Construction + Civil Engineering

Drilling and setting anchors in the lofty heights of the Alpine mountain landscape – this is one of the extreme tasks of the youth climbers of the German Alpine Club (JDAV) Baden-Württemberg. In July of this year, the JDAV experts used fischer heavy-duty fastenings made of steel and chemical anchors to renovate a climbing garden on the Gotthard massif. 

In the course of this, five additional routes were also newly developed. fischer heavy-duty fastenings made of steel and chemicals anchor the safety hooks in the rock walls. The fischer Quattric II drill proved its worth when creating the drill holes in the very hard granite.

“To ensure safety in the mountains, high-quality products such as those from the fischer group are essential when setting up climbing routes,” emphasises Fynn Renner, head of training for youth leaders at the youth of the German Alpine Association (JDAV) Baden-Württemberg. 

The fischer Quattric II drill proved itself when creating the drill holes in the very hard granite for the fasteners, establishing five new climbing routes on the Gotthard massif. The 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 and cleaned the existing routes with spades, branch saws, joint scrapers and steel brushes before implementing the new climbing routes.  
“When attaching the climbing hooks, we had to create drill holes in very hard granite,” explains Fynn. “Under these very difficult conditions, the fischer hammer drill SDS Plus Quattric II impressed us with their longer service life and higher drilling performance compared to alternative solutions.”

“The solid carbide head with diameters up to 10mm, solid main cutting edges and the two-part drilling spiral accelerate work progress and increase the service life,” highlights Bernd Wetzel, application engineer at the fischer group. “These are crucial advantages for extreme fastening tasks such as securing climbing routes.” The company added that the “reinforced core also increases stability when drilling”. 
The climbers installed two different hook systems, one using so-called adhesive hooks (also called Bühler hooks) together with the fischer injection mortar FIS V 300 T. “The composite system is firmly connected to the rock face and achieves a permanently secure hold,” says Bernd. For assembly, the climbers injected the fischer injection mortar FIS V 300 T into the drill hole using the associated fischer squeezing device, screwed in the hooks and spread any remaining mortar that had oozed out. After its curing period, the composite system is fully resilient and achieves consistently high load-bearing capacities. 

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

After the drill hole has been created and cleaned, it can be set in either pre or through hole installation. When the nut is tightened, the cone bolt is pulled into the expansion clip and clamps it against the borehole wall. As soon as the specified torque is reached, the anchor is securely placed and can be loaded immediately. Very heavy forces acting on the bolt are reliably transferred to the supporting ground by the FAZ II bolt anchor. 
The JDAV experts also installed chain stands with rings or even carabiners as diverters. They are used at the end of the route to redirect the rope and lower the climber again. In total, 20 climbing routes were renovated and five more were newly established during the project – with around 450 safety hooks and 20 chains being set. 

“fischer drills and fastening solutions have proven themselves with their efficiency and reliability, which they successfully demonstrated when used on the Gotthard massif under the extreme conditions,” concludes fischer.