Alpine Tips
The "Swiss cheese" model of risk mitigation
The “Swiss cheese” model is a metaphor for how risk can be reduced through overlapping and redundant safety systems.
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The Swiss Cheese model is a metaphor used in safety science. It illustrates how accidents typically occur due to multiple, overlapping failures rather than a single cause.
Each "slice" of cheese represents a layer of defense (such as safety measures or procedures) within a system.
Each “hole” in the cheese symbolizes a potential weakness or failure.
If a hole in one slice of cheese is covered by a solid part of the next slice, you have a partial problem but is not (yet) a catastrophe.
Even if a slice of cheese is only 5% holes, there’s still a small chance that two holes could align, and that's when you could have a serious problem.
How does the Swiss Cheese model apply to climbing?
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What's in my pack: big wall gear by Brent Barghahn
Pro climber Brent Barghahn has some impressive free climbing ascents of El Capitan, and definitely knows a thing or two about what to bring on a big wall. Here's a link to his checklist from a helpful blog article he wrote.
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Brent on a crux section of El Corazon, El Capitan. Image: https://www.brentbarghahn.com/climbing-blog/el-corazon-ground-up-2022crux
Brent Barghahn, professional climber and humble bad-ass, knows a thing or two about big walls. He has some very impressive free ascents on El Capitan, such as El Corazon, El Nino, and Golden Gate.
He’s also an innovator of climbing gear, much of it for lead rope solo and top rope solo. Check out his company, Avant Climbing.
You can read some detailed stories of his climbing adventures on his blog.
One of his blog posts is a collection of general big wall tips.
The big wall tips are excellent. Many of them you'll find on the Alpinsavvy big wall section, such as:
using a tagline, among others.
In addition to the expert tips is Brent’s schweeeeet gear checklist. Attention to detail is crucial on a big wall, and a solid checklist like this will help you bring most everything you need.
(Yes, it's mostly focused on free climbing, which is beyond the skill level for most of us plodders, but it's still very useful for aid climbing.)
Alpinesavvy Premium Members get a direct link to the gear checklist. If you're not a Premium Member, you'll have to go to Brent’s blog at the link above and click through and find it yourself. My Premium Member article also has a link to a longform video with an interview with Brent and discussion of top rope solo and lead rope solo techniques.
Head scratcher: can you solve this rappel problem?
Think you're good at solving climbing problems on the fly? See if you can figure out this one!
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This noggin-scratcher was solved in real life by Albin Thunander. Albin is a Swedish IFMGA Guide Candidate, and he shared with me the details of how he dealt with this. You can usually find him in the mountains around Chamonix. Connect with Albin on Instagram: @albinthunander.
I first heard of this trick from @tiffany_hensley, thanks Tiffany!
Think you're good at solving climbing problems on the fly? See if you can figure out this one!
Here's the scenario:
You're at the top of a 100 meter cliff.
There are only two anchors: one at the top and one at 50 meters.
You have one 80 meter rope.
There's no way of making other anchors and you can't walk down.
All you have is basic gear, like a harness, belay device, prusik cord and a couple of slings and carabiners. You don't have a Beal escaper, a tagline, or 25 meters of shoelaces or any other fancy gear.
How do you get safely to the ground?
There's no trick answer; no parachute, bouncing, rope stretching etc. It's actually doable and relatively low-risk, without any death techniques using self-releasing knots or taped-open-carabiner-fifi-hook Ninja trickery.
Treat this as more of a math problem, and not a climbing skills problem.
After you think about it, scroll down for a hint. After you read the hint, scroll farther for the answer.
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,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
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Hint: You have a knife.
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Answer:
Measure 25 meters of rope. Cut it. (If you don't have a knife, you can cut it on a sharp rock, or run a sling back-and-forth through the rope for a few seconds.)
Tie a bight knot at both ends. Clip one end of the 25 meter rope to the top anchor.
Toss the other end of the 25 meter section of rope. (This effectively makes a new “anchor” 25 meters below the top.)
Rap down this 25 meter single strand with the rest of the rope.
Xxxx . . .
Xxx . . .
Xxx . . .
Yay, done!
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How about a few more considerations for using this method?
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How to safely shorten your tether
Need to shorten your connection to the anchor when using a tether? It's common to unclip and reclip your locking carabiner, but this can increase the chances of clipping it incorrectly. Here's a simple and more secure method.
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At a busy anchor, especially when you have some distractions, it's quite easy to clip your rappel tether / PAS incorrectly.
I’ve done this myself, and fortunately realized my mistake very soon after, yikes!
The main cause of this problem is often when changing the length of your tether.
A common way to do this is to completely unclip the carabiner from one loop, and then clip it into another.
When you do this, you introduce the chance of clipping it wrong.
Here are two recent accidents where this seemed to be a direct cause. (Both of these reports are from the American Alpine Club’s website called The Prescription, which offers a monthly blog and archive of North American climbing accidents.)
Here's the analysis of one accident from the American Alpine Club:
Laycock’s accident was eerily similar to another recent incident, suffered by a climber in Arizona. Both fallen climbers had tied overhand knots in a 120cm length loop of 20mm sewn webbing to create adjustment pockets for a home-made PAS. This is a common practice. In both cases, it appears that the tether was not clipped correctly with the carabiner, but instead the knot caught in the bottom, non-gated end of the tether carabiner.
Wow, that photo is scary! You can see that clipped like this the knot MAY jam into the carabiner temporarily, even under light bodyweight. This could easily fool you that you are properly connected, when in fact you're absolutely not!
Here's a simple way to pretty much eliminate this problem: keep a locking carabiner as your primary connection to the anchor, always on the end of your tether. To shorten your tether, don't move that carabiner at all. Instead add a second one and use that to adjust the length of your connection.
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Worldwide climbing accident reports
Starting in 1948, the American Alpine Club has published an annual report of climbing related accidents in the US and Canada. What other countries do the same? Here is a summary. If you can add to it, let me know!
Even though this is an article published after January 2024 and would normally be a shortened version, I decided to make the entire article available for free on the nonmember pages, in the interest of learning and reducing risk for everybody. =^)
Accidents in North American Climbing 2023, from the American Alpine Club
Reading about climbing accidents is NOT fun.
However, it’s an important way to learn, and hopefully reduce risk and avoid future accidents.
Starting in 1948, the American Alpine Club (AAC) has published an annual summary of reported climbing related accidents in the US and Canada, titled “Accidents in North American Climbing” AAC members get this for free.
(The AAC also publish a monthly accident report “sampler” on their website, called “The Prescription”. This is free, offers an archive of recent accident reports, and is a good representation of what you’ll find in the complete publication.)
I was curious: what other countries publish a similar report?
I made a post asking about this on my Instagram. Many helpful people offered info and links about accident reports from different countries.
Here’s list of climbing related accident reports from around the world.
If a link is broken and you know a better one, please let me know.
If you know a resource that's not listed here, please let me know and I’ll add it.
Australia - Australian Climbing Accident Register, “a volunteer-only project to promote open discussion of incidents and near miss events in recreational climbing in Australia.”
Britain - the British mountaineering Council (BMC) publishes accident reports.
Chile - Annual review of accidents from escalando.org. Also: Book about accidents in Chile by Rodrigo Fica
France - SERAC, database of accident and incident reports
France - Understanding Mountain Sports accidents, from the Petzl Foundation
France - ANENA - National Association for the Study of Snow and Avalanches, avalanche related accidents
Germany - indoor climbing and outdoor climbing reports; (links are at bottom of page)
Spain - Spanish Mountain Federation
Switzerland - Free PDF downloads for the last 10 years or so of accident reports, in French
Turkey - Mountain accidents report, in Turkish.
How to rappel on marginal anchors
Someday, you'll find yourself at a rappel anchor that is Less Than Ideal. Here are some tips to hopefully get you and your partner down in one piece.
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image credit: Silas Rossi, @silasrossi
At some point in your alpine climbing, you’ll be forced to use a rappel anchor that’s as sketchy as Donald Trump’s tax returns. Here are some ways to hopefully get you and your partner down in one piece.
Improve the anchor. Is it a strand or two of sun crusted, rock rodent chewed ancient webbing? Get out your cordelette or a sling(s) and leave those behind. Old, weathered webbing can be as weak as 3-ish kN! (See some test results below.) Yes, people have died from this type of anchor failure, don't be the next one. You do have a knife, right?
Remove the garbage. If the anchor looks like the rat’s nest in the above photo, do everybody a favor: cut away the worst parts and leave only the best two or three bits of cord.
Are you arriving at a dodgy anchor from a rappel? Stay on rappel and bounce test the anchor. While secure on the rappel ropes, clip your tether into the masterpoint, and give it a few good bounces. A good bounce on a static tether puts about 3x your body weight onto the anchor. If it holds, good. If it doesn't, you're still backed up on your rappel rope.
Backup the anchor if it all possible with other gear. Send the first and heaviest person down first so the backup can do its job if the primary anchor fails. (Obviously this rule was made by heavy people.) If the anchor holds for the big person, it's likely gonna hold for everybody else, and the last person can remove the backup. If the last person is still sketched, they have the right to leave behind ANY gear they want as a backup. Yep, including that $90 cam, your life is worth it. See video at bottom of page for an example.
Bounce test. Ideally, when you’re backed up to something solid, load the rope and give it a solid bounce. Be sure that the backup is unweighted and doesn’t take any load during this test. As mentioned above, a decent bounce is about 3x your bodyweight, way more force than actually rappelling.
Rappel slowly and smoothly, not like some Special Forces cowboy.
If the anchor is truly marginal, the first person down can place gear and clip one strand of the rope to it. If the top anchor fails, this might save the day.
Want to see the break test results for old sun crusted webbing? (Hint: it’s worse than you think!)
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The frugal climber’s stick clip
Do you enjoy ankle breaking ground fall potential with the crux just before the first bolt? (Smith Rock Oregon, I'm looking at you!) Cool, neither do I. Enter the frugal climber’s stick clip. All you need is a stick, some tape, and a rock.
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If your personal ethics allow it (and mine definitely do), stick clips are great.
Sure, those super long extendable fiberglass poles with some fancy carabiner-grabber-thingie on the end work sweeeet, especially for really high bolts.
However, for the frugal climber, there's the time-honored dirtbag method.
All you need is some a small rock and a stick. Tape or a rubber band are nice, but optional.
Left photo: tape method. This is my preference, it's a bit more reliable. Tip, tape the middle part of the carabiner as shown here, keeps it more stable. A sturdy rubber band or two works pretty much the same way. (Note that depending on the quality of your tape, this might leave some sticky stuff on your carabiner, which is not so great.)
Right photo: forked stick method. This is a bit more finicky, and you usually have to pull some downward tension on the rope to keep the top carabiner from flopping around. (Yes, in the photo it’s hard to see a stick there, but trust me, there is. =^)
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Can (or should) you resling cams yourself?
The webbing on your cam slings has a lifespan of about 10 years. What do you do then? Ideally, send it to the manufacturer for replacement, but that's not always possible. Here are some DIY options, and a list of all known places you can get replacement cam slings.
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image: HowNOT2, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M19taMAZHp4
The generally accepted maximum lifespan of soft goods like nylon, Dyneema, and yes, slings on your cams, is around 10 years. If you use them heavily, it could be a lot less than that.
Reslinging a cam is not a money-making venture by the manufacturer or pretty much anybody else. Also, a manufacturer will almost always only resling their own cams.
If you live in the US, and a few places in Europe, getting this done by the factory is a possibility. But, if you’re outside this area (or if you live in Europe, and have cams made by Black Diamond) sending them directly to the manufacturer for sling replacement is probably not be cost effective.
So, what about replacing those cam slings yourself?
Here are some break test results of various DIY cam sling replacement options tested my friend Ryan Jenks, the mad scientist gear-breaking founder of HowNOT2.
(Disclaimer, these were tested on a limited number, your mileage may vary, if you want to be certain it's done right, then send ‘em back to the factory.)
Summary:
A 30 cm Dyneema sling doubled with a basket hitch is probably going to be your best bet. Be sure and clip both strands! Broke at 17.2 kN.
A 30 cm Dyneema sling tied in a double bowline on a bight also works. Broke between 10 and 13 kN, based on sling width. (Interestingly, the 8 mm sling tested stronger than the 11 mm sling.)
Avoid a girth hitch! Broke at 9 kN, and will probably mess up your cam. (Interestingly, it broke at 9-ish kN both on the slow pull and in the drop tower.)
Or, if you want to skip it entirely, cut off the sling and clip a short quick draw to it, good to go.
Cam reslinging companies
This information is current as of 2024. Of course, policies can change, so check before you mail anything.
If you know anyone who reslings cams who is not on this list, please email me so I can add them, thanks!
Gear companies:
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De-cluster your anchor with the ”revolving door”
Sometimes at a busy anchor, you may have a rope on top of another one, and those two ropes need to trade places. Here's an elegant way to do this: the "revolving door" technique.
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At a busy anchor (maybe with several people, or a big wall) it's very common to have one rope/cord/sling under another one.
For whatever reason, sometimes those ropes need to “trade places”, as in, the top rope needs to be on the bottom, or vice versa. How can you (easily) do this?
You might be tempted to try the “anchor limbo” by physically shimmying underneath the rope, or maybe even untying completely to move the rope above or below the other one. I’ve done both, and they both suck.
But there’s a much simpler (and elegant) method: the “revolving door”.
It's deceptively simple, and to my eye, looked like a bit of a magic trick the first few times I did it. Once you learn it, you might laugh at how easy it is!
To do this, you need two things: 1) the rope that you need to move above or below needs to be clipped to a carabiner, and 2) the rope needs to NOT have a giant load on it.
Brief description: say you have a rope on the top, and it needs to be on the bottom/under of what we’ll call the “fixed” rope.
Go to the carabiner that's clipped to the fixed rope. The gate on this carabiner needs to be facing up.
Open the carabiner.
Clip the “top” rope into the carabiner.
Here's the key move: Spin (aka “revolve”) the carabiner 180°.
Now, the gate on the carabiner should be facing down. Open the carabiner, and unclip the bottom rope.
Schweeeet! The “top” rope is now UNDER the fixed rope! Give yourself a high five for being so clever. =^)
You probably will want to revolve the carabiner back again to its original position, with the gate up. If it was a locker, relock it.
Like I said, kind of magical! Definitely a #CraftyRopeTrick!
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Load transfer - The 2:1 redirected haul
Do you have a big load that you need to move a short distance? Here's one crafty way to do it: the big waller's trick of the "far end haul". aka 2:1 redirected haul. (I learned this from big wall expert Mark Hudon, thanks Mark!)
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This is part of a series of articles that cover methods to move a large load a short distance, typically to unweight an anchor.
I learned this trick from big wall expert Mark Hudon, thanks Mark!
You may find yourself in a climbing situation where you need to transfer a BIG load from one anchor point to another.
Beginner big wall climbers, you know what I'm talking about; you clipped the haul bag in the wrong spot and it needs to get moved, whoops! (I’m an expert on this particular mistake; I probably did it five times on my first wall . . .)
Maybe a rescue situation (which you’re hopefully never in) where you need to lift the weight of your uncooperative partner off of the anchor to continue rappelling.
How can you do this the SMART way?
Brute force powerlifting is probably not going to cut it. It's much smarter to use a little mechanical advantage to make this happen. Work smart, not hard!
Here's one method: a redirected 2:1 haul with a progress capture pulley. In the big wall world this is known as the “far end haul”; here's an article on that.
The steps here might appear complicated when you see them the first time, but as soon as you give it a try you'll learn how easy it is.
Look through the step-by-step photos below and then watch a how-to video at the bottom.
You have a big load on the right anchor, and you need to move it to the left anchor. How do you do this the smart way?
Here’s a step-by-step sequence, with a tutorial video at the bottom.
Clip some cord or rope to the anchor.
Clip your progress capture pulley such as a Petzl Traxion, onto the rope is shown. (Remember to clip it “teeth to tail”, so the “teeth” on the device point to the “tail” side that you’re going to pull.)
Clip the Traxion onto the load.
Add a redirect to the anchor. A pulley is good here if you have it. In this example, I’m using the excellent Petzl Rollclip.
(In this example I clipped the redirect on to the anchor on the right. It also works fine if you clip it to the anchor on the left.)
Now you're ready to pull.
Put the rope or cord through a Grigri or a Munter hitch on your harness.
Pull DOWN with your body weight.
As you do this, you’re raising the load with a 2:1 mechanical advantage, and the Traxion pulley captures your progress. Nice!
With the high-efficiency Traxion on the load and the Rollclip/pulley on the redirect, your loss of pulling force due to friction is minimized.
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Rope anchors: the Alex Honnold anchor
Here's a fast and simple method to build an anchor using the rope, typically on two good bolts. (Alex says it's his favorite, so that's what I'm calling it. =^)
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Did you realize halfway up the pitch that you left your long anchor sling with your partner down below? Whoops! Better have a Plan B.
Here’s one of several options: use the rope.
Did Alex invent this anchor style? No, climbers have been using this for decades. But, Alex said in an interview that this is his favorite style of anchor for roped multipitch climbing, so that's what I'm calling it. =^)
(Note: one of Alex's regular partners told me that Alex typically belays with a Grigri and not a plaquette style device like shown in the photo, but the basic anchor set up is still the same.)
This anchor is a fine choice when you have a pair of decent bolts.
Note that the belayer is not on the equalized portion of the anchor. They’re clipped directly to one bolt, and indirectly attached to both. The belayer has redundancy, but not equalization.
With properly placed bolts that can each hold well over 20 kN, this shouldn’t be a problem.
Benefits of building an anchor with the rope:
Typically uses the minimal amount of gear. No need for extra slings, cords, or untying slings with knots when you’re done.
Uses the strong and stretchy rope, which you always have. Strong and stretchy are good things to have in an anchor! (Even if you prefer making anchors with a sling or cord, you might not always have those, and it's good to have some alternatives.)
Downsides to building an anchor with the rope:
It works best if you’re swinging leads on a multipitch climb. If one person is doing all the leading (aka block leading), or if this is the last anchor at the top of a climb and you’re transitioning to rappel, it may be better to craft an anchor from a sling or cordelette so you have both ends of the rope to work with. (Even if you plan on swinging leads, your partner might decide they don't want to take their turn and you might have to go again, so keep that in mind.)
Rope anchors can make many self-rescue techniques more challenging, because the end of the rope is a component of the anchor. Yes the belayer can can simply untie and they're out of the system, but then they may have a harder time using the rope for anything useful.
If the next (or previous) pitch is a real rope stretcher and you might need every bit of it, this may not be the best choice. (Rare, but it can happen.)
When the leader pulls up the rope on the second, the rope pull comes tight first onto the anchor and not directly onto the second climber. This can create a few meters of potentially unwanted slack when the second breaks down the anchor. The second can clip to one bolt or piece of solid gear with a tether before they remove the anchor, as a possible solution.
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How strong is a “stabbed” rope?
Plodding along on a glacier climb, you get a little careless and CHUNK, your crampon spike goes straight through the middle of the rope in front of you. Does this dangerously compromise the strength of your rope? I tested it with HowNOT2, here are the results.
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Scenarios for a “stabbed” rope . . .
Top rope ice, climbing, you carelessly swing your tool, and CHUNK, you drive your pick straight into the rope. Whoops!
Walking in a rope team on a glacier. A careless step and you stab the rope with your crampon. Whoops!
If you do either of these, does it completely compromise the strength of your rope?
I've always wondered about this, so I tested it on my latest visit to the gear-breaking mad scientist genius Ryan Jenks from HowNOT2.com.
The rope we tested was a Beal Opera 8.5 mm, common for glacier travel.
Disclaimer, yes, results will probably be different depending on rope diameter, size of the spike, type of sheath used in the rope, etc. We had a small sample size. This is what we got, don't take it as gospel.
Test 1: Crampon stab through the rope?!
Broke at 11.9 kN. It broke in the knot, and NOT in the “stabbed” part of the rope.
That's close to full strength of the rope.
Click image below to see the short video.
Want to see the break from Test 2, pounding a nail multiple times through the rope?! Or test 3: ridiculously beating on the rope like a manic woodpecker in the same spot with an ice tool?!
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Can you girth hitch a Dyneema sling to a picket?
Can you tie a sling directly to a picket hole? Is it going to be strong enough to catch a fall or use as a anchor in crevasse rescue? I did the testing, and have a broken picket to prove it.
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If you’re trying to shave weight on an alpine climb, you might wonder: is its okay to girth hitch a sling directly to a picket?
(Yeah I know, cool Euro climbers don't use pickets and make an anchor out of their buried ice axe, cigarette pack, or whatever, but that's a different topic.)
Does this dangerously weaken the sling?
Is the sling gonna get cut on the sharper bend radius of the picket hole?
Should I use the sling full strength (about 22 kN) and clip it with a carabiner like normal?
All good questions! I was curious about them as well. So I took a visit to the gear breaking lab of mad scientist Ryan Jenks, aka Mr. HowNOT2, to find out.
We used older Dyneema slings hitched through the middle hole on an older style MSR Coyote picket.
The girth hitch tested at a bit over 10 kN.
(Yes, with a limited sample size of 1.) For me, that's acceptable for a crevasse rescue anchor, because your picket is going to pull out of the snow before you approach that much force.
Not that you should ever be generating a load like that in a standard crevasse rescue to begin with . . .
But hey, if you want to use the sling full strength at 22+ kN, then clip it to the picket with a carabiner, your choice!
Next we tried a basket hitch. As expected, that was a bit stronger, around 16 kN.
After that, just for fun, we doubled the sling through the hole; a double basket hitch. (Yes, we kept using the same picket for every test, so it might've been a weakened after the first two .)
Here's what happened. The sling it was fine. The picket broke 18.4 kN!
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Adjustable tether + Fifi hook for tricky cleaning
Here’s a DIY gear trick that’s handy when cleaning a traversing aid pitch, or maybe a overhanging sport route. Girth hitch an aid climbing fifi hook to an adjustable tether.
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Cleaning a steeply traversing aid pitch or a sport route that's severely overhanging and/or traversing can be hard!
The challenge you have in both cases is the gear you're trying to clean is being tensioned by the rope under your bodyweight, and that's usually a pretty big problem.
Here’s a simple way to solve it: an adjustable tether plus an aid climbing fifi hook.
I‘ve used this on the infamously traversing bolt ladder on Monkey Face at Smith Rock Oregon, and it works perfecto.
Be sure your fifi has a “release cord” loop tied into the top hole as we see here. This is key to be able to release this under load.
They usually don't come this way from the store, you have to add it yourself. I'm simply using parachute cord.
Notes . . .
It’s pretty much the same procedure for cleaning quickdraws from a steep sport climbing route, but that's a bit easier than this.
Yes, there are several methods you can use to accomplish this, but after you try this you may not wanna do the others. Give different techniques a try and see which works best for you.
What's sweet about this for aid climbing is that it uses gear that you already have on your harness. Typically you would only use a fifi when leading, but in this case, you remove it from your harness and put it on your tether when needed for cleaning.
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Klemheist ver 2.0: stitching IN the knot
A Klemheist is a useful friction hitch / rope grabber, but DANG, have you ever tried to use it to actually go up to fixed rope? Tied in the normal way, that sucker bites down hard and is really difficult to slide! Here’s a clever variation that gives adequate grab on the rope, and is much easier to slide when you need to move up.
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Credit for this method goes to Silvan Metz, @silvanmetzfotografie
Left photo, normal way to tie a Klemheist. Right photo, the modified method which is much easier to slide.
The Klemheist is one of three friction hitches every climber ought to know. (The other two are the prusik and the autoblock, aka French prusik, or Machard.)
Friction hitches are used typically used as a rope grab in a mechanical advantage haul system, and as a tool for emergency rope ascending.
The Klemheist is handy because you can tie it with either cord or a sewn sling, and you can easily adjust the amount of friction by increasing or decreasing the wraps around the rope.
But DANG, have you ever actually tried to climb a rope with a Klemheist, especially one tied with a skinny Dyneema sling? You probably discovered that it bites down very hard on the rope, and is very difficult to slide up after you've loaded it with your body weight.
Here's a clever variation on the Klemheist hitch, where the stitching on a sewn sling is intentionally tied INTO the hitch, as in the photo above on the right.
WTF?! I learned in Knots 101 you should never do this, why would you?
Answer: for ascending a rope.
By including the stitching in the hitch, it allows enough friction for good grabbing on the rope, but also allows the knot to MUCH more easily slide on the rope when you need to move it.
Notes . . .
Works great with a sewn sling, even Dyneema (Don’t use Dyneema for a rappel backup.)
Grabs pretty well in both directions, but still holds best in one.
Easily adjustable with the number of wraps; more wraps for a skinny rope, fewer for thicker ropes or twin strands.
Some people think this is a Hedden hitch, or maybe an FB hitch. To be honest I don't really care about the name. It's more important to know how to tie it and the best applications, so let's not get distracted by lineage and whether I use the exact right term to describe it. Lots of “knot-knerds” like to argue about stuff like this. I’m not one of them.
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Load transfer: The alpine block and tackle
With nothing more than a cordelette and two carabiners, the “alpine block and tackle” creates a bit of mechanical advantage that can help you move a large load a short distance.
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This is part of a series of articles that cover methods to move a large load a short distance, typically to unweight an anchor.
If you tie your cordelette “bunny ears” style, as I recommend in this Tip, you can use it to make a low-tech block and tackle system. #CraftyRopeTrick for sure!
(History side note: The term “block” comes from the wooden blocks that were originally used on ships to raise heavy sails, and the “tackle” refers to the ropes/rigging running between the blocks.)
Climbers typically think that mechanical advantage systems only come into play in a rescue-type scenario. But there are some other situations where they can come in handy.
When might you want to use an alpine block and tackle?
In general, to move a large load a very short distance.
Maybe you're in some other kind of rescue scenario, and you need to momentarily lift a load off of a carabiner an inch or two to unclip something.
Maybe you're on a big wall climb, you screwed up your rigging somehow, and you need to lift your haul bag a few inches to get it unclipped. (Note, if you use a docking cord to attach your haul bag to the anchor, you should never have this problem.)
You have a strand of rope with a weighted knot, and you need to unweight the rope so you can untie the knot. To do this, put prusik loops above and below the knot, and rig the block and tackle between the two prusiks. See image below.
In the example shown in the video below, you can transfer or share the load in a crevasse rescue off a sketchy initial gear placement to a stronger second placement.
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How do knots affect cord and webbing strength?
Most climbers know that tying any sort of a knot reduces the strength of cord, rope or webbing. But what about tying multiple knots in the same strand? Does that reduce the strength multiple times? What happens when you have a loop of cord tied with a knot, is the strength reduced in that? The Alpine Club of Italy did some testing, here are the answers.
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Tying a knot in rope, cord or sling decreases the strength. (While it varies depending on the material and the type of knot, a conservative rule of thumb is about 50%.)
Is there much of a difference in strength loss between cord and webbing?
What about nylon vs. Dyneema?
What about a standard anchor configuration with a knotted sling?
Do multiple knots in the same cord decrease the strength more?
All interesting questions, let's find some answers!
Strength loss from knots in webbing and cord
Here’s a nice diagram drawn by IFMGA Guide Georg Sojer @sojercartoon from an article by German mountain guide / Bergfuhrer Chris Semmel of the German Mountain and Ski Guides Association (“Verband Deutscher Berg und Skiführer” or “VDBS”). It’s from a German climbing magazine, here’s the original.
Interestingly, it shows that cord is slightly stronger than webbing. Also note that when a larger loop is doubled over, even with a knot, the strength is twice that of the unknotted material.
image: https://www.outdoor-magazin.com/klettern/basiskurs-alpines-klettern/
What about nylon vs. Dyneema?
Great question. Lots of people think if you tie a knot in Dyneema, it's somehow magically going to break. Maybe in a drop tower with a concrete block, but highly unlikely in a real world climbing scenario. Some testing from the German company Edelrid gives us some answers.
Edelrid tested the strength of both “polyamid” aka nylon, and “high-density polyethylene”, aka Dyneema, in 3 ways: 1) a single strand, 2) in a sewn sling, and 3) a sewn sling with a single overhand knot in the middle.
Here are the results.
You can see the strength of the nylon sling is higher in every case. In terms of strength by weight Dyneema might be stronger. However, the nylon sling is made of more material and it stretches about three times as much, so it can hold a higher load.
The Dyneema sling with an overhand knot broke at 11.2 kN. This is still significantly higher than anything you would see in a recreational climbing scenario, so I personally don't have any problems doing it. Having said that, if you want to use your slings at full strength, avoid tying knots in them when possible.
screen grab from: https://youtu.be/0SqHwymGxfM
Here's a nice video from Edelrid showing their testing procedure. (I recommend browsing through the entire series of knowledge base videos from Edelrid, there are some gems in there.)
My friend Ryan Jenks, founder of the YouTube channel HowNOT2 did some very interesting testing comparing “tech” cord (Sterling VT-X) with a Dyneema core, to standard nylon cord.
The Minimum Breaking Strength (MBS) the tech cord was significantly higher than a comparable diameter 6 mm nylon cord.
MBS of VT-X cord: 15 kN
MBS of plain nylon 6 mm cord: 8.8 kN
The VT-X cord is rated a bit less than twice as strong as the nylon cord.Ryan broke each cord 5 times, with a figure 8 knot on each end.
8 to 8 average, VT-X: 8.6 kN
8 to 8 average, nylon 6 mm cord: 6.6 kN
The VT-X still tested a bit higher, but not very much higher. Then, he looked at those break test numbers as a percentage of the MBS.
VT-X: 57.6%
nylon 6 mm cord: 75.6%
Isn't that interesting? Tying figure 8 knots in the VT-X cord breaks about half of the rated strength, but the same knot tied in nylon cord breaks about 3/4 of the rated strength!
This tells us that tech cord loses a larger percentage of the rated strength when you tie knots in it.
If I understand Ryan's explanation of this, this is because the tech cord, being very static/non-stretchy, does not elongate at the outer radius of the bend in the knot. The nylon, because it is stretchy, loses less of its strength in the knot. Cool!
So, for me, the takeaway is that 6 or 7 mm nylon cord in just about any recreational climbing situation is probably gonna be fine.
Having said that, using higher strength tech cord for anchor building gives me a warm fuzzy feeling, extra kN and it only cost like $1.20 a foot, so I'm gonna still roll with my V-TX cordelette, which I especially like for snow and glacier travel.
See all the results at his video below.
How do knots weaken slings in standard anchors?
Here's a common anchor scenario. 120 cm Aramid / kevlar sling rated to 22 kN. It’s doubled, with one arm clipped to each bolt. A overhand knot is tied for the master point.
How strong is this anchor?
Scroll down for the answer.
The answer is B, around 22 kN, the original strength of the sling. Why? Because the sling is doubled before the knot is tied.
Doubling the sling also doubles the strength to about 44 kN. Adding a knot reduces the strength about 50%, down to around 22 kN.
Same principle applies to a girth hitch anchor, here are made with Dyneema.
Next time you hear somebody saying “OMG, don't use a girth hitch, it weakens the sling by 50%!” remind them of this.
This is confirmed by the (always awesome) testing by Ryan Jenks at HowNot2.com. His testing showed the girth hitch master point breaking at around 26-28 kN. (Check out his video here, start at 7:10 and go to 9:00.)
A couple of screen grabs are below.
This is a portion of my much longer article on this topic.
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Crevasse rescue: simplified drop loop 2:1
The progress capture on a hauling system does not necessarily need to be on the anchor. If you have it on a fixed strand of rope, you can simplify your rigging, reduce friction, and lower the load on the anchor. Here's one way to set it up for 2:1 crevasse rescue.
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Here's a simple method to create a progress capture on 2:1 hauling system that uses minimal gear, is fast to set up, and puts minimal force on the anchor.
Advantages to this system:
Uses basic gear you’ll always have: one friction hitch and one carabiner.
Doesn’t require a specialized and expensive progress capture pulley.
About the simplest and least complicated rigging possible.
Because there's no redirect, you eliminate this friction in your haul system, AND put the smallest possible load onto the anchor. A redirect puts 2X your pulling force onto the anchor. No redirect means a reduced load on the anchor. That's a good thing.
Modern equipment, such as the Petzl Traxion progress capture pulley, are superb tools for self rescue. They are small, lightweight, cool (because they‘re French!), and they work great.
However, they are expensive, you may not have one when you need it.
Especially with skills like crevasse rescue, a good approach is to learn it first with the bare minimum of gear, and then add fancier tools after you have the basic mechanics dialed.
As climbers, we’re often locked into the idea when we build an anchor, all the important things must happen actually ON that anchor. For example belaying up your partner, and having the progress capture in a hauling system.
However, it doesn't have to be that way. Often, we can use a fixed strand of rope, instead of the anchor itself.
Doing this can create many interesting options, which may make your rigging more efficient, comfortable, or ergonomic.
Let's have a look at the basic mechanics of the 2:1 drop loop.
When one strand of the rope is fixed to the anchor, and a loop is on the load, and you pull on the other side of the rope, you create a 2:1 mechanical advantage.
If you pull 2 meters of rope, the load moves 1 meter.
In a theoretical frictionless world, you can move a 100 kg load by applying about 50 kg of “pull. ”
In the real world with the friction of a carabiner on the load, your actual mechanical advantage around 1.5:1.
When you're pulling, you’re lifting about half the weight of the load, and the remaining half of the load is on the anchor.
Check out the photo. Note that one side of the “C “ is fixed to the anchor, the other side you can pull.
The “pull” side moves, and the “fixed” side doesn't.
This means that you can use the fixed side to attach your progress capture. This is the key to the simplified method.
Here's a step-by-step of how to set up a simplified 2:1 drop loop.
Step 1: Tie the rope to the anchor.
This could be the end of the rope, or any point along the middle of the rope (as shown here) and would be typical in a crevasse rescue. Be sure you have at least twice as much rope between you and the load.
Step 2: Clip a loop of rope to the load.
In a crevasse rescue, this would typically be lowered down to the victim. If you have a pulley to minimize friction, this is a great place to use it. If you don't, it still works, but you need to pull a little harder.
Step 3: Tie a bight knot to the “fixed” strand of rope.
This is the side of the “C” that’s tied to the anchor, and it doesn’t move when you pull. Here I tied a butterfly because it's easy to untie after it's been loaded. A figure 8 or overhand works fine as well.
Tie this knot at any convenient spot along the fixed rope. Make the loop small, like fist sized.
Step 4: Tie a prusik (or attach a Traxion) to the “pull” strand of rope.
This is the side of the “C” that’s returning to you from the load, and moves when you pull. Use a prusik rather than an autoblock or klemheist, because it usually grabs the best and you don’t want this knot to slide/creep when weighted.
Here I'm using a Sterling Hollowblock which is quite short. Short is good.
If you have a progress capture pulley like a Traxion, put it on the “pull” strand and clip it to the bight knot with a locker. (This actually works better than the friction hitch, but for this example I’m showing simple gear.)
There are several more steps involved in reading this correctly.
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What’s a “series” anchor?
Traditional anchor building teaches trying to “equalize” the load. However, with solid bolts or ice screws, it may be faster and more convenient to build what’s called a series anchor, where all the load goes to one component and the other is a backup.
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Peer review on this article comes from Sean Isaac. Sean is an ACMG (Association of Canadian Mountain Guides) Certified Guide, a former professional climber, and author of the “Ice Leader Field Handbook” and “How to Ice Climb” (2nd ed.) Follow @seanisaacguiding for tech tips. Thanks, Sean!
Series anchor onto vertical bolts. Edelrid Aramid sling on left, rope on the right. (Belay connection to second omitted for clarity.)
On your first day of Climbing 101 class, you probably got the concept of equalization drilled into your head - always try to distribute the load (more or less equally) among all components of the anchor. This is still about the only technique taught in most every how-to book I’ve ever seen. Overall, this is still a valid approach, especially with trad anchors, made with stoppers, cams and maybe pitons.
However, it’s not an absolute rule when it comes to using two reliably solid pieces, such as bolts or ice screws.
There’s a whole other genre of anchors, known as a “series” anchor, where all of the primary load goes to ONE anchor component. The second component of the anchor is used only for redundancy, as a backup in the extremely unlikely event that the first bolt were to fail. There’s no attempt at equalization/load distribution. Redundancy, yes. Equalization, no.
So, how can we get away with ignoring equalization, one of the cardinal rules of anchor building? Because modern bolts and hardware are so ridiculously strong (well over 20 kN for each one when properly placed in good rock) that there’s no requirement to try to equalize forces. In many cases with good bolts, it can be faster and more convenient to build a series anchor.
Series anchor overview
As a general guideline: if you have two unquestionably strong bolts, consider a series anchor. Anything other than that, consider a distributed anchor.
Series anchors are best made with two components; three or more is tricky.
Series anchors work on horizontal, vertical or diagonal bolts or ice screws. The vertical or diagonal are preferred. These can be hard to find in North America.
Series anchors are more common in Europe. They are endorsed by the German Mountain and Ski Guides Association (“Verband Deutscher Berg und Skiführer” or “VDBS”). Here's a detailed article covering series, and other interesting anchor flavors.
If you have vertical bolts, make the master point on the bottom bolt. If the bolts are horizontal, make the master point on the bolt where your second will approach the anchor.
A series anchor does not provide a shelf, so all of your clip in points get kind of scrunched together.
You can make a series anchor with a sling tied with a double loop bowline on a bight, a double loop figure eight, or with the rope.
An advantage to using a sling is that you can easily transition to a fixed point lead belay on the next pitch. (That is a whole other topic, which I cover extensively in this article.)
How strong a ring loaded bowline in Dyneema?
Double loop bowline in Dyneema sling being ring loaded, breaks around 20 kN. From HowNot2 (about 6:30 in the video). A belay loop usually breaks around 15 kN, so think about that for a moment . . .
The series anchor is definitely not a new concept! Check out this classic photo from the early days of Yosemite climbing, which I caption as” “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 credit: Dave Diegelman
When considering how strong an anchor needs to be, it’s good to keep in mind the realistic forces it might be required to hold. Petzl did some very nice studies on this, showing what real world realistic forces are when you measure actual climbers instead of static weights in a drop tower. I have a whole article in that that, read it here.
Below is a great diagram from Petzl. If your French is a little rusty:
gray dot = force on the top piece of gear
blue dot = force on the climber
black dot = force on the belayer
The three different columns indicate different fall factors: 0.3, 0.7, and 1.0.
Even when catching a significant fall factor 1, the force on the bottom anchor is only about 2 kN, quite low! That’s good!
If you are belaying up your second and keeping the rope reasonably tight, the force should never get above 1 or 2 kN. Given this, trying to equalize that load between two bolts that can hold 40 kN combined may seem unnecessary.
FALL FORCES IN CLIMBING. IMAGE: HTTPS://WWW.PETZL.COM/US/EN/SPORT/FORCES-AT-WORK-IN-A-REAL-FALL
Let’s look at a few ways to make a series anchor.
Method 1: Series anchor with sling and double loop bight knot.
Typically made with a a 120 cm sling, with a double strand bowline on a bight, shown here. (A double loop bunny ears figure 8 works too.) Don’t worry about ring loading the bowline, it’s fine and it’s been tested. See the video below to learn how to tie the bowline on a bight. It’s a new knot for most folks. Can be on horizontal (photo 1) or vertical (photo 2). Vertical is better, but you gotta use what you have.
Using a sling:
makes block leading easier
simplifies self rescue
allows you to do a fixed point lead belay
Method 2: Series anchor with the climbing rope
You get some minimalist style points. You already have a nice strong dynamic rope, so use it if you like.
Downsides are the opposite of the 120 cm sling:
block leading is harder
self-rescue is more difficult
fixed point lead belay is trickier
Can be on horizontal (photo 1) or vertical (photo 2) bolts.
Here's a another version of the example just above. This one might work well for the very top of a route where there is a walk off, or a large secure ledge, because there's not much place for the second to easily attach when they arrive.
The set up as shown in the photo is not very ergonomic because the masterpoint is low. But you could extend the clove hitch from the harness, and the butterfly knot, if you want to conveniently stand at most any distance from the bolts that you want.
(Inspiration credit, IFMGA Guide Dale Remsberg, from his Instagram post.)
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The quad anchor
The quad anchor rig offers fast set up, great strength, good load distribution and complete redundancy, all in a light, compact package. Learn all about it here.
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The quad anchor, first mentioned (I think) around 2006 by John Long in his book “Climbing Anchors”, was an attempt to have the Holy Grail in anchors. What’s cool about the quad?
Good load distribution
Minimal extension
Fully redundant
Quick to set up and break down, no knots to untie
Super strong (would you believe 40 kN?!)
Bonus, two independent and load distributed master points, which can be quite handy
Well, it didn’t catch on right away. One reason may have been that the original version suggested using a long and bulky cordelette to rig it.
Traditional quad anchor rigged with 7mm cordelette. Nothing really wrong with it, just big and bulky.
Well, here’s the modern iteration of that idea, in a much lighter and more compact package. Rather than using a huge honker cordelette, instead you use a Dyneema sling; I prefer 180 cm. Double it, tie two a figure 8 or overhand knots (with the stitching in one of the end loops), and then use two strands to make an anchor for both toproping and multipitch.
The knots stay in the sling for at least the entire day. It's good practice to untie the knots every few days or after a weekend of climbing to “rest” your sling.
This system works best with two solid pieces of gear that are fairly close together and ideally in a horizontal plane. Two bolts on a sport route are a perfect application. Two ice screws that are slightly offset would also work too. (If you’re building a 3 piece anchor from trad gear, it may be faster to use a more traditional cordelette.)
What's the best sling length?
For me, the 120 cm is a bit too short. It can work if the bolts are very close together and you use a small diameter sling, like 8 mm.
I think 180 cm is about the sweet spot. Not too short, not too long, works on horizontal bolts and with a little adjusting, vertically offset ice screws.
Some people think this is called the quad anchor because it uses a “quad” length sling, or 240 cm. A 240 cm sling can be handy for many kinds of anchor building, especially for equalizing three points of protection, orslinging around a tree. But for side by side bolts like this, many people find it’s too long, a bit bulky, and hard to rack.
But hey, as you can see below it's only a bit longer than the 180, so many people this is gonna work fine.
Notice the 180 and the 240 are tied with a figure 8 rather than overhands. This uses up a bit more material which raises the master point, and it also makes the knot quite a bit easier to untie after it's been loaded.
Here's another trick with the 240 cm sling quad to make it a little more manageable. Instead of doubling the cord, you can triple it. Then, when you tie your knots, it raises the master point and you clip to three strands rather than two. This makes it the effective same size as the 180 cm sling, nice!
If you look carefully at the photo below, you can see the yellow locking carabiner is clipped to three strands of cord, rather than two.
If you were climbing a route that maybe had a mix of gear anchors and bolt anchors, this might be a good trick to be able to use the 240 for both.
Quad toprope anchor
Lockers on each of the two bolts, opposite and opposed lockers for the rope, good to go.
There's some difference of opinion about whether you should clip the master point lockers onto two separate strands (left), or put both of them onto three strands (right).
Argument against the set up on the left: the sling arms could rub against each other when loaded, and the carabiners might bind against each other a bit, giving you less than ideal equalization.
Argument against the set up on the right: if either bolt where to fail, you're only being held by one additional strand.
I think both of these issues are highly unlikely, and you're gonna be fine no matter how you rig it. Personally I prefer the one on the left.
(Hopefully this is glaringly obvious, but you absolutely should NOT clip all four strands. If you did this and any anchor point failed, the carabiners with slide off and you would die.)
Side note regarding lockers on the bolts . . . For a top rope anchor, when you're not right there next to it to keep an eye on it, and maybe multiple people will be using it over a long period of time, it's good practice to use locking carabiners on the bolts. In some circles this is known as an “unattended” anchor. However, if you’re multi pitch climbing, it's fine to use non-locking carabiners on the bolts. We can call this an “attended” anchor, because there's someone there the whole time watching it.
Notes . . .
For those of you who are extra concerned about tying a knot in Dyneema . . . A full strength Dyneema runner is about 22 kN. Here, we are doubling the sling, which in theory makes it about 44 kN, and then we're tying a knot, which reduces that in about half, which brings it back down to about 22 kN. In other words, it's absolutely not an issue. We cover the “tying a knot in Dyneema” issue more detail here.
A 180 cm sling can be a bit hard to find, But is this type of anchor becomes more popular, hopefully more manufacturers will offer them. (If the links below don't work, just Google around until you find them.)
A skinny Dyneema sling is best for this. (It won’t work nearly so well with a nylon runner because the knots are too big, plus finding a 180 cm nylon runner is difficult.)
A 10 mm or 11 mm Dyneema sling is recommended for anchor building. These are larger than the 8 mm used in many 60cm and 120cm slings. Most of the 180 cm slings I have seen are in this larger diameter, so that's good.
How strong is the quad?
Ridiculously strong. How about a 40kN break test? The great team at HowNot2 tested this several times, and the quad is WAY stronger than anything else you will probably have on your harness. See the video here.
image: screen grab from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=she8vH1DCBU
Can I clip the shelf? Yes. HowNot2 did a pull test on the shelf, and the knot started sliding at around 13 kN. SuperGoodEnough! (Same video link, start at 7:00.)
Quad with a cordelette
While I'm generally not a fan of the 7 mm cordelette, you can certainly use one to make a quad anchor. In the photo below, the red cord is Sterling Powercord. While it’s a bit expensive, it's only 6 mm but is rated to 20 kN, almost 3 times stronger than normal 6 mm cord. If I am carrying a cordelette, this is what I grab first.
As the saying goes: “You can have it strong, light, and cheap. Pick two.”
In the photo, both left and right anchors are structurally strong. However, the right photo, showing the knots tied a bit lower, is slightly preferable. In the highly unlikely event of a bolt failing, the lower knots limit the extension of the anchor.
Here's another option: Tie a “figure 9” knot rather than an overhand knot to isolate the strands. This is simply a figure 8 knot with one more turn. This has a few advantages: it brings your master point up a bit higher, because the knot takes up more cord, and because of the extra turns, it's easier to untie at the end of the day.
