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In 2012 Climbing's ARI program continues at a crag near you!
Contact kriley@aimmedia.com for more information |
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 ARI Upgraded Route Master list
549 Routes UPGRADED - MASTER LIST Updated 2/1/12 - More than 1,000 bolts have been replaced on selected high-traffic routes at major crags across the country. The anchor work receiving Climbing's ARI treatment was performed by some of the climbing community's most experienced equippers. The ARI makes a concerted effort to enlist the help of the most qualified and capable people by requiring references to assure volunteers' experience and representation of their respective climbing community's best wishes.  ARI - The North Face
The ARI is made possible by generous support from The North Face. In 2003 Climbing, with support from The North Face, launched the Anchor Replacement Initiative (ARI) to address the nationwide problem of worn out and inappropriate fixed hardware at heavily used crags. The North Face®, a subsidiary of VF Corp., was founded in 1966 and opened its first retail store in 1968. Headquartered in San Leandro, California, the company offers the most technically advanced products in the market to accomplished climbers, mountaineers, extreme skiers, and explorers.  ARI - Petzl
Special thanks to the generous support from Petzl. John Evans, Marketing Director at Petzl says of the ARI, "Replacing 300 sets of anchors is no small feat. Kudos to Climbing for organizing this important initiative."  ARI - Bluewater Ropes
We’re excited to be part of such a great initiative like the ARI. It’s encouraging to see a publication like Climbing magazine step up in such a big way. This is a program that not only benefits existing climbers but also helps encourage the growth of the climbing community as a whole. We could not think of a better way to help our fellow climbers than being a part of the ARI.  ARI Equipper of the Year
Video by Cedar Wright - Started by the staff of Climbing magazine, the Anchor Replacement Initiative (ARI) is an industry-supported program that serves the U.S. climbing community by systematically replacing worn-out or inadequate belay and rappel anchors. Since its inception in 2003, ARI has upgraded more than 500 routes and replaced thousands of aging and dangerous bolts. To find out more about ARI, and how you can get involved, please visit climbing.com/community/ari.  Fixed Hardware Upgrade – Castle Rock, Tennessee
The Anchor Replacement Initiative (ARI) is made possible by volunteer equippers such as Micah Gentry. During the spring of 2011, Micah updated six routes at Castle Rock, Tennessee, with new hardware provided by the ARI. Updated routes include: Slingblade, Chestnutt Route, Entrance Corridor, Right of Scarlet, Scarlet Begonias, and Unfinished Business. See more ARI updates here.  Dan Levison - Restoring Boulder's Flatirons
When one thinks of the resplendent Flatirons rising over Boulder, Colorado, sport climbing isn’t necessarily the first discipline that pops into the mind. However, there are many classic sport routes strewn about those hills, and Boulder local Dan Levison is helping to make sure they’re safe to climb. Levison, originally from Pennsylvania, has been climbing for more than two decades.  Rifle, Colorado
Lazy climbers' paradise sees hard work - One of Colorado's most famous crags got its annual facelift with help from the Anchor Replacement Initiative, as bolts and anchors were replaced on 33 routes in August. Rifle Mountain Park’s roadside crags boast about 400 routes and thousands of visitors each year, emphasizing the importance of safe gear. Rifle Mountain Park Clean-Up Day started about 15 years ago as a low-key event: Everyone got a trash bag and was rewarded with a cookout.  Micah Gentry - A Few Good Bolters
Micah Gentry learned to climb in New Hampshire during the 1990s and now spends many of his days replacing ancient hardware on Tennessee routes. For the past few years, Gentry, 33, has helped distribute gear to bolters through the Southeast Climbers Coalition (SCC). He became involved with ARI to help the SCC save money on gear replacement. Replacing gear isn’t for everyone, Gentry says, and he notes there are other ways that climbers can get involved.  Ryan Cafferky - Smith Rock Steward
As an arborist and a serious climber, Ryan Cafferky pays more attention to the condition of his gear than most people do. So it’s no wonder that Cafferky, living in a cabin off the grid near Hood River in Oregon, keeps a close eye on the bolts at nearby Smith Rock. In addition to establishing new lines on Smith’s soft welded tuff cliffs, he’s been replacing hardware on some of the area’s most worn routes. “We need to take better care of our crags, as far as reducing our visual impact,” Cafferky says, “and make sure that if we are going to put something there, it’s really good.”  Anchor Upgrade - Foster Falls and Laurel Falls, TN
Photos by Micah Gentry of anchor upgrades in Tennessee's Foster Falls and Laurel Falls. Gentry and Brad Killough replaced hardware on 11 of the crags' sport routes. Laurel Falls is known for its high concentration of difficult sport routes on smooth, granite-like sandstone, and Foster Falls' pumpy, steep, and technical routes make the crag a must-visit while in TN.  Tim Kemple, Sr. - Keeping Rumney Safe
Next time you're climbing at Rumney, be sure to mentally thank Tim Kemple, Sr., an activist who has been busy helping keep routes at this New Hampshire crag safe. “I really got involved at Rumney when it became popular,” says Kemple. “I am just one of many who have put up routes, maintained trails, and replaced aging hardware.” Kemple, 60, has been climbing for 40 years, and started bolting lines in California.  Kevin Daniels - The ARI's FIXE Hardware Connection
“If you see hardware that makes you think, keep thinking,” urges Kevin Daniels, 41, the knowledgeable one-man band behind the outfit Fixe Hardware/Fixe USA (fixeusa.com), the bolt-and-anchor supplier for the Anchor Replacement Initiative (ARI). “That’s your survival instinct talking.” Based out of Bishop, California, Daniels has run his business since 1993, starting out of his father’s garage after a chance meeting, at Lotus Flower Tower basecamp, with a Spanish climber who worked for Fixe (Europe).  MICHAEL MOORE - Fighting back a tide of Red Rock spinners
“I realized a year ago that Red Rock needed work, since nearly every bolt I clipped was spinning, missing, and/or hanging out,” says the Las Vegas high-school English teacher Michael Moore, 38. An Anchor Replacement Initiative (ARI) volunteer since, Moore lives near Red Rock National Conservation Area, where he says many an original, 1980s/early 1990s Calico Hills face route has fallen into disrepair.  MICAH RUSH - Caretaker of Fremont Canyon and the 307
Next time you pick up litter at the crag, think of Micah Rush, a Casper, Wyoming, firefighter, rescue/climbing instructor, guide, Anchor Replacement Initiative (ARI) volunteer, and organizer of the 307 (Wyoming) Bouldering Series. That’s because Rush et al. once spent 12 hours hauling a jettisoned dumpster 300 feet from his beloved Fremont Canyon. It’s also here and at nearby Dome Rock that Rush; his wife, Kelly; Eric Christensen; and Colby Frontiero have logged mad hours updating hardware, replacing, estimates Rush, “99 percent of Fremont’s bad bolts.”  Anchor replacement in Castlewood Canyon, Colorado
It ended up being a bit colder than we anticipated on Sunday (January 10, 2010), but we were able to get started on the anchor replacement on Radiation Fear (5.11a) in Castlewood Canyon, CO. I took a couple of pictures of the before and after of the replacement of the second anchor point. The first one was previously snapped off, so I drilled a new hole for that one in a better spot. As you can see from the pictures I was successful in removing the old bolt and reusing the hole for the new larger bolt.  El Cap Cleanup and ARI Work - November, 2009
I'm just back from Yosemite's El Capitan where my partner, Clint, and I were up on the East Ledges descent doing a cleanup. We ended up removing four, old tattered, fix ropes (the fixed ropes on the popular East Ledges descent were OK and we left them untouched), mounds of tattered nylon webbing, three carabiners, a fixed pin, four rap rings, water jug, etc...  BRUCE HILDENBRAND - The work is the gift
BASED OUT OF BOULDER, COLORADO, and Mountain View, California, Anchor Replacement Initiative (ARI) volunteer Bruce Hildenbrand, 54, is a high-test freelancer — think Outside, Bicycling, and active.com. On the rocks 36 years, he’s quietly spent the last 22 of those upgrading bolts in Colorado’s Eldorado Canyon and the Flatirons, and California’s Pinnacles National Monument.  TOD ANDERSON - The Front Range anti-slacker
TOD ANDERSON, 49, is originally from Normal, Illinois, but a penchant for the abnormal (vertical) landed him in Golden, Colorado, where he labors to keep the crags safe when not managing multistate Medicare/Medicaid for Health and Human Services. If you’ve climbed at Clear Creek, Devil’s Head, or Boulder Canyon, you’ve likely clipped some of Anderson’s bolts or threaded his newly refurbished top anchors.  BOB GAINES - 500 first ascents and counting...
BOB GAINES, 49 AND A LIFER at Joshua Tree, has authored 500- plus Cali climbs. Raised with the state’s minimalist ethic, Gaines knows well the challenges of bolting — and, running his guide service (verticaladventures.com), is also keenly aware of the need for safe crags.  September 2009 - Freemont Canyon Wyoming Upgrade
Micah Rush and Eric Christensen have updated a whopping 20 routes on the rosy-colored granite of Wyoming's Freemont Canyon in early September with brand new stainless steel gear courtesy of Climbing's Anchor Replacement Initiative made possible by The North Face and Petzl.  Anchor Upgrade in White Rock, New Mexico
Report and photos by Jason Halladay - I had received some hardware from the ARI (Anchor Replacement Initiative) to be used to replace old and worn anchors. I had hardware for four anchors and believed that the anchors at Gallows Edge (on the basalt cliffs below White Rock, NM) could benefit from an upgrade. Gallows Edge has a number of well-protected moderate sport climbs on great rock and is a natural first choice location for new climbers looking to gain some leading experience. I replaced the anchor hardware on Pejos Route, Once Were Warriors, Princess Buttercup and Planet of the Apes. I only had to drill one new hole, on Princess Buttercup, as the bolts in situ were good, stainless steel bolts.  BLAKE BOWLING - "Team Suck's" Red River Gorge caretaker
Not everyone would be proud to be part of “Team Suck,” but Blake Bowling, 33, is glad he joined. Team Suck (teamsuckclimbing.com) comprises Bowling and a crew of Red River Gorge, Kentucky, aficionados who’ve worked the last eight years upgrading spinning/rusty hardware on the crags’ porous, often-wet, but heavenly Corbin sandstone.  Anchor Replacement in Eldorado Canyon, Colorado
On Friday, July 31, 2009, I went with Madaleine Sorkin to help her finish up the bolt-replacement work on the vintage sport route Hairstyles and Attitudes (aka Space Invaders II), a Dan Michael and Roger Briggs 1980s classic on the top headwall of the Bastille, Eldorado Canyon. I’ve never had a chance to do the route, but Madaleine said it was her favorite sport route in Eldorado, which is why she’d “adopted” it for the bolt work. If you haven’t seen the line, it climbs a flat, slightly overhanging panel of rock left of Outer Space, in a wild, exposed position that finishes a good 300 feet above the ground. This also makes it a bit of a pain to get to and for doing bolt work.  Anchor Replacement in Bear Canyon, Boulder Colorado - July 2009
Report and photos by Kevin Riley and Matt Samet - On July 15, Matt Samet and I trudged up to the back of Bear Canyon to upgrade three sport climbs. The first two routes we replaced were Megasaurus (5.10d) and Liquid Crystal (5.11c), in the Bedrock area, aka the South Ridge. The last route we maintained was a spicy 5.9+ R route called Thought Control at the Stonehenge area. It’s also in Bear Canyon, right above the creekbed. |
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