SAC Anchors II lecture outline by Clint Cummins 11/10/05, edited 11/14/05, 6/14/07 Covers: 0. Knots (mostly a review) 1. Placing gear 2. Constructing gear anchors 3. Multipitch climbing sequence 4. Multiple rappel sequence 5. Where to go from here (transition from toproping and bolted climbing to gear climbing) Does not cover: 1. Actual free/aid climbing techniques (jamming, chimneying, etc.) 2. Leading issues, including choosing climbs 0. Knots: - review previous knots overhand loop (cordelette) - simple; hard to untie in single rope figure-eight loop (clipping to anchor, shortening a sling) - strong, easy to untie; uses a bit more rope figure-eight rewoven (tying to harness, joining rappel or toprope ropes) Note: rewoven for tying into harness means a figure eight loop is formed. Rewoven for joining rappel ropes means the rope ends come out of opposite sides of the knot. Backup knots are not used, to prevent hanging up the knot on obstacles. Instead make the knot perfect/smooth and tight. Do not rappel using a figure eight knot where the rope ends come out of the same side of the knot - people have died rappelling when this knot inverted/collapsed under load. Another good knot for rappelling is the double overhand, where both rope ends do come out of the same side of the knot. It has a smoother profile against the rock, so if you are rappelling in a place which has lots of edges and obstacles to catch the knot (such as in the Dolomites), this can prevent a hangup. A disadvantage of this knot is that it concentrates wear in a small area where the 2 ropes come out of the knot and are bent at 90 degrees. As a result this knot is a poor choice for toproping on sandstone (one time in Indian Creek, a person used this knot to join 2 ropes to toprope a long climb, and it core shot both ropes at this point after 3 people did the one climb and were lowered). water knot (tied sling vs. sewn sling) - weight to prevent it from untying girth hitch (joining slings) clove hitch (clipping to anchor, equalizing anchor) - to tie, make 2 half hitches, put one behind the other, clip, adjust and cinch tight prusik (rescue) - Auto-block (rappel backup; similar to prusik) 1. Placing gear Introduction (Strengths, things to watch out for) General Good Anchors: - Rock quality - hardness (hard granite vs. crumbly granite, soft sandstone, soft volcanic breccia - Pinnacles) - fractures/thin flakes/loose pieces (hazard to strength and to persons below, hairline fractures may not be visible until gear is tested) - sand, dirt, loose leaves, moss, grass (have to be cleaned before quality of gear can be assessed; can be helpful to have a nut pick on lead for this) - Surface Area (maximize; avoid flaring placements) - Direction of Pull (affects strength; stability if direction changes) - ease of removal/cleaning (see below for particular gear types) Gear types: Fixed: - Trees (live, no movement where slung) - Rocks (horns/boulders, tunnels) - Bolts, Pitons (hard to inspect, large/shiny is good) Removable: - Nuts (Stoppers - best nuts to .75", Hexes - cams better for this size), assume cabled place: look for tapered part of crack, select size, position it, seat with partial body weight common errors: flaring crack; nut falls out too deep where taper is hard to see, placed endwise (less surface area, also harder to clean because cable pair is less stiff when pulling outward in this orientation); better than nothing if it is the only way to fit the crack size available remove: Plan A: wiggle cable to loosen, manuever out via wide path in crack Plan B: jerk upwards at 45-degree angle (grabbing quickdraw; watch path of your knuckles, and look away to avoid being hit in the face). If this rotates nut to a new fixed angle, pull back down carefully to loosen; then manuever out. Plan C: tap on bottom (between cables) with nut pick, then manuever out Plan D: if nut is large enough to have a hole in its side, insert nut pick into hole and rotate to loosen (requires slender nut pick) - Cams (Friends, Camalots, TCUs = Three Cam Units, Aliens) place: look for parallel part of crack, ideally tapering down above. select size, squeeze trigger bar (fingers on bar, thumb on end of stem) to make cam "small", manuever into position, release trigger bar to engage common errors: cam too small for crack, not stable (can "walk") flaring crack; falls out due to movement of rope, cam "walks" upward to a wider position in the crack and is weak too deep (due to initial placement or "walking") - hard to reach trigger bar for removal remove: squeeze trigger bar to smake "small" and disengage the individual cams, manuever out - Others (Tricams - avoid unless your partner insists on using them) Clipping: Clip with biner, oriented so that gate of biner does not touch rock. If biner would be loaded over an edge, extend using sling girth hitched to sling of cam. Do not girth hitch sling directly to cable of nut or narrow bolt hanger - radius too small makes this weak; sling will cut under large load. Bolt should be in a flat area to avoid biner problems anyway. Do not load solid shaft of Friend over rock edge; place deeper instead so that sling goes over edge. Avoid loading stem cables of TCU over rock edge; they may be permanently bent. 2. Constructing gear anchors Review of webbing, cordelletes, natural & fixed gear anchors Practice equalizing gear placements into anchors SERENE = Strong (individual placements) Equalized (about the same as No Extension) Redundant (independent, separate crack system when feasible - reduces risk due to single cause) Efficient (simple, fast) No Extension Add: Stable (robust to movement of rope and change of force direction) In order of importance: Strong Redundant No/minimal Extension (proper redundancy when a placement fails) Standard placement counts: 3 strong placements, at least one multidirectional for lead anchor. Say 1/100 chance of random failure in each, due to unobserved factors; if placements are independent this is 1/10,000 for 2; 1/1,000,000 for 3 Exceptions: 2 "good" bolts good = 5/16" or larger and not rusty; standard is 3/8" stainless for new bolts suspect = surface (smooth) rust or 1/4" bad = corroded (pitted) rust 1/4" bolts, wiggling bolts (OK if just hanger wiggles/spins though), unusually thin/brittle or aluminum hanger 1-2 good trees (still use 2 slings and 2 biners for partial redundancy) good = live, no movement when sling is weighted More than 3 placements not good because connections are more complicated; maybe OK if you can equalize extra weak placments, but this violates the standard (Strong individual placements). If anchor does not meet these standards, warn partner(s) Usual causes - wide crack with only 1-2 cams which fit it, or 2 1/4" bolts on an old climb. Joining placements to create anchor system (3 ways): A: Clove hitches on climbing rope +: strong, takes minimal rope, equalizes, helpful if out of slings -: requires extra piece of rope if toproping, a little slower for follower to clip in with extra biners on multipitch block leading B: Slings (with knots or clove hitches to adjust lengths) +: good for toproping, creates 1-2 points for follower to clip -: may be out of slings, reduces slings available for next lead C: Cordelette +: clean equalization, single point to clip -: requires carrying extra gear (the cordelette, or 2 cordelletes for block leading), cordelette may not be long enough - so may require slings or clove hitches in rope anyway Minimize angles between placements, to avoid unnecessary increased side loads Test anchor with body weight. If toproping from anchor, extend two sets of 1" slings over edge, to 2 biners. 3. Intro to multi-pitch climb concept. Safety on approaches and descents Basic rule: can scramble unroped, but if anyone wants to rope up, you do it with no negotiation required. Both tie in and check partner's knot and harness buckle Bottom Anchor needed when: Starting from ledge where leader could fall below and pull off belayer Leader outweighs belayer greatly, or when there is a high risk of hitting ground or a ledge and fall needs to be absolutely minimized Location of belay anchor relative to next pitch Should be to side of leader on pitch, so that any loose rock will not fall directly onto belayer. The leader who builds the belay considers this. Clipping in to belay anchor A: (Two) Clove hitches with climbing rope B: Daisy chain + one clove hitch +: fairly fast, helpful for clipping to rappel anchors -: requires extra piece of gear (daisy chain) Stacking belay rope (and second/rappel rope if needed) Lead belay (position) Feed out rope, with certain amount of slack for quick clipping. Space in belay position to bring braking hand over to side and behind butt. Special risk - Factor 2 fall. Factor = fall length/rope used. Problems: A. High force on belay anchor - can pull a weak anchor. B. Difficult to hold leader fall. The rope running up and over the top carabiner typically reduces force to the belayer by 50%! So the rope will want to slip through the belayer's brake hand twice as much. Also, since the rope direction in the ATC changes from up to down, it will be harder to bring the rope to the side properly. Solutions: A: Clip rope through quickdraw on anchor. Can remove after some lead gear is placed, to ease rope handling. B: Leader places a strong piece early. Even better: 2 pieces before the first hard climbing. Leader-Follower Communication (names, verbal and non-verbal) Standard signals: A. (start of pitch) Belay On [name], Thank you / Climbing, Climb Away B. (during pitch) Slack, Watch Me, Take/Hold Me/Tension, Falling C. (end of pitch) Off Belay [name], Thank you / Belay Off [name] (when rope out of ATC) (leader pulls in all slack rope) Is That You?, That's Me (optional: Am I On Belay [name]?), Belay On [name] Alternative signal (confirm with partner at start of pitch before using): 3 tugs on rope (after all slack rope pulled in) = Belay On [name] Follower removes anchor, then climbs and removes gear on pitch. Rack gear in size order if possible Unclip quickdraws/slings from gear and rack separately Rethread "slowdraws" (sling + 2 biners) and rack separately Best sequence to avoid dropping gear: leave biner from gear or sling clipped into rope while removing gear from crack (or unclipping biner from bolt). Unclip gear from sling and clip onto rack. Then unclip the sling from the rope and clip onto rack. If the climbing is very hard, you can let the gear stack up on the rope until you reach a rest. This sequence may be difficult if there is tension on the rope; in that case unclip sling from rope first, then you can clip the sling into your rack. Then remove gear from crack, unclip it from sling and rack it separately. Clip anchor (as above); leader takes follower off belay Hand over gear to leader if block leading Multi-pitch sequence (repeat above process; swing leading or block leading) Restack rope if block leading. What it takes to bail (leader issue); estimating time required to finish route Optional basic non-climbing gear to bring on a multi-pitch - headlamp - Small pack (best if one per person) - water - food - wind/rain shell (doubles as warm layer) - warm layers (wool or synthetic) - knife (Safety of knives around taut rope) - descent shoes (if not rappelling back to base) 4. Rappelling Four main risks (in rough order of occurence): A. Rappel anchor fails B. Rappel off end of rope (sometimes due to uneven rope lengths) C. Loose rock knocked off by pulled ropes hits climbers D. Ropes hang up during pull and climber has to ascend rope or climb with belay on available rope. If unsuccessful, have to cut rope and attempt further rappels on remaining (short) rope(s). Or team is stranded and rescue required, unless there is a way to climb off/down. Sequence: - Inspect and test rappel anchor. Use a backup anchor and have heavier person go first, if forced to use a weak anchor. - Clip into rappel anchor, using 2 separate slings girth hitched to harness (standard length sling + quickdraw gives a good length and options; one sling can be a daisy chain if you prefer using it) - Device types (ATC or similar best; learn carabiner brake and Munter hitch in case ATC is dropped) - Tie ropes together (figure-eight rewoven), with one rope threaded through anchor rings. - Note which end will be pulled (knotted side) - Coil ropes for throwing, if necessary - (no) Knots in rope ends, unless you are unable to determine if the rope reaches the next anchor. Even then, Knots often go into a crack and can become stuck (sometimes below the next anchor where you don't want to go). Also, people invariably forget to remove the knots prior to pulling the rope for retrieval, and it gets stuck in the rappel rings above. Better to use a belay (first person rappels single fixed line with belay on second rope) when uncertain. Carry gear to build an anchor and/or prusiks if very uncertain. Alternative is to use an autoblock type knot. - Throw off ropes - First person: Untangles ropes (from above). Use leg wrap to hold position while dealing with snarl Note possible places for knot to hang up Bring some gear for next anchor, if questionable (such as knife to cut old slings; new tied sling to replace old sling) - If unsure that rope will reach an acceptable anchor: Bring more gear, including prusiks or ascenders to climb back up the rope. Consider using a belay (fix one rope, belay on second rope). If rappelling in the dark (with or without headlamp), check for approaching ends of ropes often. - Locate and reach next anchor Clip into anchor (as above) Remove rope from ATC. Signal: "Off Rappel" reply: "Thank you" Retain both ropes, especially the end which will be pulled - helpful to feed some of it through rappel rings at lower anchor. Test pulling rope if it looks difficult Hold ends of rope; be ready to pull down to arrest fall of partner if they lose control of rappel. - Second person: Move knot over edge if necessary Put ATC on rope (below knot), clip through biner. Double check that rope is fed correctly and that biner is on belay loop of harness (not on a gear loop). Use leg wrap if hard to reach biners for unclipping. Unclip from anchor. Keep rope in same position as first person Keep strands straight (ATC helpful) - Retrieving ropes: Pull knotted side (thicker rope easier if possible) One person pulls rope; other person feeds rope through next anchor rings and checks for knots in the rising end 5. Where to go (and not to go) from here Transition from toproping and bolted climbing to gear climbing: - practice placing and testing gear. One of the best ways is to do some short aid climbing on toprope, where you find out right away what placements hold body weight. - toprope (low angle) crack climbs to build crack climbing skills (indoor cracks are usually too slippery, so don't be discouraged). - toprope steep crack climbs to build endurance, once you have the basic skills - buy a guidebook and find climbs you want to do (short term and long term) (Helpful to borrow guidebooks to compare first if there are competing editions). Talk to your friends or new climbers you meet and see what they have been doing, and what their goals and plans are. - learn about lead climbing, so that even when you are following, you are learning about what the leader is doing - do some "mock leads' (toprope belay but trail a rope and place gear while climbing). Have your partner critique or test your placements. You can also test the gear by hanging on it on lead, if you have a second belayer minding the rope you are trailing. - do some bolted lead climbs, to learn the basics of clipping in quickly and smoothly. Also good for strength/endurance training. Requires quickdraws (or slings and biners) and a lead rope. - follow some gear climbs, if have a friend who leads. It helps if you have good crack climbing skills and gear removal skills, as well as gear like cams (of similar type to the leader's) to add to the lead rack. - lead some easy/moderate gear climbs which you have toproped or followed before. - lead some easy/moderate gear climbs which your partner has climbed before - practice downclimbing (on toprope and on lead). This is one skill which helps prevent falls, along with understanding how solid you are, and locating resting points and protection from below. - Buy some gear: - set of stoppers (Black Diamond or Wild Country Rocks to .75" best; the Metolius are curved along the "wrong" axis for fitting into piton scars) [about $6 each if new; OK to buy used but may be harder to find a set] - set of TCUs (Metolius #1, 2, 3 or equivalent Aliens or other brands) [about $35-40 each] - set of Camalots (#.5, .75, 1, 2, 3) or equivalent Friends or similar if your partner uses them [Camalots are $62.50 each retail; start with #1 and #2 if your budget is tight; a discount helps]. Probably OK to buy used and older (pre-C4) single stem models are fine, but C4s are much lighter which is helpful if you are doing harder climbs. Having your own gear is expensive, but it gives you a wider range of climbing partners (so you can climb more often, etc.) and signals your ability/motivation level to the better climbers. You will actually want 2 sets of the above gear, plus slings and biners to lead most climbs, so partners usually combine their gear to reach this quantity. This means it is helpful to have the same kind of gear that your partner uses. - swing leads with a partner of similar ability to yours (ultimate goal)