Anchor Maintenance: Stiffler's Mom - Little Cottonwood Canyon
Over the week of September 23, the anchor crew headed out to the modern 7-pitch classic Stiffler’s Mom at Coal Pit Buttress in Little Cottonwood Canyon. This route was recommended for rebolting by the first ascent party and members of the Salt Lake climbing community. As a highly rated and safe modern classic in Little Cottonwood Canyon, it was a no-brainer.
Rebolting a long multi-pitch route with traversing sections posed some rigging challenges, especially on pitch 5, but the team quickly solved them. It almost felt like we reversed the course the first ascent party took: they went up, we went down. These challenges were a refreshing change from the typical sport crags we've been visiting for most of the 2024 season.
A few changes were made to the route, per Tyler Phillips' requests. These changes included:
Removing and replacing the knife blade on pitch 1 with a bolt
Lowering the three crux bolts on pitch 5 for easier clipping
Lowering the anchor at the top of pitch 5
Repositioning the last four bolts on the upper slab of pitch 6, reducing them to 3 bolts instead of 4
Repositioning the anchor at the top of pitch 6
All hardware and anchors consist of stainless steel glue-ins, chains, quick links, and rappel rings.
It’s hard to identify an aging, rusty bolt from the outside. We knew these bolts were deteriorating, but it wasn’t until we started working that we realized just how bad they were. When we removed the first lead bolt on pitch 2, we were surprised to see it in as bad condition as bolts from the early '90s that we’ve removed in American Fork. We continue to be surprised by what is good and what isn’t. The more we rebolt, the more questions arise.
Thank you to everyone who donated to help rebolt Stiffler’s Mom! Donations like these keep our program going. If you have any anchor observations or suggestions for areas the SLCA should rebolt, please submit an anchor observation [HERE].
Thank you to everyone who donated to this project!
Brad Ienkevich
Drew Brodhead
Curtis Allred
Max Thorson
John Martin
Steven Clark
Jason Blauch
David Haak
Jeremy Mccormick
Dean Raynes
Peter Wilk
Adam Knutson
Tim Beardmore
Holtan Siegal
Rock climbing is an inherently dangerous activity and we encourage anyone who participates to obtain the appropriate education and training in order to minimize accidents. We also encourage participants to consult resources including but not limited to guiding outfitters, SAR, Utah Avalanche Center, ranger stations, and weather reports. Nevertheless and although tragic, accidents can happen even when the participants have the proper training and have consulted authorities on conditions. Participants in outdoor climbing are assuming a risk, just as they do in skiing, mountain biking, kayaking, or other outdoor activities. Anchors once maintained by the SLCA are not guaranteed to be in the same state or condition as when they were maintained.