CAMP USA donated fixed draws to equip more than ten routes top to bottom at the West’s most notorious hard man’s crag. The draws feature our steel Gym Safe carabiners fast becoming known as the best clipping steel biners in the world. Riflers, please enjoy and thanks to everyone who lent a hand during this year’s clean up. Upgrades included: fixing draws on selected routes, rebolting and replacing fixed hardware on selected routes, trail improvements at the Hawaiian Two Foot Wall, Bauhaus Trail, and Upper Koper Trail, bench building, bridge repair at the Sno-Cone Wall, trash clean up.
Photo Courtesy: Andrew Bisharat
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For a full download on the activities and upgrades of the day, enjoy this summary from Rifle regular Andrew Bisharat:
Rifle Clean-Up 2010
Thanks to tight-knit community of caring and hard-working Rifle climbers, and especially the extremely generous donations from companies in the outdoor industry—especially the ASCA, CAMP, Liberty Mountain, Climb Tech and Omega Pacific—the 2010 Rifle Clean-up was a huge success. Hundreds of pounds of hardware was installed on some of the canyon’s most popular climbs—moderates and difficult routes alike—and we achieved our goal of ridding Rifle of some truly dangerous, rusted bolts and sharp, rope-sawing aluminum carabiners. Also, a talented team of impromptu carpenters put together some great benches at Rifle’s most popular walls, improving the much-appreciated leisurely quality of the Rifle experience.
Throughout the day, there were stories being shared of the surprising ease with which some of the rusted hardware came out. On Merry Maids, Mike Schneiter recounts, “One of the bolts, in a sorta cruxy spot up high, snapped off with a ¼-turn of the wrench.” This experience was relayed throughout the day, appearing on various routes such as the ever-popular Rehabilitator. Sam Elias was able to take the bolt just above the crux on Rendez-spew out of the wall with his fingers.
There was also a focus on making “5.9’s accessible for the 5.9 leader,” and fixing some original bad bolting jobs, such as Popular Demand, which retro-bolter Lee Sheftel assures “will be much more popular” as climbers won’t have to make desperate contrived moves just in order to clip the bolts.
At the party, we raised $700, which is going to a community pot for more hardware and glue-ins in the canyon.
We can’t express enough gratitude to our sponsors!: American Safe Climbing Association, CAMP, Omega Pacific, Liberty Mountain, Climb Tech, Black Diamond, prAna, Access Fund, La Sportiva, FiveTen, Evolv, Alpinist and Rock and Ice magazine.
Here’s a roundup of what was accomplished:
Bad bolt and anchor replacements and perma-draws added:
1. Spuds in Space (5.8), 9 bolts replaced by BJ Sbarra.
2. Hot Potato (5.9), 8 bolts replaced by Jeff Achey and Michael Kennedy.
3. James Brown’s Wild Ride (5.11d), 13 bolts (including new anchors) replaced with glue-ins, Dave Pegg.
4. Merry Maids (5.10a), all route bolts replaced, with an extra bolt added near scary bottom crux, by Scott Nykerk and Mike Schneiter.
5. Lost and Found (5.12b), all bolts replaced by Derek Krol.
6. Dirty Johnson (5.12b), extra bolt added on run-out at top by Derek Krol.
7. Bumble Bee (5.9), two bolts added, to eliminate scary run-out, by Jeff Achey.
8. Popular Demand (5.10c), 8 bolts replaced, with some being moved into better positions, by Lee Sheftel.
9. Guilt Parade (5.12c), all bolts replaced, including new anchors in a better position, by Lynn Sanson. (Also note some choss has been removed, making climb safer).
10. Ruckus (5.12b), anchors replaced and perma-drawed, Mike Schneiter.
11. The Beast (5.13a), anchor bolts replaced by Schneiter; perma-draws added by Jed Wareham-Morris. Perma-draws added and bad bolts replaced on Beast with two Backs extension by Schneiter.
12. Never Believe (5.12d), new perma draws, Jed Wareham-Morris.
13. Quickdraws (5.12c), rebolted with 9 new bolts.
14. Living in Fear (5.13d), perma-draws and new anchors added, Andrew Bisharat.
15. Let it Burn (5.13d), bolt added to eliminate run-out on Sam Elias’ new route.
16. Mousetrap (5.12c), bolt added to protect 30-foot run-out scramble start, with dangerous choss blocks removed. The start is much cleaner and much safer now. Sam Elias.
17. Defenseless Betty (5.12a), bad bolt above roof replaced, Elias.
18. Irie Meditation (5.11d), perma-drawed, Elias.
19. Bottom Feeder (5.11b), perma-drawed, Bisharat.
20. Sometimes Always (5.13c), rusted first bolt replaced, Elias.
21. Rehabilitator (5.11c), first two bolts replaced with new perma-draws, Bisharat.
22. Brothers Carruthers, bolts on traverse perma-drawed, and steel biners added to anchors, by Colette McInerny. Also, lowering bolt added at dog-leg in order to make cleaning easier.
23. Path (5.13c) now joins the Chain Gang, thanks to Danny Robertson. Also, hard-to-clip bolt below roof is moved over, and pointless bolt at bottom was removed and patched; Elias.
24. Climb-a-dime-a-ding-dang (5.12b), bad crux bolt replaced and moved lower for a better clipping position with chain/steel biner added; this eliminates having to clip two bolts and having bad rope drag; Bisharat.
25. Rendez-Spew (5.13a), bad bolt above crux at lip of cave replaced, Elias.
26. Pile Driver (5.11b), perma-draws added.
27. Pygmy Mastodon Boner (5.12b), anchors added, Joe Kinder
28. Cracked Open Sky (5.13d), three glue-ins added, Kinder.
Trail Work:
A better trail was built at entrance to Bauhaus in order to eliminate further erosion to the muddy soil.
Leff Sheftel fixed the bridge leading to Fluff Boy.
Benches built:
Two benches at Ruckman cave (one super-deluxe with beer holder)
One bench at Project wall
Two benches at Anti-phil
One bench at Wichester
Two benches at Bauhaus
Two benches at Wasteland
One bench at Arsenal
New Route activity
In addition to making the above classic routes safer, there has been a significant spate of new route activity in the canyon, with more great looking lines for us all to try. Joe Kinder cleaned up and bolted the two half-finished projects to the left of Living in Fear, and they are open! The right one is ready to go, and looks great. Jeremy Hensel has been hard at work at developing a whole new wall across from the Arsenal, with some great looking lines in the 5.11 to 5.13 range. Sam Elias put in the bolts for a link-up/variation on the nice-looking stone in between Living and Sometimes Always, which can be accessed from either route at 5.14a or 5.13d, respectively. Steve Hong has been working hard at a sweet-looking climb in the Wicked Cave, and Sam Elias has started work on a new line in the Nappy Dugout.
