RRC Archives

I am a Rap bolter and have been.. but just recently cant figure out how to get under a very large roof. except for doing it from the ground up.

Like the others said... hooks and small cams. Smack downs work well too. If the roof will take gear then it might be possible to rappel down single line and clip in directionals as you go and maybe even place an occassional bolt that can be removed later. Good luck.

we bolted "Pink Sock" on aid lead with both an electric and hand drill. I rapped in and put the anchors in. Then I bolted the first two bolts on lead with a hand drill. I then hi-jacked a friends Hilti. using "seige" tactics. Aaron ,I think Matt and I.
With two ropes. One strung through the anchors and the other clipped in from the bottom up. We went across the roof on hooks. At one time Aaron was hanging off of two hooks with the drill over his head pushing it into the rock.One popped and he dropped about two feet. He was able to reset the hook and finish the bolt.
Let me tell ya, Bolting ceilings is very dramatic. It was also a blast.

Did anybody ever get the first ascent on that thing?

I think rap bolting using rivits between bolts/gear placements might be the way to go for a big roof. I would think the lurkist would be a very good person to listen to.

How big a roof?

J.J. has a method where he places a low bolt a few feet above the ground and then attaches an ascender to it to pull the climber into the wall (this also helps in being able to solo the route with an ascender and aiders). This has worked pretty well on quite a few routes (several climbs at the Solarium were bolted this way). We've also used the small smack downs (rivits) between bolts and I once had a scary moment when I fell on one and it ripped right out of the rock.