Here you can see the effect of a fall of factor 1 on a rope, when using ascenders.

On espeleo i aigua there is a short article about this new type of remoeable anchor by ClimbTech. It is load is rated 22 Kn, but unfortunately you have to drill at least 0,75 inch’ wide and 3 inch deep (approx 19mm wide and 75mm deep). You can see a fascinating video about testing the gear here and here. Does any one know a smaller version?

On the website of italian club CGEB you can read two interesting articles about the use of ARVAs  (avalanche transceivers) on detecting cave wall thickness, or for example, where is the cave passage closest to the surface? With a known survey of the cave, they checked around where should be the a second entrance made to Grotte Impossible. At the point where the cave should be closest to the surface, they double checked it with the Arva device, and they could se the planimetric errors of the survey, and the rock thickness to the cave. So they were able to know where should they dig in reality (in contranst of the point “showed” by the survey). this was quite important, because they had to dig more than a dozen meters in solid rock, artifically. Here and here are the two articles.

On espeleo i aigua you can read about the use of multimonty (”screwfix”), and more understandable, you can see two short videos about how to install them. It is interesting that the drill used here is Bosch Uneo, which weights just 1,1kg! These techniques are used in cave exploration in remote places, where the weight of the equipement is critical. (please note that this information is not enough to install a proper belay!!!) Another link to the same site for a previvious article on the same topics here.

Early results from a study prompted by the accidents are startling. Among fixed anchors in tropical, marine locales examined for far, 10 to 20 percent would fail with a force of 1 to 5 KN applied. The UIAA standard for fixed anchors is a minimum of 22 KN (1 kN is the weight of a mass of 100 kg).

In addition, while some weakened fixed anchors had visible cracks, others had no cracks and appeared only somewhat corroded. Some of these seemingly less compromised anchors also broke with 1 to 5 KN of force.

Overall, some fixed anchors broke bearing only the weight of a climber. And all examined were stainless steel, which meets the UIAA safety standard and has a reputation of holding up well against corrosion. The corrosion in this particular locale appears to be accelerated by the proximity of the sea and year-round warm, wet weather.

The UIAA Safety Commission, in cooperation with Petzl, launched the study earlier this year. Jean-Franck Charlet, president of the commission, says the UIAA wanted to alert climbers about the danger as soon as possible.

Full article: UIAA