all day long with these blades like so much butter. The buttonheads? First one utterly smoked two blades in no time at all without so much as making a perceptible notch in the bolt. The damn things are still there completely unfazed and undamaged from the experience. The hangers on them? Basically shite on their way out, but I'd still dive on either.

Posted

Many of those but I once tried pulling two at Beacon, had all the requisite gear down to custom-made LA tuning forks. Nada, no-go, not budging, never-going-to-come-out. Then I went and got the battery powered Sawzall with a brand new Lennox T2 bi-metal blade - and I can cut 5pc bolts all day long with these blades like so much butter. The buttonheads? First one utterly smoked two blades in no time at all without so much as making a perceptible notch in the bolt. The damn things are still there completely unfazed and undamaged from the experience. The hangers on them? Basically shite on their way out, but I'd still dive on either.

 

I agree. Many of the 5/16 buttonheads I've tried to replace have proven to be very strong. Stronger than some 25 year younger wedge bolts. Bolts of all different size and make seem to show a surprising variety in strength when I try to remove and replace them.

 

I'm not sure what the take away message is other than that one should not assume that they know how strong an anchor is upon visual inspection. Even if faced with a good looking bolt a climber should not assume it is bomber (a rusty old relic may also be strong but that is not as much of a concern).

Posted
I'm not sure what the take away message is other than that one should not assume that they know how strong an anchor is upon visual inspection.

Exactly. Over the years the worst bolts I've replaced were 5pc bolts sunk in the 90's. Outwardly looked pretty good, but were completely rusted shite in reality. Visual appearance really means very little and age doesn't mean much either if you're talking non-SS bolts.

Posted

I have not seen any 5/16" buttonheads in Squamish. Those are 1/4"s of which there are plenty as well as more than a few 3/16" buttonheads scattered about. Of the half-dozen 1/4"ers I've removed everyone has either come off with ridiculous ease (couple taps to a tuning fork) or quickly snapped off at the head. I would highly recommend not trusting rusty 1/4" buttonheads if you can help it.

 

Greg Barnes at the ASCA claims (like you) that 5/16" are next to impossible to remove and are generally quite strong, not so much for the smaller sizes.

  • 2 weeks later...
Posted

Here's some mank from Shot in the Dark, a Duane Constanino Darrington testpiece from the 80's on 3:00 Rock. The upper belay/rap station consisted of two 1/4" aluminum rivets banged thru some 1" webbing.Unreal! The route has 3/8 bolts and SS hangers now, but I still haven't sucked it up for a send.

 

The SMC hanger and stud were the only thing keeping you of the ground on the first big runout (~30 feet). The crack in the hanger developed when bolt was yanked. These steel SMC hangers sucked

 

 

 

SID.jpgSID3.JPGSID2.JPG

Posted

When I saw this post, the first route I thought of was Shot in the Dark. The 30 foot groundfall runout over that ancient bolt only to be rewarded by an even sketchier bolt was perhaps my boldest lead. I recall climbing up another 10 feet before getting in a decent TCU. The rap off was nauseating and involved 3 of us tied into that POS anchor. If it had pulled, it would have left a mighty stain at the base. Thanks for re-bolting.

  • 1 month later...
Posted

Liberty_Bell_mank.JPG

 

Is this the wire from Liberty Crack someone referred to? 3rd pitch if I remember rightly...it was still there June 4, 2009. Sorry it's not a better photo.

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