Fang pointed out an article to me that I found very disturbing and interesting and felt that I wanted to comment on it a little bit more, perhaps to see how people would comment on it in turn.

On the morning of January 2nd 2009, Nick Kaczorowski (left) met with a tragic accident in Grose Valley, Australia, going off route near the top of a climb known as “Bunny Bucket Buttress”. The route was a 270m with a grade 18 (or 6A+ using the French scheme that we use here in Malaysia). The expansion bolt that he was on failed and he plunged to his death when his rope got cut on a sharp ledge. The tragedy can be read on the site of the Daily Telegraph.

We are all aware that climbing is a dangerous sport which carries with it certain risks which we have to accept if we are to pursue it. While we are out climbing, we take measures to ensure that our risks of injury or fatality to ourselves and our climbing partner, is minimised and controlled. And in most cases, the safety precautions we take work well to keep us out of harms way, and our anxiety and fear are diminished somewhat by the assurance that we are doing things safely to avoid untoward incidences.

But the death of Nick Kaczorowski last January highlights a fundamental “blind sight” that most of us have with our approach to climbing, which will result in tragedy, and this blind sight is the blind faith we place on our bolts and anchors. The tragedy happened in a fast sequence of events. The first was the failure of the bolt (as it ripped out of the rock), followed by a factor two fall which landed the rope across sharp ironstone rocks, where the force of the fall on the rope against the ironstone severed it, plunging Nick to his demise. The full sequence of events is described by world renowned climbing photographer Simon Carter in his first report and follow up report linked here. We recommend you to read the two full reports to understand the severity of what this tragedy should mean to us climbers in Malaysia where almost every new route here in our area uses expansion bolts.

Below a picture of one of the expansion bolts that were loose. Expansion bolts are identifiable with a screw on nut on the outside. This is twisted around the expansion bolt after it has been hammered into the hole. The bolt will expand into the hole as the nut is twisted thereby tightening its grip and securing it to the rock.

The tragedy of Nick Kaczorowski’s death truly sent shivers down my spine and made my heart skip a beat as I watched the video of the loose bolts being pulled out by hand in the video below. There are also forums discussing this tragedy which you should also read, like Chockstone, and UKC

Nick actually wandered off into a separate route that was bolted in December 2007 by climbers from Croatia who were visiting Australia on a round the world climbing trip. The route he wandered into was named “Last Chance for Happy End” which under the circumstances, was a very grim name indeed. The bolts which were used were not suitable for sandstone and is not even made for use on climbing routes. It is more suited to caving usage. As a result, when a fall occurred on them, they ripped out with ease.

How much do we all know about the nature and construct of the bolts we use in Malaysia? How much do we know about the age of the bolts and the condition of them? As Nick has done and what we all do on a regular basis, we place faith in the infallibility of the bolts and anchors to catch us should we fall. In so doing, we are placing faith on:

1. the skills of the people who bolted the routes. Do we even know them or are aware of their experience in bolting?
2. the quality and type of the bolt used? Is it suitable for the rock we are climbing?
3. the condition of the bolt. How long has it been there? Does it need to be replaced?
4. the anchor will hold. Will it? Some anchors we have seen are looped with a sling through two or more bolts. Some of these slings have been there for years…. When top roping, abseiling down or setting up a belay for multipitch on these anchors… we are relying on a single point of failure that is questionable.

The point being made now is not that we should scare everyone into not climbing, or to cast doubt on the quality of bolted routes already in existence by all the great volunteers who have contributed their time, effort and money to bolt the routes for us to climb. The point of this whole message is that we as a community of climbers should look at this tragedy and from this learn a lesson. That the safety of climbers on the rocks is determined by a combination of climbers skills and precautions, as well as bolter’s skills and precautions. We need to start thinking about this link when we climb and start realizing that we are a part of a community, and it is the community’s responsibility to keep climbers safe. From the bolter, to the climber and to the belayer.

When we climb routes we should look at the bolts and the anchors and ask question about them, as well as be involved in the handling of any safety issues we may discover. If we see a worn out anchor sling, we should take steps to replace it. If we see a dodgy bolt, we should take effort to warn others not to use it by a sign, or perhaps even rebolt it ourselves (with the correct methods of course). Highlighting potential dangers to more experienced people will help us know more about the safety impacts and steps to take to avoid catastrophe.

In short, we as a community must mature, by being more informed about the sport and what goes into it, as well as the risks associated with it. It shouldn’t be all fun and games until someone gets killed.

For those who wish to learn more about bolts, bolting and fixed anchors, the BMC have published some useful guides here.

Regards,
zee