shanja
08-10-2007, 02:01 PM
OK so there is no accident here, but the potential for one sure is. A week back we were climbing in lovely Yongseo Pokpo (Gurye area). Sweet place but a lot of the bolts there are getting old. Lots were really rusted, a few hangers were free spinning and quite a few were placed in really dodgy (broken/ loose) pieces of rock. Have a look at the pic here and you get an idea of what I mean. Brandon did test out one bolt (about 100kg dude lead falling) and it held, but if you are out climbing always eye-ball each bolt and the rock it's in. It's not always possible to back up a bolt, but if it looks bad maybe you can focus a bit harder and climb through till you get to a safer place before resting/ practicing your dynos etc.
On anchors: Don't just trust what is there. Eyeball the set-up. In Yongseo at the far left there is a 5.8 called 강아지 (Puppy), that anchors off bomber trees. Makes a great backup anchor for TR-ing the neighboring 5.10d and 5.11a (멧돼지 & 바위사람) too (which we did). BUT the wire rope around the trees is unsafe. Like many such set ups it uses a two bolt clamp to join the ends of the wire rope. Unfortuneatley, one end of the wire has all but pulled out of the clamp. There was an ancient sling (red) as a back-up but it too was partly cut through and faded. So we left a double loop of good 10.2mm climbing rope around the tree as anchor. The anchor for the neighboring 5.10d and 5.11a is a rusty 3-bolt wire rope rig with hook, should be safe, but as the trees are a mere 3m away we used them instead.
So just be prepared to really think about your pro/ anchors. Sometimes you might have to leave a few slings when you go to a crag. It's way cheaper than a trip to hospital, and keeps everyone safer.BTW, I thoroughly recommend this crag despite the warnings herein. It's great!
On anchors: Don't just trust what is there. Eyeball the set-up. In Yongseo at the far left there is a 5.8 called 강아지 (Puppy), that anchors off bomber trees. Makes a great backup anchor for TR-ing the neighboring 5.10d and 5.11a (멧돼지 & 바위사람) too (which we did). BUT the wire rope around the trees is unsafe. Like many such set ups it uses a two bolt clamp to join the ends of the wire rope. Unfortuneatley, one end of the wire has all but pulled out of the clamp. There was an ancient sling (red) as a back-up but it too was partly cut through and faded. So we left a double loop of good 10.2mm climbing rope around the tree as anchor. The anchor for the neighboring 5.10d and 5.11a is a rusty 3-bolt wire rope rig with hook, should be safe, but as the trees are a mere 3m away we used them instead.
So just be prepared to really think about your pro/ anchors. Sometimes you might have to leave a few slings when you go to a crag. It's way cheaper than a trip to hospital, and keeps everyone safer.BTW, I thoroughly recommend this crag despite the warnings herein. It's great!