Donations to the ASCA matched all of November!

Done! Thanks for the live link, Greg.

Best, Helen

So thankful for the ASCA!

You can never bump a thread for the ASCA enough!  Great work by great people!  Greg Barnes literally donated his elbows to the cause.  It doesn't get much more serious than that!

Yeah, that bump thing, again. Please donate to a very worthy cause.

Bump - One of my favorite organizations!  I made my annual donation November 1st - glad I was in that November match window!

Here's another reason to donate - 5/16" buttonheads. Most of them are paired with modern hangers and look like a fine bolt from a distance. Most of them are really strong. BUT - every once in a while, one just snaps off with far less than body weight. ASCA-supported rebolters at Joshua Tree broke this one off last week (Bullet Head, IRS Wall) - check out how little metal was holding it to the wall!

The middle bolt is the other 5/16" buttonhead from that route, which probably would have held 4000 pounds no problem (as long as the rock didn't break out). But you can't tell by looking if the bolt might just snap. Here's what the bolt looked like from above (sitting on an old belay device):
Photos by Kevin Powell, unsung hero who's been replacing bolts for 25+ years, and who's spearheaded the replacement of 1,170 bolts in Joshua Tree over just the last 3 years! YOUR donations buy the new bolts!

Greg,
How much raised so far?

We're at $11,145 as of just now!

Done! How about we add New Mexico to the list soon!

Alec Orenstein wrote: Done! How about we add New Mexico to the list soon!

Yes! The El Rito Sport área def has some bolts that could stand to be replaced

Definitely watch out for those cold shuts, they can crack! Here's one from Colorado:

Donation made..  Keep up all the fine work you/others are doing  on  replacing those old bolts.  Now I just need better eyes to find the damn things on those wandering routes.

ASCA has provided much of the hardware to Rebolting Project that has been used to replace over a thousand bolts in Joshua Tree.  Mark Wagner and Kevin Powell have done an amazing job of tackling this huge project. Help ASCA support them.

Randy wrote: ASCA has provided much of the hardware to Rebolting Project that has been used to replace over a thousand bolts in Joshua Tree.  Mark Wagner and Kevin Powell have done an amazing job of tackling this huge project. Help ASCA support them.

Rebolting Project is still in development and is designed to be a database of routes that have had hardware replaced, report aging hardware, and have instructional videos on how to replace hardware and other resources for climbers interested in helping with rebolting efforts at their home crags. It is a website database run by climbers active in rebolting and not a direct recipient of hardware.

Reboltingproject.com/jt catalogues all the routes Mark & Kevin have replaced in Joshua Tree as a resource for climbers to be able to check if the route they want to climb has updated hardware. There is currently a report hardware page for Joshua Tree, so climbers can submit routes they have found with questionable hardware in the park. The web database is supported by Mark & Kevin, but is not the name of their bolt replacing effort. There are multiple people and organizations that help them out, but Mark & Kevin prefer to work as free agents and don't have a name for their efforts.

Reboltingproject.com/hv will soon have the list of routes replaced this previous summer in Holcomb Valley online. 

Donated to a great cause!

"Rust never sleeps!"  Donate to the ASCA today!   www.safeclimbing.org 

Fun little collection of gear:

Left to right & top to bottom: Locker that sprang open on a drop test, Mammut ring bolt, 1/4" Taper bolt (Party Mix, El Cap), 1/4" wedge bolt (Trough of Justice, Yosemite); broken carabiner from the Korean guy's infamous 100' sliding fall on Shakey Flakes late '90s (Yosemite), bent Urioste hanger (Nightcrawler, Red Rocks), Petzl caving bolt that was the primary bolt for the King Swing on the Nose, bent open carabiner; worn cold shut, Longware hanger with nuts/washers as spacers (Tollhouse, Southern Sierra), blackened SMC hanger used on a route after being recovered from the burnt-down Mountain Shop in Yosemite in the '70s (Ursula, Tuolumne), orange-colored Leeper with 1/4" split-shaft bolt (summit anchor on The Charlatan, Needles, Southern Sierra), 3/8" Taper bolt (unnamed route, Benton Crags, California), 3/8" Lok-bolt (anchor on La Cosita, El Cap).

The Korean guy's fall was nasty - he pulled a bolt, slid 50', then that carabiner broke on him, and he slid another 50', major road rash time!

Done.
Thanks for all the great hard work keeping us safe! 

Glad to help! Thank you for the work you're doing! 

Thank you everyone for your generous donations, and thanks to Planite Granite for their continued support! The ASCA's work would not be possible without the help of climbers like you, and we need your support now more than ever.

The ASCA also supports work in the Moab area, including Indian Creek. The desert seems to have some of the sketchiest anchors I have seen... star drive and lag screw bolts with Leeper and homemade aluminum hangers on some of the older routes (think Hong routes). We have replaced several anchors this fall with long 1/2" SS power bolts and outfitted many anchors with camouflaged chain and quality lower-off/rap hardware to ensure maintenance sustainability and lower visual impact, as well as to avoid rope twisting on horizontally offset anchor setups with insufficient extension.

Let's not forget the thousands of durable Climb Tech lower off hooks the ASCA has provided for single pitch cragging areas across the country. These new lower offs are much more durable than chains (which are a pain in the ass to replace), quick links, and rap rings.
They also eliminate the need to untie and retie, helping to prevent accidents due to belayer miscommunication. For routes where lowering off is a necessity or has become the standard, these are the easiest, most sustainable solution.

As a frequent anchor replacement volunteer, I prefer modular setups where the wear components can be easily replaced by opening a quick link. The Climb Tech lower off hooks are simply the least expensive, safest, most durable, and easiest to replace rope contact point for lower-offs and cleaning routes. Also, due to the climbing-rated wiregate, rappelling off these hooks by clipping the halfway point of the rope in is easy and perfectly safe.