A bolted crag is a fairly vertical rock face that has, at predetermined points not too far apart from one another...
All the information you will find on this page is for information only and not for teaching. For those who are not experienced, we suggest contacting an Alpine Club, a Sport Climbing Club, a professional Mountain Guide or any school qualified to teach mountaineering and climbing. Clearly, any use of this information is entirely at your own risk.
It's certain that nobody can help you get better results in less time and with less effort than a mountain professional, especially in the case of sport climbing, where practice and real experience are vitally important. Before putting into practice any of the notions given below, take a specific course.
But now let's take things step by step and start from some basic considerations.
The assumption is that, to begin with, your sport climbing instructor will take you climbing at a “bolted crag”.
What exactly is a bolted crag?
A bolted crag is a fairly vertical rock face that has, at predetermined points not too far apart from one another, bolts fixed permanently, or better cemented, into the rock. These bolts can be of different types: spits, fixes or fittoni (glue-in bolts). These bolts have a metal ring to which the climber will clip in (we'll see later in what way).
At the end of a rock route there is usually a chain. This chain is fixed to the rock with two spits at its two ends, so as to form a not-too-wide angle and so as to share the weight equally between the two spits.
Fixed to the chain there is usually a screwgate karabiner, more properly called a steel quick link (we'll explain later what this particular oval steel ring is for).
The difference between a bolted rock route and a non-bolted one is that on the second you have to place your own protection points yourself, putting pitons, nuts and friends into the cracks. Clearly, for those who still have to learn, it is definitely better to start learning to climb on rock routes that are already bolted and only later, after gaining some experience, launch into learning non-bolted routes. An ideal learning path should lead the complete mountaineer to climbing non-bolted rock routes at high altitude.
Getting back to the considerations about gear, and to sum up: spits, chain and steel quick link are gear already in place at the crag and are put there by other willing climbers (the so-called bolters). It's good to look after them and respect them, because they were placed with effort, sacrifice and money. Report to experts or to climbing clubs any damaged, rusty or unsafe bolts: you'll be doing a useful service to yourselves and to the whole climbing community.
What is the minimum essential gear for climbing at a bolted crag?
Let's start with a simple list and then look at the details of each piece of kit:
- a pair of climbing shoes;
- a harness;
- a rope;
- rope bag and rope tarp;
- a minimum of 12 quickdraws;
- a descender or belay device;
- an HMS screwgate karabiner;
- a chalk bag;
- and finally, last but not least, comfortable clothing suited to the season.