After a few years of uncertainty, a collaboration between BMC volunteers, Peak Bolt Fund volunteers and volunteers, recently started work in Aldery to replace tree pendants removed in 2017 with bolt pendants.
Aldery is the definition of roadside climbing, in the quiet and picturesque Peak District valley, from the thick E3 (but most suitable for VS-E1 climbers) to provide slate, quarried limestone. In the case of unapproved removal of tree anchors, Aldery’s future was discussed at two peak district meetings in 2019. The tree anchors can reduce the distance between the feet and avoid the dirt, looseness or the presence of most of the cliff tops. Fragile rocks. The result of this is a consensus that new bolt anchors should be placed so that the route can continue to climb in the established pattern-without stopping.
This work was originally scheduled to take place in the spring of 2020, but the Covid-19 incident delayed the work until last week, when we worked with three Peak Bolt Fund volunteers to finally install the bolted lower part. A total of 11 new anchors were placed. Each anchor is composed of two stainless steel resin bolts and is connected to the ring by a chain link so that the climber can descend or sag. The new anchor points are listed and shown in the photo of the rock wall below, detailing their service routes:
Stainless steel twisted leg resin bolts (basic requirements for new bolts on BMC land) and stainless steel chains, maillons and rings are used to extend the service life, and it takes a lot of time and effort to find the best rock and location services for the anchoring route. However, the quality of rocks and fixed equipment will change over time. Therefore, for any rock wall, climbers should check all fixed equipment before using it.
Unfortunately, due to the lack of strong anchor bolts, one of the planned anchors for the top of the Nettlerash/Broken Toe cannot be placed. The rock at the top of this route is composed of keyed blocks, which are currently strong enough to climb, but cannot be anchored by bolts. These routes are the only ones on the cliff that have relatively simple tops, so fortunately, use top stumps and live ash trees to return to the top from the edge and fix them, because at the time of writing, anchor points well. However, if/when the ash dying affects the live tree and the stump rots, a replacement anchor will be needed. An attempt was made to place a protective rope pile above this part of the rock wall, but unfortunately, the soil depth was insufficient to provide a strong anchor here. If the top ash tree succumbed to death, then a protective layer of bolts might be needed on the rock.
The other work that day was to remove a part of the cable from the top of the rock wall and cut it into trees. The cable still provides useful help for “bad steps” because it currently does not damage the living tree it uses. In consideration of Covid-19, we also trimmed the vegetation on the road. We hope to organize a volunteer working day on the rock wall in autumn and winter to continue cleaning the route.
Thank you very much to the volunteers of the Peak Bolt Foundation. They are all keen climbers. They have put great effort and thought to find the best location for each anchor point. The Pinnacle Bolt Fund has done an excellent job of replacing the old bolts in the entire Peak District, and it is all funded by donations, and all work is carried out by a small group of dedicated volunteers. If you screw a bolt on the top of the mountain, please consider donating to the fund to help it continue its good work.
Use the latest updated RAD (Regional Access Database) application from BMC to get all the information about the rock formation! It is now available for free on Android and iOS, and has many new features such as navigation and parking, weather and tide updates, and of course information about restrictions or access recommendations. Get it here now!
RAD is led by the community, and your comments will help keep it up-to-date, so after a rock visit, don’t be afraid to add any relevant information. This may be useful to other visitors – rock conditions, favorite routes or rockfall reports/ Other recent changes to the rock wall are useful to other visiting climbers.
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