Load transfer - The 2:1 redirected haul
Premium Members can read the entire article here:
This is part of a series of articles that cover methods to move a large load a short distance, typically to unweight an anchor.
I learned this trick from big wall expert Mark Hudon, thanks Mark!
You may find yourself in a climbing situation where you need to transfer a BIG load from one anchor point to another.
Beginner big wall climbers, you know what I'm talking about; you clipped the haul bag in the wrong spot and it needs to get moved, whoops! (I’m an expert on this particular mistake; I probably did it five times on my first wall . . .)
Maybe a rescue situation (which you’re hopefully never in) where you need to lift the weight of your uncooperative partner off of the anchor to continue rappelling.
How can you do this the SMART way?
Brute force powerlifting is probably not going to cut it. It's much smarter to use a little mechanical advantage to make this happen. Work smart, not hard!
Here's one method: a redirected 2:1 haul with a progress capture pulley. In the big wall world this is known as the “far end haul”; here's an article on that.
The steps here might appear complicated when you see them the first time, but as soon as you give it a try you'll learn how easy it is.
Look through the step-by-step photos below and then watch a how-to video at the bottom.
You have a big load on the right anchor, and you need to move it to the left anchor. How do you do this the smart way?
Here’s a step-by-step sequence, with a tutorial video at the bottom.
Clip some cord or rope to the anchor.
Clip your progress capture pulley such as a Petzl Traxion, onto the rope is shown. (Remember to clip it “teeth to tail”, so the “teeth” on the device point to the “tail” side that you’re going to pull.)
Clip the Traxion onto the load.
Add a redirect to the anchor. A pulley is good here if you have it. In this example, I’m using the excellent Petzl Rollclip.
(In this example I clipped the redirect on to the anchor on the right. It also works fine if you clip it to the anchor on the left.)
Now you're ready to pull.
Put the rope or cord through a Grigri or a Munter hitch on your harness.
Pull DOWN with your body weight.
As you do this, you’re raising the load with a 2:1 mechanical advantage, and the Traxion pulley captures your progress. Nice!
With the high-efficiency Traxion on the load and the Rollclip/pulley on the redirect, your loss of pulling force due to friction is minimized.
Want to see the last few steps and a video of how to set it up?
Join my Premium Membership to read the whole article.
Thanks for your support!
Premium members can read the complete article here: