Old Aid Bolt Ladder

Update 3/2/08: I ran across this today on:

bigwall.com/scag_lac.html#a…

JESUS WALL (5.6, C1)

This manky bolt ladder ascends the large blank face right of a huge chimney system splitting the front wall and is clearly visible from Topanga Canyon Blvd. Easy free climbing leads to the first hangerless bolt.

Pro: Gear for 17 bolts, several rivet hangers.

For those of you looking for some exciting aiding on old bolts at Stoney, give the bolt ladder here a whirl. The first bolt makes you think that it won't be too bad, but that's the nicest bolt on the route. The highlight is the bent nail hook thingy that twists. Overall it all felt pretty secure. All placements are good for body weight, but I wouldn't want to take a whipper on any of them.

It's easy to scramble to the top and setup a top rope and use that as backup in case a bolt pulls so you don't zipper the line. Most bolts at Stoney are suspect and these especially so. Almost every hanger is a spinner and some want rivet hangers behind the rusted hanger to keep the pull close to the rock.

Obviouse bolt ladder in the middle of the Jesus wall. Climb up the first 10' and clip the starting bolt from a good ledge.

Walk off / up is the same as Jesus Wall. Either do the 5.1 climb / scramble up on the right of the wall (see Chris's photo

Jesus Wall

) or walk all the way around and on top of the wall the long way.

2 rivet hangers (more if fixed ones missing)

18 draws

Screamers (optional if leading)

aid gear

Currently (11/12/07) all bolts, rivets, crap are in pretty good condition so all you need are the rivet hangers (by pretty good I mean for an ancient bolt ladder). No hooks or anything fancy needed. You could easily get away with a few wired nuts and use those in place of the rivet hangers.

The top anchor is accessible by leaning over the edge (not bad). It has 3 bolts: 2 homemade hanger spinners that are suspect and partially pulled out and a newer looking nice bolt. I'd back the anchor up off the boulder directly behind it with a 20' sling.