UIAA has issued a warning for Anchors in Tropical and/or Marine Environments

The UIAA (Union Internationale des Associations d’Alpinisme) has issued a warning to be vigilant in checking for corrosion on anchors in tropical and/or marine environments. See Extreme caution advised for anchors in tropical, marine areas.

The UIAA study shows that 10 to 20 percent of fixed anchors will fail in marine/tropical environments. The study also showed the force to break some of the anchors was as low as 1 to 5 KN. Those loads are so small in some cases that is the weight of a climber.

The anchors were stainless steel and the corrosion appears to be accelerated by the closeness to the sea and a year round warm wet climate. The UIAA is recommending:

• Before climbing, talk to local climbers and with local people who equipped the routes about the quality of the anchors in place.
  
• Find out if a climbing area is regularly re-equipped. Experience to date shows that if anchors are less than three years old, they are less likely to be weakened.
  
• Look for tracks of rust on anchors. If you see such marks, do not load the anchor and stop the climb, as it is just these sorts of anchors that have been dangerous in the study. Alert locals so they can deal with the situation. You can also change the weakened anchor.
  
• As a precautionary principle, the UIAA highly advises climbers to not climb on routes in tropical, marine environments that show rust, or for which you don’t know who maintains the routes or when the equipment was put in place.
  
• Even with positive knowledge about the climbing routes, know that you ultimately must verify for yourself the quality of the anchors in place.
  

To see the full report see: Safety Commission report