Thanks to Lee Cujes for driving this important initiative to completion.
After five or more years of reporting my work through Crag Chemistry, it is becoming increasingly difficult to personally absorb the costs of the project. There is stuff needing doing that will substantially improve the safety of the sport, and yet, I know that if Crag Chemistry doesn’t do it, we’ll still be talking about it in ten years’ time.
Hence the call for donations.
And with donations comes an obligation for transparency. The climbing community needs to be able to see that we are not beholden to any particular manufacturer, and that we are spending it in a way that advances the safety of fixed hardware.
Testing Fund Transparency
The Crag Chemistry Testing Fund supports independent testing and public reporting of failed or suspect climbing hardware.
This page provides a simple public record of:
- funds received
- tests funded
- expenses paid
- reports produced
- future testing priorities
The aim is to make clear where donor money goes and what knowledge it helps produce.
Funds Received (AUD)
| Date | Source | Amount | Notes |
| 11Jun26 | GoFundMe | $3064.98 | |
| 12Jun26 | GoFundMe | $219.15 | |
| 15Jun26 | GoFundMe | $225.02 | |
| 16Jun26 | GoFundMe | $731.49 |
Tests Funded
| Date | Test / Investigation | Location / Case | Amount Funded | Status |
| 1Jun26 | OES-1 | St Savvas anchor bolts | $770 | report |
Expenses Paid
| Date | Expense | Supplier / Recipient | Amount | Notes |
| 1Jun26 | OES-1 | LMATS | $770 |
Reports Produced
| Date | Report | Related Case | Status | Link |
| 8Jun26 | Kalymnos – catastrophic anchor failure | posted | St Savvas 1 |
Future Testing Priorities
The following are current or proposed priorities for future testing. These may change as new evidence, samples, or safety concerns emerge.
| Priority | Case / Topic | Reason for Testing | Status |
| 1 | Further Petzl Goujon OES | Are all bad bolts from the same melt? | proposed |
| 2 | — | — | — |
| 3 | — | — | — |
Notes on Use of Funds
Funds raised will be used for independent testing and publication work, including:
✅ metallurgical testing of failed climbing bolts and anchors
✅ alloy identification
✅ fracture analysis
✅ corrosion analysis
✅ sulfate, sulphide, chloride, and other rock-chemistry testing
✅ laboratory fees
✅ sample shipping and handling
The fund is intended for testing and knowledge-sharing, not general route maintenance.
This fund is not intended to pay for:
❌ labour
❌ rebolting
❌ travel
❌ route development
❌ general overheads unrelated to testing and reporting
What CragChemistry.com will still provide for free:
✅ our time and scientific expertise
✅ expert interpretation
✅ technical reporting
✅ publication of findings through CragChemistry.com
The purpose is narrow: independent testing, interpretation, and publication of findings.
Contact
If you have a failed or suspect hardware sample that may be suitable for testing, please contact Crag Chemistry before cleaning, modifying, or discarding the sample.
Please include:
- crag and route name
- location
- hardware type, if known
- approximate installation date, if known
- photographs
- description of the failure or concern
- current location of the sample