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Forest Fires vs. bolts

Original Post
Sean Cobourn · · Gramling, SC · Joined Mar 2007 · Points: 3,562

The Carolinas, Tennessee and Georgia are burning. I understand that it is part of the natural cycle and is good long term for the forest. I am curious if any experts have studied the effect of low temp eastern style fire on fixed anchors? My guess is that the bolts should be fine, but it cannot hurt to seek opinions of others better situated to answer the question.

Frank Stein · · Albuquerque, NM · Joined Feb 2012 · Points: 205

The bolts should be fine, but keep in mind that the Cochiti Mesa fire several years ago did melt some hardware out of the rock. That fire however, burned hot enough to cause spalling in the rock.

eli poss · · Durango, CO · Joined May 2014 · Points: 525

I'd imagine bolts would be good as long as the fire isn't hot enough to melt the rock. I'd be more concerned about areas that use tree anchors. Bolts may have to be added to climbs that previously used tree anchors. This happened several years ago at T-wall due to a combination of beetle infestation and fires.

Bill M · · Fort Collins, CO · Joined Jun 2010 · Points: 317

I have climbed in NM after the fires. I would be careful with bolts and assume nothing.

patto · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jul 2012 · Points: 25

I do actually know one budding engineer who set out to do exactly this. I'm not sure what approach and research methodology was finally used but I'll try to remember to have a look.

(My gut feeling is that it is hardly a bolt issue and more of a rock issue.)

Scott Phil · · NC · Joined May 2010 · Points: 258

From news reports the fire at Rumbling Bald (officially called the Party Rock Fire) is much more intense than is typical for eastern fires.

Anonymous · · Unknown Hometown · Joined unknown · Points: 0

Check this article. Wild fire is good for crack climbing, not as good for glue in bolts. I remember seeing some testing done on glue bolts in Australia

rockandice.com/climbing-new…

Jim Titt · · Germany · Joined Nov 2009 · Points: 490
JulianG wrote:Check this article. Wild fire is good for crack climbing, not as good for glue in bolts. I remember seeing some testing done on glue bolts in Australia rockandice.com/climbing-new…
The Aussies did do something, the guy/place to ask would be Mikllaw on Chockstone.

Basically anything glued in with polyester or vinylester resin will probably be fine, (vinylester resins have a fire certificate anyway). I´ve heated bolts to glowing red for twenty minutes and failed to remove them.
Epoxy softens at quite low temperatures (ca 120°C) and nobody knows if they are safe or not apart maybe from the Australians.
Stainless steel will take up to around 800°C before it starts to change internally, this doesn´t appear to be a problem with welded bolts which get much hotter so personally I wouldn´t worry about it but if I lived in a fire area I´d do the testing at least out of curiosity.
Frank Stein · · Albuquerque, NM · Joined Feb 2012 · Points: 205

I heard that the Cochiti fire hit 2,000 F, but that is just hearsay.

Tim Stich · · Colorado Springs, Colorado · Joined Jan 2001 · Points: 1,520

We tried to climb at some bolted areas near the Junkins fire, which is near Florence, CO. The burn area seems to have affected the crags, but we can't get through yet as it's still an active fire. I'm not expecting any problems with the bolts, but I'll report back once we get there.

Roy Suggett · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jul 2009 · Points: 8,821

In UT at the Horn, we had a VERY hot fire. The bolts seemed okay but the really good metamorphic rock there got a bit crispy and the lower sections were not as good as they once were.

Gavin W · · NW WA · Joined Feb 2015 · Points: 181

We had a wildfire that rolled through a crag in the North Cascades last year. The bolts were (for the most part) ok, any that were damaged were obvious. The bigger concern was clifftop debris from the fire (logs, loosened rocks) that was a danger to climbers below.

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

Fixed Hardware: Bolts & Anchors
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