Alpine Tips
Don't put rubber bands on an “open" sling
Having a rubber band or something similar to prevent the bottom carabiner on a sport climbing quickdraw from rotating is fine. But you never want to do this on an “open” sling, as the rope can easily become completely unclipped from the carabiner without you noticing.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.)
Finally, here's a simiular video from UKClimbing.com that shows how this can fail.
Safety Video - The Danger Of Open Quickdraws
Organize the big wall bivy with a sewn daisy
The humble sewn daisy chain is a great way to hang pretty much anything and decluster your big wall bivy.
This tip is from the excellent book, “Hooking Up: The Ultimate Big Wall and Aid Climbing Manual”, by Pete Zabrok and Fabio Elli. 500+ pages of great instruction and photos, highly recommended for big wall climbers.
You need LOTS of places to clip gear at a big wall bivy. One simple approach: an old school sewn pocket daisy chain, strung between the anchor components, is a great way to help tame the cluster.
And, if you add a glove, it's a handy place to keep from spilling your can of . . . prune juice.
Two methods for faster belay transitions
On longer multi pitch routes, efficient belay changeovers can save a surprising amount of time. Here are two elegant ways to do this.
Having a simple and consistent method for belay changeovers, clearly understood by both partners, can really speed up multi pitch climbing. Here are two approaches, each offering a secure, speedy, and simple method to swap leads, with a minimum of gear and futzing around.
For this example, let’s assume:
A climbing team of Heidi and Hans, on a multi pitch route, where the partners are swapping leads every pitch.
Each climber has a plaquette style belay device (such as a DMM Pivot, Petzl Reverso or ATC Guide), and each climber has two designated locking carabiners to use with this device.
The second is belayed directly from the master point of the anchor.
They have reasonable ledges to stand on, not a full hanging belay.
The belayer is belaying the leader from their belay loop and not using a fixed point belay directly from the anchor.
Method #1 - Transfer the belay device from the anchor to the belay loop
Heidi leads pitch 1, builds an anchor, puts Hans on belay, and belays him up.
Hans arrives at the anchor, secures himself to the anchor with a clove hitch and calls off belay.
Key move: Heidi unclips the the belay device from the anchor master point, slides it down the rope, and clips what was the blocking carabiner to her belay loop. The rope never needs to come out of the belay device, slick!
Heidi ties an overhand on a bight / backup knot below her belay device to go hands free, and helps Hans rack for his lead.
When Hans is ready, he unties his clove hitch and begins leading pitch 2.
This is a better show than a tell. See a video demo below from AMGA Rock Guide Cody Bradford. While sadly Cody is no longer with us, his Instagram and Youtube continues to stay up and is a great source of tips like this.
Let's continue to honor his memory by learning from the many tips he has shared.
Method #2 - Exchange belay devices after each pitch
No video for this one, so you’ll have to follow a description. It takes a while to explain it in words, but in real life it’s faster than it might sound. :-)
Heidi leads pitch 1, builds an anchor, puts Hans on belay, and belays him up.
When Hans arrives at the anchor, he’s secured by Heidi‘s plaquette and the dynamic rope. There’s no need for Hans to search for a spare carabiner, use a personal tether/PAS to connect to the anchor, clove hitch his rope to anything, etc.
Heidi ties an backup / overhand on a bight in her brake strand, which lets her to go hands-free. She starts passing her remaining gear to Hans, who racks it for his lead on pitch 2.
Key move: exchange belay devices. As Hans is racking for the next pitch, Heidi takes the belay device and two locking carabiners from Han’s harness. She clips his device to her belay loop and puts Hans on lead belay for his upcoming pitch. The rope is (hopefully) already neatly stacked with Han’s end on top.
Hans is now secured by both belay devices: one from Heidi‘s harness, and one connected to the anchor master point.
Hans is racked up and ready to lead pitch 2. Hans unties the backup knot below the plaquette on the anchor. After clear communication with Heidi that he’s on lead belay and she's ready for him to climb, Hans removes the plaquette and the two locking carabiners from the anchor master point, and clips them to his harness. Hans heads out, completes pitch 2, and uses Heidi‘s belay device and her carabiners in the same way to belay her up.
They repeat this until they get to the top of the route. (And of course, make sure you check your harness and give all gear back to its rightful owner when you’re done.)
How to tie an improvised aider with slings
Need to do some improvised aid climbing to get past a tough section of rock? When the summit is more important than style points, here's a way to tie an improvised aid ladder out of a double and single length sling.
Variations of this have been around since pretty much forever, but the subtleties of putting the bar tack at the bottom and offsetting the top step are from the excellent aid / big wall book, “Hooking Up”, by Pete Zabrok and Fabio Elli.
Need to pull a few a few moves of “alpine aid” to get past a difficult spot? (There goes your onsight, sorry.)
Maybe it started raining, the rock is wet and slippery, and you decide that the best way to continue going up is the aid climb rather than free climb.
How about quickly making a “ladder” to help someone climb over the lip of a crevasse?
Here's how to quickly make an aid ladder out of two slings. (If you don't have a 120 cm sling, you can do the same thing with three 60 cm slings.)
While a skinny Dyneema sling works, it’ll be easier on your feet to use a wider nylon sling if you have it. (But hey, this is improv, use whatever you’ve got.)
Even if you have to make a few aid moves in a row, you should only need one aider. Basic sequence: Place some gear, clip the aider to it, climb up the aider steps, clip a carabiner or quickdraw from your belay loop to the gear and hang from it (aka fifi hook), remove your aider, repeat as necessary.
1 - Start with a 120 cm sling. Put the sewn part on the “bottom” of one half of the sling. The bar tacks cause the sling to open up a bit when it's hanging, making it easier to step into. It helps to actually put your foot in the sling and step (gently) on the bar tacks, to keep them in the right place and put a bit of tension on the sling as you do the next steps.
2 - Tie an overhand knot in the sling, about at the midway point.
3 - Pull down some sling material to make the top step offset a bit (this makes it easier to step into) and tie a second overhand knot, making a very small loop. The second overhand knot keeps the top step open. You could stop here if you’re fairly short and/or have great hip mobility. However, adding one more step to the aider makes this work much better.
4 - Girth hitch a single length 60 cm runner into the top of the double runner. Try to keep the bar tacks on the bottom as shown. Tie another overhand knot as before, with a little bit of extra material on one side, making an offset loop.
Schweeeet! Now you have a three step aider, and it's hopefully long enough for you to reach to clip a high placement and still reach the bottom step with your foot. If it's still a bit short, clip a quickdraw to the top to extend it a little bit.
CE rated quick links from CAMP
While some people are fine with using random hardware store quick links for rappel anchors, I'm not one of them. Well, good news. CAMP (Italy) sell CE rated quick links that are the right sizes, right price, and insanely strong.
CE rated quick links from CAMP
5mm, 8mm and 10mm (Note, the 5mm is stainless only, not CE rated, and 22 kN)
galvanized or stainless
starting at about $3 each
strength - 25kn to 50kN (!!!)
Let's take a moment to appreciate the humble quick link. Also known by a few other terms, such as “rapid links” or “maillon rapide” of just “maillon”, it's a simple, inexpensive, near bulletproof, and long lasting connection point that’s useful in many aspects of climbing. It was originally used by farmers, who needed an easy way to repair or extend chains. They are popular with cavers, who needs sturdy connection points that take a lot of abuse.
Of course you can buy quick links from the hardware store, but they're going to be made at some unknown machine shop in a far away country. Is that where you want your life support hardware to be from? I didn't think so. (Although, I added a video at the bottom of the page that shows even these hardware store versions are probably gonna be fine. . . )
Instead, for about the same price, get a proper CE rated quick link from a reputable manufacturer, such as CAMP or Metolius.
The 8 mm galvanized steel quicklink, rated 40 kN /9,000 lbs(!), is just $3, whatta deal!
Try a Google for “CAMP quick link” or visit the CAMP website.
(And, as is the policy at Alpinesavvy, this is not an affiliate link and I earn $0.00 by referring you to buy these quick links or take Mark’s class. I’m simply sharing good gear/info I think you’ll like too.)
But quick links are too heavy . . .
Many people like to hate on quick links, grumbling that they are “heavy” and single use item.
But are they really that heavy, compared to the gear you’re already carrying? Perhaps not! Check out the photo below. The 5 mm stainless steel quicklink is actually stronger, lighter, and less expensive than a small snapgate carabiner.
It does look about as robust as a paper clip, but can't argue with 25 kN! Yes they are a fairly specific single use item, but they do that one thing pretty darn well.
When rappelling, it’s best practice to run your rope through some sort of metal connection at the anchor. Doing this gives a smoother rope pull, with no chance of damaging the anchor webbing. In alpine climbing where you don’t have bolted/chain anchors, this usually means three options: quick link, rappel ring, or your least favorite carabiner. (Carabiner tip: tape the gate shut to make “cheapskate locker” for a more secure rappel anchor.)
Quick links are a good choice at rappel anchors for two reasons:
You can open the threaded sleeve and put it OVER existing cord or webbing (which you can kind of do with a rappel ring, but I find it sketchy).
They have a very small opening, which lets them be used with a blocking knot. (Blocking knots are an advanced technique; you can learn about them here.)
Notes . . .
It's best practice to close the sleeve of the quick link by screwing it down toward the ground. This means that gravity is helping keep the sleeve closed. A little pneumonic to help remember this is: “Screw DOWN so you don't screw UP.” Also applies to locking carabiners.
If you have a link that you want to fix it more permanently, give it an extra turn with a pair of pliers; a multi-tool is your friend. And if you’re a route developer, feel free to put a few drops of Loctite on it to really hold it closed.
A study from On Rope Canyoneering states that quick link breaking strength increases by roughly 10% if you use a wrench to tighten the sleeve rather than your hands.
What size quick link should I get?
5mm: Leave behind at alpine rappel stations, and as a master point if you're going to use a knot block, because it's so small. Fits rope up to about 10.5 mm. Yes it might look like a paper clip, but it's rated to 25 kN, #SuperGoodEnough!. From CAMP, comes in stainless steel only.
8mm: Nice all around size. A bit too heavy for alpine climbing. Fits two carabiners, and rotates through a standard bolt hanger. Good for connecting chain to hangers and rings. Rated to 40-50 kN.
10mm: Tie up aircraft carriers, and for master point / rope connection / lowering point at high use areas. Last a long time, cheap and easy to replace. (Yes, it's good practice in most areas to lower off for the last person rather than rappel. ) Rated to 40-50 kN.
When are quick links useful?
An alpine climb where you anticipate building your own rappel stations. The 5mm stainless is a good choice here.
If you're a good Samaritan and want to improve anchors at your local crag. (It's best practice in most outdoor climbing areas to use stainless steel hardware whenever possible. It lasts much longer. If you are equipping outdoor anchors, spend a few more bucks and get stainless steel.)
Making an anchor where you want to do some kind of a knot block (Reepschnur), and want to be 120% certain that the knot is unable to pass through the master point. A quick link is perfect for this.
Making a durable and (mostly) theft-proof “gym quickdraw” from a fixed eye steel carabiner and a quicklink for your project route or “clip & lower” sport anchor. (Photo below.)
You can chain two “dogbones” together to make an ultra-long quick draw. (Photo below.)
For certain applications in big wall climbing or rope soloing, where do you need a supe- strong, very reliable connection.
Please do NOT use them to bail off of a sport climb, use a carabiner instead. Reason: the gate is often quite difficult to open for the next person up who needs to remove your gear.
DIY “perma-draw”, like what you find on lead routes in many climbing gyms.
You can chain two quick draws together with a quick link, as seen on the right.
Here's where you should probably NOT use a quick link: retreating from a sport route. It can make it difficult to clip for the next climber, and they can be hard to remove, especially if they've been there for a while and the threads start to rust shut.
Leave a carabiner instead. If you're not comfortable with lowering from one snap gate, leave a locker, or tape the gate closed, aka “cheapskate locker”.
So, how strong are those hardware store quick links after all? Here's a video from On Rope Canyoneering that tries to answer the question.
They tested two diameters, zinc (non-stainless steel) hand tightened, five links of each size tested.
5/16” (8 mm) broke at an average of 31.5 kN
1/4” (6.4 mm) broke at an average of 10.5 kN
When and how to belay a rappel
There are some circumstances where belaying a rappeller is a good choice. Learn two of those situations, and a quick way to set it up.
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.
A belayed rappel is something many climbers think might be helpful only with a nervous beginner who needs the extra reassurance of a belay, or maybe an injured partner.
There’s another application - when you're rappelling into unfamiliar terrain with the location of the next anchors uncertain or nonexistent.
If there’s a reasonable chance that the person rappelling can’t locate the existing anchor (or a suitable place to build one) and needs to climb back up, it's going to be much easier to do so if they can be belayed by a separate rope strand. So, think of it as not really safeguarding the way down, but more to safeguard the rappeller climbing back up, should they need to do so.
Here's one way to set up a belayed rappel with two ropes.
(The same method applies with one rope. In the photos below, where you see the ropes tied together, imagine that’s the middle mark if you were using one rope.)
Here's the complete set up, ready to go. Yes it is a little confusing, so let's break it down step-by-step in the photos below.
Step 1:
Pass blue rope through the anchors, tie it to the green rope with a flat overhand bend.
Tie a stopper knot in blue, toss the blue rope.
Be sure that your green rope is stacked neatly, or in a rope bag or something similar.
Step 2:
Clip a locking carabiner, HMS preferred, to the master point.
Tie a butterfly in the blue rope, and clip it to this locker.
(Some people get freaked out about three-way loading on the blue carabiner. Black Diamond tested this, and it broke at at around 21 kN, which is the rated strength of the carabiner under a normal load. So, under the body weight of one person rappelling, it's not gonna be a problem.)
Step 3:
First person rappelling goes on rappel, single strand, blue rope. (Harness and third hand / autoblock not shown for clarity.)
Rigging an extended rappel (not shown) or using a Grigri or similar assisted braking belay device is a fine idea, because both of these can be easily converted to an ascending system if needed, as we cover here and here.
Step 4:
Take a second HMS carabiner (yellow), and clip it to the first one.
Tie a Munter hitch on this second locker.
Tie a bight knot in the end of the green rope.
Step 5:
With another locker, the rappeler clips the bight knot to their belay loop. Alternatively, you could skip this carabiner and bight knot, and tie in with a retraced figure 8. (Harness not shown for clarity.)
Schweeeeeet, now you're ready to go. First person down raps on blue rope, single strand. Person above feeds out green rope through the Munter hitch.
If the rapper has to go back up for any reason, they have a top rope belay for any part they can climb, with the option of ascending up the rappel rope (or even getting an assisted hoist) if it gets steeper. Depending on the terrain, this is probably faster and less strenuous than prusiking both strands, which they would probably have to do if they didn’t set it up like this.
When the first person reaches the ground (helpfully pulling down all of the green rope on their way) the top person cleans the carabiners and raps normally on two strands.
Here's a close-up of the rigging.
Note for belaying a beginner . . .
Anytime you're working with beginners who are just learning to rappel, it can be a good idea to not only have a belay, but also some kind of releasable system on the rappel rope. If they freeze on the rappel, get their shirt stuck in the device, whatever, you can release the system and get them to the ground.
Here's a modified way to set this up: Instead of fixing the rappel rope with a butterfly, fix it with a munter mule overhand (MMO), with at least 2-3 meters of slack behind it. If the rappeller gets hair or clothing stuck in their device, you can tension and hold the rappeller on the belay rope, then release and lower on the MMO. This creates some slack in the rappel rope, so the blockage can be removed.
In a more formal instructional situation, you're probably going to have a set up with a completely separate belay rope that's not tied to the rappel rope, which makes any mild rescue shenanigans you need to do quite a bit easier. But the main method shown here is a good compromise when on a real climb and needing to improvise a bit.
Big wall anchors: a middle ground
A big wall anchor does not have to be a 25 carabiner engineering project, nor modern minimalist. There's a broad middle ground that gives you redundancy for your hauling system, is fast to set up, sufficiently strong, and has no knots to untie. Let's look at a few ways to set this up.
A few words on hauling, from the excellent big wall climbing book, “Higher Education”, by Andy Kirkpatrick (Buy it here):
“Hauling is potentially one of the most dangerous aspects of big wall climbing. This translates to ultra-caution in all parts of your hauling system and interaction with bags, haul lines, docking cords, and pulleys. If you rush and make a mistake, drop a load or have it shift where it's not wanted, you could easily kill someone or yourself. I try and teach climbers to view their bags as dangerous creatures, like a great white shark, rhino, or raptor that is in their charge. The ability to keep them calm and under your control comes down to paranoia, foresight, and heavy respect for the damage they can do.”
Big wall anchors can take many different forms. Let’s see some examples.
Old school hardman sketchy
A caption here could be: “I’m so happy to still be alive after jugging this rope connected to a few RURPs strung together by clove hitches . . . (Photo by Dave Diegelman, climber, Dale Bard, Sea of Dreams, El Capitan, 1978)
Photo by Dave Diegelman, climber, Dale Bard, Sea of Dreams, El Capitan, 1978
Modern minimalist
“Build your anchor with the rope, and haul from one bolt” anchor. (Purple and red cords are docking tethers for the haul bag.) Photo: Mark Hudon
Some big wall experts will tell you that it's fine to haul off of one bolt. Well, it probably is fine in bulletproof Yosemite granite, on a well-travelled route with newish 3/8” inch bolts on every anchor. But not everybody climbs with such sweet anchors, do they? How about a sandstone wall in Utah, where are the anchors are often older and in much softer rock? Maybe not!
Do you want your pet velociraptor tied to just one bolt, when including another one takes just a few seconds and a couple of extra pieces of gear? (Remember, never let anyone else dictate your level of comfort or safety, no matter what their credentials might be.)
The photo below shows making the with anchor with the lead rope. This can work if you are thoughtful and organized with your belay set up (aka experienced), but it can be a frustrating time suck if you start making rookie mistakes like clipping a heavy load over the top of the lead rope (ask me how I know this . . .) If this works for you, great, but if you're getting started in big wall climbing, having some sort of equalized masterpoint(s) and not using the lead rope to make the anchor, might be a better approach.
photo: mark Hudon, hudonpanos,com
Classic overbuilt
Quite possibly one of the best climbing illustrations ever, by the always amazing Mike Clelland, from (I think) Climbing magazine. Redundancy, definitely. 24+ carabiners and an engineering project, also definitely. Probably overbuilt for most people, but still a great drawing.
image credit: Mike Clelland
Ideally, big wall anchors have the following qualities:
Adequate strength - Adequate strength means strong enough for the intended loads, and not overbuilt. It also means adequate enough not to give you the slightest hesitation or stress about whether the anchor is going to hold.
Simplicity - A tangled rat’s nest of slings and rope is confusing and potentially unsafe, because it’s not easy to see what can safely be unclipped and what cannot.
Consistency - Ideally, you and your partner have the same system that you agree on and that you’re able to use at pretty much every anchor. The gear to do this is already packaged up in two identical “anchor kits”. One of these is in use at the current anchor, and the other is either on the leader’s harness or on the zip line ready to send up to them when they finish the pitch. A classic beginner mistake is to build a random anchor with whatever gear can be scavenged from your depleted rack after you’ve led your pitch. Please don't do this.
Zero to minimal knots - Tying knots, as in a cordelette style anchor, takes more time, energy, cursing and hassle to untie when you’re breaking down the anchor. Try to avoid knots in your anchor whenever possible.
Sketchy old school, modern minimalist, and classic overbuilt are not your only options. There’s a large middle ground, where your anchor can be strong enough, with a fast set up and easy break down, yet still have redundancy for your hauling point to keep your rhino under control.
For this example, let's assume:
Tina the Tiger led the last pitch and built the anchor.
A typical big wall trade route anchor of three horizontal bolts.
A hanging belay with no friction-inducing ledge. (If you do have the haul rope running over a ledge, then having your haul point as high as possible will help minimize evil friction.)
The hauling load is shared between two points; no hauling from a single bolt without a backup. (Of course you CAN choose to haul from one bolt; we’re not in this example.)
Tina fixed the lead rope (green) for her second to the right bolt with a butterfly knot, and backed it up with a clove to the middle bolt. You probably don't need an equalized master point to fix the rope for your second, because it’s holding pretty much just their body weight. Back up the rope, yes. Equalize it to a master point, probably not.
Tina’s partner is coming up on the right, so she set up the hauling point on the opposite side, in this case the left. Don't make your partner climb over the haul bags if you don't have to. (Note: if the next pitch traverses to say the right, you usually want to set up the haul on the right, so you can lower out the bags without them smacking into you.)
Certain parts of a real life anchor are omitted for clarity, such as rope bags, the leader’s daisies, etc.
Generally speaking, having the haul point higher is better, because it can give you a more efficient pulling stroke and can minimize friction from any ledges that the rope might be rubbing on. The longer the runners you’re using, the lower the hauling point will be. Keep this in mind when setting up your anchor.
Method 1 - Haul from one bolt, and back it up with a sling to an adjacent bolt
Let's start with the one bolt method, but give it a little more security with a back up sling. Most of the time, try to make this your go-to. Reason: it keeps your hauling point high, which is often better ergonomically, and can minimize evil friction if the haul rope is running over any rock edges.
You have one bolt that looks totally bomber, and it's nice and high. Schweeet! Simply back this up with a sling to a neighbor bolt. In the highly unlikely event the left bolt fails, you're backed up by the middle bolt. (This tip is from the outstanding big wall instruction book “Hooking Up” by Pete Zabrok and Fabio Elli, highly recommended.)
Method 2 - Two single runners
This is a simple yet often overlooked technique that can work great if the bolts are more or less level. Strong, redundant, distributed load, fast set up, and zero knots to untie when you're done. If you need to shorten a runner a little bit to better distribute the load, you can add some twists or make a few wraps around a carabiner, as we cover in this tip here.
Method 3 - Metolius PAS (or similar sewn loop tether, NOT a daisy chain with bar tacked pockets)
This also offers bomber strength, a quick set up, decent load distribution, and with the extra bonus of lots of places to clip things to full strength loops when you need to. It’s extremely handy to have multiple clipping points like this.
Metolius makes a longer version of the PAS called an “Anchor Chain”, which could be a good option if the bolts are a bit farther apart, or if you need a few more places to clip things. (Each sewn loop is rated 22 kN.)
Metolius Anchor Chain, image: Metolius.com
Method 4 - Quad anchor from 180 cm sling
You can make a quad anchor out of a 180 cm sling and keep the knots in it permanently tied. (Yes, a 180 cm sling is a little hard to find. Try a Google search for “Mammut Contact” or “Petzl Pur’Anneau”. ) Again, this gives a fast set up and good equalization, and offers several different places to clip in stuff.
Method 5 - Girth (or clove) hitch at the master point
This might look like a cordelette that would be a hassle to untie, but check out the master point: it's tied with a girth hitch. This makes it easy to untie even after it's been severely loaded. Yes, a girth hitch is fine to use at the master point, we cover it in depth here. You could use a clove hitch also, which we cover in this Tip.
Each of these systems offers quick set up, zero knots to struggle with, just a few extra pieces of gear, and redundancy and load distribution at the hauling point. For those not ready to embrace anchor minimalism, these methods offer a good compromise.
Plan a multi-day backpack trip with GaiaGPS.com
Modern navigation tools can be a tremendous help for wilderness trip planning. Check out this in-depth video on planning a multi day backpack trip using GaiaGPS.com, which covers many of the more advanced features. (Not just for backpackers, has applications for just about any wilderness trip.)
This video was made by Travis Prescott, who is an expert digital navigation instructor for the Seattle Mountaineers. Check out Travis’ website, TheAlpineGeek.com.
Backpackers: watch this excellent video and learn how to use modern navigation tools like GaiaGPS.com to plan a multi-day trip. (The example is for a backpack trip, but it certainly has applications for other types of wilderness travel.) The video is a bit longer than most, about 30 minutes, but it gets into some of the more advanced features of GaiaSGPS.com that make it such an effective planning tool.
Here are a few of the many trip planning tips covered in the video:
Using the “snap to trail” feature to make a track that exactly follows your trail
Using the “elevation profile” feature to figure out steepness and length of each trail segment
Stacking different map layers on top of each other by changing the opacity of a layer
Using folders to keep your map data organized
Creating waypoints with a name, color and symbol
Finding possible campsites and water sources
Using the Gaia “Public Tracks” map layer to see possible cross country scramble routes
A clever use of the “roadless areas” map layer to show where bail out possibilities might exist
And that's just what I remember. There’s more, good stuff, check it out!
Below is a screen grab, showing each segment of a multi-day trip, and campsite location.
Watch the complete video here:
Gear Breaking, Italian Style
You don't want to break your equipment, but it sure is fun watching other people do it! Check out this great video from the Italian Alpine Club, which shows testing and breaking all different kinds of climbing gear. (The original was in Italian; I paid to have subtitles added.)
Let's get one thing straight. The CAI has a terrific logo. =^)
Click below to watch the video.
As climbers, we never want our gear to break. But it sure can be fun watching people do it in the lab!
The Italian Alpine Club (Club Alpino Italiano, or CAI) founded in 1863, is the second oldest alpine club in the world. They have been doing gear tests like this for more than 50 years. They made a terrific video showing all manner of testing and destruction - ropes (both sudden drop test and slow motion steady pull, with and without knots), slings, carabiners and harnesses. Also, various tests of the flat overhand bend, with different combinations of rope material and diameter. Girth hitch? Yep, we got that too.
Lots of these gear testing videos are in the original language, often Italian or German. I paid to have subtitles added to this video so this important information could be brought to a wider audience. (That's why it's on my YouTube channel, but all content is from the CAI.)
Note, the units in this video are the kind of unusual “kgf”, or “kilogram force”. This is different than the more commonly used kilonewton (kN), which has a climber you are hopefully familiar with.
Fortunately, the math conversion is easy: simply move the decimal two places to the left for an approximate conversion to kilonewtons. For example, if something in the video broke 1268 kgf, move the decimal place to places to the left and you get around 12.6 kN. (technically it's about 12.4, but hey I'm not an engineer and that's good enough for me.)
Yep, they tested Dyneema girth hitches.
Plus the flat overhand bend, in lots of different combinations of material and diameter.
What are climbing forces in the real world?
Most climbing gear is tested in the harsh environment of a drop tower, but that doesn't tell the whole story when it comes to real world forces. Check out this article and video series from Petzl, where they try to answer what are realistic forces throughout the system when tested on real live people.
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
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.
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.
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
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
Want to learn more? See these articles that cover similar studies by Petzl.
What angle is best for ice screws?
Most ice climbers know that a screw angled down in good quality ice is stronger than one angled up. Black Diamond tested this; here are the real numbers. Plus, in real life conditions, where you can't always assess the quality of the ice, there's a good argument for using an angle of 0° all the time.
Most ice climbers know that a screw angled DOWN in good quality ice is stronger than one angled UP. How about some real data, please?
Chris Harmston and the gear testing experts at Black Diamond have some answers.
image: https://www.needlesports.com/Information/Need-Advice/Ice-Screw-Placement
The difference in strength is dramatic - about 9(ish) kN for the screws tilted up, vs. about 22)ish) kN for the screws angled down. Most ice climbers know that a screw pointed down in good quality ice is stronger, but here are some real data to back that up.
Why is this? An Instagram comment from @willmurphy6612, explains:
”It has to do with how the load is displaced in the ice. When the threads are perpendicular or pointing UP, the load is transferred axially along the length of screw. This takes advantage of the compressive strength of ice.
When the threads are pointing DOWN, part of the screw is loaded radially which exploits the shear strength of ice, which is not very good. Combine that with the fact that the cracks initiated by the screw are propagating to the surface when angled DOWN the load strength of the system is severely compromised.”
Thank you Will, nicely said!
Note that there are many more variables and play here: the length of the screw, the type/brand of screw, is there a chance the screw might melt out, and above all the quality of the ice. Check out this link to learn more about these factors, and how the test was conducted.
Notice the strength at the purple oval / zero degrees - all above 13 kN, which is more than you would ever encounter in any climbing fall. Super good enough!
In their excellent book “The Mountain Guide Manual”, authors Mark Chavin and Rob Coppolillo write that they feel it's best to place screws at zero degrees / perpendicular.
Their reasoning: While in perfect ice tilting the screw downward can result in higher strength, in less than perfect ice, screws at 0° hold the best. Because it's often hard to judge the quality of ice for the full depth of the screw, they feel that defaulting to perpendicular is the best approach.
Along with these test data that show 0 degrees is plenty strong enough, that seems like a good choice.
Debunking anchor/climbing myths, Part 1
There are some well-meaning but perhaps misinformed ideas about acceptable anchor building practices. Let's have a close look at an anchor, made by an IFMGA Guide, that might cause you to question some of your assumptions.
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.)
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.
There’s a lot going on with Dale’s anchor. Let’s dive in.
image: Dale Remsberg, https://www.instagram.com/p/B1ll_DZDtEi/
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/
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/
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/
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/
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.
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/
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
Just because you learned to do it a certain way doesn't necessarily mean that's the right approach or current best practice. Let's have a look at some common climbing techniques and explore some alternatives.
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.
“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/
“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.”
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.
“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
“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/
“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 . . .)
How to lead a roof on aid, by Petzl
Aid climbing through a roof can be insanely awkward and strenuous . . . or, pretty straightforward if you have the proper gear and technique. Check out these great diagrams from Petzl on how to do it, and learn some ways to practice before you get on the real stone.
Aid leading through a roof can be incredibly strenuous and awkward . . . or, if you have an adjustable tether, it can be pretty straightforward.
The always amazing Petzl website has a nice sequence of diagrams of how to do this. They show it using their nifty Petzl “Evolv Adjust” adjustable tether designed for aid climbing, but any sort of adjustable tether, such as the popular Yates, will work.
In fact, you may find the Yates tether actually works a little better, because it's easy to release under tension, while the Petzl one is not, at least for me.
If you're a beginner aid climber and your route has any sort of a roof on it (such as the famous “Kor Roof” pitch on the South Face of Washington Column in Yosemite), studying the sequence below will be extremely helpful, hint hint!
Practice! If you're in Yosemite, before you head up the wall take a training lap or three on the LeConte Boulder, which has a nice practice bolt ladder on it. If you don't have any real rock, get resourceful: hang some slings from the underside of an outdoor staircase/fire escape, a stout tree limb, or something similar. Please, do yourself (and any teams that might be stuck behind you) a big favor, and get this critical skill dialed before you try it on a real route.
The link to the Petzl website showing these drawings is here. But, if this page disappears, I screen grabbed the diagrams and put them below. (Dear Petzl graphic design department: You’re amazing! If you want to pick up a little freelance work on the weekends, please give me a call.)
All images below are by Petzl.com
Notes: Lanyard to A is cinched in tight. Feet can give some opposing tension to make the clip to B. The first thing clipped to B is a quick draw. Your lanyard and aider get clipped to the top carabiner of the quick draw.
image: https://www.petzl.com/INT/en/Sport/Aid-climbing-progression
Using your nifty adjustable tether, put some tension on B. (This is about the time when you'll want to kiss the person who invented adjustable tethers . . .)
image: https://www.petzl.com/INT/en/Sport/Aid-climbing-progression
This can be the tricky part. You need to release your weight from the adjustable tether off A, and slowly lower yourself out to hang beneath B. Having an adjustable tether that can release in a controlled way while under tension makes this process a LOT easier! Note in the diagram below, the climber is pulling toward A with their left hand, to create a little slack so they can do a little lower out with the tether.
image: https://www.petzl.com/INT/en/Sport/Aid-climbing-progression
Walk up the ladder hanging from B, and use your adjustable lanyard to hoist yourself up close to B. Then clip the rope to the bottom of the quickdraw. Repeat this sequence as needed to clear the roof.
image: https://www.petzl.com/INT/en/Sport/Aid-climbing-progression
What’s “nose hooking” a carabiner?
A “nose hooked” carabiner can fail at an extremely low load. Fortunately it's easy to notice and fix, so be aware of this potentially dangerous situation.
Nose hooking a carabiner is about what it sounds like: getting the “nose” of the carabiner stuck on a bolt hanger, stopper wire or webbing without the gate completely closing. Carabiners are extremely weak in this orientation and can break in a very modest fall or even bounce testing.
If you ever see a carabiner in this configuration, stop and fix it immediately.
Black Diamond did some testing on this, and carabiners failed as low as 2 kN, YIKES! (Side note, if you're a gear nerd and like to read about gear testing, the Black Diamond QC Lab Archives has some interesting reading.)
Nose hooked carabiner on a bolt hanger.
Nose hooked carabiner on a sling.
Fortunately, there’s a solution: use a keylock / notchless carabiner. The smooth, notchless nose makes it almost impossible to nose hook.
Just about every modern solid gate carabiner is made like this, but many wiregate carabiners are not. A few wiregate carabiners are notchless: the Camp Dyon, Wild Country Helium, DMM Chimera, and Petzl Ange (below) to name a few.
Petzl Ange notchless wiregate carabiner
And, related to this, is the reason why the top carabiner in a quick draw must be allowed some rotation in the dogbone sling and not used with any sort of a rubber device like a Petzl String. The rubber device can prevent the top carabiner from rotating and result in nose hooking or (below), levering the carabiner at a bad angle .
image: https://www.petzl.com/US/en/Sport/STRING--installation-and-precautions?ActivityName=rock-climbing
Big wall beverage holder
Here's a way to repurpose some gear at your big wall bivy so you’ll never spill that precious can of . . . prune juice.
This tip come from big wall ace Pete Zabrok and his excellent new book “Hooking Up - The Ultimate Big Wall and Aid Climbing Manual”. Highly recommended for aspiring aid climbers!
One of the more vexing questions for big wall climbers is, “Where da heck do I put my beverage?! The last thing you want at your bivy is spilling that precious can of . . . prune juice, but there is a serious lack of flat spots to put it. (An extra chalk bag, of course without chalk, also works well with this.)
Fortunately, resourceful big wallers came up with a crafty solution.
Use CalTopo layers in Google Earth
If you have a Caltopo subscription, you can view all of those cool map layers as overlays in the 3D splendor of Google Earth. Warning - for map geeks only . . .
If you're new to using CalTopo mapping software, watch this tutorial to get started.
Disclaimer: This article is pretty much for map geeks only. Having said that, it’s pretty darn cool and you might well find some uses for it that I can’t imagine. I've been a CalTopo nerd for many years, and I didn’t know about this feature until recently, so I thought I’d share it.
Have a quick look through the photos below, and if it looks interesting, give it a whirl.
Here's how it works: If you have a paid subscription to CalTopo (and you should, it’s well worth it) one benefit is access to what are called “Super Overlays.”
What the heck is a Super Overlay? It lets you use pretty much all of the CalTopo map layers in the 3-D splendor of Google Earth!
(The helpful tips on this CalTopo blog/help page cover it pretty well.)
Login to your CalTopo account. Click your email address in the upper left corner of the CalTopo screen, then click the “Account” tab. You should see a screen that looks something like the screen grab below.
See that arrow and the red box at the bottom after the “KML”? That’s the “super overlay” KML file you want.
Right click that link to download the super overlay KML file to your hard drive.
Then, open it in Google Earth. (Tech note: “KML” is a type of a geographic data file that plays nicely with Google Earth.)
I blocked out part of the link because the CalTopo team does not want people to share it. You need to pay for a subscription and get it yourself.
For this example, we’re looking at the Mt. Whitney area in the California Sierra.
Once you open the super overlay KML file in Google Earth, you should see a menu on the left that looks something like the red box in the screen grab below.
If you check any of these boxes, that map information from CalTopo will overlay onto Google Earth.
I suggest checking ONLY one layer at a time, and zooming into a fairly small area so it redraws fairly quickly, depending on your computer speed and web connection speed.
Some layers are more helpful and interesting than others. Try a few and see what you think. Some examples are below. (Note, these layers look MUCH more impressive on a full width desktop computer screen than the screen grabs below.)
Here’s the 20 meter contour layer overlaid onto Google Earth.
Here’s the custom CalTopo layer “MapBuilder Topo” layer overlaid onto Google Earth, with trails, shaded relief, streams, wilderness boundary, and more.
Another interesting overlay is slope angle shading. These are indicated by the “Fixed” and the “Gradient” boxes. Here's the Emmons glacier route on Mt. Rainier. You can see how the route pretty much takes the path of least resistance/lowest angle slopes.
Hopefully you get the idea. Zoom in to an area you’re familiar with, load up a few CalTopo layers in Google Earth, and have fun playing in the sandbox!
Pocket Fresnel lens for the small print
Carrying a credit card sized Fresnel magnifying lens can really help with reading the small print on a map or your phone. Good news, they weigh pretty much nothing, have 3X magnifying power, and cost about $1 each.
So, the way I heard the story . . . Several older and experienced hikers were hiking in the Columbia River Gorge. As light was fading, they needed to make a route choice at a trail junction. They pulled out their map . . . and couldn’t read it because no one had reading glasses! They didn’t know where to go, and decided to stay put for the night. (That was probably the best choice, and luckily they had the gear to do so in reasonable comfort.) The next morning, when there was enough light to read their map, they walked out unassisted.
For more “well seasoned” climbers, reading the small print on a map or phone screen can be tricky. But who wants to bring reading glasses on a hike or climb?
A lightweight, inexpensive, and functional solution is a pocket Fresnel (pronounced fruh-nel) magnifying lens.
image: https://www.amazon.com/Outus-Plastic-Reading-Magnifier-Firestarter/dp/B06W5FCS4Q/
These little puppies are simply thin, flexible, plastic magnifying glasses. About the size of a credit card, they are dirt cheap, magnify to about 3x power, and really help to read that 8 point font. (The image clarity is not as good as what you’d get with a lens actually made of glass, but it’s probably good enough to read your map and make the correct trail choice.)
If you want to show off your bushcraft skills, they can apparently be used in a pinch to even start a fire, provided you have steady hands, perfect tinder, and bright sunshine. (Disclaimer, I have never done this, your mileage may vary, and YouTube is your friend.)
You can get a multi-pack of pocket magnifier lenses online for something like $1 each. So, buy a bunch, keep them scattered around your gear bags, and give ‘em away to your friends. Search Google for “pocket Fresnel lens”.
Science geek note: the Fresnel lens was invented by a French physicist in the 1800s, and was originally used in lighthouses to concentrate the light beam. Several excellent examples can be seen at historic lighthouses, including several in Oregon. When seen full size in a lighthouse, they are quite amazing!
Fresnel lens in Cape Mendocino lighthouse, California. Image: Wikipedia
Decluster your anchor: Put lap coils on a sling
At a hanging belay or small stance, keeping your rope tidy and giving a smooth belay to the leader is a lot easier if you move the coiled rope away from your tie in connection and attach it to some part of the anchor.
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.
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/
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.)
Bounce test to learn gear placement
Learning how to place rock gear, and want a little assurance that your pro might be able to take some real force? You can learn a lot without getting more than a foot or two off the ground by bounce testing at your local crag.
Starting out learning to place trad gear and build anchors? It looks like a decent placement, but is it really going to hold? A great way to build confidence in your gear placements (as well as get lots of practice using your nut tool) is take a page from big wall climbing: bounce test your gear.
While a bounce test is probably going to put between 2 and 3 kN on your piece, quite a bit less than the maximum force of about 6 to 7 kN it might see in a big actual fall, it can definitely boost your confidence that you’re placing your gear correctly.
The image below is a screen grab from a video from our friends at HowNot2.com, showing the actual force generated during a static sling bounce test.
image: HowNot2.com, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gq3_DfyHg1A&t=781s
You may hear advice of “go aid climbing” to learn how to place gear. Not a bad idea, but it does require lots of extra stuff like a rope, a patient belay partner, and aiders, fifi hook, daisychains, and probably ascenders. You actually don't need any of that; you can bounce test and get the same learning pretty much standing on the ground.
What you need: base of a cliff area with lots of various sized cracks to place gear, a decent trad rack (can maybe borrow from a good friend), a cleaning tool. Optional but suggested: a hammer and eye protection/safety glasses.
How to do it: At the crag, make a placement that you can reach from the ground, and clip a runner or two to the gear. Extend runners as needed so when you step in it, it’s about knee level. (You want to keep your feet close to the ground when you do this because if the piece pops out, that means you won't take much of a fall.)
Give it a decent tug.
Did it move? Does the rock on either side look solid? Good.
Now, carefully step into the runner, and give it a little bodyweight. (If the placement is near or above your head, you might want to cover the gear with your hand. If the gear pops, it’s going to zing out somewhere in the neighborhood of your eye - remember those suggested safety glasses?) Did the gear move it all? If not, sweet, probably a good placement.
Now, start jumping on the sling with increasing enthusiasm. Did the gear shift a little bit and then hold? Might be OK, but probably could be improved. Did it sprout wings, fly out of the rock and almost hit you in the eye when you jumped on it? Definitely needs more work.
And, like I said, be sure and bring a cleaning tool and perhaps a hammer, or at least a baseball sized rock or big hex, so you can (gently) beat on those welded stoppers to be sure you take everything home. (You might not want to bounce test a Tricam, which are notorious for being hard to clean after they’ve been weighted.)
It’s one thing to put in a piece of gear, look at it, and hope it’s well placed. It’s quite another to jump on it with enthusiasm and know with more certainty. If you have a more knowledgeable friend to work with on this, they can critique your placements.
Here's a nice short video that shows the basic technique. (Note that here it's demonstrated using standard big wall equipment such as aid ladders and daisy chains, but pretty much the same procedure can be done very close to the ground with a few slings.)
And finally, here's a video from our friends at HowNot2.com showing the actual force is generated from bounce testing. (it's a long video, start at 13:00 to see the testing part.)