Long approach hike? Push harness leg loops to the side

My partner and I were at the trailhead, ready to hike in a couple of hours to a moderate five or six pitch moderate alpine rock route in the Sierra backcountry. We had an early start, there were streams for water on the approach and hike back, it was going to stay light late into the evening, and the weather forecast was dry and sunny.

The route was up a long ridge and down the other side, so bringing two backpacks and leaving one at the base was not going to work.

We opted to bring one small pack that the second carried on route, and could be hauled on steeper pitches if necessary. The pack barely fit the rack, two wind shells, and a few snacks. There was no room for shoes, the rope or harnesses. So, we wore the harnesses on the hike in. One person carried the pack, and the other backpack coiled the rope.

If you're going to have a long walk with your harness on, it can be a LOT more comfortable to push the leg loops off to the side. Doing this avoids any chafing or rubbing from the leg loops on sensitive anatomy.

Many harnesses have a plastic clip on the back of the leg loops. Unbuckling this clip can make this even easier.

Great series on climbing history by John Middendorf

Here’s an excellent series of long articles, photos and diagrams of climbing history in Europe and North America, by American big wall expert and product designer John Middendorf.

Excellent writing and historical photos, highly recommended!

On your first visit, you can click the “Subscribe” button on the right side of the webpage to get free updates to this ongoing series.

John has more articles than what’s below, so check the archive section of his website, bigwallgear.com to see all of them.

(For details on his product design and portaledges, go to bigwalls.net)

• Climbing Tools and Techniques—1908 to 1939 (Europe, Part A) Myths and Legends

• Climbing Tools and Techniques—early North American Developments to 1910

• 1930s Climbing Tools (Europe, Part C)

• Trains and Kain (Canada climbing to 1916, part 1)

• Trains and Kain (Canada climbing history, part 2)

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Below are a few screen grabs from some of the terrific illustrations.

image: bigwallgear.com

image: bigwallgear.com

Did you know early forms of carabiners were used by climbers as early as 1890? I didn’t.

What’s that peak? Find out with the PeakFinder app

What's the name of that mountain? Climbers have wondered this forever, and now finding the answer is a lot easier.

With an augmented reality phone app like PeakFinder, you can find out in a moment. (Yes, it does show lots of hilltops you may have no interest in, but it does well with the big ones too. )

Photo by my pal Wim Aarts, taken from the amazing viewpoints in the Inyo Range, looking westward at a good portion of the central Sierra Nevada.

If you're ever near Bishop CA, visiting the Inyo Range, enjoying this view and seeing the ancient Bristlecone pine forest is highly recommended.

photo credit: wim AArts

The “Lazy Kiwi” coil

This tip and video come from AMGA Certified Rock Guide Cody Bradford.

While sadly Cody is no longer with us, his Instagram continues to stay up and is a great source of tips like this, check it out.

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The lazy kiwi coil in action. Butterfly coil the rope, flip it over the top of your backpack straps, fasten the waist strap so the rope doesn't flop around, and clip a clove hitch to your belay loop.

Taking in coils of rope to shorten the distance between you and others on your rope team, (aka the Kiwi Coil, apparently named after the New Zealand guides who invented it) is a very useful but often misunderstood and underutilized technique. Quickly shortening your rope, tying it off, and then walking just a few feet away from others on your rope team is often faster, less risky, and a more efficient way to move in alpine terrain than keeping your rope team stretched out.

The typical way it's done is to make nice, tidy circles of rope around one shoulder, tie off the rope in a clever way through the coils and your belay loop, and then . . . stop to pose for a photo, because you now look like a pro mountain guide. =^)

Here's a detailed article on the standard kiwi coil.

Below is a nice example of the classic Kiwi coil, featuring IFMGA Guide Emilie Drinkwater.

source: https://youtu.be/PD6jYQobGXU

However, there are some times when you don't need to go to that extra trouble to tie off the coils all nice and tidy. You just need the rope up out of the way and not dragging on the ground while you walk a bit over to the next section where you’ll be climbing an actual pitch.

Here's one easy way to do that; Cody calls it the “Lazy Kiwi coil”.

1. Make a butterfly coil with the extra rope.

2. Tie a clove hitch on the strand that's going to your partner, and clip it to your belay loop.

3. Take the coils, and flip it over your neck so they're lying on top of your pack.

4. Key Crafty Move: pull the waist straps of your pack around the bottom parts of the butterfly coils, so they can't move around or slide off.

Schweeeeetness, the rope is now up and out-of-the-way and you can easily walk with your partner a short distance in non-exposed terrain. When you get to the next part where you actually have to climb, simply flip the coils off of your pack, flake out the rope, and up you go.

Here's a short video from Cody showing how to do it.

You don't need those dedicated prusik loops

Note - This post discusses techniques and methods used in vertical rope work. If you do them wrong, you could die. Always practice vertical rope techniques under the supervision of a qualified instructor, and ideally in a progression: from flat ground, to staircase, to vertical close to the ground before you ever try them in a real climbing situation.

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image: “mountaineering: the freedom of the hills”, 7th edition, mountaineers books

Old school crevasse rescue technique: anytime you step on a glacier, you have a waist and a leg prusik attached to the rope, immediately available for self rescue if you were to fall into a crevasse.

Some rock climbers even religiously carry a waist and a leg prusik on their harness, should they ever have a need to ascend a rope. (More on that below.)

This dogma has been part of traditional mountaineering classes for a long time. On some mountains with very high risk of crevasse falls, it's probably good practice. However, it may not be so useful outside of that.

Problem 1: Having long dangling prusiks on your rope when you’re traveling on a glacier a hassle. It’s going to be needed probably zero times in your entire climbing career, yet there they sit on every glacier climb, cluttering up the front of your harness. The instruction books say “clip it to your harness or shove it into a pocket”, both of which add to the cluster.

image: “mountaineering: the freedom of the hills”, 9th edition, mountaineers books

Problem 2: In a real crevasse fall, the rope is probably going to cut into the lip of the snow, making it difficult for you to get out of the crevasse entirely under your own power. The more modern approach is to rely on your teammates setting up a separate rope they drop down to you, preparing the lip of the crevasse so the rope doesn’t cut in. But that’s another topic . . .

And on the left, another way to potentially rig it, the “Texas prusik” system, with not one but two foot loops, which can get even more cluttered.

Maybe a good setup for cavers ascending a long free hanging fixed rope. For most alpine climbers, not so much.

Problem 3: You're carrying specialized rescue gear that you have very small chance of ever actually using, and can't really be used for anything else.

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Here’s another way to think about ascending a rope: Instead of using a designated waist and foot prusik, how about improvising and getting creative with gear you’re already carrying?

There are LOADS of ways you can ascend a rope if needed with improvised gear. There are countless variations you could craft with a Tibloc, Micro Traxion, cordelette, Grigri, plaquette device . . . let’s look at one of the simpler ones for now.

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Here’s some pretty typical gear to have a multi pitch climb:

• short friction hitch carried for rappel backup (here the Sterling HollowBlock)

• 60 cm / single length sling

• 120 cm / double length cord (here the Edelrid Aramid, my new favorite for anchors)

With this basic gear, you can ascend a rope. Here's the set up:

Here's what it looks like connected to your harness. (Note highly recommended backup bight knot is not shown.)

The waist connection is clipped on the rope ABOVE your foot loop. An pneumonic to remember this is “waist away”, meaning the connection to your waist is always farthest away from you.

The 60 cm sling is girth hitched to the HollowBlock. This is somewhat optional, you could make a friction hitch directly with the yellow sling. However, having the friction hitch made with the HollowBlock makes it MUCH easier to slide, compared to a prusik hitch made with a Dyneema sling. It also adds a little bit of length, making ascending more efficient because you get more upward “throw” for each motion.

Note: I recently learned that Sterling specifically says in the documentation for the Hollowblock not to girth hitch another sling to it, as I’m doing here. Personally, I’m OK with it, as of course I’m tying backup knots. However, it's usually a good idea to pay attention to manufacturer recommendations, so I wanted to mention it. Another good option for a rappel backup sling/hitch that might be more appropriate in this situation is the Beal Jammy, a sewn friction hitch with an Aramid core and a nylon sheath. I just got one, and in early testing it’s looking great.

The HollowBlock is attached to the rope with a three wrap prusik. This is going to be a bit grabby; you may find an autoblock / French prusik can hold your weight and be easier to slide.

Important: Because this 60 cm sling is your only connection to the rope, tie a backup bight knot (an overhand on a bight is fine) every 5 meters or so and clip it onto your belay loop with a locking carabiner, creating a second point of connection.

What if you’re sport climbing and you don't even have a single length sling? Maybe use some quickdraws, ideally opposite and opposed, and be darn careful they don't come unclipped. Like I said, get resourceful.

The 120 cm blue sling is your foot loop. I really like the blue Edelrid Aramid slings (shown here) for lots of reasons, and one of them is that they make great friction hitches; they really bite down on the rope under load, but they’re also very easy to release and slide. Whatever you’re using to build your anchors - cordelette, quad, double runner - you can probably also use for a foot loop.

If you’re tall and the set up is too short, extend components with a locking carabiner. If you’re short and the set up is too long, tie a knot or two in a sling to shorten it up. (For me, about 5’ 10”, this setup as shown is great.)

So please, let’s stop teaching new climbers that they have to carry designated prusiks with them all the time, as standard practice.

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Emergency rope ascending can even be helpful when rock climbing. A friend of mine recently had the following happen: they were traversing on a multi pitch route, took a fall, swung into overhanging terrain, and found themselves hanging in space about 5 meters below the last bolt. All they needed to do was ascend the rope and keep on climbing. They had everything they needed on their harness (pretty much the exact gear shown in the above photo) to climb back up the rope, but didn’t know how. (There was too much friction in the rope for the leader to haul them up; plus the leader didn’t know how.)

This turned into a call to the local search and rescue team, and my friend had to wait almost 4 hours to get rescued, hanging there in their harness! Ouch!

There is a crafty way to get out of this situation, and we will cover it in an upcoming article.

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Finally, here's another way to think about glacier travel and crevasse rescue - you don't necessarily need to travel with prusiks on the rope at all. If a crevasse fall happens, put the hitch on the rope after, not before. This also applies to the person down the hole, not just the rescue team up top.

Here's a very interesting video on modern crevasse rescue techniques demonstrated by some top German guides. Note that none of them have prusiks on the rope while climbing. When they do add friction hitches to the rope, they use an “open” or untied, cordelette.

(YouTube: Pulleys: Crevasse rescue with pulleys on a glacier – Tutorial (15/18) | LAB ICE)

Staying Warm - pro tips from Derek DeBruin

These tips are from Derek DeBruin, an AMGA Certified Rock Guide and Assistant Alpine Guide. Connect with Derek: Facebook and Instagram.

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Derek DeBruin recently published an article in the journal of the Wilderness Medical Society @wildmedsociety on ways to manage cold in the outdoors. It’s called: “Tips to Stay Warm and Dry (and Injury-Free) in Cold Montane Environments” (Volume 39, Issue 1).

While his tips may not be earth-shatteringly novel, they are the accumulated wisdom of thousands of days spent in challenging environments. Just about everyone can learn a few clever ways to manage the cold from Derek’s article.

Click the button below to read the whole thing.

Here are a few tips that resonated with me.

• When driving to the trailhead, put your boots on the floor of your car and crank the floor heater vents to preheat them.

• Have all your gear as fully packed and ready-to-go as possible, so you're not standing around at the trailhead longer than necessary. Put axes on the pack and skins on the skis at home. Encourage your partners to do the same. (In case they don't, see the next tip . . .)

• Use a “car puffy” - an extra big jacket that you can throw on over everything while you're at the trailhead waiting for other people to get ready. Toss it back in the car just before you're ready to head out.

• Putting some KT tape on exposed skin, like your cheeks, can help prevent frostbite if it's really cold and windy.

• Consider super gaiters such as the Outdoor Research X-Gaiter. This adds an extra layer of warmth over your entire boot.

• The simple trick of squeezing your hands into fists, and curling your toes at every step, can encourage blood circulation and keep those digits warmer.

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You get the idea. There are dozens more tips like this in Derek's article, check it out at the link below.

If that official link to the Wilderness Medical Society page gets broken, here is the article in a PDF on my Google Drive.

Pulling up slack rope? Try a redirect

This video comes from IFMGA Certified Guide Karsten Delap. Connect with Karsten and see more tips like this on his Instagram, YouTube, and website.

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When you finish a pitch, you need to pull up the slack before you put your second on belay. Yes, this is a pretty simple process and usually you don’t need to overthink it, just start pulling the rope up hand over hand.

However depending on your stance, anchor configuration, rope friction on the terrain below, and the amount of rope you need to pull up, simply redirecting the rope through a carabiner clipped to the anchor can increase your speed, efficiency, and comfort. If you're making lap coils, or even a pancake stack on a nice ledge, redirecting through a high point usually keeps things more tidy.

This method also has the benefit of working out most of the kinks or twists in the rope while you're doing it.

The same trick works really well if you need to stack a rope inside a rope bag or a backpack. If you don't have a high anchor point, like on the top of a climb, put the pack or rope bag on the ground in front of you, drape the rope over one shoulder, and pull the rope down hand over hand into the pack.

Here's a nice diagram from @climbing.technical showing the “over the back” method. (If you just have a T shirt, watch out for rope burn. =^)

image: https://www.instagram.com/p/CcPyST1hde0/

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Like many things in climbing, it's a better show than a tell.

Here's a short video by IFMGA Guide Karsten Delap showing the technique.

Why is drop tower testing harsher than real world climbing?

Short version: Petzl testing shows that dropping a real climber rather than a “rigid mass” decreases impact forces on the climber and the top piece of gear by almost 50%.

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Many of us have seen those drop tower gear-buster videos, where a heavy weight is released and snaps a Dyneema sling rated to 20+ kilonewtons like it was a shoelace. Impressive, no?

But, we also know that that hardly ever happens in the real world.

Why are real world forces lower than the drop tower, and by how much?

Fortunately the clever engineers at Petzl had the same question, and here are some answers. Disclaimer: there are many variables involved in testing forces like this. This is not a comprehensive study with definitive results, but more of a way to get people thinking about general technique and assumptions.

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In the diagram below, there is no belayer. The Grigri is tied off at the bottom, with the rope essentially fixed. (If there was an actual belayer involved, and if they had a tube style device such as a Reverso, that would further lower the forces. But that also introduces an extra variable, so perhaps Petzl decided not to include it.)

Notes . . .

• If your French is a bit rusty: climber = “grimpeur”.

• The gray dot is called “anchor” in the caption. That’s the top gear placement, not the lower anchor where the Grigri is attached.

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That’s impressive! When a real climber is involved in the system instead of a concrete block, there’s a huge reduction in forces. That's good news for your top gear placement, your kidneys, and also why those gearbuster test videos may not apply too well to real life.

The drop tower has only the dynamic rope to absorb energy from the fall. In the real world, we have additional variables such as the squishy and force-absorbing human body, the displacement of the belayer, and rope slipping through the belay device. Even with a pretty harsh fall factor of 0.7, force on the top piece of gear is only about 5 kN with a real climber, compared to 9 kN with a rigid mass.

So, another way to think of it, is that having real bodies involved decreases force in the system by about 50%. That is a very good thing!

Now, to be clear, I'm not saying you should be taking factor 1 falls on a Dyneema tether. In that case, there is only your squishy body, and no belayer displacement or rope slippage through a belay device, so forces are going to be a bit higher. But still less than the infamous concrete block drop test.

Some of you are wondering, what about falls greater than factor 0.7? Petzl did test some factor 1 falls, with a real climber and belayer. See that at the link below. You can't really test much more than factor 1 with real people, because somebody's probably going to get hurt.

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Want to learn more? See these articles that cover similar studies by Petzl.

• This test compares forces on system components between a Grigri and a Reverso.

• This test covers climbing forces tested with actual people (belayer and climber).

• This test shows that a rigid mass weight has a much higher impact on the top anchor point than an actual climber.

Steve House on "Failing Well"

Alpinist Steve House has a terrific video on “Failing Well”, part of his concise video series called “Alpine Principles”.

It’s a six minute YouTube video, highly recommended. Takeaways:

• Bailing is an inherent part of alpine climbing. It’s a skill that improves with practice.

• Making a smart choice and turning around is not shameful, but something to be respected.

• Having solid bail technique can give you the confidence to try harder routes, knowing that you can retreat from just about anywhere.

• Maintain awareness when ascending. The way up might also be the (unplanned) way down. Remember potential anchor points, problem areas and the correct way to go, especially if the route traverses.

• Bailing is often done under stress, tiredness, darkness, bad weather, etc. All the more reason to turn up your focus to counter these compounding factors, and to practice in fair weather without these distractions.

Watch the video here.

Using your phone to measure slope angle

Measuring slope angle, to assess avalanche potential or brag about how steep that final couloir was to your friends, can be useful in the backcountry.

The old-school way of doing this was with a sort of plumb bob on fancier compasses called a clinometer. Truth is, using one is often a hassle. You may find it hard to read the tiny numbers on the compass, and usually have to have your cheek down in the snow to be able to look at the compass. About the only advantage is that it doesn't need batteries.

A more modern and way easier way to check slope angle is with some sort of “Measure/Level” app on your phone. The iPhone has one built in to the operating system. Or, you can get a free measurement tool from BCA Backcountry Access. (Android folks, I'm sure you can find something similar.)

Open the Measure/Level app on your iPhone, and swipe to open the Level app. If you're walking / skinning uphill, simply put the phone flat on your ski, or on edge if going across the slope.

Note: Just knowing the slope angle is not the whole story as far as avalanche potential. Avalanches are often caused by micro terrain features that you may not notice by taking a quick measurement like this. Or, you could be on a safe slope, but there could be an unsafe slope above, with you in the run out zone.

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At top is a photo showing how it's done, from the expert backcountry ski guides at Graybird Guiding. (Note, an uphill skin track of about 18° is thought to be about optimal, so keep that number in mind.)

Note that phones don't behave well in the cold. If you use it for occasional slope measurement, try to put it back in an inside pocket, ideally in your base layer between uses. Carrying an auxiliary battery at full charge, also kept warm, with a short charging cable, is highly recommended.

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If you have an iPhone, this measuring tool is free as part of the operating system.

However, for just a few bucks more, you can get an iPhone and Android app that's quite a bit better. Search the App Store for “Avalanche Inclinometer” (made by Iterum LLC). As of winter 2024, this app is $3.99.

This upgrade has some handy and easy to read features: the slope value is color coded to remind you when you might be getting into higher risk terrain, you can tap to lock the screen, and it also shows your elevation, aspect, and coordinates. With a tap you can share all this information via email.

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How does your belay device affect impact forces?

“You should NEVER use a Grigri for trad climbing, because it puts too much force on the top piece of gear.”

Have you heard some version of this?

There are plenty of (often very experienced) climbers who trad climb with a Grigri, and they're not ripping gear out of the crack every time they take a fall, so what's the deal? (Actually, using a Grigri for alpine rock climbing has a host of benefits, which we cover at this article.)

I've also heard absolute numbers tossed around, such as, “Using a Grigri increases the force on the top piece of gear by 30%.” Percentage increase in force is not nearly as important as the actual force. For example, if the force on the top piece of gear goes from 2 kN to 3 kN, that's a large percentage increase, but a rather small numerical increase.

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Fortunately, the clever gear testing gnomes at Petzl did some testing on this, and the results are interesting!

Petzl compared falls of increasing severity, using real live belayers and climbers. They measured the force on the climber, the top piece of gear, and the belayer.

Check it out here, or click the button below.

(There's a nice video of the test climbers catching big whippers, always fun to watch!)

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It's important to note that falls involving real people have a much different (usually lower) forces then those typically measured in the harsh environment of a drop tower. This is typically due to belayer displacement, squishy human bodies, and some rope slipping through the device as braking is applied.

(With real people, you can't really test past factor 1 because someone's probably going to get hurt.)

Keep in mind these are not absolute rules for every kind of rope, belay device, etc. From the Petzl web page: “The results are influenced by slippage in the belay device and therefore by the belayer's grip. Variability is thus high: these results cannot be generalized to all situations and allow us only to quantify, in a broad sense, the influence of the belay device.”

If your French is a bit rusty: the gray dot is the top piece of gear “l‘ancrage”, the blue dot is the force on the climber “grimpeur”, and the black dot is the force on the belayer “l’assureur”.

image: https://www.petzl.com/US/en/Sport/Influence-of-the-belay-device?ActivityName=rock-climbing

For a Grigri belay with larger fall factors (0.7 and 1.0) the force on the top piece of gear is about 2 kN higher than a belay with a Reverso. The highest force measured overall was 6 kN (factor 1, with a Grigri, on the top piece of gear). Not catastrophically huge, but potentially concerning, depending on the quality of that top placement.

However, for the more common lower fall factor of 0.3, the Grigri generated only a very minor increase in force on the top piece of gear. That’s good!

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Comments . . .

• The takeaway: provided you can keep your fall factor relatively low, and you have good placements in good quality rock, using a Grigri for trad climbing is fine.

• It's not the Grigri that's solely responsible for increased force, but more the amount of dynamic rope in play to help absorb the force.

• Fortunately, high fall factors are rare and usually avoidable. Here are some ways to mitigate them.

• If you're on a multi pitch route and looking at marginal gear and/or hard climbing right off the anchor, it might be best to belay with a tube style device or munter hitch. Once the leader has a few good placements and has some dynamic rope in the system, fall forces should remain low, belaying with a Grigri should be fine, if you want to (carefully!) change belay devices

• A downside to using the Reverso (or similar device) is that by giving a softer catch, your climber might fall farther. This can obviously be a problem if there's a ledge or (ground) below them.

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Want to learn more? See these articles that cover similar studies by Petzl.

• This test compares forces on system components between a Grigri and a Reverso.

• This test covers climbing forces tested with actual people (belayer and climber).

• This test shows that a rigid mass weight has a much higher impact on the top anchor point than an actual climber.

Grigris for alpine climbing

Thanks to AMGA Certified Rock Guide and Assistant Alpine Guide Derek DeBruin for assistance with this article. Connect with Derek: Facebook and Instagram

Also, thanks to Blake Harrington for this article which covers some of the same key points made in this one.

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Have you ever heard some version of this?

“Grigris are great for sport climbing, but not for alpine routes. They’re too heavy and single purpose.”

This a common dismissal from many climbers, but it really true? Let’s have a closer look at these objections and see some of the ways a Grigri (or similar assisted braking device, aka ABD) might just earn a place on your alpine harness.

Now to be clear I'm not saying a Grigri is always the best choice for every route that could be considered “alpine”. If you climb with double ropes, or in conditions where your ropes might get very wet or icy, a Grigri will probably stay at home. But for a team of two, with mostly rock climbing, with a single rope, it can be a pretty sweet setup.

(Yep, I know there are some cool belay devices such as Edelrid’s Giga Jul, Mammut’s Alpine Smart, etc. Today we’re talking about the Grigri.) We’ll cover some of those other devices in another article.)

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North Ridge, Mt. Stuart, Washington. About 25 pitches, and a great route for a Grigri. Photo credit, Steph Abegg (used with permission). Steph has a SUPERB website with loads of great beta, annotated photos and trip reports, check it out!

North Ridge Mt Stuart. photo credit: StephAbegg.com

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First, the “it’s too heavy” issue.

Well, check that out! A Grigri and one locker can actually be LIGHTER than a plaquette and two lockers!

Of course your real world weight is going to vary a bit depending on your belay device and carabiners, but we’re really only talking a few grams between different systems. Do you really think you're gonna notice that on your harness?

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Okay, weight isn’t an issue. How about functionality?

A two person team climbing on a single rope  with one Grigri and one plaquette style belay device (such as a DMM Pivot, my favorite) can have a lot of benefits. Some of them are pretty obvious, others perhaps not so apparent. 

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Wait a sec, I heard you shouldn’t a Grigri for trad climbing, because it increases forces on the top placement . . .

Good point! One possible concern with a Grigri and trad climbing is that the Grigri can put more force on the top piece of protection when catching a fall. The better question would be, how much extra force are we talking about, and is it concerning? Let’s check out the nice graph below from Petzl.

With a low fall factor of about 0.3, the difference is negligible. As fall factors increase past about 0.7, there can be an extra 2 Kn or so on the top piece of gear. So, we can see that the potential problem is not with the Grigri, but rather the fall factor.

If there’s a reasonable chance of a high factor fall (climbing is hard off of the belay and there's not many gear placements), there are various solutions. One simple one: the climbers switch devices just for that pitch.

image: https://www.petzl.com/US/en/Sport/Influence-of-the-belay-device?ActivityName=Rock-climbing

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1 - Reduces belay risk

With this system, typically the leader is always belayed with the Grigri and the second is always belayed with the plaquette in guide mode. On alpine routes where the belayer needs to use semi-downtime to change clothes, check the topo, grab some food/water, etc., you can be momentarily hands-free and still have a (fairly) secure belay. If you really need to go really hands-free, just tie a quick bight knot in the brake strand as a backup. 

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2 - Reduces rappel risk

At first glance, you might wonder how this system works for getting down, because the Grigri can only use one strand of rope. There are several different ways to descend with a Grigri - 1) fix one strand of rope, 2) self-lower, and 3) knot block. Of these, fixing a strand of rope will usually be the most practical.

With this system, the rope is threaded for a normal rappel, one strand gets fixed to the anchor, and the Grigri partner raps first. There are LOTS of ways to rig this. Here’s a simple method: add a locking carabiner to the master point and fix the rope with any sort of a bight knot. A Figure 8 or overhand is fine. In the example below I used a butterfly because it's often easier to untie after its been loaded.

The first person descending with the Grigri has a few advantages over a normal two strand rappel. They can go hands-free to to sort out rope clusters, find the next anchor, pendulum around if needed, and any other shenanigans that are less risky when you don’t have to always be concerned with keeping a tight grip on the brake strands. And, if the first person rappels too far past an anchor, the Grigri is easy to convert into an ascending system to go back up the rope, see next step.

If the wind is really whipping around, the first person can descend on a Grigri and can tie in to the end of both rope strands, keeping them under control and minimizing the chance they’re going to get blown around and cause problems.

Once the first climber is secure at the lower anchor, the second person unties the bight knot, removes the locking carabiner, and rappels normally on two strands with the plaquette.

Another approach, which can further increase speed and reduce risk, is for the second climber with the plaquette belay device to use an extended rappel and pre-rig their device on the rope. If after doing this they add a third hand autoblock under their device, both strands of the rope are essentially locked in place. The first person with the Grigri can descend on either strand.

Note: Many people think that simply pre-rigging is enough to lock the rope in place for the first person down. This is not always the case. If you have a smaller diameter, slick sheathed rope, a heavier first person, minimal friction from rock, etc., the rope can start to slowly creep through the device. Adding the auto block stops this from happening. You could also stop any “rope creep” by tying a Stone hitch or a BHK (overhand on a bight in both strands) below the rappel device.

As with all new rappelling systems, always practice in a controlled environment before you ever try it on real rock.

3 - Simplified belay changeovers

When the second arrives at the anchor, they are already secure on the plaquette, so there's no real need to clove hitch to the anchor, use a PAS/tether, etc. ( At an exposed stance, the leader can add a quick bight knot on the brake strand for some extra security if needed.) If you're swapping leads, the new leader racks up, gives their Grigri to the previous leader, goes on belay, cleans the plaquette device and carabiners, and begins the next pitch. Simple, efficient changeover.

4 - Easy rope ascending

If the second needs to ascend a fixed rope, it’s easy to rig an efficient system with the Grigri, a small ascender such as a Petzl Tibloc and a double length runner as a foot loop. (Or a regular handled ascender and pre-tied webbing foot loop if you think you’re going to be doing it a lot.) In low angled alpine terrain, you may not even need the Tibloc; just push off the wall with your feet to make upward progress.

On a hard alpine route, especially if you have a rope gun, it might end up to be faster to have your stronger climber lead the really hard pitches, and the second ascending directly on the rope, just like on a big wall.

Here’s an article with complete details and video examples of how to do this.

5 -Simul climbing (for advanced climbers only!) 

You know those expert teams climbing El Capitan in a few hours, who are pretty much always in motion and never really stop to belay? The second climber is almost always attached with a Grigri (as well as being tied into the end of the rope.)

You don't have to be a Yosemite speed climber for this technique to be effective. Long, moderate routes such as the 25+ pitch North Ridge of Mt. Stuart (photo at top) can be ideal for this, provided you and your partner are solid and experienced with the techniques.

The Grigri lets the second quickly feed out or take in a rope as necessary. Being able to fine tune the amount of rope between the second and the leader can be a tremendous help when simul climbing. Is the leader moving faster than you are? Throw them some slack through the Grigri. Is the leader slowing down and you’ve got a big loop of slack in front of you? No problem, pull that slack back through the device. (A kiwi coil, if you have the free hands to make one, to take up slack can be a good idea on lower angle terrain, so you don't trip on the rope.) You get the idea.

If the leader needs a proper belay through a few hard moves, the second can climb up to the next protection, or place some where they are, and give a proper lead belay. If the leader is using a progress capture device such as a Tibloc or Ropeman on the pro, it would be a fine idea to add this in after, not before, the hard moves. (In case you're wondering, this is a legit technique, read more about it here.)

These few suggestions are just scratching the surface of a very advanced application. If you want to learn the nuances of simul climbing, I highly recommend professional instruction from a certified guide.

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So, that's my take on using a Grigri in the alpine. There is no significant weight penalty, and it's useful for a lot more than just belaying. If you’ve never rappelled on one or used it as an ascender, please practice in a controlled environment with a competent instructor before you ever do it for real on a big route.

Old School Tools - opposite and opposed carabiners

Image credit: from the Ropelab Instagram @ropelab.richard, run by Australian rigging expert Richard Delaney, used with permission.

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With the bounty of options available these days for locking carabiners, many newer climbers may not know the (slightly old school) method of using two non-locking carabiners “opposite and opposed”, to replace a locker. (In the Dark Ages before locking carabiners were invented, this was the only way to do it.) If you find yourself short on lockers, this is still a good trick to know.

Here's the rule of thumb: Two snapgate carabiners, properly rigged with gates opposite and opposed, equals one locking carabiner.

First off, don't get hung up on the confusing terminology. Many rope experts do not use these terms correctly, so it's cool if you don't completely grasp it either. The important thing is to know how to set it up correctly, not necessarily the exact definition of each term.

There’s one correct way to set it up, and some that look correct but aren’t, so let’s have a closer look.

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It's best practice to try to use two carabiners of similar shape and size. This can be a good place to use your oval carabiners, if you have any. Like I said, old school. Asymmetric carabiners can sometimes pinch the rope a bit if used in this configuration, but if you don't have ovals, no problemo.

Top left: correctly rigged opposite and opposed carabiners.

• The gates are “opposite” (meaning, they form an “X”)

• AND the gates are “opposed” (meaning, they don’t open on the same side.)

• Or, to say it another way: the gates on opposite sides and the hinges are on the same end, so they are opposed when both are open.

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Image credit: Richard DElaney  @ropelab.richard

Let's look at the other three set ups and see why they’re not ideal:

1. Bottom right: Both carabiners are aligned the same. Not much more security than just using one.

2. Bottom left: The open gates do not form an “X”. Potential problem: if either carabiner flips 180°, the carabiners are aligned the same, like as the bottom right.

3. Top right: The gates do open to make an “X”, but the gate openings are on the same side. (Some rigging experts call this acceptable.) Potential problem: if the gates rub on a rock, both the gates can open at the same time. Carabiners are much weaker if loaded with the gate open, so we want to avoid this.

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Now, let's take it a step further. Here's another rule of thumb: Three standard carabiners, with gates opposite and opposed, is the equivalent of two locking carabiners. Yes, the math in this example doesn’t quite match what we saw above, but that's how it works.

In the left photo, we have two opposite and opposed locking carabiners, standard practice in the guiding world for a very secure top rope anchor. (Extra points if these lockers are the same make and model, and if they are a wide bottom HMS belay carabiner as shown, which can give a smoother feed of the rope.)

Equally secure to this is the right photo. It’s a bit hard to see, but the two outside carabiners are opposite and opposed to the middle carabiner.

Granted, most of the time when you’re setting up a secure top rope anchor, you're probably going to have two locking carabiners to rig opposite and opposed such as the example on the left. Rigging a top rope anchor with three standard carabiners is something more often seen in a teaching or instructional type situation and not when you were out climbing with your pals.

Please note: we're talking about a top rope anchor here, not the master point on a multi pitch climb. A top rope anchor is typically high up and out of sight, and you may have beginners on the route who may not know how to properly evaluate the security of the anchor once they arrive. For this reason, the extra security of two opposite and opposed lockers (or equivalent) is the guide “industry standard”. For a master point on a multi pitch climb, a single locking carabiner is adequate, because you’re right there to monitor it at all times.

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Do you in fact need two opposite and opposed locking carabiners at a top rope anchor? Some people will choose to set up a top rope from a single locker (or the equivalent for sport climbing, two opposite and opposed normal quickdraws) but it all depends on your acceptable level of risk. Personally, I always use two carabiners at the master point, with at least one a locker. The way I see it, you probably have the gear already, it takes another couple of seconds to rig, so why not have that extra level of security?

Remember, it’s YOU who’s accountable for your acceptable level of risk and comfort. Don't let it be dictated by someone else, regardless of their experience or credentials. If using locking carabiners everywhere on a top rope anchor gives you a warm fuzzy feeling, and you have the gear, by all means do it.

Below left is a top rope anchor with two opposite and opposed standard quickdraws, an anchor rig many sportclimbers are happy with. On the right is the same setup, only this time it has a “locker draw” to add extra security. A locking quickdraw is handy for all kinds of things, which we cover in this article. Which anchor would you prefer to climb on?

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Quickdraws for a sport climbing anchor: gates in or gates out?

There is an interesting subtlety to using quickdraws on a two bolt sport climbing anchor.

You can rig it so the GATES cross to make an “X”, or the SPINES cross to make an “X”. In both cases the masterpoint carabiners are opposite and opposed. WHAT?!

This is highly confusing to many people! I’ll admit it was a bit of a head scratcher for me at first. Like many things in climbing it’s a better show than a tell. Here are some photos to illustrate how this works.

Let's start with a pair of quickdraws stacked on top of each other. All the gates face left.

• There are two quickdraws in the photo, sorry it's a little hard to see both.

• There's some masking tape near the top carabiner on the draw; that's for another project, please ignore it.

Take the top quickdraw and flip it 180 degrees, so the gates face to the right. This creates opposite and opposed carabiners (green) at the bottom masterpoint.

To hopefully make this explanation extra clear, I put some yellow tape on the bottom carabiners. This shows they’re staying in the exact same orientation in the next two steps.

It's time to build our anchor, and clip the top of each draw to a bolt.

If we clip the bolts with the gates facing IN (i.e,, TOWARD from each other), the carabiner GATES at the masterpoint cross to make an “X”.

If we clip the bolts with the gates facing OUT (i.e,, AWAY from each other), the carabiner SPINES at the masterpoint cross to make an “X”.

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Note that in both cases, the bottom green carabiners have stayed in exactly the same opposite and opposed orientation. If the gates make the “X”, or the spines make the ”X” depends on how you clip the top of the draw: facing in or facing out.

This causes a lot of confusion! I hope these photos help clear it up.

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So what? Is one better than another?

There's no firm consensus, but most people prefer to clip with the gates facing OUT, or away from each other.

(Gates out seems to be the set up in every rock gym I’ve ever seen, so that ought to tell you something.)

If the gates face in, you can occasionally have the gates jangle around or the rope flip or some other weirdness, and the gates can get tangled and twisted on each other. When the gates out, this is much less likely to happen.

Or, as mentioned above, you can use my preferred option: gates out and use a locker draw pretty much on every top rope. That eliminates just about any potential problem.

Don't put rubber bands on an “open" sling

For those with a short attention span, here's the short version:

Do NOT put a rubber band on a sling like in the photos below, you could die.

It also applies to any kind of a rubber band (or tape) on your personal tether - do NOT do this.

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Who would ever do something like this?

• Here's an article (perhaps behind a EVIL PAYWALL) about a woman who had tape on a sling she was using as a tether, similar to the rubber band in the photo below. She had it clipped incorrectly, leaned back at an anchor, the tape broke, and she fell about 60 feet. She was extremely fortunate to be partially spotted by her climb partner, who was able to partially cushion her fall. Neither of them were seriously injured.

• Here's another article on a similar accident: “On June 12 Karen Feher (33) and her partner were climbing Rico Suave (5.10a). Upon reaching the anchor, she clipped in. Her setup: She had two thin dyneema slings girth hitched to her harness. At the end of each sling was a locking carabiner held in place with a rubber Petzl keeper (called ‘Petzl Strings’). The “string” is designed to fit on the end of a Petzl runner in order to keep the lower carabiner on a quickdraw in place for easy clipping and to protect the webbing from abrasion. She clipped a locking carabiner to each bolt and probably called, “Off belay.” It is unclear if she was going to rappel or be lowered. It doesn’t matter. She took a fatal fall about 50 feet to the ground.”

• Related to this: the tragic accident in 2013 of then 12 year old climber Tito Traversa, who died after taking a ground fall high on a sport route. An investigation showed that many of his quickdraws had been assembled incorrectly, with the rope only clipped through the rubber portion and not through the nylon sling. So, even having the rubber band device on the bottom carabiner is certainly not foolproof.

  Even if you’d never think of rigging something like this yourself, you might see someone else doing it; maybe you can prevent an accident. I once saw a climber do this exact thing on the end of their personal lanyard/tether. At the time I saw it, I didn’t know about this potential problem, or I definitely would've pointed it out.

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If you want to keep your tether carabiner from rotating or being cross loaded, simply put a girth or clove hitch in the end of your tether (right side photo).

The clove or girth hitch gives two benefits: 1) Secures the carabiner for optimal loading along the spine, AND 2) creates redundancy in the (highly unlikely) event one strand of the sling fails.

Here's the longer version.

First off, some definitions.

An “open” sling is one that’s sewn with bar tack stitching and makes a loop / circle. The other type of sling is known as a “dogbone”, typically found on a quickdraw for sport climbing. Slings for sport climbing are usually a piece of tripled webbing, with multiple rows of bar tacks for strength and rigidity.

Open sling (top) and sport climbing dogbone sling (bottom).

example of “open” sling (top) and sport climbing dogbone sling

On a typical dogbone, the bottom or rope clipping carabiner may have a small bit of rubber on it to keep the bottom carabiner from spinning and preventing cross loading.

Below are two examples. The top is a device from Petzl that has the rather unusual name of “String”. The bottom is a more generic quickdraw that has a thin rubber band between the dogbone and the carabiner. (In my opinion, this is a slightly safer set up, because you can clearly see that the dogbone is properly clipped to the carabiner, unlike in the Petzl example. More on that below.)

Left: Open sling with rubber band on bottom carabiner, dangerous!

Right: Standard quickdraw with rubber band thingie on bottom carabiner, totally fine.

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Side note: This “String” / rubber band should only go on the BOTTOM carabiner. If you put it on the TOP or bolt clipping carabiner, the carabiner can rotate with rope movement and perhaps be loaded in a way that causes a large reduction in strength, and possible failure. See dramatic warning diagram from Petzl below.

image: https://www.petzl.com/US/en/Sport/STRING--installation-and-precautions

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So, you might be thinking, if it's a good idea to do this for a sport climbing draw, how about I do the same thing for my alpine quickdraws (or even personal lanyard) made out of a 60cm (single) or 120 cm (double) sewn open sling? Just add a thick rubber band, and no more worries about cross loading. Should be fine, right?

Do not use a rubber band (or tape) on an open sling.

Why? If the sling gets clipped back to itself, it can result in the carabiner ONLY clipped to the rubber band and not on the sling at all, YIKES! This is easy to do, especially when you're doubling or tripling up a longer sling to rack it as an alpine quickdraw, or clipping a lanyard back onto itself to tidy up your harness.

This diagram from Petzl shows how this can happen.

image: https://www.petzl.com/US/en/Sport/STRING--installation-and-precautions

Here’s a similar warning from Black Diamond:

image: https://blackdiamond-web.cdn.prismic.io/blackdiamond-web/2294b9da-d748-4742-9837-cc2c8be53285_MM5824_K_Runners+and+Dogbones_IS-WEB.pdf

On sport climbing quickdraws, having some sort of rubber band on the bottom carabiner is generally safe (but not always, see accident report below). This is because the bar tacks and the stiff sling prevent this from happening. It’s a bit hard to describe in words, much easier to see in the video below.

I highly encourage you to get a sling, a rubber band, and see this mechanism of failure for yourself. It might take a few tries to figure it out. (This is similar to the reason why we avoid using sewn pocket daisy chains intended for aid climbing as a personal lanyard, because if you clip two adjacent pockets, you’re only held by the bar tacks between the pockets.)

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Finally, here's a simiular video from UKClimbing.com that shows how this can fail.

Safety Video - The Danger Of Open Quickdraws

What are climbing forces in the real world?

When measuring forces on climbing gear, most tests are done without human bodies, using very harsh falls onto a fixed point. Well, fortunately the clever gear testers at Petzl got some real-world results more relevant for actual climbers.

image: screengrab from: https://www.petzl.com/US/en/Sport/Forces-at-work-in-a-real-fall

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First, a video from Petzl.

They put force measuring devices on the belayer, the climber and the top piece of gear, had them take some increasingly severe falls, measured everything, and took video.

The belay device was a Grigri 2.

They summed everything up with clear diagrams, short videos showing some big falls, and some conclusions - yet another reminder why the Petzl website is great!

Disclaimer: there are many variables involved in testing forces like this. This is not a comprehensive study with definitive results, but more of a way to get people thinking about general technique and assumptions.

Click the button below to see this great article and videos for yourself.

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Here are some personal takeaways. What are yours?

• Even in a relatively low factor fall, due to rope stretch and belayer displacement, the falling climber can go a VERY long way.

• The relatively low numbers help explain why a knotted Dyneema sling rated to 22 kN may break in a harsh drop tower test, but is extremely unlikely to break in the real world.

• The upward movement of the belayer when catching a fall can do a lot to lower the forces on the climber and the gear.

• Using an assisted braking belay device such as a Petzl Grigri is an excellent choice if you think you're going to be catching some major whippers. (But you already knew that, right? =^)

• Even in a high force, factor 1 fall, there’s relatively little force on the belay anchor. Only a tiny bit more than a factor 0.3. Low forces on the anchor, that's good!

• You can’t really do you “live body” testing like this with much more than a factor 1 fall, because somebody's gonna get hurt.

• I know, you're wondering what about that dreaded, mythical factor 2 fall, the one that pretty much never happens in the real world, but still the one everybody's worried about? To protect against that, you can do a few things. The best one is for the leader to place so in gear as soon as possible after leaving the anchor. If that can’t be done, you can consider a fixed point belay. This doesn’t change the fall factor, but it gives a higher likelihood of a successful catch in the event it happens, without slamming the belayer into the wall. Another option, for more extreme situations, if the terrain allows it, is for the belayer to lower themselves down below the actual anchor, to put more rope in between them and the leader, and then have the leader clip the anchor is the first piece.

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• Gray dot = force on the top piece of gear

• Blue dot = force on the climber

• Black dot, force on the belayer

Fall forces in CLIMBING. image: https://www.petzl.com/US/en/Sport/Forces-at-work-in-a-real-fall

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Second, a video from How Not to Highline.

Ryan Jenks, the creative force behind the popular YouTube channel How Not to Highline, measured a bunch of gym falls in a similar way. Below are some of his numbers. While perhaps not a rigorous scientific study because some variables changed from test to test, it does provide interesting numbers.

Fall factors were not measured, so it's a little hard to compare directly to the Petzl study. Note that the measured force never exceeded 5 kN in any part of the system . The only time it came close were static fall and a Z drag fall, where it got close to 5 kN on the top piece of gear.

There are many, many variables to consider when trying to determine these numbers, but these two studies can give you a rough idea of real world forces on the belayer, on the climber, and on the top piece of gear.

image: Screen grab from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8z6adEqaOs

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Want to learn more? See these articles that cover similar studies by Petzl.

• This test compares forces on system components between a Grigri and a Reverso.

• This test covers climbing forces tested with actual people (belayer and climber).

• This test shows that a rigid mass weight has a much higher impact on the top anchor point than an actual climber.

Debunking anchor/climbing myths, Part 1

The anchor example below is from Dale Remsberg, an IFMGA Certified Guide and Technical Director of the American Mountain Guides Association (AMGA). Dale posts a lot of great climbing and anchor photos that make you really think about rigging! Follow Dale on Instagram and Facebook to keep your anchor brain engaged. (Photo used with Dale’s permission.)

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Here's a good rule of thumb when talking about different climbing techniques - Use the words “never” and “always” with restraint.

• If a technique is unfamiliar, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it's incorrect.

• Conversely, a technique you’re familiar with (and may have been using for a long time) isn’t necessarily the only valid approach - and may actually not be the best practice.

Let's have a look at some long-running misunderstandings, myths, and hearsay, mostly related to anchor building. Maybe we can put some of these well meaning but perhaps misinformed ideas to rest.

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There’s a lot going on with Dale’s anchor. Let’s dive in.

image: Dale Remsberg, https://www.instagram.com/p/B1ll_DZDtEi/

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1 - “You should NEVER clip carabiners or other gear into the rings/quicklinks you rappel from. Doing this can cause a nick / burr / damage on the rappel hardware, which could then damage someone’s rope.”

Almost all recreational climbers use aluminum carabiners. Almost all anchor hardware is made of steel. Aluminum is a softer metal than steel, so your aluminum carabiner is never going to cause any damage to steel anchor hardware. It's like cleaning your icy car windshield with a plastic scraper; the plastic will never scratch the glass.

However, the opposite can be true - a sharp edged steel bolt hanger can definitely put some nicks in an aluminum carabiner. That's one of the reasons why sport climbing quickdraws are designed to have one carabiner that always clips in the bolt, and one carabiner to clip the rope. (If you’re taking a lot of falls onto a quick draw, check the top carabiner and retire it if it's getting chewed up.)

Usually, it’s also okay to clip the bolt hangers. But, this can depend on the size and configuration of the hardware. Sometimes, clipping the bolt hanger can result in the carabiner possibly being loaded over an edge of a chain link or other non-optimal manner. If you clip the bottom ring, the carabiner is almost always going to hang free and in the correct orientation.  

Photo: Blue and gold carabiners clipped directly to the rappel rings.

image: Dale Remsberg, https://www.instagram.com/p/B1ll_DZDtEi/

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2 - “You should NEVER clip one carabiner to another.” (aka, metal on metal is bad)

In certain situations, like chaining together several non-locking carabiners, this is correct. However, if they’re locking carabiners, and you’re right there to monitor them so they don't get loaded in a weird way, clipping one carabiner to another is fine. Big wall climbers do this all the time; a large HMS “pearabiner” gets clipped to each belay bolt, and then many subsequent carabiners may get added onto that first one.

Photo: One locking carabiner as the master point, and two more locking carabiners clipped into that.

image: Dale Remsberg, https://www.instagram.com/p/B1ll_DZDtEi/

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3 - “You should ALWAYS use locking carabiners everywhere when building anchors.”

The carabiners clipped to the individual pieces of protection in an anchor do not need to be lockers. It’s nice to have your master point carabiner be a locker, but if you don't have one, two regular carabiners clipped opposite and opposed is okay also.

Key point: use a locking carabiner (or at least two opposite and opposed standard carabiners) at any sort of critical link, if the failure of that link would be YGD (Yer Gonna Die).

If you’re in an instructional setting, and building a top rope anchor that’s going to have multiple climbers, you’re probably not going to be there to regularly inspect it. In this case, many people will choose to use locking carabiners everywhere, and that's fine.

Hey, and even on a multi pitch anchor like this, if it gives you greater peace of mind, and you have gear to do so (5 lockers) it's completely fine if you want to put lockers on every component of the anchor. But also know that it's fine if you want to rig it as shown.

Photo: The blue and gold carabiners clipped into the rappel rings are not locking. This is okay, because it's not a critical link.

image: Dale Remsberg, https://www.instagram.com/p/B1ll_DZDtEi/

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4 - “A statically equalized, cordelette style anchor should ALWAYS have an overhand or figure 8 knot to make the master point.”

This has been the standard approach for a long time. But depending on your circumstances, there might be better options. You can use a clove hitch or a girth hitch at the master point also. Why do this?

• Uses less sling material, so it works when you might only have a single length runner

• Easier to untie after it's been loaded

• Easier to untie if hands are sore and/or cold, or if you’re wearing gloves

• Keeps the master point carabiner properly oriented; it can never spin and become cross loaded

Photo: girth hitch at the master point.

image: Dale Remsberg, https://www.instagram.com/p/B1ll_DZDtEi/

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5 - “There's something wrong with an anchor if it doesn’t have a shelf.”

A shelf on a “cordelette style” anchor is a convenience, not a requirement. Strength of the placements and load distribution can be considered the most important components of an anchor. A shelf is optional. There are lots of acceptable anchors, like this one, that don’t have a shelf.

Photo: A girth hitch or clove hitch at the master point doesn’t provide a ready-made shelf. That’s okay.

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image: Dale Remsberg, https://www.instagram.com/p/B1ll_DZDtEi/

6 - “You should ALWAYS use a tether / leash / PAS / Purcell prusik as your primary attachment to the anchor.”

Well, fortunately this concept is not nearly as widespread as a few years ago, which is a fine thing. Whenever possible, you should use the climbing rope to attach yourself to the anchor. The rope is the strongest and most dynamic / stretchy part of your climbing gear, so use it! Only use a tether / leash / PAS for those times when you can’t use the rope, such as when you’re rappelling, when you’re part of a larger team and using the rope is maybe not practical, or when you're big wall climbing and the rope is otherwise occupied.

Photo: The clove hitch on the bottom right carabiner directly connects the climber to the anchor master point with the rope.

image: Dale Remsberg, https://www.instagram.com/p/B1ll_DZDtEi/

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7 - “All parts of an anchor ALWAYS need to be redundant.”

Redundancy in anchors can be thought of as: if one single component fails, entire anchor does not fail. This is generally a good policy, but it doesn't always apply to every component. In the photo, several parts of the anchor are not redundant - each of the 3 gold locking carabiners, and the rope.

At some point, you need to have some faith in your gear. One locking carabiner in good condition, with the gate securely closed? Like the three lockers in the bottom half of the anchor? Good to go.

A locking carabiner in good condition, made by a reputable manufacturer, tested to the highest requirements, and properly locked and loaded along the spine has never failed in the history of climbing, as far as I've heard. So, it's something you can rely upon as a single non-redundant connection.

Here's a complete article on the issue of redundancy in anchors, if you want to take a deeper dive.

Debunking anchor/climbing myths, Part 2

Here's something to consider when talking about climbing techniques - Consider using the words “never” and “always” with restraint.

Let's have a look at some long-running misunderstandings, myths, and hearsay. Maybe we can put some of these well meaning but perhaps misinformed ideas to rest.

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“I saw the DMM video where they broke Dyneema knotted runners in drop tests. So, you should NEVER tie a knot in Dyneema; it weakens the material to a dangerous level.”

Wowzer, this one can really get people riled up on the interwebs! Opinions range from “Yer Gonna Die (YGD)”, to “Generally not best practice, but it’s probably okay”, to “No worries, not a factor in real world climbing.” Might the truth be somewhere in the middle?

Here’s my short answer: Yes, it does weaken the webbing, depending on the knot, let's say 50%. But, a sewn Dyneema runner is rated to about 22 kN, so even if you reduce the strength of that half, you still have a strength of around 11 kN. The maximum force possible in any real world climbing scenario is about 9kN, and that is in the extremely rare scenario of a very harsh factor 2 fall. Even when catching a factor 1 fall, the force on the anchor is only about 2 kN.

The technical documentation on Dyneema slings from Black Diamond and Petzl does not expressly forbid knots in Dyneema. Black Diamond mentions it as a “caution”. But they also mention as a “caution” getting water, ice, or mud on your slings, which we know is hardly the end of the world. (Plus, they also have the same caution warning on a nylon sling, so it's not just a Dyneema thing.)

Thus, the diminished strength that comes from the knot doesn't really matter in real world climbing scenarios. Yes, it can break in a drop test. No, it doesn’t break in real life. Think of it this way: tens of thousands of climbers have tied knots in Dyneema for decades, but have you ever heard of a knotted sling breaking in real life? No.

Here's another way to think about: 11 kN is as strong or stronger than any gear placement, stronger than the force a dynamic rope will create, and more than your body can handle.

Many IFMGA certified guides use and teach this technique regularly.

Having said that, if you don't like it, then don't do it. But, no need to criticize others if they choose to tie knots in Dyneema.

Below: Quad anchor tied with overhand knots in Dyneema webbing (photo and anchor by Dale Remsberg, an IFMGA Certified Guide and Technical Director of the American Mountain Guides Association (AMGA).

image: DAle Remsberg; https://www.instagram.com/p/B3USg1UDcRz/

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“You should NEVER connect your tether/PAS to your belay loop. Todd Skinner did that, his belay loop broke, and he died. So, you shouldn't do it either.”

or maybe:

“You should ALWAYS run soft goods, like rope and slings, through the tie in points, and clip hard goods, like carabiners, to the belay loop.”

Read a detailed article about tether attachment here.

When ascending a route, it's usually best practice to use the rope and clove hitch yourself to the anchor. But when it's time to rappel, you're probably going to want a tether. Whether you use a designated tether like a PAS or a Petzl Connect, or make one DIY with a double length sling, you need to choose how to connect it to your harness.

There are some cases when attaching your tether directly to your belay loop is not only acceptable, but the recommended practice. There are some other situations where it's probably not such a great idea.

• What activity are you doing?

• What does the manufacturer say?

• What’s your tether made of?

• What kind of knot or hitch connects the tether to your harness?

These are all nuances in technique that need to be considered, rather than a binary “always” or “never.”

Here are some general guidelines:

• Regarding Todd Skinner's tragic death, he apparently was rappelling fast on static ropes. The bottom of the rope was tied to the lower anchor (the “J loop”). Todd rapped into the bottom of the loop at speed, and when he hit the bottom of the loop, this large static force caused his harness to fail. It did not happen under a standard body weight rappel. (Source: Andy Kirkpatrick, “Higher Education”, page 182., and private Instagram message from Will Gadd.) Todd's harness was extremely old and worn out. Check your harness regularly and retire it without hesitation if it shows significant wear for any reason.

• If you do connect a tether to your belay loop, don’t leave it permanently connected. Doing this can prevent the loop from rotating and may concentrate wear in a single spot. Remove the tether when you're done for the day, or after your rappel.

• If you're girth hitching a designated PAS type tether, the usual manufacturer recommendation is to use both tie in points. (Even then it's a bit of a “soft” recommendation.)

• If you're girth hitching a “DIY” tether with a skinny Dyneema sling, it’s probably best to use both tie in points. (Plus some people think it’s best not to use a static Dyneema sling as a tether at all.)

• If you're girth hitching a tether (or adjustable daisy for aid climbing) with a wider nylon sling, either the tie in points or the belay loop should be fine.

• If you're using a rope style lanyard such as the Petzl Connect Adjust, follow Petzl’s recommendation and girth hitch it to your belay loop.

• If you’re doing via ferrata, the standard practice is to girth hitch the lanyards to your belay loop.

• Many world class climbers and IFMGA Certified Guides prefer to use the belay loop.

• And . . . if you're not using a girth hitch and using a double loop bowline tether, it's okay to tie it through your belay loop with any kind of material.

Again, to learn more about this, check out this detailed article.

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“You should ALWAYS rappel off of sport climbing anchors. If you lower off, it wears out the anchor hardware.”

Many older climbers were brought up with this ethic. However, the modern approach to getting the last climber down from a sport anchor is to lower through the anchor hardware. Why?

• Most modern hardware is designed to be easily replaced

• Lowering can reduce communication errors between the climber and the belayer

• The climber never goes off belay

• There’s less chance of dropping the rope

• You don't need any extra gear like a leash or a rappel device

• Most of all, it’s the recommended practice from the American Alpine Club. You can see an entire article about it here.

Note, this only applies to the LAST climber. Generally, the first climber should build an anchor with their own gear, and lower of that. This is especially true if you are a top roping with a larger group or doing multiple laps.

And yes, some climbing areas have a local ethic of always rappelling for the last person. If you’re climbing somewhere new, ask about preferred technique. It's up to you to choose between getting a stinkeye from the locals and using modern best practices.

General procedure of what's going on below: 1) Climber pulls a bight of rope and threads it through the anchor chains. 2) Climb a ties a figure 8 loop and clips it to her belay loop with a locker. 3,4) Climber then unties her tie in knot and pulls the tail through the chains. 5,6) After clear communication with the belayer, climber calls for a lower. Note, she stays on belay the entire time. Diagram, Petzl.com

image: Petzl.com

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“You should NEVER load a carabiner in 3 or more directions; doing so weakens it dangerously.”

Hopefully you learn early on in your climbing that whenever possible you should load a carabiner along the spine, and always avoid cross loading across the gate, which can reduce the strength of the carabiner by about 2/3. Good advice, always do this when you can.

But, there are some other situations where a carabiner can be loaded in three or even four directions, such as in the photo below. What's the story on that? Is it dangerous?

Turns out, for recreational climbers, this is probably fine. Black Diamond did some break testing on this, and even under extreme loading in four directions (known as quad-axial loading) , the carabiner only lost a maximum of about 25% strength, down to around 15 kN.

Setting up an anchor as shown in the photo below to belay your second, where the maximum force is probably going to be at most 3 kN, is acceptable. Again, you don't have to do it yourself, but if you see someone else rigging it like this, know that it's well within the breaking limit of the equipment. (And, loading in three directions, known as tri-axial loading, showed hardly any reduction in strength in the carabiner.)

We cover this extensively and share the Black Diamond results in this article.

IMAGE: IFMGA GUIDe KARSTEN DELAP - HTTPS://WWW.INSTAGRAM.COM/P/B5EJRGOJXDI/

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“When you tie into your harness, you should ALWAYS tie a ‘safety knot’ to backup your rewoven figure 8 knot.”

A “backup” knot is unnecessary. This myth is further propagated by many rock gyms (and maybe their overzealous lawyers?) who require this practice. A proper rewoven figure 8 has a good long tail of at least 6 inches, and has been properly “dressed and stressed”, so all the slack is pulled out of it. Once you do these two things, there's no need for a so-called safety knot, backup knot, or anything like that.

Rewoven figure 8, good to go, no backup knot. (Okay nitpickers, the tail could be a few inches shorter . . .)

Decluster your anchor: Put lap coils on a sling

This tip is from AMGA Certified Rock Guide Cody Bradford. While sadly Cody is no longer with us, his Instagram continues to stay up and is a great source of tips like this, check it out.

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On a multi pitch climb, rope management is a key skill to staying cluster free and moving efficiently. The basic question is, ledge, or no ledge?

• If you have any sort of a ledge, you can often (neatly) pile the rope at your feet.

• If you're at a small stance or full hanging belay, the typical approach is to make lap coils over your tie in connection.

However, these lap coils can be cumbersome, especially when belaying a leader.

Below is the standard approach of the rope draped over your tie in connection. Do you think this might be awkward when you try to belay your leader from your belay loop? (Answer, yes.)

image: Cody Bradford, https://www.instagram.com/p/BsZCqrpBXpu/

Solution: hang the coils from a sling on the anchor. The rope stays tidy AND out of your way. Much easier to belay your leader on the next pitch.

image: Cody Bradford, https://www.instagram.com/p/BsZCqrpBXpu/

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Here's a short video by Cody Bradford that demonstrates this simple and effective technique. (He's doing it on ice, but it works fine for rock climbing as well.)

Remove rope twists with an ATC

This tip and video come from AMGA Certified Rock Guide Cody Bradford.

While sadly Cody is no longer with us, his Instagram continues to stay up and is a great source of tips like this, check it out.

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Did you unwrap a new rope in a hurry? Lowered off an anchor with quicklinks lying flat against the rock? Munter hitch rappel? Or just have some random rope weirdness? Twists (aka pigtails) in your rope can come from a lot of different sources, but no matter how they got there, they’re a hassle and you need to get them out.

Here's a simple and fast way to decluster your spaghetti pile.

• Clip a carabiner and a tube style belay device (here the DMM Pivot, my fave) to a bolt, some rock pro, tree branch, whatever, about head high.

• Flake the rope onto the ground.

• When you get to the tangled part, feed the rope through the belay device and carabiner, and pull the rope through. Give the twisted side of the rope a few shakes and shimmies as needed.

As the rope is forced through the small diameter of the belay device, the twists move to the end of the rope and should work themselves out. If your rope is REALLY messed up, you might need to repeat this.  

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Pigtails in your robe can be more than a minor annoyance. It’s especially important to remove them when you're pulling a rappel rope. If you don't, the strands can twist together or other weirdness, making your rope very difficult to pull, or maybe even impossible. Check out this description and photo from @aledallo91.

“. . . a crunch created during the recovery of a rope on a broken descent on two anchors that forced me to abandon it, as it was impossible to recover from the intermediate stop. Then I went back up to save my baby. ❤️

This ball was formed by itself in recovering the rope, due to the twisting of the last meters of the same.

Experience that teaches the importance of checking that the rope is always well stretched and free of slots and twists before attempting the retrieve.”

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Like most climbing techniques, it’s a better show than a tell. Here’s a short video from Cody showing how it’s done.

Rope management - clip knots to a big carabiner

(I first read this tip in the British climbing magazine “High” about 15 years ago, and I believe the article was written by Andy Kirkpatrick, so I‘ll give him credit here for the idea.)

Here's a link to a newer article on Andy's website that covers this in more detail.

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Good rope management on a multi pitch climb is one of the keys to efficient belay transitions. There are various approaches to keeping your ropes tidy. Any system that keeps the rope out from under foot and from snagging on rocks, roots, cracks, and is easy to feed out snag-free on the next pitch, is a good choice.

What are some common methods?

• If you're standing on a nice big ledge, lucky you, just make a “pancake pile”.

• At a steeper stance, you can lay butterfly coils across your lap (lap coiling). I’m not a fan, as having 60 m of rope hanging right off of your tie in point is a hassle.

• You can make coils and clip them into a sling. This can work pretty well, but unless you make tidy coils, you can get a royal mess can you try to feed out the rope.

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Here’s an easy and elegant alternative for multi pitch rope management, that works for swinging leads or block leading.

• Take a wide mouth locking carabiner, such as the CAMP Core Lock (above) and clip it somewhere to the anchor.

• As the second climbs up and the belayer takes in slack, the belayer ties a slip knot every 10 meters or so and clips the loop to the big carabiner. Keep these loops loose so they are easy to untie; don’t snug them down or worry about dressing them very well. For a 60 meter rope, this will give you at most six knots in the carabiner, with the rope loops hanging about 5 meters or so down from the belay (hopefully not getting in the way of your partner as they get close to you). Do NOT lock the carabiner gate.

If the belayer is using a Grigri or plaquette style belay device guide mode, this is even easier.

When the second arrives at the anchor, the rope is in tidy loops and ready for the second to lead out. If you’re swapping leads, you’re all set to go, because the last loop to be clipped should be the first loop for the new leader to head out.

To belay the new leader, the belayer simply unclips a loop, pulls with one hand remove the slipknot, and the rope is ready to feed.

• If you want to make your loops shorter, simply add a second large carabiner to the anchor and continue clipping slipknot loops to that after the first carabiner is full.

• If you can, start with slightly larger loops, and make subsequent loops slightly smaller, so each loop will pull up and feed cleanly without getting tangled with the other ones.

• If you're leading in blocks (with the same person leading several pitches in a row) simply rotate the carabiner clockwise 180 degrees, so the wide part is clipped to the bolt. Now the last loop that you clipped is the first one that you can unclip, which lets you block lead smoothly. (That's probably a little confusing; try it once and you'll figure it out.)

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Sidenote: I received a surprising amount of hate mail when I posted this on Instagram. “This is a crazy system, I can't imagine trying to unclip a knot while I'm lead belaying, have you ever actually even tried this, blah blah blah . . .”

Idea: If you find it difficult to unclip a loosely tied slip knot with one hand and untie it, you should probably work on your skills. Yes, having a Grigri or similar assisted braking device can give you a momentary backup if you do need two hands for a second to untie the knot.

Plus, think about it this way: if your leader is moving fast, that probably means the climbing is easy for them, and they should be ready to take a momentary break of a few seconds about every 10 meters, so you can untie a knot. Conversely, if your leader is moving slowly, then the climbing is difficult. But, because they’re moving slowly, that easily gives you time to reach down and untie the knot. Either way, the system works.

The purpose of Alpinesavvy is to give ideas and information, not advice. I'm certainly not saying everybody has to use the system, but don't knock it until you try it.

Finally, keep in mind the source, Andy Kirkpatrick - he knows his stuff.

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And, speaking of Andy, let's look at a couple of alternatives from his excellent website.

You don't actually even need a carabiner at all. You can tie off the rope onto the arms of the cord that makes up your anchor.

Image: https://www.andy-kirkpatrick.com/blog/view/rope-belay-wrangling

Or, you can make a sort of daisy chain. (I have not tried this variation, but it looks like it should work.)

Image: https://www.andy-kirkpatrick.com/blog/view/rope-belay-wrangling

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Here's a nice video clip from Petzl via Facebook that shows a similar system. (Sorry I can’t embed this video on my webpage, you need to click the link to see it.)

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This works slightly differently for big wall climbing.

As the second ascends the fixed rope and cleans the gear, they have a large carabiner hanging from a short sling (usually about 30 cm) from their belay loop. The short sling is somewhat optional, but it declusters the front of your harness a bit and makes it slightly easier to clip in the knots. The second ties a backup knot every 10 meters or so and clips it to the carabiner.

This backup knot system is pretty standard practice in big walling, as it does two main things: 1) Protects the cleaner from a huge fall in the event their ascenders become detached from the rope, and 2) Helps prevent the rope from blowing / swinging sideways and getting hung up somewhere where you don't want it to be.

The one downside to this technique: as the cleaner nears the top of the pitch, most of the weight of the rope hanging off of their harness instead of having it hanging weightlessly beneath them. If there isn't a knot in the end of the rope that might get snagged, and if the pitch goes pretty much straight up, and if there is no wind, it might be a better call to not tie the backup knots and just let the rope hang free.

The trick is when you get to the top, you keep all of the loops tied into the carabiner, and transfer that onto the anchor. Ta dah, instant rope management for the lead rope, everything is already tied up in short 5 meter long loops, ready to belay the leader. No rope bag needed. As mentioned above, if you’re leading in blocks, you unclip the loops for a moment and reverse them, so the correct knot is on top for whoever is leading the next pitch.

Another tip for a big wall climbing: this same system of rope management can work for the haul rope also. As you pull up your piggage, generating slack in the haul rope, simply tie off a slipknot loop every 10 meters or so to keep things tidy. (But a dedicated rope bag usually is best.)

For big wall climbing, this is how the harness of the second would look when cleaning and tying the back up knots.