Anchor Maintenance: Storm Mountain & Challenge Buttress - BCC

During the first week of June (3rd - 7th), the Anchor Maintenance Crew spent another work week in the Storm Mountain and Challenge Buttress area. Thanks to some anchor observations, we were directed to Captain Jack (5.7) and Steve the Pirate, aka Wind Up (5.7), on Storm Mountain Island. While there, we also worked on Aqualung (5.9-), the second pitch to the well-climbed Six Pence (5.6).

During the first half of the week at Storm Mountain, anchors for Goodro’s Wall (5.10c), Six Appeal (5.7), Six Addict (5.6), and Layback Crack (5.5) were upgraded. Layback Crack/La Creme De Shorts anchors had been recently upgraded but unfortunately with inadequate hardware. These anchors were updated with 3/8’’ plated steel PB+ 5-piece bolts. As mentioned in our last blog post about the Watchtower in American Fork, this bolt is actually 1/4’’ and has been known to easily snap if over-torqued. It is a bummer to redo someone's stewardship efforts, but in the name of safety and sustainability, we needed to upgrade this anchor to a glue-in bolt that can withstand the traffic it receives.

After a few days at Storm Mountain, we moved over to Challenge Buttress to upgrade some of the remaining routes. This included Raspberry Ripple (5.10a), Overture (5.10a), Sweet and Low (5.5), and Chambered Nautilus (5.10a) being equipped with clip-in lower-offs. Raspberry Ripple and Overture now have separate anchors, making the routes more enjoyable to clean and top rope.