Climbing in Puerto Rico

Hello! I'm headed to Puerto Rico to lead a yoga retreat in January and would love to climb while I'm there. I plan to arrive around the 5th and leave around the 15th. Please let me know if you are around and what gear I would need to bring besides my harness and shoes.

I'll be there working on a sailboat the 9th - 30th, and definitely looking for folks to climb with. Haven't had time to do much research on the type of climbing yet, but I'll be bringing rope, harness, shoes etc. Plus draws and a trad rack, if appropriate. I could do evenings, weekends, or would be down show up a few days early for climbing. PM me.

Josh.Thrash wrote:I'll be there working on a sailboat the 9th - 30th, and definitely looking for folks to climb with. Haven't had time to do much research on the type of climbing yet, but I'll be bringing rope, harness, shoes etc. Plus draws and a trad rack, if appropriate. I could do evenings, weekends, or would be down show up a few days early for climbing. PM me.

You can leave your trad gear behind since there is no trad climbing in the island. Some cams might work to do some directionals or improvised anchors on something that has no bolts. Just bear in mind that limestone is not the best to place trad gear on.

Jorge Lassus wrote: Just bear in mind that limestone is not the best to place trad gear on.

Tropical limestone isn't the best to place stainless bolts either. I don't know much about the climbing in Puerto Rico, but if they're not titanium bolts, I wouldn't trust them.

climbcaymanbrac.com/safety/

The stainless bolt in the last photo on this page has classic "patchy" rust, a clear indicator of Stress Corrosion Cracking.

John Byrnes wrote: Tropical limestone isn't the best to place stainless bolts either. I don't know much about the climbing in Puerto Rico, but if they're not titanium bolts, I wouldn't trust them. climbcaymanbrac.com/safety/ The stainless bolt in the last photo on this page has classic "patchy" rust, a clear indicator of Stress Corrosion Cracking.

I agree on not trusting old stainless bolts, infact i am the one who re-bolted the very first line with Titanium Glue-ins and plan to only bolt and re-bolt with titanium. Problem is that it is very expensive and the comunity here is too small to make large orders. Hopefully in the near future we will get the help that is needed and raise enough founds to buy enough to rebolt the entire island.

That said, most of the lines have been re-bolted quite recently (With Stainless, unfortunadedly) and only some are left untouched I understand your concern but keep in mind that placing a cam/knot might be just as dangerous.

Hope you enjoy your climbing in the island.

I'm hoping to be there in Feb, let me know how it goes!

Thanks for all the feedback! I eye all anchors with a bit of skepticism, and as I work quite a bit on sailing vessels in tropical climates am familiar with the downsides of stainless, especially in tropical environments with marine influence (ie Puerto Rico). That said, I totally appreciate the efforts of local climbers to re-bolt. Even though it has a limited lifespan, I feel pretty good climbing on new, properly installed stainless bolts. Titanium glue-ins seem to be ideal for this sort of thing (most of the new development I saw in Malta, where the conditions are similar, uses these), but I recognize these cost a helluva lot. I'd love to know:

-What areas have been more recently bolted?

-Is there some kind of fund visiting climbers can contribute to to help support new, safer bolting?

Jorge Lassus wrote: I agree on not trusting old stainless bolts, infact i am the one who re-bolted the very first line with Titanium Glue-ins and plan to only bolt and re-bolt with titanium. Problem is that it is very expensive and the comunity here is too small to make large orders. Hopefully in the near future we will get the help that is needed and raise enough founds to buy enough to rebolt the entire island. That said, most of the lines have been re-bolted quite recently (With Stainless, unfortunadedly) and only some are left untouched I understand your concern but keep in mind that placing a cam/knot might be just as dangerous. Hope you enjoy your climbing in the island.

Jorge, first of all, kudos for putting in Ti. I think you're the only other island in the Caribbean besides Cayman Brac to do so.

I have heard the "very expensive" comment many times before, but it's a specious argument. In reality it costs much more to rebolt with stainless every few years, especially since you can't trust them after a year.

So try to convince the rest of the bolters to put in Titanium, and be DONE with rebolting.

Josh.Thrash wrote:Thanks for all the feedback! I eye all anchors with a bit of skepticism, and as I work quite a bit on sailing vessels in tropical climates am familiar with the downsides of stainless, especially in tropical environments with marine influence (ie Puerto Rico).

Just FYI, the chemical processes that cause Stress Corrosion Cracking (SCC) in stainless climbing bolts does NOT occur on boats.

Marine Grade (316) stainless delivers a long service life when used for boat fittings, even if constantly immersed. Any corrosion you see is superficial and does not (generally) weaken the metal.

SCC in climbing bolts was completely unexpected and unpredicted. It was identified for the first time in 1999, and only formally published in a metallurgy journal in 2008.

For these reasons many people still deny that it occurs, and why many people in SCC affected areas around the world (including some in Puerto Rico) continue to rebolt using stainless steel.