Anchors: BCC - Aquaword

During the week of October 26, 2026, the SLCA Anchor Crew was scheduled to return to Indian Creek for another round of anchor maintenance. With wet weather affecting southern Utah, we switched gears to avoid working on saturated sandstone and headed to Aquaworld in Big Cottonwood Canyon.

Located near the mouth of the canyon, Aquaworld is an accessible, south-facing crag that catches plenty of sun—a good option for climbing during the colder months.

The crew focused on classics such as February Summer (5.9-) and Retroed Hardman (5.10d), while also putting considerable effort into some of the less-traveled routes on the left side of the crag, including T.H.C., Mashed Potato, and Aqua Velvet.

Many of the routes, particularly on the left side, had washer-stack hardware, including very thin washers that were beginning to bend into a “taco” shape. This hardware raises concerns as corrosion and deformation can reduce its strength over time.

Many existing bolt holes were underdrilled, making it difficult to go hole for hole. This prevented the crew from reusing many of the existing holes. Shallow holes are a recurring finding during our maintenance work in Big Cottontonwood Canyon, where the hard quartzite makes drilling demanding. On T.H.C. (5.12a), the crew also installed a lower anchor to improve lowering and make the steep route easier to clean.

In total, the crew visited 10 routes and replaced more than 100 bolts, addressing aging hardware on both established favorites and overlooked climbs.