Secure anchors at high altitudes

Drilling and anchoring in the airy altitudes of the Alpine mountain landscape – this is one of the extreme tasks of the youth climbers of the German Alpine Association (JDAV) Baden-Württemberg. In July this year, JDAV experts renovated a climbing garden on the Gotthard Massif. In the process, five further routes were also newly developed. fischer heavy-duty attachments made of steel and chemicals anchor the safety hooks in the rock walls. The fischer Quattric II drill proved its worth when drilling the holes in the very hard granite.

“In order to ensure safety in the mountains, high-quality products such as those of the fischer group are essential when setting up climbing routes,” emphasises Fynn Renner, Head of Youth Training for Youth Leaders at the Youth of the German Alpine Association (JDAV) Baden-Württemberg. This is why fisher heavy-duty attachments and drills were used in the five newly established climbing routes on the Gotthard Massif. JDAV Baden-Württemberg integrated the renovation and expansion of the climbing garden into its training catalogue for youth leaders. At dizzying heights, the climbers first cleaned the existing routes with spades, pruning saws, joint scrapers and steel brushes. It was then called “Fastening extreme”.

Type of object

Fixing in nature

Scope

Renovation of 20 climbing routes

Number of hooks set

approx. 450 safety hooks

“When attaching the climbing hooks, we had to drill holes in very hard granite,” explains Fynn Renner. “Under these very difficult conditions, the Fischer SDS Plus Quattric II hammer drills convinced us with their longer service life and higher drilling performance compared to alternative solutions.” This was made possible by many technical features. “The full-carbide head with diameters up to 10 mm, solid main cutting edges and the two-piece drilling spiral speed up the work progress and increase the service life,” explains Bernd Wetzel, application engineer at the fischer group of companies. “These are decisive advantages for extreme fastening tasks such as securing climbing routes.” The reinforced core also increases stability during drilling.

Important remarks: Thorough drilling hole cleaning so that the installed chemical and mechanical anchors achieve their guaranteed load-bearing capacities. The climbers then mounted two different hook systems. On the one hand, adhesive hooks (also known as Bühler hooks) were used together with the FIS V 300 T injection mortar. “The composite system is firmly connected to the rock wall and achieves a permanently secure hold,” says Bernd Wetzel. For installation, the climbers injected the fish injection mortar FIS V 300 T into the borehole using the associated fish extrusion device, screwed the hooks into it and spread the swelling residual mortar. After its curing time, the composite system is fully load-bearing and achieves permanently high load-bearing capacities.

To ensure safety in the mountains, high-quality products such as those of the Fischer Group are essential when setting up climbing routes

Fynn Renner, Head of Youth Training for Youth Leaders at the German Alpine Association (JDAV) Baden-Württemberg

In addition to the adhesive hooks, so-called drilling hooks were also installed in the rock walls. The fisher FAZ II bolt anchors made of stainless steel (R) in 10 x 80 mm were used. With these mechanical dowels, the climbers anchored the 10 mm drill hook tabs securely and firmly in the rock walls. “Our Fischer FAZ II bolt anchors reliably transfer very heavy loads into the load-bearing base,” emphasises Bernd Wetzel.

Once the drill hole has been created and cleaned, it can be either pre-assembled or pushed through. When the nut is tightened, the conical bolt is pulled into the expansion clip and tensions it against the hole wall. As soon as the specified torque is reached, the anchor is securely seated and can be loaded immediately. Very heavy forces acting on the drill hook are reliably transferred to the load-bearing surface by the FAZ II bolt anchor. The experts at JDAV also mounted chain stands with rings or even carabiners as deflectors. They are used at the end of the route to deflect the rope and lower the climber again.

fischer’s fastening solutions prove themselves on the Gotthard Massif

Our products used