"Old love does not rust - the safety hooks from the last century but already": Under this motto, the association Rebolting and Transa sales consultant and ambassador Pesche Wüthrich take care of the rehabilitation of climbing routes.
A contribution by Manuel Scherrer - Transa Travel & Outdoor
Pesche, together with Raphael Schmid and Daniel Steiner you are initiator of the Rebolting Association, what exactly are you doing?
We are an association of climbers and take care of the nature-friendly rehabilitation of climbing areas in Switzerland. In order to be able to safely climb there in the future, occasionally bolts and abseiling rings must be replaced.
As a climber do not you learn that a bolt is the safest?
Already, but also drilling hooks age. Air, rain and temperature fluctuations attack the material. One does not see it old bolts, whether they are corroded inside. There have been accidents.
Adhesive hooks are also partially affected.
Many climbing areas were previously set up with as little budget as possible. Meanwhile, there are better, but also more expensive alloys.
How does such a renovation work?
We have many people in our team who are familiar with the respective areas and know where a refurbishment is needed. We then talk to the authorities to respect, for example, wildlife sanctuaries. If the developers still live, we will consider with them whether we only renew hooks or if we also straighten lines. Finally we remove the old material and drill again. Upon completion, a new topo is drawn.
How many areas have you renovated?
We are still at the beginning, but we have already renovated some areas in the Bernese Oberland and in central Switzerland. The topos can be found on our website.
Who supports you?
We are supported by companies like Petzl, sex, Mammoth and gecko, but we also get material from AustriAlpin, for example. Then, of course, tourism associations are interested in safe climbing areas. And there are also more and more dedicated climbers who make their contribution and support us.
Commitment to the climbing community
Transa Travel & Outdoor is the leading provider of travel, outdoor and mountaineering equipment in Switzerland and operates eight branches in Basel, Bern, Lucerne, St. Gallen, Winterthur and Zurich, the climbing shop in the climbing gym in Winterthur and Root as well as the Online-Shop, The Transa supports in the context of their commitment to the club Rebolting the rehabilitation of climbing routes. Would you also like to work for the preservation of climbing routes? Then support the club Rebolting or support local developers in your area. The commitment has already resulted in numerous renovation projects. The topos are regularly under www.rebolting.ch switched.
Packing list for your next climbing trip
Are you planning to climb one of the rehabilitated routes or do you have another climbing project in the pipeline? At the Transa you can find in the branches Zurich, Luzern, Winterthur and in the Online Store an extensive mountain sports range:
Published on LACRUX Transa Travel & Outdoor at regular intervals exciting contributions to the topics of climbing and bouldering.
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Credits: picture and text Manuel Scherrer - Transa Travel & Outdoor