Advanced Rock

Climbing
Mastering Sport and
Trad Climbing

Bob Gaines
Guilford, Connecticut
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Publishing Group, Inc.
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Copyright © 2018 by Bob Gaines

All photos by Bob Gaines unless otherwise

noted
Illustrations by Mike Clelland

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Warning: Climbing is a
dangerous sport. You can be
seriously injured or die.
Read the following before
you use this book.

This is an instruction book about

rock climbing, a sport that is
inherently dangerous. Do not
depend solely on information
from this book for your personal
safety. Your climbing safety
depends on your own judgment
based on competent instruction,
experience, and a realistic
assessment of your climbing
ability.
 There is no substitute for
personal instruction in rock
climbing, and such instruction is
widely available. You should
engage an instructor or guide to
learn climbing and safety
techniques. If you misinterpret a
concept expressed in this book,
you may be killed or seriously
injured as a result of the
misunderstanding. Therefore, the
information provided in this
book should be used only to
supplement competent personal
instruction from a climbing
instructor or guide. Even after
you are proficient in climbing
safely, occasional use of a
climbing guide is a safe way to
raise your climbing standard and
learn advanced techniques.
There are no warranties,
either expressed or implied, that
this instruction book contains
accurate and reliable
information. There are no
warranties as to fitness for a
particular purpose or that this
book is merchantable. Your use
of this book indicates your
assumption of the risk of death
or serious injury as a result of
the risks of climbing and is an
acknowledgment of your own
sole responsibility for your
safety in climbing and/or
rappelling or in training for
climbing and/or rappelling.
The author and Globe Pequot
assume no liability for accidents
happening to, or injuries
sustained by, readers who
engage in the activities
described in this book.
Nicki Dyal leads Course and Buggy
(5.11a) at Joshua Tree.
PHOTO BY GREG EPPERSON
 Contents

Foreword by Peter Croft

Acknowledgments
Introduction

Chapter 1. Face Climbing

Techniques
Slab Climbing
Extreme Slab Climbing
Steep Face Climbing
 Face Holds
Hip Position
Push/Pull Technique
The Deadpoint Principal
Mantles

Chapter 2. Crack Climbing,

by Peter Croft
Pain Avoidance
Footwork
Milking the Jam
Don’t Be So Awkward
Finger Cracks
Thumbs-up Jamming
Thumbs-up Finger Jamming
 Thumbs-down Finger Jamming
Hand Jamming
Thin Hands
Wide Hands
Fist Jams
Off-widths
Chimneys
Liebacks
Placing Gear
Practice Makes Perfect
Taping Up

Chapter 3. Rope, Slings,

Cord, and Carabiners
Rope
History
Kernmantle Ropes
Unicore Ropes
Dynamic Rope Types
UIAA and CE Certification for
Dynamic Ropes
Static and Low-Stretch Ropes
Dynamic, Low-Stretch, or
Static
Diameter and Sheath
Percentage
Sharp Edge Resistance
Static Elongation
Dry or Non-Dry
Rope Length
Rope Care and Use
Marking the Middle of Your
 Rope
Coiling and Uncoiling Your
Rope
Backpacker or Butterfly Coil
Slings and Webbing
Flat Webbing
Tubular Webbing
Knots for Webbing
Tensile Strength versus Loop
Strength
Spectra and Dyneema Slings
Cord and Cordelettes
Carabiners

Chapter 4. Anchoring
Rock Assessment
 Macro to Micro Rock
Assessment
Natural Anchors
Nuts
The Evolution of Chockcraft
Assessing Nut Placement
Cams
Placing an SLCD
Fixed Anchors
Pitons
Bolts
Standard Rack

Chapter 5. Anchor Systems

The RENE Principal
 Principals of Equalization
Pre-Equalized: The Cordelette
System
Adjusting the Cordelette
Self-Equalizing Systems
Vectors
The Joshua Tree System
Unmonitored Anchor Systems
Making the Transition from
Rigging to Rappelling
Anchor System Assessment for
Gear Anchors

Chapter 6. Sport Climbing

History
Sport Climbing Safety
 Common Sport Climbing
Accidents
Leading Sport Climbs
Falling
Transitions: Lowering and
Rappelling
Lowering through Chains/Rings
Transition from Toproping to
Rappelling
Belaying Sport Climbs

Chapter 7. Trad Climbing

Static versus Dynamic
The Fall Factor
Fall Forces
 Worst-Case Scenarios
Fall Factor 2
What Is a Kilonewton? (kN)
The Zipper Effect
Falling
Rope Stretch and Protecting the
Follower
Multipitch Efficiency
Multipitch Rope Management
Strategies for a Party of Three

Chapter 8. Aid Climbing

The Yosemite Method of
Leading
The Yosemite Method of
 Big Wall Climbing
Jumaring
The Yosemite Method of
Jumaring
Cleaning Aid Pitches
Following Pendulums and
Tension Traverses
Bivouacking

Chapter 9. Soloing
Free Soloing
Rope Soloing: Self-
Belaying
Self-Belaying with a Single
 Fixed Line
Self-Belaying with Two Ropes

Chapter 10. Belaying

The Hip Belay
Manual Braking Devices
Multipurpose Devices:
Autoblocking Devices
Assisted Braking Devices
Plaquette Devices
Standard Climbing Signals
Standardized Climbing Signals
Belaying on a Toprope
The Ground Anchor
Two-Rope Toprope Setups
Belaying from the Top
Belaying off the Harness: The
Indirect Belay
Escaping the Belay
The Redirected Belay
The Direct Belay
The Rope Direct Belay
Lowering
Lowering with a Grigri
Lowering with a Munter Hitch
Using an Autoblock Knot as a
Backup When Lowering
Lowering with a Redirected
Manual Braking Device
Lowering with an Autoblocking
Device
Chapter 11. Rappelling
Rappelling Safety:
Preventing Rappel
Accidents
Scenario 1: Rappelling Off One
or Both Ends of the Rope
Scenario 2: Not Clipping Both
Strands of the Rope into the
Carabiner
Rappel Belays
Rappel Backups
Rappelling Safety Checks
Multipitch Rappelling
Tandem Rappel
Simul Rappel
 Rappelling with a Heavy
Pack or Haul Bag
Rope Management
Tossing the Rope
Retrieving the Rope
Dealing with Stuck Ropes
The Reepschnur Method

Chapter 12. Rescue and

Assistance Skills
Improvised Rope
Ascending: Prusiking
Ascending a Single Fixed
Rope
 Assistance from the Top
3:1 Raising System
3:1 Assisted Raise from a
Direct Belay
Assistance from Below
Climber Pickoff on a Toprope
Rescuing a Fallen Leader

Chapter 13. Knots

Loop Knots
Knot Terminology
Overhand Loop
Figure Eight Follow-Through
Figure Eight Loop
In-Line Figure Eight
Bowline
Double-Loop Knots
BHK
Double-Loop Figure Eight
Double-Loop Bowline (aka
Bowline on a Bight)
Knots for Webbing
Bends
Figure Eight Bend
Double Fisherman’s Knot
Triple Fisherman’s Knot
Knots for Joining Two
Rappel Ropes
Flat Overhand (aka Euro Death
Knot)
Hitches
Clove Hitch
 Munter Hitch
Prusik Knot
Klemheist Knot
Autoblock
Stopper Knot

Chapter 14. Risk

Management
Anatomy of an Accident
Inattentional Blindness
Rockfall
Closing the System
Safety Checks
Anchor
Belayer
 Climber

Chapter 15. Leave No

Trace Ethics
About the Author
Jeff Schoen leading The Prescription
(5.11), Needles, California.
PHOTO BY GREG EPPERSON
 Foreword

C limbing for me was a doorway to

a world that made sense. As a
teenager rebelling against authority and
boggled by the downright weirdness of
city life, I opted out as much as I could.
Dabbling in a number of sports, I never
connected with anything—until I touched
rock. Compared with the made-up rules
of man-made games, climbing
immediately brought me in touch with a
real and wild world governed by the
laws of nature. In that “Aha!” moment
the million-volt light bulb switched on
above my head and I realized: This isn’t
just sport; this is my new life!
Finding what you are born to do
doesn’t mean you can do it, though—not
right away, at least. It did, however,
provide me with enough fire in my belly
to hurdle the obstacles and tackle the
setbacks. Still, I could have used some
help. I was living in western Canada
when climbing hadn’t yet become a
thing. I scoured the library, but there
were far more books on Sasquatch than
on anything to do with rock climbing.
Trying to learn when there was no one to
teach obviously slowed my progress and
presented me with all kinds of needless
stumbling blocks and even do-or-die
scenarios. Over time, though, I bumbled
my way to a level of proficiency that
allowed me to visit some of the greatest
climbing areas on the planet.
What it brought me went way beyond
what I expected. Searching for cliffs
around the world, I’ve come face to face
with mountain lions and Himalayan yaks,
kangaroos and koalas, exotic birds and
venomous snakes. But it is the climbing
that has been the most mind bending, hair
curling, and jaw dropping. And it is that
intensity that heightens the senses and—I
think—makes us better than who we are.
Rock gymnastics above a thousand feet
of air, needle-sharp summits against blue
skies almost black from the altitude, and
adventures so rich they turn climbing
friends into blood brothers. Climbing
alone, I even found some of that relaxed
familiarity with an environment normally
achieved by lizards and monkeys.
A lot has changed since I first started
climbing. My initial roadblock was too
little information; now you could say that
there is too much. Anyone with a laptop
can publish, whether it’s a treasure trove
of good insight or a Dumpster full of
rubbish. The tough part now is finding
that treasure.
I first got to know Bob Gaines down
in Joshua Tree, where he owned and ran
Vertical Adventures. That was over
twenty years ago, and since then I have
guided for him and, when schedules
allowed, climbed with him. As a
climber, he has some of the very best
footwork, especially on that maddening
off-vertical granite where the dinky
smears and razor-blade edges lie right
on the cusp of invisibility. I once tried to
follow him on one of his new routes.
Watching him go first, it looked
downright casual, perhaps a good warm-
up before getting on something hard. I
started up with a head full of confidence.
I was fit, I was experienced, I was sure
this was a done thing—and I was wrong!
Halfway up I slammed up against a
baffling bit of blankness. I just couldn’t
grasp what kind of sorcery Bob had used
to glide his way through it. There was no
way I could crank through on finger
strength either; there was nothing there.
You clearly had to have a pact with the
devil or possess insane technical skills.
I had neither.
As a guide, Bob defines the gold
standard. Simply put, he is the best I’ve
seen. There is no one thing that makes a
good guide, either. Of course there’s the
raw ability as a climber, but there is
also a host of rope techniques, rock
skills, and the nebulous realm of
massive experience. He knows five
times as many knots as I do—OK, so it’s
more like ten times. His résumé includes
the first ascents of big walls, hard free
climbs, and doubling for Captain Kirk
on El Cap for a Star Trek movie. Who
else can say that? He has risen to the
point of instructing new guides. In other
words, he teaches the teachers. He has
also written widely on the subject,
producing many how-to books. All of
this is to say that he is a world-class
communicator about climbing.
At the core of it all, though, is Bob’s
love of climbing coupled with his
enthusiasm for teaching and inspiring. It
is this that makes the adventure of
learning come alive and take you places.
Enjoy the trip!

Peter Croft
June 2017
Peter Croft free solos, tips (5.12a), Yosemite
Valley.
PHOTO BY GREG EPPERSON
Eric Decaria on the Cobra Formation,
Canyonlands National Park, Utah.
PHOTO BY GREGE PPERSON
Acknowledgments

F irst and foremost, I’d like to thank

John Burbidge for putting it all
together. Thanks to project editor Ellen
Urban, copy editor Paulette Baker, and
Melissa Evarts for the great layout and
design.
Thanks to Peter Croft for writing the
chapter on crack climbing. Peter is,
without a doubt, the best crack climber
on the planet and, as far as I know, the
first climber to on-sight free solo a 5.12
crack climb. Peter can climb a 5.9 hand
crack with about as much effort as it
takes me to walk down a sidewalk.
Thanks to Wills Young for his
contribution on steep face climbing
techniques.
Special thanks to John Long for
being an influential climbing mentor, and
for all those insightful conversations we
had while working together on the
Climbing Anchors books.
Thanks to Greg Epperson for his
wonderful photography.
Thanks to all those who graciously
posed for pictures, including Patty
Kline, Peter Croft, Tony Sartin, Terri
Condon, Tony Grice, Mike Moretti,
Todd Gordon, Erik Kramer-Webb,
Tommy Romerro, Dave Mayville,
Michael Baines, Steve Schwartz, Mike
and Lori Satzberg, Lisa Rands, Kevin
Jackson, Robin Depke, Adam Radford,
Carmen Cendejas, Casey Stroud,
Melissa Popejoy, Erin Guinn, Lori
Shiraishi, Frank Bentwood, Francisco
Kim, Alex Nunez, John Lauretig, David
Kerner, Roddy McCalley, and Anne
Marie Richardson.
Thanks to all my fellow guides and
mentors, from whom I’ve learned a great
deal: Erik Kramer-Webb, Chris
Baumann, Marcus Jollif, Tony Sartin,
Tony Grice, Dave Mayville, Wills
Young, Pat Dennis, Adam Fox, Jon
Tierney, Alan Jolley, Todd Vogel, Mark
Houston, and Ron Funderburke.
Thanks to my wife, Yvonne, for her
help with the photo editing.
I’d like to thank my climbing
partners for all the great adventures and
lessons learned along the way, including
Ed Salazar, Tod Conover, Rich
Piotrowski, Kevin Blackburn, Charlie
Peterson, Dave Katz, Banny Root, Pat
Brennan, Mike Paul, Roy McClenehan,
Scott Cosgrove, Fred Becky, Jay Smith,
Werner Braun, John Long, John Bachar,
Peter Croft, John Mallery, Tony Sartin,
Todd Gordon, Alan Bartlett, Dave
Mayville, Tommy Romerro, Frank
Bentwood, Kelly Vaught, Chris
Baumann, and last but not least, my
favorite partner of them all, and partner
for life, my wife Yvonne.
Bob Gaines on the Lost Arrow Spire
PHOTO BY JEAN YURGALEWICZ
 Introduction

T his book is written from an

instructor’s perspective. For more
than thirty years I’ve worked as a
professional rock climbing instructor
and climbing school manager. Many of
the techniques in this book were learned
over these years—from other guides and
from peer training and review I’ve
received through the American Mountain
Guides Association (AMGA). I’m
currently an instructor and examiner for
the AMGA’s Single Pitch Instructor
program, and many of the principals in
this book are a result of my exposure to
and collaboration with other AMGA
instructors.
It’s been said that to truly become an
expert, no matter what field, you’ll need
to log 10,000 hours to fully master the
subject. For example, if you want to be
an expert crack climber, and you can get
in 5 hours of crack work in a day’s
climbing, you’ll have to crack climb for
at least 2,000 days to reach expert status.
There are no shortcuts. You must pay
your dues, and there is no substitute for
time on the rock.
What level you eventually attain will
depend on your time constraints, level of
motivation, and physical limitations, but
you can accelerate your development by
first building a solid foundation,
mastering good fundamentals, and
benefiting from good mentoring and
coaching.
As a climbing instructor, I’ve got my
10,000 hours. My goal for this book is to
convey the salient lessons I’ve learned
over time—in particular, those key
techniques and systems I’ve found to be
most beneficial. My hope is that this
book becomes your favorite reference
for knots, systems, and fundamentals—
the veritable “tools in your tool box”
you can utilize in your pursuit to
becoming an expert, and to do it safely.
Climbing can never truly be
mastered; you’re always learning, every
step of the way. Enjoy the process, and
enjoy the journey. In the end it’s not
important how hard you climb—it’s
about how much fun you have along the
way.

Bob Gaines
July 2017
Beth Renn leads Vector Analysis (5.11),
Grapevine Area, San Bernardino
Mountains, California.
PHOTO BY GREG EPPERSON
 CHAPTER 1

Face Climbing
Techniques

Slab Climbing
When I began rock climbing in the early
1970s, the infamous “Stonemasters”
ruled the Southern California crag scene.
At that time, American and British
climbers were setting the standards, and
the Stonemasters were doing some of the
hardest rock climbs in the world.
Entrance to their elite clique was direct:
You had to flash Valhalla, a three-pitch
route at Suicide Rock, perhaps the first
5.11 edging climb in America. Back
then, the best shoes were hard-rubber
PAs and RDs, both totally unsuitable for
difficult edging and smearing routes like
Valhalla. Not until EBs came along did
the ranks of the Stonemasters grow,
although only slightly.
Everything changed when sticky
rubber shoes arrived. Precise edging
was out, and smearing was in—pasting
the ball of the foot directly onto the rock,
letting the edge, crystal, or merest
rugosity “bite” into the boot sole. Some
climbers referred to this new technique
as “smedging.” Around 1980 the Boreal
Fire (pronounced FEE-ray) arrived,
with a dramatically stickier rubber, and
a slab renaissance ensued. Some of the
old test pieces seemed a full grade
easier in the new boots, and by 1985
almost every serious Suicide climber
was a Stonemaster. I remember a slab
boulder problem at the Camp 4 boulders
in Yosemite that I had tried in vain
hundreds of times but was able to do
first try with my brand-new pair of
Fires. Such is the part technology has
played in slab climbing.
Extreme on-sight slab climbing
requires quick thinking to unravel
puzzling move combinations. Exacting
footwork is essential, as is balance and
relaxation under duress. Even the
slightest quaking will send the boot
skating away.
I like to work in two sets: handhold
and footholds. First I scan the rock for
the two best handholds. On edges I
prefer the “crimp” grip (placing the
thumb over the forefinger) for optimal
power, digging the finger pads straight
down onto the holds for the most
positive purchase. On difficult slab
routes the edges will generally be tiny—
as thin as razor blades and one or two
finger pads wide.
When no obvious edges are
apparent, simply digging the finger pads
into the most roughly textured area will
help. Any downward pressure on the
fingers is taking weight off the feet,
making it easier for them to stick on
sketchy holds. This is the key to hard
slab climbing: maintaining points of
contact and letting go with the fingers of
one hand only to quickly latch the next
edge.
Many of the most extreme slab
cruxes consist of sidepull combinations,
pulling sideways on vertical edges with
arms extended in an iron-cross position.
On low-angle slabs, palming is often the
key and helps keep the center of gravity
over the feet. The idea is “nose over
toes.”
Jay Smith on Hall of Mirrors, Glacier
Point Apron, Yosemite.
Nose over toes. Carmen Cendejas on
Leap Erickson (5.10b), Joshua Tree.

In my experience as a climbing
instructor at Joshua Tree, a common
client profile for guided climbing is a
client with at least some gym experience
but little or no outdoor experience on
real rock. For this situation I typically
start clients off on a slab, for several
reasons. One is to get them used to
“reading” the rock, looking for the
subtleties and nuances of face holds,
which can be tough for someone used to
seeing colored holds on a gym wall.
Another reason is that it begins the
learning curve of valuable lessons on
smearing: what will stick and what
won’t. Each move is a lesson and a
positive building of trust and confidence
in the ability of the shoe’s rubber to
adhere to the rock. On a slab bereft of
any obvious hand- and footholds, the
client is forced to trust the friction of the
boots while learning the subtleties of
body position and center of gravity.
Since footwork is the key to all climbing
technique, even crack climbing, this
builds a foundation that carries over to
all other climbing techniques.
Basic smearing profile. The heel should
be lower relative to the toe. Angle the
position of your foot to best take
advantage of the shape of the smear. In
general, you’ll want your heel pointed
away from the rock, but let the angle and
shape of the hold dictate the position of
your foot.
 Watch a world-class climber and the
first thing you’ll notice is his or her
fluid, ultra-precise footwork. Clients
often ask me, “How can I have smooth
footwork?” What I tell them is this: The
first thing to do is mentally focus on it
from the second you step off the ground.
The goal is “quiet feet.” If you’re
tapping or dragging your foot up the
rock, you’ll hear it. Climb with your
eyes. Never take your eyes off the hold
until your foot is set precisely on the
hold, and consciously think about the
best positioning of your foot on the hold.
Never look for another handhold until
both feet are set. Slowing down your
movement will help you focus on
precision.
 Edges, sharp crystals, and protruding
rugosities are the most obvious smearing
targets. On low-angle blank slabs, often
what you’re looking for is simply a
ripple or dimple that’s slightly less
steep. There are many friction climbs at
Joshua Tree that are completely devoid
of edges, climbed via a series of smears
that resemble a miniature version of
moguls on a ski run.
When things get steeper and the route
has more defined edges, remember that
you can use both the inside and outside
edge of the shoe. The basic edging
technique is for the level of the heel to
be slightly higher than the toe.
To rest, if you’re on a tiny stance big
enough for only one foot, use your heel
to stand on it, resting your toes, while
you shake out the other foot. Then switch
feet and do the same. Another resting
technique on a two-foot stance is to bend
your knees and balance against the wall
with your knees.
To rest on a slab, place your heel on the
hold, then shake out your other foot.
Peter Croft demonstrates how to rest on
tiny edges—hips in, knees against the
rock. On Solid Gold (5.10), Joshua Tree
National Park.

On traverses, crossing inside with

the opposite foot works best, using the
outside edge portion of the shoe that’s
crossing through to smear with. Ankle
flexion helps maintain maximum surface
contact between the rubber and the rock.
Always focus on shifting the center of
gravity to directly over the foothold
you’re stepping up on. A slightly
dynamic technique with the lower leg
will help you shift your center of gravity
most effectively: Once the upper foot is
set, bend the knee of the lower leg
slightly and push off the lower hold as
you shift your center of gravity to the
upper foothold. This won’t work for
super high steps where you’re most
extended, but it will work most all the
time and is a key fundamental that makes
slab moves far less tiring on the legs.
Peter Croft demonstrates the crossover
step, frontpointing on edges.

On extremes slabs (5.12 and harder),

where only the tiniest of edges, slightest
ripples, or merest dimples mar the slab
plane, frontpointing on microsmears is
called for. Here, just the very front tip of
the shoe is smeared, with the heel held
relatively high. Contrary to popular
belief, the best shoe for hard slab
climbing is actually one with a stiffer
sole, not a soft slipper-like one. A stiffer
shoe will allow you to edge better,
frontpoint, and smear better on miniscule
holds without tiring your feet as much as
a softer boot will.
For optimal performance of climbing
sole rubber, temperature is key. This is
especially true for hard friction climbs.
Modern climbing rubber smears best at
between 45°F and 55°F, so take on that
slab test piece in the cool shade. Any
dirt on your boot sole will be extremely
detrimental, so meticulously clean your
shoe soles before attempting that hard
slab pitch. Rub off any dirt or grime, and
clean the soles if necessary with a little
water and a toothbrush. When properly
clean, your soles should make a
squeaking sound when you rub them hard
with the palm of your hand.
Peter Croft using proper edging
technique on a steep slab—weight out
and over the feet, heels slightly higher
than the toes, heels in to the rock.
Climbers on Pywiack Dome, Tuolumne
Meadows, Yosemite, California.

Once shod, never walk around in the

dirt. Dirt-impregnated soles are never
the same. And never put chalk on your
shoes—it greatly reduces your traction.
Climbers discovered this fact in the 70s
while working on a route called Hall of
Mirrors on Glacier Point Apron in
Yosemite. Many of the cruxes were as
smooth as glass, and the first
ascensionists discovered that any chalk
dust on the footholds made it impossible
for the feet to stick. By not using chalk,
and subsequently not getting any chalk
dust on the holds, they found that the
smears worked.
On many of the old-school classic
slabs, runouts of 15 to 20 feet are
common. Leading these gems is an
exercise in poise and mind control.
Staying relaxed while facing a big fall is
a tough proposition, but here are some
tips. Focus on your breathing; steady,
deep breaths will help you stay calm.
When you get to a foothold where you
feel comfortable, take advantage of it;
shake out each leg, one at a time. On
difficult routes I give myself a one-word
mantra: “Relax.” After each move I’ll
say it to myself: “Relax,” mentally
monitoring what muscles I’m firing the
most and not tensing up more than I need
to. After each move I’ll think “relax”; do
another move, “relax”; another move,
“relax.” Before I know it, I’m through
the crux.
Today, with so many climbers
learning technique in a vertical-walled
gym environment, slab climbing has
become somewhat of a lost art. But
footwork is the foundation of all
technique, and confidence in smearing
establishes your connectivity to the rock,
even on steeper routes.
Any aspiring trad (traditional)
climber can benefit greatly from a long
apprenticeship on the slabs. The subtle
tricks of balance and footwork, well
learned from trial and error and time on
the rock, can be applied later to steeper
test pieces, where footwork still is the
key to success.
For the expert, extreme on-sight slab
climbing demands a quick mind to solve
the puzzle, mental poise, and steady
resolve for the long runouts, plus the
exacting footwork and balance of a
dancer. Successfully climbing what
looks impossibly blank might be the
sweetest victory of all.
Perhaps Royal Robbins summed it
up best in his book Basic Rockcraft:
“Slab climbing is a special art different
from face climbing and crack climbing.
Strength is less important, although
strong fingers and sturdy foot muscles
help. The expert slab climber is
distinguished by grace and a cool mind.
He keeps his weight over his feet and
moves calmly and deliberately, as if he
were only a foot off the ground. He does
not rush. He looks ahead, carefully
calculating his tactics, and acts with
resolution. His footwork is neat and deft,
for he realizes the importance of precise
use of holds. And he concentrates totally
on the problem in front of him.”

Extreme Slab Climbing

One of the most difficult slab climbs
I’ve ever done was a new route on
Saddle Rock in Joshua Tree. It’s a three-
pitch route called Silver Spur, with the
crux being the third pitch. The route was
done ground up, and after the twelve
protection bolts on the crux pitch were
meticulously installed while hanging
precariously off hooks, I knew that to
free climb it, I’d have to perform way
beyond my previous limits.
Success came from applying sport
climbing tactics to a slab climb. While
the pitch had no one single show-stopper
move, it was seriously sustained, with a
5.11+ section after each of the first
seven bolts. The difficulty was a
cumulative effect: performing 100 feet of
intricate moves with exacting precision,
and without tiring out.
I always love a good project—
something to aspire to, dream about,
visualize, and train for. Success took me
many tries over several years to have it
all come together, but I learned some
good lessons about extreme slab
climbing. One of the most important
things was temperature. The optimal
temperature for hard slab climbing is
around 45°F. This is the best temp not
only for your boot rubber to stick to the
rock but also for your finger pads to
contact the rock.
Bob Gaines leading Field of Dreams
(5.11d), Tahquitz Rock, California, 1995.

PHOTO BY SAM ROBERTS

One year, with the temperature about

65°F in the shade, I made it past the crux
and was mentally celebrating. But
unbeknownst to me, one of my fingertips
had been sliced on a razor-sharp edge
and was bleeding, causing it to slip off a
sidepull higher on the pitch. I hung there
momentarily, suspended on my tippy
toes, until the sudden shift in balance
sent me hinging out from the wall, then
losing all points of contact.
Temperatures only got warmer and
warmer until summer arrived. I’d have
to wait for the fall season before ideal
conditions would come around again.
To train for the climb, I made a list
of all the V3 slab boulder problems I
could find at Joshua Tree and frequented
them as often as possible. Doing laps on
these was a confidence booster, and my
finger pads toughened up from all the
crimping on minuscule edges. When I
couldn’t climb for a few days, I used a
pet rock with a sharp edge and worked it
as a pinch grip to keep the finger pads
tough.
Tony Sartin on Silver Spur, Joshua Tree
National Park (5.12).

On my initial attempts, it felt so thin,

precarious, exposed, and scary that my
jitters always sent me sliding off the
holds. Strength wasn’t the issue; it was
performing such thin and balancy
sequences with the fear of falling
creeping in. I needed to relax and
maintain composure. The key to success
was simply to warm up properly,
physically and psychologically: Practice
the moves, then perform the sequences
without getting nervous or scared. To
warm up on the pitch, I’d hang and rest
on each bolt until I was able to climb the
entire pitch up to the anchor. I’d be
doing all the moves, but resting in
between.
Once I reached the anchor, I tried to
toprope the pitch without falling, and
made tic marks with chalk on all the key
holds. Once I accomplished a no-falls
toprope ascent, I pulled the rope for the
redpoint.
On hard slab routes, tic marks can be
extremely effective simply because the
edges and holds are often very difficult
to see. They can make a huge difference
when the holds get ultrathin and
nebulous. Just take the time to brush
them off with a soft toothbrush after
you’re done so that the next climber can
experience a tic mark–free, on-sight
experience if he or she so desires. After
all, what you consider your ultimate test
piece might be just a warm-up for the
next climber. As I often say, “One man’s
ceiling is another man’s floor.”
After many years trying, I finally
redpointed Silver Spur in 2005. I’ve
never been back up there, and I can’t
envision getting psyched enough or
motivated enough to do a repeat ascent.
As Royal Robbins once said, “The lure
of the first is strong.” As far as I know, it
hasn’t had a second ascent, but I’m sure
the day will come when some virtuoso
slab climber will flash the route on-
sight.

Steep Face Climbing

In my work with the AMGA’s Single
Pitch Instructor Program, I’ve served as
an examiner for their Single Pitch
Instructor Assessment. It’s a two-day
exam where the candidates are tested on
a variety of categories, including
technical scenarios, client care, risk
management, and teaching skills. On day
two the candidates are presented with
clients and the goal is to accurately
assess their abilities in a group setting in
their role of instructor/guide.
Before this exam day I give
candidates a list of potential topics and
ask them to pick one for a lesson they’ll
present to the students. In one exam I had
the opportunity to assess Wills Young,
whose lesson was on face climbing
technique. I’ve seen a lot of lessons on
technique over the years, but Wills’s
stood out.
Wills was born in California but
grew up in England, where he began
face climbing on Grit-stone. He moved
back to California, living in Bishop for
fourteen years where he honed his face
climbing skills on the granite of the
Buttermilks boulders. He migrated to
Chattanooga, Tennessee, where he runs
an outdoor guiding/indoor coaching
business along with Lisa Rands out of
the High Point Climbing and Fitness
gyms.
I’ve often said that you don’t need to
run 100 meters in 10 seconds to be a
great track and field coach—but it helps,
especially if you can effectively convey
your knowledge verbally and with
demonstration. Wills is one of those
coaches. He’s one of the only humans to
solve a V13 boulder problem, and he is
able to clearly and effectively
communicate the fundamental mechanics
of advanced techniques to his students.
When Wills gave his presentation on
face climbing techniques, I took notes. I
can honestly say that it was one of the
best presentations on climbing
techniques I’ve seen, and I’ve seen a lot
of them. I dug out the notes I’d scrawled
down years ago.
Wills broke it down into these main
principals:
1. Grip
2. Hip Position
3. The Push/Pull Principle
4. The Deadpoint Principle

When I began writing this book, I

contacted Wills, who added some
additional insights:
“I think what made/makes me a good
face climber is the experience I gained
as an older climber learning to excel on
face and slab climbs before the climbing
gyms changed the scene and steeper
climbing became the fad. I was always
baffled by overhangs because while I
had strong fingers and good face-
climbing technique, I had not developed
the bigger muscles for the steeper
boulders. But through extensive gym
climbing and training I’m better at them
now!”
“The ability to climb well on near
vertical, roughly two-dimensional walls
defines face-climbing skill. Flexibility
of the hamstrings and hip turnout are key
components to mastery. These
components enable high-steps to be
made between chosen footholds. Turnout
is the ability to rotate the knees and toes
outward to bring the hips closer to the
wall, and is one of the most important
attributes of a good face climber. This
flexibility along with that of the
hamstrings can be improved with
practice and exercise. Static stretching
ability is only half the battle: Look to
strengthen your legs while climbing on
easier terrain by stretching up onto the
tips of your toes and raising your feet to
high holds in order to build and maintain
necessary muscle, and muscle memory,
not just in your calves and thighs and
butt, but in your obliques, and abs.”
“Of course strength is slow to build,
while technique can make a difference in
a matter of days, hours, or even minutes!
In order to get the most from the strength
you have when face climbing, always
identify key footholds, figure out how to
get your weight on them, and make your
legs do as much of the pushing as you
possibly can. In this respect you might
say face climbing resembles slab
climbing, only steeper.”
“The more I’ve learned about
teaching technique, the more I realize
how everything is interrelated and that
technique is just a different kind of
strength. Working technique builds the
strength needed to use that technique.”

Face Holds

CLOSED CRIMP
This is by far your strongest grip, formed
by placing your thumb alongside, and
slightly over, your forefinger. Your
finger pads should be directly on top of
the hold, with the fingers flexed and bent
at almost a 90-degree angle at the
knuckle joint. On difficult face routes
you’ll generally be able to only get two
fingers on the holds, so the crimp is key
to exerting maximum power.

The basic crimp grip.

Crimping a large edge. For maximum
power, position your thumb at the tip of
your forefinger, as shown here, or put
your thumb on top of the tip of your
forefinger.

OPEN-HANDED GRIP
For sloping holds the open-handed grip
allows you to get more of your finger
and hand skin in contact with rock,
thereby increasing friction. The key is to
stay below the hold to properly utilize it;
you’ll generate more friction when the
elbow is down and against the wall and
your weight is below it.
For training purposes, the open-
handed grip is useful in that it puts less
stress on the joints of the fingers, thereby
reducing chances of developing finger
joint problems and tendinitis.
The open-handed grip is most useful on
big, rounded, and sloping holds.
John Long using the open-handed grip on
heinously sloping holds. Stoney Point,
California, 1983.
Climber on a steep face at Verdon Gorge,
France.

Hip Position
Hip position is the key to effective
climbing technique for vertical and
overhanging face climbing. Keeping
your hips in to the wall takes weight off
your arms—it’s that simple. The goal is
to put as much weight on the feet as
possible throughout the climb. In most
situations it’s as easy as arching your
back and consciously focusing on the
position, much like the cobra position in
yoga.
Focus on your center of gravity and
how it changes when you shift the
position of your hips. When doing a high
step, lead with your hips, shifting them
in to the wall and in the direction you’re
stepping, until your center of gravity has
shifted to that upper foothold. Being
aware of your hip position is one of the
easiest ways to improve your
performance on overhanging face
climbs.
“Regarding hips being close to the
wall, “ says Wills Young, “a point to
understand is that when resting on face
climbs, the hips need to be over the feet.
But you need to create space between
the hips and the wall, if possible, before
you make your next move. As you move,
you drive your hips toward the wall.
This is critical, as a beginner mistake on
big moves is to start a big movement
with their hips very close to the wall.
From that position, the
momentum/trajectory of center of gravity
can only be outward.”
Hip and back flexibility is an asset for
overhanging face technique, allowing you
to put more weight on your feet and less
on your arms.
HIP ROLL
If your hips are facing the wall, you’re
limited on how far you can reach up with
one arm. For extended moves, you can
gain a few inches by turning one hip into
the wall. If you’re reaching up with your
left arm, turn your left hip in to the wall.
You’ll be able to reach several inches
higher than if both hips are parallel to
the wall. The opposite hand can be
pulling straight down on a hold, or on a
sidepull. If you’re reaching up with your
left hand, the left foot will naturally want
to be positioned on the outside edge of
the shoe.
Ron Fawcett, perhaps the best British
climber of the 1980s, with a classic hip
roll on Crank City (V4) at Joshua Tree,
1984.

DROP KNEE
If you have knee problems, you’ll want
to be careful with this technique. It
allows you to position your hip very
close to the wall, using footholds that
otherwise would seem out of position. If
you’re reaching up with your right hand,
you can use a high right foothold (using
the outside edge of the boot); you swing
your knee downward and roll your right
hip in to the wall. Your left foot should
be on the inside edge of the shoe. If
you’re utilizing a sidepull with your left
hand, this technique will maximize your
reach and keep your weight on your feet
as you make the move.
Erik Kramer-Webb performs a drop knee
on Big Mo (5.11b) at Joshua Tree.

Push/Pull Technique
The combination of pulling with your
arms while at the same time pushing off
with your legs is another key for success
on difficult face climbs. If you draw an
imaginary triangle from your two upper
handholds down to a single point in the
plumb line, that is the spot you’ll want to
plant one of your feet, especially if the
wall is devoid of edges for your feet and
you’re utilizing a smear. Paste your foot
in that line and push with your leg as you
pull with both arms.
You can also use your arms in a
push/pull combination, pressing down
with the lower arm as you pull with the
upper arm.
Wills offers these valuable tips on
the mechanics of advanced face climbing
technique:

“One of the basic face

climbing moves is front
stepping, where you move
your foot up to a foothold with
the knee of that active foot
pointing slightly or wholly out,
thereby weighting your big toe
or the inside edge of your
climbing shoe as you step up.
Hip turnout particularly helps
in front stepping by allowing
you to shift your weight
sideways and to bring your
butt over your heel to weight
your foothold.”
“In order to reduce strain
on your hands when your
weight is over your foot, use
your trailing foot to help. With
one foot placed high on the
key hold, and the other hanging
down against the rock, work
the hip flexor of the lower leg
to push inward on the rock
with that low foot. This action
turns your upper foothold into
a fulcrum, rotating your upper
body via your tightened core
toward the wall, thereby
allowing you to relax your
grip or move your hands.”
“This concept can be
extended to slightly steeper
face climbs, whereby you grip
and pull with a high foot while
pushing into the wall with a
lower foot. The lower foot
does not need to be placed on
any specific hold to gain a
benefit in this push-pull
scenario. Always try to place
that low foot in a position on
the wall whereby you can
make the move to the next
handhold without having to
drag the lower foot too much.
If the handholds are large
enough to allow, lean back,
and place your lower foot high
enough against the wall (with
leg bent at the knee) so that
that leg/foot can push you to
the next hand hold, utilizing
that same fulcrum concept.”
“Likewise with the hands!
Never forget your lower hand
can push down while your
upper hand pulls. It is a
beginner mistake to
immediately let go with the
lower hand as soon as a higher
handhold is gained. The
climber stuck between
positions with one arm waving
up into the air while the other
arm strains to maintain
position is a common sight
though, even with experienced
climbers. Better, in most
cases, after reaching up to a
new hold, is to maintain
pressure or grip on the lower
hold in order to move the feet
to a new position or, by
keeping that pressure, pushing
downward on the lower hand,
while pulling with the upper.
This push-pull spreads the
strain between your arms,
utilizes different muscles, and
will often help you gain
enough height in precarious
positions, to finally stabilize
on the upper foot, let go with
the lower hand and make a
grab for the next available
hand hold.”
Good technique on an overhanging arête
—arms straight, hips in to the rock,
pushing with the left foot.

“Look for footholds with

‘bite,’ a rough texture, or a
sharp or pointed edge,
something that will dig into the
sole of your shoe and provide
tremendous grip. These are
your go-to holds whenever
possible; take advantage of
them. Such edges don’t have to
be big; even small ones will
provide a secure foothold. I
will often choose a hold with
bite over another that is twice
its size if getting as much
weight on that hold is
 critical.”

1. John Long, dyno sequence at Stoney

Point, 1983. First he plants his right foot
and eyes the target hold.
2. In a single, powerful, fluid motion, he
pulls with his arms and momentarily lets
go with his left hand, latching the upper
hold at the deadpoint.
3. After successfully latching the hold,
it’s time to reestablish footholds and
carry on.

The Deadpoint Principal

Toss a ball up in the air. The moment the
ball stops its upward progress and
begins falling downward is the
deadpoint.
In rock climbing, you can use this
principal of physics to your advantage
for dynamic moves. With perfect timing,
at the moment the deadpoint occurs,
you’ll feel a sense of temporary
weightlessness, albeit for a
microsecond.
The deadpoint principal works when
you’re reaching up with one hand or
attempting to dyno with both hands. In
both instances, lead with the hips; as you
pull with your arm or arms, focus on
coordinating the upward movement by
thrusting the hips in, toward the rock.
If making a move with one hand,
unweight your hand momentarily, timing
it to coincide with the deadpoint, then, at
that very moment, latch the top hold.
For full-on two-handed dynos, focus
also on your footholds, bending the
knees slightly and pushing off with both
legs to give you more of an upward
trajectory.
The best way to master the deadpoint
principal is in the bouldering arena,
practicing dynamic moves.

Mantles
For classic ledge mantles, look to see if
the ledge slopes downward one way or
the other. If the ledge is slightly lower to
your right, it will be easier to get your
right foot up on the ledge, which means
the easiest mantle will be a left-hand
mantle with your palm flat on the ledge,
fingers pointing right. If the ledge is tiny,
you can often make the mantle much
easier by reaching up with the opposite
hand (in this case the right hand) and
finding an edge to crimp and pull down
on.
If the ledge slopes downward to
your left, it’ll be easier to get your left
foot up on the ledge, using a right-hand
mantle, palm down on the ledge with
your fingers pointing left.
If the ledge is wide enough and flat,
it really doesn’t matter what foot you
step up with, and you can use both
hands, about a foot apart, with palms
pressed down and fingers pointing
toward each other. Depending on the
hold, sometimes it’s best to flip the hand
so that the wrist faces the wall and the
fingers point outward.
1. On an overhanging mantle, be
especially cognizant of your feet as you
move up, placing the feet precisely on
the holds.

OVERHANGING MANTLE
Overhanging mantles involve a more
dynamic technique. Grab the mantle hold
with both hands and set your feet as high
as possible, focusing on precision with
your footwork and keeping as much
weight as possible on the feet. In one
fluid motion, pull hard with both arms;
then, at the moment you’re high enough,
flip one elbow high enough so that the
palm is pressing down. On difficult
mantles with sloping and tiny holds,
positioning the base of the palm opposite
the thumb utilizes the small bones at the
base of the wrist. These bones are
roughly shaped like a horseshoe and can
be hooked on the best part of the hold.
2. As soon as you’re high enough, in one
quick motion, rotate your elbow up and
flip your palm onto the mantleshelf.
3. Lock your arm and lean in so that your
upper body’s center of gravity is directly
over your palm.

TRAINING FOR MANTLES

If you do a lot of gym climbing, mantling
technique may be one of your
weaknesses, since unlike bouldering,
you’re rarely topping out on a flat ledge.
Training for mantle strength is all about
triceps strength. Two exercises to
isolate the triceps and develop mantling
strength are triceps extensions and dips.
A solid triceps extension routine is three
sets of eight repetitions several times a
week. Adjust your weight so that you’re
barely able to complete the last rep. For
dips, if you can easily do three sets of
fifteen reps, hang some weight from your
waist for extra resistance.
4. Then step up. Flexibility will pay off
on difficult mantles.
Ron Kauk leads New Dimensions (5.11b)
in Yosemite Valley.
PHOTO BY GREG EPPERSON
 CHAPTER 2

Crack Climbing,
by Peter Croft

C rack climbing is the most

mysterious of all climbing
techniques. While face climbing roughly
resembles ascending a ladder—in
essence, grabbing onto the rock—cracks
are all about plugging in. From birth, we
viscerally have the idea of pulling on
things—to get out of a crib, to scramble
to the top of a tree, to climb out a
window, or to escape from prison; it’s
an instinctive act.
Cracks, on the other hand, involve
inserting our hands and feet in a variety
of configurations into a variety of
fissures—from the thinnest of fingertips,
where much of the fight is about
squeezing a meager amount of finger
meat into mere slits, to chimney-width
spelunking endeavors, where the
physicality of Greco-Roman wrestling is
mixed with the fun and games of
claustrophobia.
Whatever size we’re talking about,
though, the prime directive in crack
technique is to jam our digits and limbs
whenever possible. When done
properly, this means that when hanging
off the rock, we are hanging off our
skeleton more than our muscles. Instead
of inserting our hands and fingers and
trying to crimp the inside of the crack,
we look for v-slots to jam our fingers or
hands like a stopper, look for ways to
use torque to add traction, and/or work
to expand our hands into the jams by
flexing key muscles—in much the same
way a chuckwalla lizard flexes its belly
to avoid being dragged from under a
rock by a hungry coyote.
The central idea is attaching
ourselves to rock less by clinging and
more by camming our appendages into
the rock. Done right, this involves using
less strength than grabbing onto a hold.
That a perfect hand jam, for example,
could be a better, less-strenuous hold
than a perfect jug may be a tough concept
for a crack newbie to grasp. Think about
it, though: Even a hyper-fit spider
monkey must exert some effort to hold
onto a branch. A pebble or a boulder
jammed in a crack uses none. An
imperfect analogy, perhaps, but it is
essentially the concept we’re after.
Even for those who have no ambition
to become a crack climber and little
desire to visit areas like Yosemite or
Indian Creek, there are still reasons to
become competent in these techniques.
On a trip to France, I visited one of
their famous limestone crags to sample
some of their sport routes. The route to
do at this one cliff was a severely
overhanging wall of small crimps and
pockets marked at half height by a
horizontal slash. When I arrived, a tall
muscular German named Heinz was hard
at work, going for his third attempt of the
day. Impressed, I watched him savagely
yard his way up on the initial tiny holds;
but when he slapped for the horizontal
he failed to clasp it and flew off, cursing
mightily at the cliff and his cowering
belayer. Over the course of the next
hour, he tried it a couple more times but
was unable to even momentarily stick
the horizontal—clearly the crux move.
From the ground it looked different. To
me it appeared as though it would be
possible to slot a decent hand jam. With
the furious German done for the day, I
tied in and started up. The initial wall
was as fierce as it looked, powerful
cranking on barely good enough
fingerholds. Setting up for a long reach
to the horizontal, I swung up and sunk my
right hand deep into a lifesaving jam.
Perfect! Forearms cooked from the
bouldery climbing below, I simply
switched off hand jams back and forth
till my forearms had de-pumped, and
then surged through to the top. Back on
the ground, I made the mistake of making
eye contact with Heinz, who was red in
the face and looked ready to hit someone
or anything. To him it just made no
sense. What for him was the illusive
crux move of the route turned out to be
the one place I could cop a rest; that, in
turn, allowed me, with fresh arms, to
punch through to the top.
The act of jamming ourselves into
the stone is a weird, maybe even creepy
image to absorb, but it is an essential
technique if one aspires to many of the
great routes of the world. I know what
you’re thinking. You’re adding to that
creepiness the grit-your-teeth
expectation of pain—most likely a lot of
it! This brings us to a cardinal rule of
jamming technique:

Pain Avoidance
One of the essential skills of the
seasoned crack climber is the ability to
find jams that are relatively pain-free.
I’ve heard all sorts of pseudo-experts
say that you just have to deal with the
pain, even embrace it. I’ve even heard
that pain is just fear leaving the body;
that one’s a real pearl! It’s all bunk,
though! Sure, there will sometimes be
some pain—just as with walking
barefoot on the beach—but by treading
carefully, we try to minimize it. Think
how you wince and tense up when you
step on a sharp rock; indeed, whenever
you experience any pain. Usually that
tensing up doesn’t exhaust you too much
because you can stop what you’re doing
and deal with it. On a long, strenuous
hand crack, though, that suffering will
unnecessarily cost you a lot of extra
strength. And unless you’ve got the mind
control of a Shaolin monk, there is no
ignoring it—and certainly no embracing
it!

Footwork
Although the same principle of pain
avoidance applies to the feet, the
methods are different. The biggest
mistakes, pain-wise, that people make
with their crack footwork are over-
jamming and wearing soft shoes.
Over-jamming the feet is a common
mistake largely because people forget
they have sticky rubber on the sides of
their shoes. That means you can twist
your feet into what looks like a marginal
slot and they will likely stick.
Experimenting by placing them closer to
the outside of a foot slot will quickly
teach you how secure these foot jams
really are, how comfortable they can be
—and how you might avoid being the
stuck-foot guy who needs a rescue.
Don’t laugh; it’s happened before!
The key to effective foot jamming is
to insert the foot with instep facing up.
This makes it easy to get our weight right
over our feet. Watch someone try it the
other way, with the outside edge of the
foot facing up, and you can see that it
pushes their weight off to one side—off
their feet and onto their arms.
Although you can find all kinds of
photos in magazines, books, and online
showing crack fiends advocating
pumping cracks in soft slippers, it does
not mean this is the way to go for all
jamming routes. Those pics are of
seasoned climbers on particular routes
where ultrathin slippers are an
advantage. Watch those same climbers
on a hand, fist, and off-width route, and
they will be wearing something different
and telling a different story. For the
aspiring crack climber, a more
comfortable (toes able to lie flat) and
stiffer shoe will help you climb more
and harder with a smile on your face. On
top of comfort, a shoe fit like this means
a lower toe profile (than a slipper with
bunched up toes), which translates into
being able to insert your toe deeper and
more reliably into a slot.
Foot jamming in a hand-size crack.
Practice will help you find the line
between over-jamming and security.

Milking the Jam

No, this is not about adding dairy to
raspberry preserves. This is about initial
contact between hand and stone. A
classic mistake that newbies make is to
toss a hand at a sharp jam and
immediately tug on it. That would be
wrong. Instead you want to take the time
to feel inside the crack and experiment
with a number of slight variations that
still feel secure—milking it—until you
find a jam that is at least relatively pain-
free. Once the groping is complete, set
your hand firmly in place—and yard on
it! Without the effort of cringing, you can
reach further with less effort. You will
also look way cooler and smoother in
case anybody is watching.
That brings us to another cardinal
rule:

Don’t Be So Awkward
Do any activity awkwardly and, as with
pain, you will expend extra effort. Stand,
walk, or sit awkwardly and you will
lose strength. Guys: Think how much
embarrassing effort it takes to be
awkward around pretty girls!
Although it is possible to pretzel
ourselves into gimpiness on all sorts of
climbs, it seems especially common on
crack climbs. Part of this may be the
way a crack system leans or because of
the barn-door effect of having to place
each limb in a direct line. It might also
be due to the angle at which the crack
slices into the rock or when the crack
pinches off and we simply get crossed
up by picking a bad sequence. No matter
how we arrived there, once we
established awkwardness, the clock
started ticking faster; in other words, we
began losing strength a lot quicker.
Much exhaustion (and drama) can be
avoided by doing things you should
already be doing when you face climb.
Plan ahead: Look for stemming
opportunities, footholds, potential rests
and sequences. In short, don’t rush into a
junk show or dead end that you’ll have
to battle out of. Another handy technique
from sport climbing is to flag one of
your feet out for balance. This is helpful
in all sorts of crack climbing situations
but is especially helpful in cracks that go
straight up and where each hand and foot
is placed directly above each other.
Many climbers think that is what you are
supposed to do—and sometimes it
works. It’s crack climbing, so just use
the crack. But sometimes, as the
previously mentioned barn-door effect
comes into play, the body feels like it’s
about to swing sideways. At this point,
or preferably just before, throw one foot
out for balance, not on a specific hold
but just far enough to prevent any
tendency to barn-door around. Staying
plugged solely into the crack and fighting
the barn door is picking a fight you don’t
need to have.
Sean Miles leads Fish Crack (5.12b),
Yosemite Valley.

PHOTO BY GREG EPPERSON

Finger Cracks
Of all types of jamming, finger cracks
are the easiest for the face climber to
become proficient at. Often the slots and
pockets we find in these fissures
resemble the pocket climbing found on
many sport routes. Also, when the crack
becomes too thin to jam and/or becomes
offset, lieback moves—kissing cousins
of side holds on face routes—will often
see us through.
Finger cracks cover any size from
ones you can barely get a bit of fingertip
skin into all the way to the ones where
the finger can be inserted all the way to
the third knuckle (where the finger meets
the hand). Clearly this will vary from
person to person. Although everyone hits
a bad size now and then, this is
definitely a type of climbing that favors
those with tiny hands. A nice and secure
finger jam for a spider monkey is going
to be an impossible fingernail seam for a
gorilla.
As with other types of cracks,
milking the jam will unleash its full
power. What at first might feel loose and
sloppy or just a bit too thin can, once the
milking is done, feel completely locked
in. This makes such a difference because
of the variability of how uniform the
insides of the crack are in conjunction
with the irregularities of our own
fingers. It could be as subtle as a bit of
finger callous getting a bit more bite on a
crystal or as lifesaving as a pinky jam
finally sinking past the first joint—taking
the crack from desperately marginal to
comparatively bomber. In essence,
milking allows us to get more meat in
and also make it as comfortable as we
can.
In ultrathin cracks, even if you can’t get
your toes in the crack, torqueing the rand
of your shoe against any offset or into
any pocket in the crack can make a huge
difference.

There are two basic ways to jam

finger and hand cracks: thumbs up and
thumbs down.

Thumbs-up Jamming
(Listen up; this is
important!)
In all kinds of climbing—hell, in all
types of movement—it is essential that
we move in a way that allows us to
move as our bodies are made to do, in a
way that allows us to maximize our
potential. When climbing finger and
hand cracks, the cornerstone of efficient
jamming is going thumbs up as often as
possible. In climbing how-to literature,
there is a lot of waffling as to which is
best: thumbs up or down? The
implication is that perhaps it doesn’t
make a whole lot of difference. This
could not be further from the truth.
Watch any person walking. The way
he or she swing the arms? The palms
face inward (toward the other hand). If
the person swings the arms up high
enough, the hands are in a thumbs-up
position—more or less, ready to jam.
Not a good enough analogy? How about
if you watch someone do a one-arm pull-
up or a one-arm hang? That’s right, the
hand is essentially in a thumbs-up
position. To belabor the point, imagine a
fingerboard that has jams instead of
fingerholds. Now imagine trying to do a
pull-up with both hands thumbs down;
after a certain point of awkwardness
there is that nagging sensation that either
your elbows or your shoulders are going
to blow. Now picture trying that same
pull-up with both hands thumbs up. By
comparison, it feels like some kind of
mellow yoga that’s good for you.
Basically, this is how your skeleton
likes to move—so you should too!
Another bit of wonderfulness about
thumbs up is that it allows you to reach
farther and with less effort. Done thumbs
down, a sinker hand or finger jam is
good for pulling down to approximately
face level, maybe a little bit more if you
grit your teeth. Try that same jam thumbs
up and you can easily take it down to
mid-chest; if you pivot off it and turn it
into an undercling jam, you can take it
right down to your unmentionables. With
practice, this technique can allow us to
reach close to a body length—a nice
trick to have if the crack pinches off for
5 feet or so. This also means that you
can do a jam crack in far fewer moves
and in far less time. Say, for example,
that you have roughly 20 minutes of
strength left on a 5.10c hand crack, and
going thumbs down took you 25 minutes.
Well then, you pump out, you fall, and
you lose. Now you take that same crack
and same fitness and go thumbs up. This
time pulling, say, 30 or 40 percent fewer
moves, you’re up in 15 minutes. That’s
right—you win! Now couple that extra
reach with the fact that a thumbs-up jam
requires less strength. Remember the
fitness buffs showing off that one-arm
pull-up power in what is basically a
thumbs-up configuration? They do that
because it is the most ergonomic—and
easiest—way to do it.
Long story short, with thumbs-up
jamming you can go farther, faster, and
with less effort.

Thumbs-up Finger Jamming

As the name implies, this is when we
insert our fingers with the thumb pointing
up. Apart from the benefits listed above,
this is usually advantageous in very thin
cracks where we are trying to wiggle the
thinnest parts of our skinniest fingers
into the tiniest of slots. Wiggling
(milking) that jam often allows us to at
least get that first knuckle in. Once that is
achieved, it allows more of our weight
to hang off our skeleton instead of just
our muscles. These ultrathin crack
scenarios are often referred to as pinky
jamming, meaning we are primarily
using our pinky and neighboring ring
finger, as these digits are thinner than
our index and middle fingers. Thumbs-
up is also useful in situations where the
crack is offset. For instance, when
jamming a straight-in crack where the
right facet of that crack sticks farther out,
the right hand would be inserted thumbs
up and the left thumbs down. This
allows both hands to articulate without
the offset getting in the way.
Thumb-up finger jamming in an offset
corner.

Thumbs-down Finger
Jamming
Sometimes the crack is simply more
suited to a thumbs-down jam. For
instance, when a crack angles up and
right, it is usually easiest to go thumbs
down with the right while going thumbs
up with the left. There will be other
times when the particular shape and size
of the slot simply demands the camming
action of the thumbs-down jam to make
it secure. Experimentation will give you
the answer.
Thumbs down also gives us extra
torque, which is especially useful in
cracks that are on the verge of being a
bit too big for our digits. By inserting
our fingers in this way, the natural
camming action that occurs when we
pull down in effect makes our fingers a
little bigger, making the jam more
secure. Off course we can use thumbs-
down jamming in any finger cracks
where we want the extra camming, but in
the thinnest jams the benefits of that
camming are outweighed by the fact that
the primary jammers in thumbs down are
our thickest fingers.
At the outer limits (size-wise) of
finger cracks are the rattly finger cracks.
These can be anywhere from less than 1
inch to 1.25 inches, depending on the
size of your fingers. “Rattly” means that
no matter how much you adjust or milk
the jam, you cannot make it solid; it just
feels rattly. In these situations, you
almost always go thumbs down; but
before you add the extra torque and twist
down on it, try to squeeze your thumb
under your index and middle fingers.
Once your thumb is inserted as well as
possible, twist down on it. This
camming action expands this three-finger
combo, hopefully making it stick. This is
called a “finger stack,” or “ring lock.”
Because there is not that much finger
flesh in contact with the rock, this is one
of the most precarious jams—and
therefore one of the most difficult to
become proficient at. This is also the
zone where finger jamming often merges
into hand jamming. In other words, it is a
size of crack where you often need to
choose between finger stacking and thin
hand jams. Because of the extra surface
area of your hand in contact with the
rock, thin hand jams will be more
secure.
The great Japanese climber Hidetaka
Suzuki thumbs-down finger jamming on
Yosemite Valley’s Cosmic Debris
(5.13a) in 1987.
The finger stack, or ring lock, seen from
inside the crack.

Hand Jamming
Simply put, hand jams are the king of
jams. Become proficient at hand size and
you will find that they are not only the
best jams you can find but also the best
hold of any type you can find on the
rock. It is the best jam you can find
because there is more surface area and
more of an expansion ratio than in finger
or fist jams. This ability to expand the
size of your hand is mostly due to the
(relatively) large muscle in your hand
that articulates the thumb. When you
draw the thumb across the hand toward
the pinky finger, that muscle fattens up.
When this is done inside a crack, the
hand expands to fit the crack, lodging it
in place. This jam is also the best type of
hold because, while even the best jug is
only good for a downward (and perhaps
outward) pull, a good hand jam is good
in every direction—up, down, sideways.
You are truly plugged in.
A common mistake is trying to make
the jam secure by bending the fingers
and pressing the fingertips against the
rock. This makes proper execution of the
hand jam a bit awkward, as well as
making it difficult to fully flex (expand)
that thumb muscle. It also unnecessarily
tires the fingers. Simply put, it will
exhaust you faster.
Adding to the security of these jams
is the fact that these size cracks make for
easy and quick placement of the feet,
more or less wherever you want to place
them. This makes it convenient if you
want to have a secure foot jam low—
say, for placing gear—or high if you
want to make a big reach to bypass a thin
section or simply to move fast. Because
of these factors, hand jamming allows us
to climb a long pitch faster than any
other type of jamming. This isn’t about
bragging rights regarding what a fast
climber you are. It’s about the ability to
move efficiently (and rapidly) up a
stretch of stone, which means you will
be able to spend less time in strenuous
situations, which in turn means you will
be able to go farther with less effort.
 There are different types of hand
jams—from thin hands, where it is
barely possible to squeeze in a small
portion of our hands, all the way to the
rattly wide hand scenarios where
nothing seems to stick.

Thin Hands
Right away, we have to decide whether
to go thumbs up or thumbs down—
thumbs up for extra reach or thumbs
down for extra camming action. With a
dodgy jam, the extra camming action
seems like a good deal, and sometimes it
is, but going thumbs down also
effectively makes the jamming portion of
the hand a bit thicker, meaning we can’t
squeeze in quite as much meat.
Experimentation and practice—a lot of it
—will make the decision easier.
Whichever configuration we pick,
milking that jam will be the key to
making it solid enough to pull on.
Crimson Cringe (5.12a), a classic
Yosemite Valley hand crack. Climber:
John Mallery.

Wide Hands
Once again we have to pick between
thumbs up and down, and once again the
answer is usually thumbs down. While it
is possible to go thumbs up, the only
way to add security to the sloppiness is
to press our fingers against the rock—
too much effort! The camming action as
we pull down on that thumbs-down wide
hand jam tries to rotate the hand into a
fist jam; when the hand can’t rotate
anymore, it cams in place and locks us
in.
Fist Jams
As the name implies, these are jams in
which we use a clenched fist. With these
jams, however, it is a choice of palm up
or palm down. In other words, the sides
of our fists are in contact with the rock.
As the solidity of these jams is roughly
the same either way, and the ability to
make a long reach is similar as well, it
is more of what feels less awkward.
Depending on the angle and/or the
diagonaling nature of the crack, one
might feel better than the other. In
general, though, it usually works best to
go palm up on the lower hand, palm
down on the upper, and shuffle them
upward in that method.
 Because there is some variability in
how big or small you can make your fist,
there will be some variability in the
sizes of cracks you will be able use for
fist jams. Past the outer limits of your
own fist size are what some call rattly
fists, which aren’t really fists at all. That
size is the beginning of what is perhaps
the most mysterious (and terrifying) type
of crack climbing: off-widths.
Palm-up fist jam.

Palm-down fist jam.

Off-widths
These are cracks in the netherworld
between fist jams and chimneys. No fist
jam will stick, and you can never quite
get your whole body inside.
While hand and finger cracks have
most face climbers scratching their
heads at first, off-width cracks add gut-
wrenching nausea to the picture. This is
because every part of your body comes
into play. Go to failure in an off-width is
like battling a giant anaconda—and
losing. Whereas in face climbing finger,
hand, and fist cracks, we use just our
hands and feet, in off-width cracks (and
chimneys) we use the works: knees,
heels, shoulders, butt cheeks, and
anything else that works. With so many
options, it is easy at first to pick the
wrong combination and get so crossed
up that you end up battling yourself. A
common mistake is to try make the same
big moves we use in face climbing or,
say, hand and finger cracks. In off-
widths it is important to make much
smaller moves in order to make
progress.
Tony Sartin on Pratt’s Crack (5.9), Pine
Creek, California.

Once the crack gets too wide for

fists, we need to pick which side we
want to go in with. Next, the easiest
option is to insert a leg, aiming to get the
knee in, if possible, and then the whole
arm. Now bend the forearm, aiming to
bring the fist back toward the shoulder.
This flexing of the arm muscles should
be a bit thicker than your fist and will
jam securely in that rattly fist size.
As the crack gets wider, it is
possible to get in a little deeper and use
the “chicken wing.” Basically, this
means performing the previous
maneuver but trying to get the heel of
your palm on the edge of the crack in
front of you. Once planted at around
shoulder height, this will lock you in
place. The outside free hand simply
grips the outside crack edge. The outside
foot should stay low in the crack. On this
size crack you should be able to easily
insert the inside knee, bring it up high in
the crack, bend it, and lock yourself in
place.
Erik Kramer-Webb displays a classic
“chicken wing” on Hobbit Hole (5.10),
Joshua Tree, California. Note the heel-
toe jam.
Heel-toe jam.
Dual heel-toe jams.

As the crack gets progressively

wider, it becomes possible to use our
feet in a heel-toe position. This involves
putting our foot toe down into the crack
and then, once lightly wedged, pushing
down on our heels. This is one situation
in particular where stiffer (and hopefully
high-top) shoes are a godsend. This
heel-toe action locks our feet into a solid
platform. In all, there are too many
configurations to list here.
Now, as the crack widens a bit
more, we can wiggle our whole body
inside. This where the crack becomes a
chimney.

Chimneys
Once we are able to get completely
inside, the battle isn’t over, but in
general it does become a bit easier. This
is due in large part to there being a lot
more surface area in contact with the
rock. In narrower chimneys, we should
be able to use the previously mentioned
heel-toe jam to great effect. The chicken
wings we used in the wider off-widths
also become useful in narrower
chimneys. Once the chimney gets wider,
we’ll use variations of this move,
bringing our arms below our shoulders,
cocking the elbows closer to waist
height against the wall behind us while
camming the heels of our hands against
the wall in front.
As the chimney widens further and
becomes too wide for the heel-toe jams
to work, we need to cock our feet behind
us and wedge our knees in front. This is
where knee pads would come in handy,
but for the most part it’s not actually the
kneecap we use (which would hurt as
much as it sounds) but the head of the
quadriceps, which is much more stable
and comfortable. In this manner we can
use counterpressure, squirming frog-like.
In fact, if you’ve ever seen a frog (or,
better yet, a bat), take note—they are
excellent chimney-ers.
As the chimney widens and it is
possible to look around, take note of any
footholds. Remember, though, because
the name of the game is counterpressure,
even the smallest of shallow friction
scoops can be used for footholds in
opposition to firmly planted butt cheeks
on the wall behind you. Alternating
hands pushing in front and behind in
combination with the feet is the
technique here.
Roy McClennehan wriggles up 1096
(5.10d) in Yosemite Valley.

When the chimney widens further

yet, we need to span the two walls by
stemming between the two, one hand and
foot on either side—as airy as it sounds!
As with other types of chimneys (and
off-widths), smaller moves will be the
key to more-secure moves and less-
strenuous movement.
Erik Kramer-Webb demonstrates both
heeltoe and knee-foot combinations on a
flared chimney.

Liebacks
This technique is used mostly on inside
corners, both hands pulling on the edge
of the crack while pushing against the
wall in front with the feet. Although a
relatively simple technique, this is
strenuous stuff—it effectively pits your
arms against your own legs, working in
opposition. Adding to the burl factor is
that your feet will feel more solid the
higher they are; but the higher they are,
the more weight is on your arms.
Twisting the inside foot into the crack
whenever possible and looking for any
footholds for the outer foot will allow
you to keep your feet lower (less
strenuous). Because of its strenuousness
and the fact that the very nature of
liebacking pushes us away from being
able to look in the crack, makes it hard
to stop and place gear. This is why the
less-strenuous, although often more-
technical, jamming is preferable
(whenever possible) when leading. No
matter what, before launching out on that
lieback, spy out what you’re heading for:
a ledge, a good foothold, a hand jam—
anything that allows you to stop, rest,
and get that gear in.
Back in the EB and swami-belt days,
Charlie Peterson demonstrates good
liebacking technique on Wheat Thin
(5.10c), one of Yosemite Valley’s
classic liebacks.
Carmen Cendejas liebacks on Norm,
(5.10a), Joshua Tree, California.

Placing Gear
For those with minimal leading
experience, take note of something that
helped me survive my early climbing
years. Whenever I stopped to place gear,
immediately after getting something in
and clipped, I would place another
piece. That way I’d have the confidence
of two good pieces, side by side, in case
I misread a sequence or didn’t find the
rest hold I was hoping for.
One of the great things about crack
climbing is that often you can place gear
where you want rather than having to
punch it to the next bolt. Another plus is
that you can usually place gear where
it’s easy to place and clip. The mistake
many people make is trying to place gear
too high. This makes it much more
strenuous. Imagine making peanut butter
sandwiches on top of the fridge for the
whole family—not a rest-day activity!
How about at a waist-height counter
top? Easy-peasy! Placing gear way up
high also means it’s easier to pick the
wrong size, and it requires way more
effort to clip the rope. As much as
possible, place gear hanging off straight
arm (thumbs up if you can), right in front
of your face. It’s easier to get it right on
the first try and a lot easier to clip.

Practice Makes Perfect

When venturing into any foreign activity,
it is essential to start easy. This is true
whether learning a new language or
becoming an astronaut. We start at a
very basic level, and maybe one day
we’ll get to the moon. Climbers often try
to be the exception to the rule, reckoning
that if they can climb, say, 5.10 face,
they should be able to jump on 5.10
cracks. Wrong! All that is gained by this
approach is a crushed ego and lots of
scar tissue. The reason we learn by baby
steps is that we acquire skill by
repetition—lots of it. Hurling ourselves
at something that is far too difficult is
akin to learning Russian while hanging
on a fingertip edge—we don’t have
enough time and/or strength to learn
much of anything. Much better to err on
the side of something being a bit too
easy and then pumping laps.
We don’t teach a child to ride a bike
while chucking rocks at her. Likewise,
we don’t need the extra drama of having
to lead while acclimatizing ourselves to
the weirdness of jamming. Toprope
when you can. Remember, lots of
repetition is the key to something
becoming instinctual. That is when your
climbing jumps to another level—that
point where instinct takes over from
conscious thought.

Taping Up
C rack climbing can be
brutal on the hands,
especially in a place like Joshua
Tree. Taping up will help you
milk the jams without ripping
your skin. Tincture of benzoin
(Cramer Tuf-Skin comes in a
spray-on version) will help the
tape job stick.
Rubber crack gloves are
becoming more popular; modern
designs are thinner and better
than the clunkier versions of the
past.
If you tape your hands too
tightly, it will impede circulation
and you’ll get pumped faster. In
this sequence, Joshua Tree guide
Erik Kramer-Webb demonstrates
one method of taping that allows
good hand circulation.

1. Start with a strip across the

knuckles.
2. Continue laying tape down
toward the wrist.
3. Lay a strip down between the
thumb and forefinger.

4. Bring it back around between

the thumb and forefinger.
5. Smooth out the wrinkles.

6. Make a strip between the pinky

and ring finger.

7. Bring the strip back down to

the wrist.
8. Make another strip between the
index and middle fingers.
9. Make another strip between the
middle and ring fingers.

10. Wrap the tape around the

wrist, but not so tightly as to
compromise hand circulation and
wrist flexion.
11. Good to go!
 CHAPTER 3

Rope, Slings,
Cord, and
Carabiners

Rope

History
Mountaineering’s first golden age ended
abruptly on July 14, 1865. For Edward
Whymper, who led a team of seven
climbers up the first ascent of
Switzerland’s Matterhorn—at the time
the last great unclimbed peak in the Alps
—both triumph and tragedy were his fate
on that great and dreadful summer’s day.
Theirs was the first ascent of the icy
pyramid—the greatest achievement in
alpine climbing at the time, and for
Whymper perhaps the sweetest victory,
for after a dozen attempts he now stood
on the summit, jubilant, gazing down on
the tiny gingerbread town of Zermatt far
below.
The euphoric climbers, all seven
tied together with manila ropes, began a
tedious descent. One of the party
suddenly slipped, pulling several of the
others off. While Whymper held fast,
clinging to a rock outcrop to avoid being
yanked into the abyss, the rope broke,
sending four climbers to their death. The
three survivors were saved from a tragic
fate by the weak rope, since they were
unanchored and had no belay. Some
speculated that the rope had been cut
with a knife, but a formal investigation
and inspection of the rope revealed that
the cord had simply parted—broken
under the strain.
The fallen were later buried in the
Zermatt cemetery; the Matterhorn soars
above as their tombstone for all time.
Through the late nineteenth and early
twentieth centuries, climbing ropes were
made from natural fibers like hemp,
manila, and sisal. While strong enough
for many applications, these ropes were
ill-suited to the rigors of climbing and
were subject to mildew and rot.
Nylon, also known by the generic
name polyamide, was developed by the
DuPont company in 1935. Modern nylon
climbing and rappelling ropes that could
actually hold up to the forces generated
by leader falls were first manufactured
in the 1940s, coinciding with the
availability of high-quality “nylon 6,”
allowing the construction of lighter
weight ropes that could stretch to absorb
great forces and hold more than 2 tons.
Nylon is still by far the best material for
rock climbing ropes due to its ability to
stretch and absorb the forces created in a
fall, making it superior to any other
yarns currently available for this
application.

My first rope—the classic Goldline.

Polyester, patented in 1941, has less

stretch than nylon; it is widely used
today in the manufacture of low-stretch
ropes used in applications where
dynamic properties are not required.
My first climbing rope, which I
bought in the 1970s, was a three-strand
nylon rope with the brand name
Goldline. The three-strand twisted
construction (called laid construction)
consisted of three strands of twisted
filaments spiraled into a singular rope.
These ropes stretched considerably
under body weight, and if you were
rappelling or prusiking without contact
to the rock, the spiral construction
resulted in a dizzying spin.

Kernmantle Ropes
The big step up in rope technology came
in 1953 with the advent of the first
kernmantle rope, made in Europe. The
kernmantle design consists of an outer,
tightly woven sheath (mantle) over a
core of twisted, parallel fibers (kern).
The core of the rope provides most of
the rope’s strength; the sheath protects
the core from abrasion and damage, and
reduces friction as the rope runs through
carabiners and rappel devices. The
kernmantle rope handles better and is
more durable than a rope with laid
construction.
Deconstructed kernmantle rope showing
the braided white interior core under the
more tightly woven sheath.

During the 1950s and into the golden

age of big wall climbing in Yosemite
during the 1960s, Goldline ropes were
still the standard, as they were about
one-third the price of kernmantle ropes.
By the late 1960s and early 1970s,
having become more widely
manufactured and distributed, with a
correspondingly lower price, kernmantle
ropes had become the standard climbing
rope worldwide.
Today the kernmantle rope is the
standard design used in climbing,
rappelling, caving, canyoneering,
vertical rope access, fixed lines, rescue,
and life safety ropes. These ropes are
made from nylon, polyester, or a
combination of these and other synthetic
yarns.
There are three basic types of
kernmantle ropes: dynamic, low-stretch,
and static. A dynamic rope is required
for situations where a high-impact force
can be generated—such as in a leader
fall—and therefore is the standard rope
for rock climbing, ice climbing, and
mountaineering, where the rope will be
used for belayed climbing and
rappelling. A dynamic rope will
typically stretch about 26 to 36 percent
during a leader fall (dynamic elongation)
and around 7 to 11 percent under body
weight (static elongation).

Unicore Ropes
In 2013 the Beal Rope Company
introduced a line of ropes called
Unicore, where the sheath is
permanently bonded to the core. This
new design prevents sheath slippage
and, if the sheath is cut, prevents the
sheath from fraying or unraveling. Beal
manufactures both dynamic and low-
stretch Unicore ropes. I’ve used the low-
stretch version extensively for toproping
in my climbing school at Joshua Tree, an
area with extremely coarse granite that
can easily fray and cut rope sheaths, and
found these ropes to be very durable.
I’ve also found the low-stretch Unicore
design supple enough to exhibit good
handling characteristics, and it holds
knots well.

Dynamic Rope
Types
Dynamic ropes are sold in single,
double, and twin configurations.
 A single rope (marked on the label
with a “1” inside a circle), the most
commonly used rope for rock climbing
and rappelling, is used as a single strand.
A half rope (marked on the label
with a “½” inside a circle), used
primarily for alpine rock climbing and
mountaineering, consists of a pair of
ropes; both are tied into the leader, who
alternates clipping one strand at a time
into protection. This configuration
reduces rope drag through protection
and allows the leader to belay two
followers at the same time, each of
whom is tied to one strand. It also
provides two full-length ropes to
facilitate a rappel descent.
A twin rope (marked with two
overlapping circles), used primarily in
alpine climbing, should only be used
with the two strands together; each
 climber ties into both strands, and both
strands are clipped into points of
protection. The big advantage is that a
twin rope allows for retrievable rappels
for the length of the rope; it also is
lighter than a half rope. A single strand
should not be used alone, however.

The Unicore rope would be a good

choice for big wall climbing, since the
lead climbing rope is typically tied off
and used for jumaring as the second
cleans the pitch. Any fixed line is more
susceptible to being cut over an edge,
and high up on a wall, this could be
disastrous.

UIAA and CE Certification

for Dynamic Ropes
Dynamic ropes sold for rock climbing
are tested and certified to UIAA (Union
Internationale des Associations
d’Alpinisme) and CE (Certified for
Europe) standards and should bear the
UIAA or CE certification on the label.
This means the rope has been tested and
certified by a “third party” at one of
three UIAA-approved testing facilities
to meet the European Norm (EN) 892
and UIAA-101 standard for dynamic
rope. To receive this certification, the
rope sample must survive at least five
UIAA drop tests. This test is done by
taking an 80 kg (176 lbs.) weight,
attaching it to one end of a 9-foot length
of rope, then raising it 8½ feet above the
anchor and dropping it 15 feet over a
10mm diameter bar (similar to a
carabiner) that is anchored
approximately 1 foot above where the
rope end is anchored. This simulates a
fall factor of 1.7 (total distance of the
fall divided by the length of rope in the
system), which is a very severe fall in
climbing situations.
For a single rope, during the first
drop the peak impact force on the rope is
measured and must be less than or equal
to 12 kilonewtons (kN) (8 kN for a half
rope with a weight of 55 kg), with a
corresponding stretch of less than or
equal to 40 percent. Twin ropes have the
same requirements as a single rope but
must survive at least twelve drops
without breakage. In addition to the
stringent drop test requirements, sheath
slippage can be no more than 1 percent,
and static elongation under an 80 kg
(176 lbs.) load can be no more than 10
percent for a single rope and no more
than 12 percent for a half or twin rope.
To the best of my knowledge, the
only documented rope failures among
UIAA-certified ropes were ropes that
were cut over sharp edges and one rope
with known pre-exposure to sulfuric
acid.

Static and Low-Stretch

Ropes
For many years the term “static rope”
was used to define any low-stretch rope
typically used as a rescue rope or as a
fixed line for rope access, rappelling,
and life safety. As rope manufacturers
developed new techniques and
technologies to create better low-stretch
ropes, the terms “static rope,” “low-
stretch rope,” “low-elongation rope,”
and “semi-static rope,” often used
interchangeably, became somewhat
ambiguous, especially since all ropes
have some stretch, so a more precise
definition was needed.
Climbing shops sell static and low-
stretch ropes from spools, cut to the
length you desire.

The Cordage Institute, an

international rope industry association
that disseminates industry standards,
defines two categories of non-dynamic
ropes: static and low-stretch.

STATIC ROPES
Static is defined as rope with a
maximum elongation of less than 6
percent at 10 percent of the rope’s
minimum breaking strength (MBS). New
technology allows manufacturers to
create ropes with virtually no stretch
under a person’s body weight rappelling
down the rope. For example, the Sterling
Rope company’s ½-inch diameter HTP
Static rope stretches only 0.8 percent
with a 300-pound load and has a safe
working load (SWL) of 908 pounds,
which is one-tenth of its MBS of 9,081
pounds.
A static rope, by definition, is just
that—static, with very low stretch; think
of it almost like a wire cable. Because
of their stiffness, static ropes generally
have poor handling characteristics and
are typically used only for fixed lines
and haul lines, where dynamic
properties are not required. A static
rope should never be used for lead
climbing or toproping, where it may be
subject to any impact force; it should be
used only for applications where stretch
is not required.
LOW-STRETCH ROPES
The Cordage Institute defines low-
stretch as a rope with an elongation
between 6 and 10 percent at 10 percent
of the rope’s MBS. Since a low-stretch
rope has relatively little stretch (usually
3 to 4 percent under body weight)
compared to a dynamic rope, it is a great
choice if you’re using it just for a fixed
line or hauling. Low-stretch ropes are an
excellent choice for rigging extensions
for toprope anchors, toproping and
fixed-line rope soloing, where some
stretch is desired to add an element of
shock absorption to the rope system.

CE EN 1891
On both static and low-stretch ropes
manufactured in Europe, the CE label
indicates the rope has passed testing in
accordance with EN (European Norm)
1891. There are two types of EN 1891
certifications: Type A and Type B. To
receive an EN 1891 Type A rating, the
rope must have a minimum diameter of
10mm and be able to hold at least 22 kN
(4,495 lbs.). A Type A rope must also
be tested to withstand five factor 1 falls
with a weight of 100 kilograms (220
lbs.) on the end of the rope. The fall
factor is the total distance of the fall
divided by the length of the rope that
comes into play during the fall.
What is a fall factor 1? Let’s say
you’re standing on a bridge. You are tied
to one end of a 200-foot rope and the
other end is attached to the bridge at the
level where you’re standing. You step
off the bridge and fall the length of the
rope. You’ve fallen 200 feet until the
rope comes tight. Total distance of the
fall (200 feet) divided by the length of
the rope to the anchor (200 feet) equals a
fall factor of 1.
An EN 1891 Type B–certified rope
is between 8 and 9.9 millimeters in
diameter and must be able to hold at
least 18 kN (4,045 lbs.) and withstand
five factor 1 falls with a weight of 80
kilograms (176 lbs.) on the end of the
rope.

Dynamic, Low-Stretch, or
Static
The following criteria will help you
assess which rope is best for your
specific application.
A dynamic rope is required for
situations where you’ll be using the rope
for leading. My preferred rope for
toproping, rigging, hauling, and fixed-
line applications is a low-stretch rope. I
look for a rope with CE EN 1891 Type
A certification, with a diameter of
between 10 and 10.5 millimeters, to be
compatible with various belaying and
rappelling devices. I also check the
rope’s suppleness to ensure the rope
will hold knots firmly and handle well.
Sterling makes an excellent low-stretch
polyamide (nylon) rope called the Safety
Pro.

Diameter and Sheath

Percentage
Ropes sold for rock climbing commonly
range from 9 to 11 millimeters, with the
most popular diameter around 9.8
millimeters. Thinner ropes generally
stretch more and cut more easily over
sharp edges. A thicker diameter rope
also affords more friction when used
with rappelling devices.
Many manufacturers now provide
information on the sheath’s percentage of
the total weight. A rope with a higher
percentage of sheath (40 percent or
more) will generally be more durable
than one with a lower sheath percentage.

Sharp Edge Resistance

The UIAA has developed a new,
optional test for manufacturers to
receive a “sharp edge resistant”
certification. The test is very similar to
the UIAA drop test, although instead of
dropping the rope over a rounded bar
simulating a carabiner, a sharp edge is
used. This is a pass or fail test, and
although not a true indicator of
durability, it’s a good measure of the
rope’s ability to resist slicing over sharp
rock edges. As mentioned earlier, some
of the only documented cases of modern
climbing ropes breaking in the field have
been when the rope was cut over a sharp
edge.

Static Elongation
This is a measure of how much the rope
stretches under a weight of 80 kilograms
(176 lbs.), telling you how much your
rope will stretch when you hang or
rappel on the rope. For fixed line
applications, I prefer a low-stretch rope
with a static elongation of around 3 to 4
percent. Most dynamic climbing ropes
have a static elongation of about 8 or 9
percent.

Dry or Non-Dry
When nylon gets wet, it absorbs water,
which weakens the fibers. Nylon ropes
can lose much of their strength when wet
(usually at least 30 percent; some studies
show more than 50 percent loss of
strength), so manufacturers sell ropes
with a “dry coating” to keep the rope
from absorbing water and make it more
abrasion resistant. If you’re using a
dynamic nylon rope in wet conditions,
such as those encountered in
mountaineering, you’ll definitely want
one with a dry coating.
If you’re using a rope just for
toproping, the dry coating will wear off
quickly, so it’s probably not worth the
added cost, as dry ropes are generally
more expensive.
Rope Length
When I began climbing in the 1970s, the
standard length for a dynamic climbing
rope was 50 meters (165 feet). Today
the standard is 60 meters (200 feet), and
many climbers use 70-meter ropes (230
feet). These are the standard precut
lengths you can buy from a climbing
shop. Static and low-stretch ropes are
commonly sold in precut lengths and are
also sold directly from spools, cut to
your desired length.

Rope Care and Use

Avoid standing or stepping on your rope,
which can grind sharp pebbles and grit
through the sheath and into the core.
Minimize your rope’s exposure to UV
light, which will weaken the fibers over
time. Store your rope in a shaded, dry
place.
If your rope gets dirty, you can wash
it by hand in a tub or in a washing
machine (preferably a frontloading
washing machine, because a top-loading
machine’s agitator will abrade the rope)
with hot water and a soap suitable for
nylon. If washing your rope in a bathtub,
make sure the tub is free from any
chemicals that may damage the rope. I
daisy-chain the full length of my rope
before washing it in a machine to keep it
from getting tangled. Let your rope dry
by hanging it in a shaded area.
Be vigilant, and protect your rope
from coming into contact with acids,
bleaching or oxidizing agents, and
alkalis. Acid is the arch enemy of nylon
and can severely weaken nylon and
polyester fibers. Be extremely careful
not to expose your rope to battery acid
or any type of acid that may be
encountered in your garage or the trunk
of your car. It is wise to store your rope
in a rope bag.
It is not a good idea to borrow a
rope, because you don’t know its
history. Don’t lend out your rope, and
keep track of its history and how long
you’ve had it. Most manufacturers
recommend keeping a rope for no longer
than five to seven years, even with
minimal use, and no longer than ten
years, even if the rope has been stored
and never used.
Inspect your rope by running your
hand over the entire length of the sheath
when coiling and uncoiling the rope.
Visually inspect for excessively worn
areas on the sheath, and feel for
irregularities (voids, flat spots, etc.) in
the core. Your rope should be retired (or
cut to a shorter length) if you see the
sheath is excessively worn or frayed,
exposing the core, or if there are any
anomalies in the core. Leader falls and
fast rappels can burn the sheath of your
rope, a result of heat generated by the
friction from your rope running over a
carabiner or through a rappel device. If
the sheath feels glazed or melted, the
rope should be retired.

Marking the Middle of Your

Rope
Many climbers use a black felt-tip
marking pen to mark the midpoint of
their rope. In 2002 the UIAA Safety
Commission issued a warning based on
testing done by the UIAA and by some
rope manufactures that showed the ink
from some marking pens decreased the
strength (more specifically, the ropes
ability to hold repeated falls in
accordance with the EN 892 testing
standard) by as much as 50 percent.
While this may seem a shocking figure,
the UIAA president pointed out that
“such a marked rope can only break in
practice when the two or three
centimeters, which are marked, are
placed over a sharp rock edge when the
rope is loaded by a fall.” While this is
an extremely remote possibility—and
other, more recent tests have revealed
virtually no loss in rope strength—you
may want to consider other ways to
identify the midpoint on your rope, or at
least use only marking pens sold or
recommended by your rope’s
manufacturer. Tape is not a good option,
as it can slide on the rope or, more
likely, become gummy and stick in
rappel and belay devices. A good option
is to buy a “bi-pattern” rope, which is a
rope that changes pattern at the middle,
without a change in yarns or color.
Another option is a bicolor rope, which
has a color change at the midpoint of the
rope. This requires the rope
manufacturer to change yarns and use an
“air splice” to join the yarns together.
This is done by forcing the ends to
entwine around each other using
extremely high air pressure. The process
creates a cosmetic blemish at the yarn
change, which manufacturers claim is
actually stronger than the continuous
fibers because of the extra fibers at the
splice. I’ve never been a fan, however.
Cosmetically it looks questionable, and
I’ve found it to be a wear point because
the fibers bulge out a slight bit. If you
don’t have a middle mark on your rope,
simply start with both ends and flake the
rope out until you reach the middle.

Coiling and Uncoiling Your

Rope
When you buy a new rope, take extra
care the first time you uncoil it to
prevent kinking. The best method is to
simply unroll the rope from the coil, as
if pulling it off a spool, holding the rope
and rotating the coil until the entire rope
is stacked on the ground, keeping the
rope free from any twists. Once the rope
is in a loose pile, inspect the rope by
running it foot by foot through your hands
from one end to the other, then coil it
with the butterfly coil method.
 Backpacker or
Butterfly Coil
The backpacker coil is also known as
the butterfly coil. This coiling method
puts fewer kinks in your rope. It is also
the fastest way to coil a rope, since you
start with both ends and coil a doubled
rope. I start by measuring two and a half
arm lengths (both arms extended), then
begin the butterfly. Finish it off by tying
the rope ends with a square knot around
your waist. If I know I’ll be using the
rope the next time for toproping, I’ll
use this coiling method so that when I
flake it out from the ends, I end at the
middle of the rope.
In situations where you’ll need to
 scramble, the backpacker coil is an
excellent way to carry your rope.

Butterfly Coil
NEW ENGLAND COIL
This coiling method is ideal for lead
climbing situations. The New England
coil butterflies the rope, but as a single
strand, making it easier to flake out and
much less likely to tangle than the
mountaineer’s coil.
New England Coil
Mountaineer’s Coil

MOUNTAINEER’S COIL
Another standard coiling method is
called the mountaineer’s coil. This
traditional method makes for a classic,
round coil that can be easily carried
over the shoulder or strapped onto the
top of a pack. The big disadvantage of
the mountaineer’s coil is that it must be
uncoiled as it was coiled, one loop at a
time; otherwise it’s easy to form a mess
of slipknots that are time-consuming and
frustrating to resolve. A neat
mountaineer’s coil is also difficult to
achieve on a kinked rope.
Slings and Webbing
In the 1960s and 1970s, 1-inch-wide
tubular nylon webbing was the standard
sling material, tied into a loop with a
water knot or double fisherman’s knot.
Eventually, sewn slings with bartacked
stitching came onto the market and were
actually stronger than the same material
tied with a knot. Sewn slings are not
only stronger but also safer—you don’t
have to worry about the knot loosening
and coming untied. For rigging rappel
anchors, 1-inch tubular webbing is the
most versatile.

Flat Webbing
Flat webbing is woven solid, as
opposed to tubular webbing, which is
woven into a hose-like shape. It is stiffer
and more abrasion resistant than softer
tubular webbing, with a higher tensile
breaking strength (Sterling 1-inch flat
webbing is rated at 43.5 kN, or 9,800
lbs.), which makes it useful for high-
strength applications. Its stiffness,
however, makes it more difficult to knot
and gives it poor handling
characteristics, making it unpopular with
climbers.

Tubular Webbing
There are two types of tubular nylon
webbing: mil-spec and climb-spec.
Since webbing was originally
manufactured for military applications,
mil-spec means the webbing meets the
standards demanded by the military.
Mil-spec has a coarser, rougher-textured
weave, with a more pronounced ribbing
across the width of the webbing. Climb-
spec is a finer, higher-quality weave,
without the noticeable ribbing and with a
more tightly woven edge. Climb-spec
usually tests slightly stronger than mil-
spec webbing, and is generally more
abrasion resistant and more impervious
to tearing or slicing over a sharp edge,
but both are suitable for rigging rappel
anchors and are roughly the same price.
The Bluewater company, known for
manufacturing high-quality webbing,
says its climb-spec tubular nylon
webbing “outperforms normal mil-spec
webbing in strength, flexibility,
knotability, and durability. There is
minimum exposure to individual fibers
as a result of high thread count and fine
weave pattern.” Bluewater’s 1-inch
climb-spec webbing has been tested to
more than 6,000 pounds loop strength
when tied with a water knot.
Top: Bluewater 1-inch climb-spec nylon
webbing, rated at 18 kN tensile strength
(4,047 lbs.). Bottom: REI 1-inch mil-
spec nylon webbing, rated at 17.8 kN
tensile strength (4,002 lbs.).

Sterling’s version of climb-spec

webbing is called Tech Tape, with a
“smoother, denser weave and higher
tensile strength” than their mil-spec
webbing and a 4,300-pound tensile
strength. Sterling’s mil-spec webbing is
rated to a minimum breaking strength of
4,000 pounds tensile strength and 6,129
pounds in a bartacked sewn loop.
Pre-sewn nylon slings are typically
sold in ¹¹⁄ -inch (18mm) width,
bartacked into 24-inch or 48-inch loops
with a rating of 22 kN (4,946 lbs.) loop
strength.
Climbing shops sell both mil-spec
and climb-spec 1-inch tubular nylon
webbing from spools, cut to any length
you wish. Be aware that these spools of
webbing contain taped splices where the
webbing ends have been joined together
with masking tape. It seems impossible
for it to happen, but I know of two cases
where spliced webbing was sold to
customers who then used it with only the
masking tape joining the webbing
together, in one case with devastating
results.

Nylon Webbing Comparison. Top to

bottom: 1-inch tubular nylon webbing
tied with water knot (Sterling Tech Tape,
rated at 4,300 pounds tensile strength);
18mm Metolius Nylon Sling, rated at 22
kN loop strength (4,946 lbs.); 18mm
Black Diamond Runner, rated at 22 kN
loop strength; ¹¹⁄ -inch Sterling tubular
webbing, tied with a water knot (rated at
3,000 lbs. tensile strength).

One advantage of cut-to-length

webbing is that it can be untied and
retied around a tree, passed through a
tunnel, or threaded through bolt hangers
for a rappel anchor. I generally only
carry 1-inch webbing when I know I’ll
be rigging rappel anchors and leaving it
behind.
The Bluewater company
recommends the maximum lifespan of its
nylon webbing to be no more than five
years and recommends retiring a nylon
sling if it has been subjected to
temperatures above 176°F, is scorched
or glazed from a rope being pulled
across it, shows signs of UV degradation
from being left out in the elements (faded
color and/or stiffness), or has been
exposed to acid or bleach. Like nylon
rope, nylon webbing can lose an
appreciable amount of strength when wet
or frozen. And remember, acid is the
enemy of nylon. According to Metolius:
“Acids are exceptionally bad for cam
slings and other nylon climbing
products. Even fumes from a car battery
can reduce the strength of your slings by
as much as 90 percent.”
Knots for Webbing
Nylon webbing is an inherently slick
material and should be tied with care.
There have been many accidents where
poorly tied knots in nylon webbing have
failed. The two recommended knots for
tying nylon webbing into a loop are the
water knot (also known as the ring bend)
and the double fisherman’s knot (also
known as the grapevine knot). The water
knot should be neatly tied, with the
finished tails a minimum of 3 inches in
length. It is important to tighten the water
knot carefully and firmly, as it tends to
loosen when not tightened properly in a
sling that is being used over time. A
double fisherman’s knot is hard to tie
neatly with webbing and requires a much
longer piece of material, but it is very
secure and will not loosen. A
disadvantage is that it is difficult if not
impossible to untie once it has been
heavily loaded. (See page 262 for knot
tying directions.)
Why would you even use nylon
webbing tied with a knot as opposed to a
sewn runner? A sewn nylon runner is
just as strong and more secure than the
same material tied with a knot, since you
don’t have to worry about the knot
loosening or coming untied. The answer
is for use in applications like rappel
anchors when tying slings around a tree
or through bolt hangers. It is also
sometimes useful to untie the knot, thread
the webbing through something (like a
tunnel), and retie it.

Tensile Strength versus

Loop Strength
Strength ratings are often given as tensile
strength and loop strength. Tensile
strength is tested by a straight pull on a
single strand of the material with no
knots, done by wrapping the material
around a smooth bar (4-inch diameter
gives the most accurate test) on both
ends and pulling until it breaks. Loop
strength is the material tested in a loop
configuration, either tied with a knot (in
the case of webbing, usually the water
knot) or sewn with bartacked stitching.
In general, webbing loop strength when
tied with a water knot is about 80
percent of twice the tensile breaking
strength, and bartacked sewn webbing
loop strength is generally about 15
percent stronger than the same material
tied with a water knot, depending on the
quality and number of bartacks.

Spectra and Dyneema

Slings
Spectra slings, introduced in the late
1980s, were lighter, less bulky, and
stronger than nylon. Dyneema is a more
recent innovation, typically sold in
various-length loops sewn with
bartacked stitching in 10-millieter width.
Dyneema and Spectra both have almost
the identical chemical makeup of high-
molecular-weight polyethylene, which,
pound for pound, is stronger than wire
cable. Most experts say that the
manufacturer of Dyneema consistently
produces more high-quality fibers than
the manufacturer of Spectra material,
and most of the slings on the market
today are made from Dyneema.
Both Spectra and Dyneema slings
are constructed from parallel fibers—
very strong but with high lubricity,
which means the material itself is
inherently slick. That is the reason you
can only buy it in sewn loops—it does
not hold knots well. Do not cut a Spectra
or Dyneema sling and retie it with a
water knot!
Both Spectra and Dyneema have a
lower melting point than nylon (around
300°F for Dyneema/Spectra compared
to nylon’s melting point of around
480°F). The lower melting point, along
with the inherent slipperiness, make
Spectra and Dyneema slings a poor
choice for tying friction hitches like the
prusik, klemheist, or autoblock
compared to 5mm or 6mm nylon cord.
In a pinch, if you need to use a sling
to tie a friction hitch, use a nylon one
over a Dyneema or Spectra sling, as
nylon will grip better. The newer,
thinner (10mm width) Dyneema slings
will work for friction hitches; they do
have some nylon in their construction,
but if they start to slide on a rope when
under load, the friction will generate
heat, which could potentially weaken the
sling.
Both Spectra and Dyneema fibers do
not retain dye and cannot be colored, so
the fiber is distinctive in that it is always
white. Manufacturers add a blend of
nylon to Spectra and Dyneema, usually
in a distinctive border pattern, and my
guess is that in the future we’ll see more
nylon in the mix. The Metolius company
recently came out with 13mm width
slings that are a blend of 36 percent
Dyneema and 64 percent nylon.
When using Spectra or Dyneema
slings, think of them like a wire cable—
they have no stretch, even with nylon
blended into the weave. Avoid tying
knots with them—it can be almost
impossible to untie even a simple
overhand knot in the newer, thinner
Dyneema after it has been seriously
weighted. Wild Country warns that the
material loses a hefty percentage of its
strength (around 50 percent) when tied
in a simple overhand knot or girth-hitch
—a problem that nylon does not have.
The best way to use a Spectra or
Dyneema sling is clipped to carabiners.
If using them in a sling-to-sling
configuration, either basket one sling
over another or use a properly tied girth-
hitch.
When buying slings, 1-inch or ¹¹⁄ -
inch-width tubular nylon webbing will
be the most versatile material for rigging
rappel anchors, as it can be cut to a
desired length and tied with a water
knot. Double-length (48-inch) sewn
nylon slings are also handy for tethering
into anchors and extending your rappel
device away from your harness. Any
sling you purchase for climbing should
have a minimum strength rating of
around 14 kN (3,147 lbs.).
Recent studies show that dirty slings
are weaker than clean ones. The
Mammut company suggests that “to
maintain the quality and safety of your
slings, you need to clean them
regularly.” Mammut recommends that
you “clean soiled slings in hand-hot
water with a small amount of mild
detergent or in a “delicates” machine
cycle up to 30°C (86°F). Rinse in clear
water. Leave to dry in shade.”

Dyneema Sling Comparison. Top to

bottom: 1-inch tubular nylon webbing
(for comparison); Wild Country 10mm
Dyneema sling (22 kN, or 4,946 lbs.);
Black Diamond 10mm Dynex Runner (22
kN); Mammut 8mm Dyneema Contact
Sling (22 kN).

Girth-hitching two Dyneema slings

together can decrease their strength by
50 percent; for most situations this is
not a concern, since the loop strength is
5,000 pounds to begin with.
Cord and Cordelettes
A good all-purpose cordelette is 7mm
diameter nylon cord, about an 18- to 20-
foot length tied into a giant loop with a
double fisherman’s knot. I prefer a
length that allows me to double the
cordelette within the span of my
outstretched arms. My favorite brand is
Sterling, whose 7mm diameter nylon
cord is rated at 12.4 kN (2,788 lbs.) and
tests over 5,000 pounds when tied into a
loop with a double fisherman’s knot.
Cordelettes made with a Spectra or
Dyneema core and nylon sheath have
incredibly high strength and low stretch.
Pound for pound, Spectra and Dyneema
are stronger than steel (and are the
material used in body armor for the
military), but both Spectra and Dyneema
lose an appreciable amount of strength
when tied with knots. Because these
cords are so light and strong, with less
bulk to carry, they have become popular,
especially for rock climbing. Bluewater
markets the 5.5mm diameter Titan Cord,
with a Dyneema core and nylon sheath,
rated at 13.7 kN (3,080 lbs.). They say
its “combination of high strength, low
elongation and light weight provides
superior characteristics over other
combinations. Dyneema does not lose
significant strength with repetitive
flexing and offers a huge increase in
abrasion and cut resistance over other
materials. Bluewater Titan Cord can be
cut and sealed with a hot knife. We
recommend a triple fisherman’s knot for
tying 5.5 Titan into loops.”
In recent years high-tech cords
utilizing aramid fibers (namely
Technora) for the core, with a nylon
sheath, have become popular. Aramid
fiber has extraordinary tensile strength
(stronger than Spectra or Dyneema),
with low stretch and an extremely high
melting point (900°F), making it difficult
to cut and melt. I’ve found that the best
way to cut it is with wire cable cutters.
Then I milk the nylon sheath over the end
and seal it by melting the nylon with a
lighter. The Sterling 6mm PowerCord
has a Technora core and nylon sheath,
with a single strand breaking strength of
around 19 kN (4,271 lbs.); the 5mm
Tech Cord, sold by Maxim/New
England Ropes, with a 100 percent
Technora core and polyester sheath,
rates at a whopping 5,000 pounds tensile
strength.
However, at the 2000 International
Technical Rescue Symposium, Tom
Moyer presented a paper titled
“Comparative Testing of High Strength
Cord” that revealed some startling
deficiencies in Technora and other high-
tech cords. Testing showed that with
repeated flexing, aramid fibers break
down much more quickly (losing
strength) than good old-fashioned nylon.
In his study, a flex cycle test was
performed on various cordelettes. The
cord sample was passed through a hole
in a steel fixture, flexed 90 degrees over
an edge, and loaded with a 40-pound
weight. The steel fixture was rotated
back and forth 180 degrees for 1,000
bending cycles, then the cord’s tensile
strength was tested (single-strand pull
test) at the section that had been flexed.
The Technora sample showed a
remarkable loss of nearly 60 percent of
its strength, while Sterling 7mm nylon
cord and 1-inch tubular nylon webbing
showed no strength loss at all.
Bluewater Titan Cord (Spectra
core/nylon sheath), showed a few
hundred pounds of strength loss, but that
was nowhere near the drastic loss of
Technora. Further research is warranted.
The big advantages of these high-tech
cords are their low weight, high strength,
and low bulk, which are advantageous
for multipitch rock climbing.

Cord Comparison. Top to bottom:

Bluewater 5mm Titan Cord tied with
triple fisherman’s knot (Dyneema
core/nylon sheath; tensile strength 13.7
kN, or 3,080 lbs.); Sterling 6mm
PowerCord tied with triple fisherman’s
knot (Technora core/nylon sheath; tensile
strength 19 kN, or 4,271 lbs.); Sterling
7mm nylon Cordelette tied with double
fisherman’s knot (nylon core/nylon
sheath; tensile strength 12.4 kN, or
2,788 lbs.).

If you use these high-tech cords, you

should tie the cordelette with a triple
fisherman’s knot and consider replacing
them more often with high use. Keep in
mind that the price tag on the high-tech
cords is roughly twice as much as nylon.
The bottom line is this: For an all-
purpose cordelette, you can’t go wrong
with old-school nylon—a 7mm diameter
nylon cord is a good choice.
To tie friction hitches like the prusik,
klemheist, and autoblock, you’ll want to
use 5mm or 6mm diameter nylon cord
(nylon core, nylon sheath). When buying
this accessory cord, buy the softest, most
pliable cord you can find. A stiff cord
won’t grip as well when used for
friction hitches. Also, be aware of the
difference between 5mm nylon
accessory cord (typically rated at 5.2
kN, or 1,169 lbs.) and 5mm high-tenacity
cord like Bluewater Titan Cord (rated at
13.7 kN, or 3,080 lbs.). You obviously
would not want to use 5mm nylon
accessory cord for your cordelette!

Carabiners
Carabiners come in a variety of shapes
and designs: oval, D-shaped, pear-
shaped, wire-gate, bent-gate, and
locking. Bent-gate carabiners are used
primarily for sport climbing (attached to
the rope-clipping end of a quickdraw).
A basic carabiner is of aluminum
alloy, with a spring-loaded gate on one
side. The spine of the carabiner is the
solid bar stock opposite the gate. The
small protrusion on one end of the gate
is called the nose, and this visually tells
you which way the gate opens. The basic
design has a small pin on the gate that
latches into a groove on the nose end.
The preferable “keylock” design
eliminates the pin, and the gate and bar
come together in a machined notch. A
wire-gate carabiner simply has a wire
under tension serving as the gate, which
provides a wider opening because of its
slim mass and eliminates “gate flutter,”
the vibration of a solid gate during a fall
or peak loading of the carabiner.

Carabiners come in a dazzling array of

designs for various applications. Top row
(left to right): asymmetrical D, regular
D, oval, wire-gate D, bent-gate D.
Bottom: pear-shaped locking.
Two oval carabiners with the gates
properly opposed and reversed.

For toproping, oval carabiners are

useful for connecting the climbing rope
to the toprope anchor master point.
Because of their symmetry, the gates can
be opposed and reversed, and the
carabiner configuration still retains its
oval shape.
Two opposed and reversed
carabiners can also be used in lieu of a
locking carabiner at any critical junction
in the anchor system, in situations where
you’ve run out of locking carabiners and
need extra security at a key point.
Three oval carabiners opposed and
reversed at a toprope anchor master
point.

D-shaped carabiners have the

strongest configuration because when the
carabiner is loaded on the major (long)
axis, the weight naturally is loaded
closest to the spine. For this reason, a
locking D is a good choice for a
belay/rappel carabiner. A locking pear-
shaped carabiner is useful for many
applications because of its wide
aperture on one side, and it is a good
carabiner to use with a Munter hitch. It
is also a great carabiner to pair up for
use at the toprope anchor master point.
When you oppose and reverse two pear-
shaped locking carabiners, the symmetry
is maintained (unlike an asymmetrical D
shape), and the climbing rope runs
smoothly through the carabiners.
Two pear-shaped locking carabiners with
the gates opposed and reversed at a
toprope anchor master point.

Locking carabiners (left to right): Petzl

William Triac, Petzl William Ball Lock,
Black Diamond Twistlock, Black
Diamond Screwgate.

The most common locking carabiner

is the screwgate. The screwgate locking
carabiner is just that, a mechanism with
a collar that screws shut over the nose of
the carabiner. I like the Petzl designs that
show a red stripe (red means danger!)
when the gate is unlocked. Obviously,
with a screwgate locking carabiner, you
must remember to lock it. In fact, it’s an
important habit to always check your
locking carabiners to make sure they are
locked. Give them a close visual
inspection; also press on the gate
(squeeze test) as an additional safety
precaution.
If you are a bit absent-minded, or
catch yourself occasionally not locking
your screwgate carabiner, you might
want to buy an autolock or twistlock
carabiner. The twistlock design has a
spring-loaded gate that locks
automatically, and there are several
autolocking designs on the market that
have even safer mechanisms that must be
manipulated (like pushing the gate
upward, then twisting the gate to lock it;
or pressing a button, then twisting open
the gate), but some climbers find these
difficult to use. Interestingly, for
industrial workers in the Vertical Rope
Access environment (rappelling and
rope ascending on the faces of dams,
buildings, and bridges), OSHA
standards require autolocking
carabiners, as does the tree-trimming
industry.
If you’re forgetful about locking your
carabiners, instructor Chris Baumann
offers this tip: Paint a red stripe at the
base of the locking collar in the unlocked
position.
Bad! Never load a carabiner in three
directions as shown here.

An important thing to remember with

carabiners is that a carabiner is only
about one-third as strong if it’s loaded
with the gate open. It’s essential,
therefore, to keep a few things in mind
when using a carabiner:
• Always load the carabiner in the prope
direction—on the major, or long,
axis.
• Do not cross-load a carabiner (on the
minor axis) or load it in three
directions (called triaxial loading).
• Do not load a carabiner over an edge o
rock—this can open the gate when
the carabiner is loaded, and two-
thirds of the carabiner’s strength will
be lost.
Retire a carabiner if it shows a
groove from excessive rope wear, or if
it has been dropped a lengthy distance
down a rock face. If the gate is sticky,
washing it with soap and water and
using some graphite lubricant will
usually take care of the problem.
In the professional realm, the
industry standard for attaching the
climbing rope to the toprope anchor
master point is either two locking or
three oval carabiners with the gates
opposed and reversed. I’ve always
preferred three ovals because of the
symmetry and wide base they present for
the climbing rope. If using two locking
carabiners, pick a pair of pear-shaped
(not D-shaped) lockers so the pairing is
symmetrical when one is opposed and
reversed. I’ve used three steel ovals for
thousands of client days without
incident. Simply oppose and reverse the
outside carabiners to the middle one.
The wide radius created by the width of
the three carabiners, plus the added
weight of steel versus aluminum,
provides a more stable platform for the
rope and tends not to flip sideways as
often as two locking carabiners—a
situation that can pin the rope against the
rock while lowering if the climber’s
(weighted) strand is on the outside,
away from the rock.
Three steel ovals with the gates opposed
and reversed at a toprope anchor master
point.

Kesley Lund leads Right Between the

Eyes (5.7), Joshua Tree.
PHOTO BY GREG EPPERSON

If you do a lot of toproping, you’ll

see that aluminum carabiners wear
rather quickly, developing noticeable
grooves. The worn-off aluminum
particles also get on the rope and the
belayer’s hands. When this happens, you
should retire them. Steel is far more
durable and wears much more slowly
than aluminum. One caution when using
steel carabiners: If you drop them from
any distance (say 20 feet or more), you
should consider retiring them, as steel’s
metallurgical structure makes it more
prone to micro fractures.
 CHAPTER 4

Anchoring

Rock Assessment
The first thing to think about when
placing protection and building anchor
systems is the integrity and structure of
the rock itself. Catastrophic anchor
failures have occurred, not because the
gear placements were bad, or the rigging
was flawed, but because the rock itself
was unsound. Determining good rock
structure and knowing what to watch out
for are fundamental requirements to
building safe anchors.
When placing gear, the ideal crack is
what guides call “a crack in the planet,”
a deep fissure that runs perpendicular (at
a right angle) to the plane of the rock
face, cleaving a massive, solid face of
granite.
Use good judgment if anchoring to
detached blocks. Avoid small ones and
those resting on an inclined slab. I’ve
adopted a rule from Yosemite Search and
Rescue protocol: For a detached granite
block to be used as a sole, monolithic
anchor, it must be at least as big as a
full-size refrigerator, situated lengthwise
on a flat surface.

In general you’ll want to avoid two

things: detached blocks and flakes. A
detached block is just that—a chunk of
rock that is not attached to the main rock
structure but is either sitting on top of the
cliff, like a boulder, or is part of the
main rock face but completely fractured
with cracks on all sides.
To assess a block, start by looking at
its size. How big is it? Is it the size of
your refrigerator, your car, or your
house? Putting a piece of gear in the
crack beneath a smaller block is a very
bad idea. When the piece is weighted, it
has an outward prying effect on the
block. Even large blocks can shift
easily, as I’ve encountered when
boulder-hopping around car-size blocks,
only to have one shift under my body
weight. Look at how the block is
situated. Is it perched down low, where
it cannot slide out? Does it rest on a flat
surface, or is it resting on an inclined
slab? Generally, be very skeptical of
using detached blocks as part of your
anchor system, especially smaller
blocks.
This block is not as big as a fridge but is
being incorporated into a larger anchor
system. Its position is low and locked in
by surrounding blocks, making it secure
for this application.

Flakes should also be avoided. A

flake is formed by a crack in the rock
that runs parallel to the main rock face. It
can be wafer thin or several feet thick. A
flake is inherently weak, since any gear
placement, when loaded, will exert an
outward prying effect on the structure of
the flake, which can fracture if not strong
enough to bear the force. In a naturally
weak rock, like sandstone, a thin flake of
rock can be extremely weak.
This large horn of rock is what I call
“attached to the planet” rather than a
detached block resting “on top of the
planet.” This is what you’re looking for
with natural rock features. It’s being
incorporated into a larger anchor system.
The rigging rope is tied around the horn
using a bowline with a bight.
 Exfoliation Confrontation, a climb at
Joshua Tree National Park, has a
memorable crux where you reach
underneath and undercling a flake of
rock. Exfoliation is a natural process of
granite formations and is the key in the
formation of domes. Flakes of granite
are layered, like layers of an onion, and
the outer layer peels off from time to
time due to weathering and gravity,
exposing a new layer beneath.
One of the largest examples of
exfoliation I’ve ever seen occurred in
Yosemite Valley on a hot July day in
1996 at the Glacier Point Apron. An
enormous flake, roughly the size of a
football field and about 4 feet thick,
detached from a point high on the cliff,
shearing off in one gigantic piece. After
a 2,000-foot free fall, the impact
resulted in a massive explosion, creating
a 300 mile per hour shock wave of wind
that felled a thousand pine trees in a
wide swath. A tourist, in line at the
Happy Isles snack bar over a quarter
mile away, was killed when hit by a
piece of shrapnel from the blast.
This camming device has been placed
behind a thin flake of rock. If the cam is
loaded, it will pry outward, potentially
breaking the flake. How much force
would be required to break the flake is
unknown—but in this case, probably not
much!
I came across this “rappel anchor” at
Tahquitz Rock in Southern California.
You don’t have to be a geologist to figure
out that this flake is ready to exfoliate.
You wouldn’t catch me rappelling off this
dud. Almost every case of catastrophic
anchor failure is due to poor rock
structure.

When building anchors, look at any

flake with skepticism. How thick is it,
and how well attached to the main rock
structure or cliff face? Test its soundness
by thumping on it with the palm of your
hand. Does it vibrate? Is there a hollow
sound? When analyzing rock structure,
act like a geologist and scrutinize the
rock and its various formations very
carefully.
A solid rock bollard attached to the main
cliff structure. Although only a sole
monolithic anchor point, the rigging is
redundant in that the cordellete is
doubled and tied with a figure eight loop.

Macro to Micro Rock

Assessment
When assessing rock structure, evaluate
from macro to micro. Macro is the big
picture. Look at the main rock face. Is
there a massive, solid rock structure? Is
there a crack in the planet? Or are the
cracks an intricate matrix where no
massive piece of completely solid rock
exists. Are you dealing with blocks or
flakes? Can you avoid using them?
These are questions you need to ask.
Never blindly place gear in cracks
without first scrutinizing the big picture:
the overall structure and integrity of the
rock itself.
Microstructure is what’s inside the
crack you’ll be using. Is the surface of
the rock rotten, grainy, dirty, or flaky?
Are there hollow spots or hollow flakes
inside the crack itself? Microstructure
can affect the integrity of your
placements as much as the overall
macrostructure.
This three-piece anchor looks great,
except for one thing: bad macro
structure. A force on the pieces could
move the entire block, since it’s cracked
on all sides. Remember, the numberone
cause of catastrophic anchor failure is
bad macro structure.
This detached flake is a great example of
bad rock structure.
Bad microstructure: The right side of
this nut rests on a fragile flake.
The camming device placement looks
great—\nice and tight in a parallel-sided
crack. But how good is the rock quality?
Close inspection reveals a
microstructure problem on the crack’s
left wall, rendering the placement less
than ideal.

Natural Anchors
Natural anchors utilize the natural
features you’ll find at the crag
environment, such as trees, and the
configuration of the rock itself. Trees are
plentiful in some areas, rare in others,
such as in a desert environment. How do
you assess the reliability and strength of
a tree?
In 2015 John Morton, a search and
rescue technician with the Snohomish
County Search and Rescue and Everett
Mountain Rescue in Washington State,
published an exhaustive study he
compiled of tree strength in the Pacific
Northwest, sampling twelve different
tree species. What he concluded was
that trees that are routinely subjected to
high winds are stronger.
Trees with a minimum diameter of 7
inches (a circumference of 22 inches) in
areas commonly subjected to winds from
35 to 55 mph tested between 10 kN and
25 kN at 2 feet up from their base. For
7-inch-diameter trees routinely
subjected to higher winds (60 to 90
mph), the results were higher: 30kN to
60 kN.
OK. A properly girth-hitched nylon sling.
Good. A double-length (48-inch) nylon
sling tied with an overhand knot makes
the sling itself redundant.
Good. A figure eight followthrough knot
used to tie the anchor rope directly to
the tree.

To trust a single tree as a monolithic

sole anchor, here’s a good rule of thumb:
The tree should be a minimum 9 inches
in diameter (28-inch circumference),
which is roughly the size of your helmet,
and also meet the following criteria:
• The tree is living and structurally
sound.
• The trunk and base are vertically
aligned.
• The tree is rooted in soil with no void
(not in sand or gravel).
• The trunk is symmetrical at its base.
 Because of the drier climate, trees at
climbing sites in the southwestern United
States are generally more reliable
anchors than trees in the Pacific
Northwest or on East Coast, where the
climate is wetter and more humid. When
setting up a toprope anchor, use two
separate trees in the anchor system if
possible; if only one tree is available,
back it up with another gear placement
or two if it’s less than a monolithic tree.
The rock itself can be used for
anchoring. Look for large spikes or
horns of rock attached to the main rock
structure to tie off as part of your anchor.
A tunnel in a solid rock structure is
called a thread, and is utilized by
threading a sling or cord, or tying a rope,
through the tunnel. Limestone is a rock
type with many threads, whereas threads
are a rarity in granite.
Use detached blocks with caution.
They should be well situated,
unmovable, and not top heavy. Avoid
using blocks resting on a slanting surface
or a slab. I like to tie off the block
around its entire mass, rather than using
the pinch where the block touches
another rock surface or where two
blocks touch each other. This way, even
if the block shifts slightly, I still am
anchored to the mass of the block. When
tying off blocks, watch for sharp edges
that may fray or cut your rigging rope,
and use padding or an edge protector
when needed.
 A friend of mine put up a new route
at Joshua Tree—a 40-foot-high sport
climb with five bolts—up the face of a
massive block that was a facet of a
larger cliff. One day I got a phone call:
“Tony’s route fell down!” I didn’t
believe it until I walked out there and
saw it with my own eyes. The gigantic
block was top heavy and had simply
toppled over; the side where Tony’s
route had been was now straight down in
the dirt, leaving behind a void in the cliff
the size of a small house. I got down on
my hands and knees and peered
underneath. I could see one of the bolt
hangers! Bouldering legend Chris
Sharma visited the site shortly thereafter,
climbing what is now one of Joshua
Tree’s most difficult boulder problems
—up the newly exposed overhanging
face of one side of the block.
In some instances a single,
bombproof natural anchor (guides refer
to this as a “monolith”) is safely used for
a rappel or toprope anchor—like a 3-
foot-diameter ponderosa pine tree, or a
knob of rock the size of your refrigerator
that’s part of the main rock structure.
Just make sure your sling or rope around
the anchor is redundant. For example,
when rigging a rappel anchor around a
massive tree, use two separate slings
with two rappel rings to gain redundancy
in your anchor system, at least in the
rigging. When rigging a belay or toprope
anchor, loop two strands of the
cordelette around the tree, then tie a
figure eight knot for a two-loop master
point. Clip in with two carabiners,
opposed and reversed, and you have
redundancy in your anchor rigging
(although technically, a single tree is
nonredundant). Always use caution and
sound judgment when using a
nonredundant natural anchor.
A “thread” is a sling or cord threaded
through a tunnel, rare in granite but
common in limestone. Here a Bluewater
Titan cordelette (3,080 lbs. tensile
strength) is doubled, looped through the
thread, then tied off with an overhand
knot, creating a very strong four-loop
master point. It all boils down to the
structural integrity of the rock arch,
which appears to have a small crack at its
narrowest point. This thread is in granite,
reliable as long as the direction of pull is
down. I’d consider this same thread in
sandstone to be unreliable.
A slip hitch used to tie off a knob of
rock.

How to tie a slip hitch. The slip hitch can

be tightened by pulling on one strand,
making it more secure than a girth-hitch
for tying off knobs of rock.
Double-length nylon sling, girth-hitched
on a horn. If used for protection, the
action of the rope might loosen the sling
—better to use a slip hitch or choke the
sling back on itself.
Choking the sling back on itself weakens
it by 30 to 40 percent, but increases the
chances of the sling staying there.
Sling girth-hitched on a fist-size
chockstone. As long as the pull is
straight down, this stone is wedged like a
giant hex, and is probably as strong as
any nut placement. A pull up and out,
however, might easily dislodge it.
A monolithic tree anchor. This massive
live pine tree at Tahquitz Rock in
Southern California is 60 feet tall and
well rooted at its base. The rigging is
redundant, since the cordelette has been
looped around the tree and tied off with a
figure eight loop.

Nuts

The Evolution of
Chockcraft
A chockstone is simply a rock wedged
in a crack. Naturally occurring
chockstones can be as small as a pebble
or as big as a house. The notion of using
a chockstone for an anchor dates back to
the origins of the sport. In the late 1800s
in the British Isles, rock climbers began
using natural chockstones for anchors by
slinging a cord around them and
attaching their rope to the sling with a
carabiner. The use of artificial
chockstones—called chocks or, more
commonly, nuts—began in the early
1960s at a North Wales cliff at a crag
named Clogwyn Du’r Arddu. The hike
up to the crag followed a railroad track,
and some ambling climber picked up a
nut along the way and pocketed it. Up on
the cliff he threaded a small cord through
the nut before wedging it in a
constriction in a thin crack. Thus the
subtle art of chockcraft was born.
A selection of chocks from the 1970s.
Nuts have evolved over the years but are
still based on the same original basic
designs.
A selection of modern-day nuts.

In American rock climbing, pitons

were used almost exclusively for
protection and anchors until the 1970s.
In Europe, pitons were made of soft
iron, and once hammered into a crack
they were nearly impossible to remove
and reuse. Legendary American climber
John Salathé, a wrought-iron worker by
trade, developed the first hard steel
pitons, forged from an old Ford Model
A axle, which he used for his famous
ascents in Yosemite Valley during the
1940s. These high carbon steel pitons
could be driven and then removed and
reused, over and over again.
Yvon Chouinard refined and
innovated the design of chrome moly
steel pitons from 1957 to 1965,
improving on Salathé’s designs with the
introduction of knifeblade, horizontal
(called the Lost Arrow), and angle
pitons. These pitons revolutionized big
wall climbing in Yosemite during the
“Golden Age” of the 1960s, when
hundreds of placements were required
for the ultimate big wall climbs in
Yosemite, like El Capitan. Once placed,
they could be removed by the second,
leaving the climbing route in the same
condition for the next climbing team.
Climbing standards in Yosemite led
the world at the time. But it came with a
price. On popular climbs in Yosemite,
the repeated pounding and removal of
hard steel pitons began to permanently
damage the cracks, leaving ugly “pin
scars” every few feet up crack systems.
Cracks were getting “beat out,” and
something had to be done. The National
Park Service actually closed down a
few climbs in Yosemite because of piton
damage.
When the great American climber
Royal Robbins made a trip to England in
the 1960s, he saw how effective nuts
could be, and he imported the idea back
to Yosemite. His 1967 ascent of The
Nutcracker, one of Yosemite’s most
popular climbs, was done entirely with
nuts—Royal’s way of showing that nuts
were a viable alternative to the
destructive pitons. Climbing the route
today, you’ll notice there still are piton
scars on the route, a testament to how
slow American climbers were to
embrace the new and gentler technology
of chockcraft—a big change from
bashing hard steel pitons into cracks
with heavy blows from a hammer.
The change was finally precipitated
by the fact that many cracks were simply
being destroyed. Even granite is
relatively soft when compared to cold
hard steel. But it wasn’t until Yvon
Chouinard introduced chocks to
American rock climbers in his 1972
equipment catalog, and Doug Robinson
espoused the virtues of nuts in his
seminal treatise, The Whole Natural Art
of Protection, that the American
climbing community firmly embraced the
idea of “clean climbing”—a new ethic
where climbing anchors were placed
and removed without scarring or
damaging the rock.
Today there are thin-crack climbs in
Yosemite where, for hundreds of feet,
every finger jam is in an ancient piton
scar, although now instead of using
pitons, nuts can be slotted into the V-
shaped bottom of the old pin scars.
Artificial chocks now come in a
dazzling array of shapes and sizes, the
largest ones capable of holding more
than 3,000 pounds and the tiniest micro-
nuts designed to hold body weight only.
First introduced by Chouinard
Equipment in 1971, the hexentric,
commonly called a hex, is a unique, six-
sided nut with four distinct attitudes of
placement. It was followed by the
Stopper in 1972, with its simple but
effective tapered trapezoidal shape.
Although many new designs have been
introduced since then, they are basically
variations on a theme to these classic
and timeless designs, which are as
viable today as they were more than
forty years ago.
Piton scars on a Yosemite crack.

The ingenious Tricam, invented by

Jeff Lowe in 1980, is essentially a single
cam that can be used either passively or
actively. Since it has a tapered design,
with a point on one end, it can be
wedged like a nut (a passive placement)
or used like a cam (an active
placement), where a mechanical action
(i.e., camming) takes place. The
camming action occurs when the sling is
loaded on the back, or spine, of the cam,
between two rails that contact the rock
on one side of the crack, creating a force
that pivots like a fulcrum onto the
pointed end on the other side of the
crack. The design is useful for many
horizontal crack situations, but its main
drawback is that it’s somewhat difficult
to remove with one hand once it has
been well set or weighted.

The classic designs of the hex (left) and

the Stopper (right) have changed little
since their inception in the early 1970s.
A well-placed Tricam in passive mode.

A well-placed Tricam in camming

(active) mode.
This Tricam, placed in the camming
mode, has no room for the camming
action to take place. If I had to grade this
placement, I’d give it a D.

When placing a nut, or any other

piece of gear for that matter, again the
first thing to consider is the overall
integrity of the rock itself. I can’t
overemphasize the importance of rock
assessment. Nuts have very low holding
power in soft sandstone, or rotten or
flaky rock. Avoid placing nuts in cracks
under or around detached blocks, or in
cracks behind loose flakes. Look for
“straight-in” cracks in massive rock
structure, where the crack runs
perpendicular to the plane of the rock
face.
Stopper in a bottleneck placement. There
is simply no way that in a downward pull,
the nut could be pulled through the
bottleneck. Something would have to
give: either the rock itself or the nut or
wire cable.
Very good. This Stopper placement is in
good, solid rock and has flush surface
contact on both sides of the nut. I’d grade
this one an A-.
Good surface contact on both sides of
this endwise placement, although the
crack is slightly flared. Grade: B-.
Bad. The left side of this nut lacks
surface contact with the rock. Grade: D-.
Fail. Poor surface contact, particularly
on the right side; there’s insufficient
narrowing of the crack below the
placement. Might hold body weight, but
not a leader fall.
OK. This stopper is in a good bottleneck
but is not set deeply enough inside the
crack, making it susceptible to failure in
any outward pull, since it lacks surface
contact on its left side. Grade: C.
Good. The left side of this nut is nearly
100 percent flush, and the curve of the
nut on its right side fits the curve of the
crack. Grade: A.
Excellent. This nut has good surface
contact on both sides, plus the lip on the
right side of the crack protects against
any outward force. As far as endwise
placements go, on a scale of 1 to 10, this
one’s a 10.
Opposing nuts. Slider nuts, like the ball
nut, are based on this concept. I’d use
this technique if I had nothing else to fit
the crack, but it could work in a pinch
(pun intended).
Hugh Banner invented the offset nut in
the 1970s, creating a shape that is
tapered in two directions.
This DMM alloy offset fits nearly
perfectly into this mildly flaring crack.
The Black Diamond Micro Stopper. This
design, where the cable is soldered
directly into the nut, fits well in shallow
cracks due to its narrower profile.
A number 6 Micro Stopper has a breaking
strength of 8 kN (1,789 lbs.); although in
a bottleneck, this placement lacks
surface contact on its right side and,
because of the stiff wire, is susceptible
to being plucked out by any outward
force. Here, the next smaller size would
fit better. When I’m leading, I carry
groups of small nuts on an oval carabiner,
about a half-dozen of similar size per
biner, and use them like a set of keys. If
one doesn’t fit, I’ll go to the next size,
keeping them all on the biner. Once I find
my placement, I’ll unclip the biner and
put a quickdraw on the placement.
This number 3 Micro Stopper has
excellent surface contact. Its breaking
strength is rated at 5 kN (1,123 lbs.),
roughly half that of a large stopper of 10
kN (2,248 lbs.)

Two nuts in a horizontal crack, rigged in

opposition with clove hitches.

Once a good crack system is found,

look for obvious constrictions in the
crack itself. A “bottleneck” placement is
found where the crack tapers drastically
and the proper size nut is fitted in the
narrowing constriction.
With a basic tapered nut, like the
Stopper, the preferred placement is in
the narrow configuration, since this
setting has the most surface contact and
stability. The wider endwise
configuration is an option for narrow
slots and shallow cracks, but it
ultimately has less surface contact and
generally less stability.
The typical nut placement is in a
vertical crack, but horizontal cracks will
work if there is a narrowing at the lip of
the crack and you can slide a nut in from
the side, then pull it into the constriction.
The real art of chockcraft comes into
play with the subtler placements. Look
for any slight variations in the walls of
the crack. When placing a nut, aim for
maximum surface contact between the
metal faces of the chock and the walls of
the crack.
When the walls of the crack are
virtually parallel, using the camming
action of a Tricam or hex is the best
option for a nut placement, although this
is territory that specific camming
devices were designed for. Unless you
can see an obvious V-shaped taper in the
crack, chances are you won’t be able to
get a reliable nut placement—it’s that
simple.
Excellent. This hex placement has near-
perfect flushness on both faces of the nut
in a solid straight-in crack. Loading the
nut’s cable will kick in the camming
action of the hex.
Bomber. This perfectly flush endwise
placement couldn’t be any better.

I’d grade this one a D-. It lacks surface

contact on its left side, and the crack is a
bit flared.
C+. Relatively flush on both sides, but
the rock microstructure is grainy, with
large crystals, and the right wall of the
crack flares out a bit.
A nice, flush fit. My concern is the rock
structure, and the possibility of the rock
itself fracturing.

Assessing Nut
Placement
When assessing any nut placement, the
 three key elements are:
1. Rock Structure
2. Direction of Pull
3. Surface Contact

A good acronym to use is SOS:

S Structural integrity of the rock
O Orientation (direction of pull)
S Surface contact

Of paramount concern when placing

a nut is the direction of pull. In what
direction will the chock be loaded?
Most placements can withstand a pull in
only one direction. While the nut may be
able to withstand a load of 2,000 pounds
in that one direction, the slightest tug in
the opposite direction might jerk the nut
right out of its placement. When
incorporating a nut placement into an
overall anchor system, look at the
ultimate direction your anchor system
will be loaded, and equalize your
placement in a line toward the master
point.
Setting a nut properly is also
important. Many novice climbers make a
great nut placement but fail to set it
properly, which makes the nut
susceptible to levering out of its
placement if pulled from a different
angle than intended. Setting the piece is
accomplished by simply applying
several stout tugs in the direction the
piece will be loaded, most easily
accomplished by attaching a sling to the
nut with a carabiner and yanking on the
sling, firmly wedging the nut in its
intended placement. While this definitely
makes the nut more difficult to remove, it
is an important concept that many
novices miss.
Cleaning a nut can be as easy as
yanking it in the opposite direction from
the intended direction of pull, but be
careful with recalcitrant nuts, which can
suddenly pop out and hit you in the face
or teeth. Yanking a piece out can also
send your hand bashing into the rock,
scraping your knuckles. A better
approach to removing a nut is to use the
nut tool, giving the nut a tap opposite
from the direction of loading. An easy
way to loosen larger nuts is to tap the nut
with a carabiner, metal to metal.
 Becoming skilled at the art of
chockcraft takes practice. I often urge
experienced climbers who really want to
learn the subtleties of chockcraft to
spend a day at a trad area like Joshua
Tree armed with only a selection of nuts,
climbing some of the old classics that
were put up before the advent of spring-
loaded camming devices. Doing so will
force them to focus intensely on the fine
points of chockcraft.
If you’re inexperienced at placing
nuts, to gain confidence quickly, hire a
guide for a day of anchoring practice so
that you can be critiqued on your
placements by a professional.
Every nut placement is different—
some less than perfect, some bomber,
some worthless. You should have
enough knowledge to know what’s good
and what’s not, and what constitutes a
placement you can trust.

Cams
In the mid-1970s a stout, muscular
fellow by the name of Ray Jardine could
often be seen peering through binoculars,
gazing upward at the various nooks and
crannies on the walls of Yosemite
Valley. With his thick beard and glasses,
he looked like a birder, but Ray wasn’t
looking for birds. The bulging forearms
gave it away—Ray was a climber, and
he was looking for the ultimate crack:
one of those perfectly straight cracks that
split Yosemite’s steep walls like a
surgeon’s incision, shooting upward for
100 feet, uninterrupted.
Ray had invented a new technology
—the spring-loaded camming device, or
SLCD—that allowed him to place
reliable protection in even perfectly
parallel-sided cracks. When he found his
ultimate crack climb, he swore his
partners to secrecy and set out on a
mission: to climb the most difficult crack
ever climbed in Yosemite. He named it
The Phoenix—a fingertip- to hand-size
crack on a gently overhanging wall high
above Cascade Falls in the lower
valley. After dozens of attempts using
his newfangled technology, he finally
succeeded in climbing Yosemite’s first
5.13. Ray called his miracle invention
the “Friend,” and soon the word was
out. Some climbers called it “cheating”;
others claimed it was “the greatest
invention since the nylon rope.”

Spring-loaded Camming Devices

(SLCDs).
 Marketed by Wild Country, the
Friend soon became an integral part of
every rock climber’s rack. Ray soon
retired from climbing and, financed by
his proceeds from licensing the Friend,
went on to sail around the world, hike
the Pacific Crest Trail, row across the
Atlantic, and ski to the South Pole.
The idea of the SLCD, or “camming
device” for short, is simple in concept
yet complex in design. Jardine’s original
design consisted of a unit with a rigid
aluminum shaft connected by an axle to
four independent aluminum spring-
loaded cams (called “lobes”). The cams
retracted via a trigger bar that slid up
and down a slot in the shaft. The unit
was fitted into a parallel-sided crack
with the cams retracted; when weight
was applied to a sling tied into a hole in
the bottom of the shaft, the cams were
activated in response to the load. To
keep the unit from being pulled out of the
crack, a corresponding force held it in
place. The downward force in the
direction of the shaft was transferred
outward at the cams, which generated an
outward force against the walls of the
crack.
The original Wild Country Friend was
one of the greatest innovations in rock
climbing.

The disadvantage of Ray’s design

was that a rigid shaft could not flex or
bend in the direction of pull, an
especially troubling problem for
placements in horizontal cracks.
The Metolius Power Cam has color-
coded dots that help you assess your
placement.

The Black Diamond Camalot was the first

double-axle design.
The Metolius offset TCU (three-cam
unit) works well in slightly flaring
cracks.

Today there is a huge array of

SLCDs on the market, and most of these
designs have flexible wire cable shafts
instead of rigid ones. One of the biggest
improvements since the invention of the
Friend was the first double-axle design,
the Camalot, introduced by Black
Diamond Equipment, which allows for a
much greater range of cam placement.
Now, in addition to units with four cam
lobes, there are TCUs (three-cam units)
and offset cams (for flared cracks).

Bad. Any force applied to this Black

Diamond Camalot will be converted to an
outward force that can pry out and
potentially break the flake of rock it’s
placed behind.

Placing an SLCD
When placing an SLCD, the first thing to
consider is rock quality. SLCDs can fail
if the rock is soft, brittle, or loose. They
can easily pull out if placed behind a
small, loose block or thin flake of rock.
In an ideal placement in solid granite, a
Black Diamond Camalot can hold as
much as 14 kN (3,147 lbs.). Never rely
on a camming device to hold in very soft
sandstone, or in rotten or flaky rock.
Cam manufacturer Metolius advises:
“Rock fails in two basic ways: either a
relatively large piece breaks off or the
surface layer is crushed under the
pressure of the cam lobe, allowing the
cam to ‘track out.’ You must assess the
integrity of the rock and choose the
soundest possible location for your
placements. Look for fractures in and
around the walls of a potential
placement that could denote weakness,
as well as pebbles, crystals, or micro-
flakes that could snap off. Be extremely
suspicious of placements behind flakes
or blocks.”
Since they rely on friction to a
certain extent, camming devices are not
as strong in exceptionally slick or
polished rock, or rock that is wet or icy.
Again, avoid placements behind
detached blocks and loose flakes—the
outward expansion of the cams can
generate a tremendous force that can pry
the rock loose. Look for straight-in
cracks in solid rock. A straight-in crack
is one that runs perpendicular to the face
of the rock, bisecting the rock at a right
angle.
Camalot placed for protection on a lead
climb. The crack and the placement look
good, but how strong is the flake? In
general, avoid flakes and seek straight-in
cracks that bisect the plane of the rock
face at a 90-degree angle.

When placing a camming device,

look for a section of the crack where the
walls are uniformly parallel, or where
they form a subtle pocket. Avoid
widening cracks, where the crack is
wider above the cams; because of its
spring-loaded design, the camming
device will have a natural tendency to
wiggle upward as the cam is activated.
This phenomenon is known as
“walking.” This walking movement is
most exaggerated when the piece is
repeatedly weighted and unweighted, as
in toproping. In a crack where the walls
are uniformly parallel, or where the
crack narrows slightly above the cams,
if there is any walking, the cams will not
open any wider and will stay within
acceptable retraction range. As a test,
grab the sling and yank and pull on it to
see what walking, if any, occurs. This is
an exaggerated test; when you actually
use the piece, the force will be more
constant. Any piece will “walk” if you
yank back and forth on it with enough
vigor. The key point is that this is
something to be aware of and watch for.
Bad. Even though the cams on this Black
Diamond Camalot are within the
acceptable range (right around 50 percent
retracted), the widening crack above the
cams will allow them to easily “walk”
into the wider section. This can occur
even with minimal loading and unloading
of the device, such as from the action of
a lead rope or hanging and lowering from
a toprope anchor, potentially leading to
complete failure if the cams open all the
way. Avoid this situation—the cams can
potentially walk to an open and unstable
position. Grade: D.
Excellent. In my mind, the perfect
placement. We have solid, massive rock
—a crack in the planet—and the cams
retracted uniformly at about 80 percent.
This is what I strive for with every
Camalot placement: nice and tight, where
the bottom tips on the lobes all come
into line. Grade: A+.
Bomber placement. This Camalot is
retracted at 50 percent. When placing
Camalots, strive for 50 percent and
tighter. Fifty percent retraction is when
the bases of the lobes on the cams are at
a 45-degree angle relative to the vertical
axis (the direction on the stem), or when
the bases of the cams form a 90-degree
angle relative to each other. Grade: A.
This Metolius Power Cam has colored
dots in small drilled holes on the edge of
the cams to assist you in assessing your
placement. Green is the recommended
range. Yellow means caution; you’re
slightly out of the optimal range. Red
means danger; you’re making a
potentially bad placement.

Another key to a good placement is

the range of retraction on the cams.
Black Diamond recommends that the
Camalot be placed in the lower to mid-
expansion range (50 to 90 percent
retraction is ideal). Wild Country
advises the following for its single-axle
designs: “It is vitally important that all
the cams make contact with the sides of
the rock, preferably in the middle half of
their expansion range (i.e., the cams
should be one-quarter to three-quarters
open).” Metolius recommends selecting
“the largest size cam that will fit without
getting stuck. Cams should not be placed
near the wide end of their expansion
range. When a unit is loaded, it expands
as the slack is removed from the system
and the cams and rock compress. A
nearly tipped-out cam won’t have
enough expansion left to accommodate
this process. A loose cam is also more
prone to walking and has little range left
to adjust.”
Good. This Metolius Power Cam displays
optimal green “range finder” dots in a
solid, parallel-sided crack. Grade: A.
Poor. Although the range of retraction is
acceptable, this Metolius Power Cam
could easily walk up into the wider pod in
the crack above the cams, rendering the
placement unstable. Also, the outside
right cam has poor surface contact and is
too close to the edge of the crack.
Grade: D-.

Metolius recommends that in a

horizontal crack, the outside cams should
be placed on the bottom of the crack for
maximum stability.
Too tight. This Camalot is around 90
percent retracted. Any tighter, and it may
be very difficult to remove. There is also
some loss of holding power in the last 10
percent (90 to 100 percent retracted) on
a Camalot.
Very poor. The cams are barely retracted
and nowhere near the recommended
range. The piece can easily walk, and it
might fail completely. Grade: F.

A larger size cam would be better, but

this Metolius Power Cam is in a pocket
in the crack that lends some stability to
the placement, even though it is
borderline on the red “range finder” dots,
signifying a marginal placement. Grade:
C-.
This Camalot is in a slightly flaring
crack, with the inside cams retracted
tighter than the outside ones, although
each set of cams (inside and outside) are
within a suitable range and all the cams
have flush contact with the rock. Grade:
C-.
Bad. The crack is way too flared for this
Metolius Power Cam, and the cam on the
right side has very poor surface contact
with the rock. Grade: F.
Good. This Metolius cam is in the tighter
aspect of its range. Green means good to
go. Grade: A.
Bad. The cams are too open, rendering
the placement unstable. Shoot for at least
halfway tight on the cams. Grade: F.

The same crack with two different

placements. In the left-hand photo, the
left outside cam has poor contact and is
too close to the edge of the crack. By
flipping the cam around (right photo), the
gold cam now has flush surface contact
with the rock. Since the inside and
outside sets of cams are offset, flipping
the cam one way or the other can often
afford a better placement, particularly in
shallow cracks in corners.

To illustrate what constitutes an

acceptable range of retraction for the
cams of a camming device, let’s look at
the Black Diamond Camalot in greater
detail.
What is 50 to 90 percent retracted
for a double-axle camming device like
the Camalot? When you’re looking at the
Camalot without pulling on the trigger,
it’s at 0 percent retraction. Squeezing the
trigger mechanism so that the cams are
as tight as possible is 100 percent
retracted. In a very tight placement, at
100 percent retracted, the Camalot will
likely be very difficult to remove, and
you risk losing an expensive piece of
gear. In the last 10 percent of the tightest
aspect of the range (90 to 100 percent
retracted), the Camalot also loses some
of its holding power—another reason
not to go too tight on a placement. The
starting point for a good placement is at
50 percent retraction, which is when you
pull the cams at least halfway tight.
Looking at the base of the cams, 50
percent retraction is when the base of
each cam is at a 45-degree angle relative
to the vertical axis of the Camalot. If the
cams are symmetrically retracted, they
will be at a 90-degree angle relative to
each other. A common mistake that
novices make is to place a Camalot near
the outer limit of its range (0 to 50
percent retraction). This can prove to be
a very unstable placement if the unit
moves at all in the crack, which can
easily happen if the Camalot is placed in
a crack that widens above the cams and
the piece is repeatedly weighted and
unweighted. Again, the optimal Camalot
placement is when the cams are at least
halfway tight (50 percent retracted).
From the beginning position, pull the
trigger mechanism until the range on the
cams is half the starting size, then go
only smaller and tighter from there.
Scrutinize your placement after the
camming device has been placed in a
crack to make sure the cams are in the
acceptable range.
In addition to parallel-sided cracks,
Camalots can also work well in pods or
pockets, as shown here. Just make sure
the cams are in the recommended range.

Metolius cams have a unique color

coding that assists you in assessment.
The company gives this advice: “Verify
that you have chosen the best size by
making sure that the green Range Finder
dots are lined up where the cam lobes
touch the walls of the placement. Yellow
dot alignment is okay too, but you must
exercise more caution with the
placement, because the cam will be less
stable, hence more prone to walking, and
it will have less expansion range left to
accommodate walking to a wider
position. If the cam you choose aligns in
the yellow zone, the next larger size will
align perfectly in the green zone. Use
that cam instead, if it’s still on your rack.
Never use a placement in the red zone
unless it’s the only placement
available.”
Study the literature that comes with
any camming device you purchase and
learn what the manufacturer recommends
for the acceptable range of retraction
and the various placement criteria. Most
manufacturers also have informative
PDF files on camming device guidelines
that you can download from the
company’s website.
This Camalot has problems. It violates a
rule stated in the Black Diamond
literature under BAD PLACEMENTS:
“Never place a unit so that the cams are
offset (e.g., with two cams extended and
with two cams retracted. It may not hold
a fall.” Also, the left outer cam is
dangerously close to the edge of the
crack. Grade: F.
Bad. The problem here is not the
placement itself, but rather bad
microstructure. The left wall of the crack
consists of rotten rock, ready to
exfoliate if the cam is loaded with any
great force, like in a leader fall. Grade:
D-.
The innovative design of the Link Cam,
manufactured by Omega Pacific, covers a
size range of up to four standard cams.
When leading trad climbs, I often carry
this gold size (number 3) on the back of
my harness, in case I’ve used up all my
cams of a particular size and need that
size for a crucial anchor placement.
Using a rigid-stem camming device in a
horizontal placement risks breaking the
metal stem. This can be remedied by the
“gunks tie-off.”
The “gunks tie-off”—named for the
Shawangunks in New York, a trad area
famous for steep face climbs protected
by mainly horizontal cracks—is a pre-
tied loop of hightensile cord through the
hole in the stem closest to the cam head.

The best option for a horizontal

placement with cams is a flexible-
stemmed unit that can withstand a
downward force. A leader fall may bend
the stem and render it damaged, but it
will save the day.
Fixed Anchors

Pitons
A piton is a metal spike that is
hammered into a crack for an anchor.
The blade of the piton is the part
hammered into the crack, leaving the
protruding eye into which you can clip a
carabiner. Piton anchors are something
of a rarity these days, but occasionally
you’ll come across fixed pitons (also
called pins) at the top of a crag. Follow
these steps before using any fixed pin:
First, assess the rock structure and
look at the crack where the piton
resides. Is it behind a block or flake, or
is it in a straight-in crack with good
structure? A good piton should be driven
in all the way to the eye, and it should
not wiggle when you clip into it with a
sling and pull on it to test it. The piton
itself should not be excessively
corroded or cracked. (Look closely at
the eye of the piton, as this is usually
where the piton will be cracked.) To
effectively test a fixed pin, you really
need a hammer. Give the piton a light tap
—it should have a high-pitched ring to
it, and the hammer should spring off the
piton. If you don’t have a hammer, the
best test is to clip a sling into it and give
it a vigorous yank in the direction you’ll
be loading it. You can also tap it with a
carabiner or small rock. Over time,
pitons suffer from the vagaries of
thermal expansion and contraction,
particularly in winter; water expands
when it freezes, prying and loosening the
piton. Often a piton can be easily
plucked out with your fingers after only
a few seasons. If utilizing fixed pitons
for protection or as part of your anchor
system, use them with skepticism—and
if possible, back them up.

Pitons (left to right): Lost Arrow

horizontal, Angle, Leeper Z, knifeblade.
Knifeblade piton (top) and RURP.
To place a pin, insert it into the crack by
hand. Ideally, it should go in about two-
thirds of its length before pounding.
Pound it in the rest of the way.

An angle piton driven all the way into the

rock in a straight-in crack, and ideal pin
placement.

Bolts
The most common fixed anchor is a two-
bolt anchor. Some knowledge of the
history, characteristics, and
specifications of bolts used for rock
climbing will improve your ability to
assess the reliability of bolt anchors.
In the 1960s and 1970s, bolts were
placed by hand drilling—an arduous
process where a drill bit was inserted
into a drill holder and then a hammer
was used to pound on the holder to
painstakingly drill into the rock. Once
the hole was deep enough, a bolt, with a
hanger attached, was hammered into the
hole. The most common bolt during that
era was the ubiquitous ¼-inch
contraction bolt, the Rawl Drive,
manufactured by the Rawl Company and
designed for the construction industry for
anchoring in masonry or concrete. A
contraction bolt has a split shaft that is
wider than the diameter of the hole.
When pounded into the hole, the two
bowed shaft pieces are forced to
straighten slightly, contracting under
tension in the hole. This works fine for
hard granite; but in soft rock like
sandstone, the split shaft doesn’t really
contract all that much, and there is little
tension to keep it in the hole, resulting in
very weak pullout strength (i.e., pulling
straight out on the bolt).
Another problem with ¼-inch bolts
is that they came in various lengths,
some as short as ¾ inch. Once placed in
the rock, there was no way for future
climbers to determine the length of the
bolt merely by inspection.
There are two basic styles of ¼-inch
Rawl Drive bolts: buttonhead and
threaded. The buttonhead design has a
mushroom-like head and is pounded into
the hole with the hanger pre-attached.
The threaded Rawl Drive has threads
with a nut on the end to hold the hanger
in place—a weaker configuration, since
the threads can weaken the shear strength
of the shaft if the hanger is at the level of
the threads. More significantly, the
threaded design has a serious flaw:
Pulling straight out on the bolt hanger
will only be as strong as the holding
power of the nut on the threads—a
dangerous problem if the nut is at the
very end of the threads.
The shear strength on a brand-new
¼-inch Rawl Drive bolt is roughly 2,000
pounds, but the problem with contraction
bolts is not shear strength but pullout
strength, which varies drastically
depending on the quality and hardness of
the rock. In very soft sandstone, the
pullout strength of a ¼-inch contraction
bolt is extremely low, rendering the bolt
unsafe.
The buttonhead Rawl Drive bolts
also were sold in ⁄ -inch diameters, far
more reliable as long as they were
placed in good, hard, fine-grained
granite. With a shear and pullout strength
in excess of 4,000 pounds, the ⁄ -inch
buttonhead was for many years the bolt
of choice for first ascensionists who
were hand-drilling bolts. The ⁄ -inch
buttonhead Rawl Drive has been
discontinued, but the ⅜-inch buttonhead
is still on the market, with a shear
strength of 7,000 pounds and a pullout
strength of more than 4,000 pounds in the
best granite. The problem with
buttonhead Rawl Drive bolts is that
they’re made of carbon steel, which
corrodes over time. What we once
thought as bomber in the 1990s are now
considered suspect, and at least one ⁄ -
inch buttonhead failure (due to
corrosion) has led to a climbing fatality.
Probably the most disconcerting
problem associated with bolts from the
¼-inch era is not the bolts themselves
but the hangers. During that time, hangers
made for rock climbing were
manufactured primarily by the SMC
company. Thankfully, these hangers are
easily identified—the “SMC” brand is
stamped on them. There were two series
of hangers—one good and one very bad.
The bad hangers were nicknamed the
SMC “death hanger,” since some of them
failed under body weight after only a
few seasons of exposure to the elements.
These hangers are identifiable by a
distinctive corrosive discoloration—a
yellowish or bronze tint—whereas the
“good” SMC hangers, made from
stainless steel, show no signs of
corrosion or rust and still appear silvery
bright, even after twenty-five years.
Another subtle but noticeable difference
is in the thickness of the hangers: The
“bad” hangers are roughly the thickness
of a dime; the “good” ones, as thick as a
quarter. Another way to distinguish
between them is to look closely at the
SMC stamp on the hanger itself. On the
“good” hangers “SMC” is stamped
vertically; on the “bad” ones “SMC”
runs horizontally.
The infamous ¼-inch threaded Rawl
Drive contraction bolt, complete with the
SMC “death hanger.” This ticking time
bomb was removed and replaced from a
route on Suicide Rock, California.
Learn the difference between these two
hangers, one good, one very bad. They
were manufactured by the SMC company
and stamped “SMC” on the hanger. The
one on the left is the infamous SMC
“death hanger”—\slightly thinner and,
since it was made of carbon steel,
corroded with a yellowish, bronze, or
rust tint. The “good” SMC hanger on the
right is made of stainless steel, and
shows no sign of corrosion even after
thirty years on the rock. Another
identifying feature is that on the “bad”
hanger the letters “SMC” are stamped
horizontally, while on the “good” hanger,
“SMC” is stamped vertically.
Buttonhead Rawl Drive contraction bolts
(left to right): ⅜-, ⁄ -, and ¼-inch sizes.

Another dangerous relic from the

1970s is the Leeper hanger. More than
9,000 of these hangers were
manufactured by Ed Leeper of Colorado;
they were subsequently recalled because
of stress corrosion problems with the
metal, which rusted badly since it was
not made of stainless steel. These
hangers are easily identifiable because
of their strange geometric shape and
rusty condition.
A ⁄ -inch buttonhead Rawl contraction
bolt with “good” SMC hanger. In a good
placement in solid granite, when new
these bolts were rated at over 4,000
pounds shear strength. But since they’re
made of carbon steel, corrosion over
time has become a problem, and they’re
now considered suspect.

The recalled Leeper hanger can easily be

identified by its unique shape and rusty
condition.
A relic from the 1970s, this ¼-inch Rawl
Drive buttonhead still looks good after
twenty-five years, as does the “good”
SMC hanger, with no signs of corrosion.
Brand-new, these bolts have a shear
strength of 2,000 pounds, roughly that of
a medium wired stopper, but since the
bolt is made of carbon steel not stainless
steel, corrosion over time degrades
them. Having replaced many of these, I
can tell you that they’re ticking time
bombs. Often when I’ll pry one out to
replace it, the resistance is about the
same as pulling a nail out of plywood,
especially in soft rock, where the bolt’s
split shaft had minimal contraction.
Bad corrosion on a ⅜-inch-diameter
threaded Rawl Drive bolt, with a badly
corroded Leeper hanger to match.

The ⅜-inch threaded expansion bolt is

another commonly seen bolt. Check to
make sure the nut is tightly screwed
down to secure the hanger.

Sport climbing was ushered into the

United States in the 1980s, and climbers
began to place bolts on rappel using
cordless rotary hammer power drills.
Since these bolts would now have to
absorb numerous falls, climbers began
to look for the strongest bolts available.
The standard became ⅜-inch diameter
for good, solid rock (like granite) and
½-inch diameter for softer rock (like
sandstone)—\standards that are still
prevalent today.
Although there are numerous types of
bolts used in rock climbing today, the
gold standard has long been the “five-
piece Rawl” expansion bolt (now sold
as the Powers Power Bolt). This
expansion bolt has a shaft with a hex
head on one end and threads on the other
end (the end that goes in the hole), with a
cone-shaped piece screwed onto the
threads. The shaft has a two-part split
sleeve, and as the hex head is tightened,
the cone climbs up the threads and under
the sleeves, which presses the sleeves
outward, “expanding” the bolt in the
hole. The more you tighten it, the wider
the sleeve gets. The performance and
strength of the bolt rely to a great extent
on two things: the tolerance (diameter)
of the hole and the strength of the rock
itself. In good rock, the ⅜-inch Power
Bolt is rated at over 7,000 pounds shear
strength, with a pullout strength of
roughly 5,000 pounds.
A “spinner” is a bolt placement where the
hanger moves freely, and you can spin it
around the bolt in circle. Here, the hole
wasn’t drilled deeply enough, so when
this ⁄ -inch button head was pounded in,
it hit the back of the hole before the
buttonhead came up flush against the
hanger.
 Now that many bolts have been out
there for more than twenty-five years,
we’re finding out some things about how
long a bolt will last. Many of the carbon
steel bolts more than twenty-five years
old are seriously corroded. This
corrosion happens more quickly in
mountain environments than in desert
environments, but the bottom line is this:
A stainless steel bolt matched with a
stainless steel hanger is the way to go.
Mixing metals (carbon steel and
stainless steel) can accelerate
deterioration because of galvanic
corrosion (a reaction between different
metals) and is no longer recommended.
Since these bolts are really designed
for the construction business, the Powers
Fastener company lists strength ratings
based on the density of the concrete they
are placed in. Concrete is given a psi
(pounds per square inch) rating. For
example, “2,000 psi concrete” means it
would take a weight of 2,000 pounds to
crush a square inch of concrete. Hard,
dense granite is analogous to 6,000 psi
concrete; soft sandstone is more like
1,000 psi concrete.
The ⅜-inch-diameter stainless Powers
“Power Bolt” expansion bolt matched
with a stainless steel hanger is
considered the current minimum
standard. In good granite these bolts rate
at around 7,000 pounds shear strength
and 5,000 pounds pullout strength. Most
climbers who replace old bolts now use
½-inch-diameter stainless steel Power
Bolts (10,000 lbs. shear strength). If
you’re installing bolts, use a stainless
steel bolt matched with stainless steel
hanger to avoid any corrosion problems
or reactions between mixed metals.

Once a bolt has been installed, it’s

impossible to see what’s going on
beneath the surface (such as the length of
the bolt); all you’ll see is the head of the
bolt, making identification of the type of
bolt more difficult.
If you’d like to educate yourself,
peruse “mechanical anchors” on the
Powers company website
(www.powers.com); you’ll get an
excellent tutorial on the various types of
bolts and how strong they are in
differing rock types.
Even if you’re not an expert in
mechanical engineering or in identifying
bolt design and type, you should know
what to watch for when inspecting a bolt
anchor. An obvious red flag is rust.
SMC “death hangers,” Leeper hangers,
homemade aluminum hangers, and any
bolt or hanger with obvious signs of
corrosion should never be trusted. Look
closely and identify the diameter of the
bolt. A ⅜-inch-diameter bolt has
become the minimum standard, along
with a stainless steel hanger. A bolt with
threads and a nut holding the hanger in
place is generally not as strong as the
hex head types.
The rock should not show cracks
emanating from the bolt placement—a
more common problem with contraction
bolts than expansion bolts.
In a good placement, the hanger
should be flush against the rock and
should not budge or be deformed in any
way. A “spinner” is a bolt that protrudes
enough so that the hanger can be easily
spun around 360 degrees. This generally
means the hole was not drilled deeply
enough when the bolt was installed, and
the bolt contacted the bottom of the hole
before the hanger could be drawn flush
against the rock.
If the bolt wiggles slightly when you
pull on it or the hanger is loose, and the
bolt has a hex head or a nut on threads,
tightening the bolt with a wrench may
help; but most likely the bolt has a
problem that can’t be fixed. If while
trying to tighten the bolt, you feel no
increasing resistance and it won’t tighten
any further, the bolt has serious
problems. This usually means the
tolerance (diameter) of the hole is too
big for the bolt or the rock is too soft.
As someone who has replaced many
bolts over the years, I can tell you that
any ¼-inch bolt should be considered
suspect, particularly in less-than-perfect
rock. I’ve plucked out many ¼-inch
contraction bolts that came out with
about the same resistance as a nail being
pulled out of plywood. To replace a ¼-
inch bolt, the best method is to pry it out
of its hole, redrill the same hole to a ½-
inch diameter, and install a ½-inch-
diameter stainless steel Powers Power
Bolt (10,000 lbs. shear strength) with a
stainless steel hanger. I like to paint the
hanger (before I install it) the same color
as the rock so that the bolt is visually
unobtrusive. It’s a good feeling to
replace a ticking time bomb with a solid
anchor that will last a lifetime.
A well-engineered rappel anchor. Both
bolts are ⅜-inch stainless Powers bolts
with stainless steel Petzl hangers, along
with a stainless steel chain, quick link,
and ring. Everything was painted before
installation to match the color of the
rock.

All these old bolts at Joshua Tree were

replaced with brand-new stainless steel
hardware, courtesy of the ASCA.

The American Safe Climbing

Association (ASCA) has been very
active in donating the necessary (and
expensive) hardware to climbers, like
myself, who take on the task of
upgrading unsafe bolt anchors with
modern stainless steel bolts and hangers.
If you’d like to support and donate to the
ASCA, you can contact them at
www.safeclimbing.org.
Racking up.
Standard Rack
Here is an example of the standard rack I
usually carry. It will allow you to climb
most routes in trad climbing areas.
Buying more large nuts (like hexes) will
save you money if you’re on a budget,
but camming devices will prove more
versatile. Few experienced climbers
carry a full range of hexes these days.
• 2 sets of wired nuts from 0.2 to 2 inche
(e.g., Black Diamond Stoppers, sizes
2–12)
• 1 set of micro nuts (e.g., Black
Diamond Steel Nuts sizes 00, 0, 1, 2,
3, 4, 5)
• 1 set of hexes or tricams from 1 to 2.5
 inches (e.g., Black Diamond Hexes,
sizes 5–8; Camp [Lowe] Tricams,
sizes 2–4)
• 1 nut tool
• 1 set of small camming devices 0.3 to
0.75 inch (e.g., Metolius Master
Cams sizes 00, 0, 1, 2, 3)
• 2 sets of camming devices from 0.4 to
inches (e.g., Black Diamond
Camalot C3s sizes 0.3, 0.4, 0.5,
0.75, 1, 2, 3)
• One 4-inch camming device (e.g., Blac
Diamond #4 Camalot)
• 6 quickdraws with carabiners
• 6 single-length (24-inch) slings
• 2 double-length (48-inch) slings
• 2 cordelettes (18 to 20 feet of 7mm
nylon cord)
• 25 to 30 carabiners
• 4 to 6 locking carabiners
 CHAPTER 5

Anchor Systems

The RENE Principal

The RENE principal is a simple, easy to
remember acronym used for evaluating
anchor systems. RENE stands for
Redundancy, Equalization, and No
Extension.
Redundancy means there is no place
in the anchor system where you are
relying on any single piece of equipment,
be it a strand of cord, sling, or carabiner
—in other words, there is always a
backup. For bolt anchors the minimum
would be two bolts, preferably ⅜-inch
diameter. For gear anchors utilizing nuts
and camming devices, a good minimum
number (and the industry standard for
professional guides) is three pieces of
gear. Regarding rock structure, if the
integrity of the rock is at all in question,
using two different rock structures (e.g.,
two different crack systems) would add
redundancy.
Equalization means that when the
load is applied to the master point on the
anchor system, the weight is evenly
divided onto all the various components
in the anchor. An anchor can be pre-
equalized, which means the system is
tied off to accept a force in one specific
direction (most often the case in
toproping and top belaying), or self-
equalizing, meaning the anchor is rigged
to adjust to loading within a range of
direction changes.
No Extension means that if any one
piece in the anchor fails, no significant
amount of slack will develop before the
load can be transferred to the remaining
pieces. This is a key concept to
remember when rigging toprope anchors
that are extended over the edge, as the
anchors are often a significant distance
away from the master point. A good rule
of thumb is to limit any extension in your
anchor system to no more than half the
length of a single (24-inch) sling.
Two bolts pre-equalized with a double-
length (48-inch) nylon sling tied with an
overhand knot for a toprope setup. The
two pear-shaped locking carabiners are
opposed and reversed. This simple setup
is redundant, equalized in one direction,
and rigged for minimal extension. A
nylon sling is a better choice than
Dyneema for this application, since it has
a modicum of stretch and the knot will be
easier to untie. If using a Dyneema sling
for this purpose, consider using a figure
eight instead of an overhand to make it
easier to untie after it’s weighted.

Principals of Equalization

Pre-Equalized: The
Cordelette System
The cordelette system is a pre-equalized
system, meaning that once you tie off the
cordelette in the anticipated direction of
loading, if the load shifts slightly in any
direction, all the load goes onto one
placement (albeit with minimal
extension), unlike a self-equalizing
system that adjusts with changes in the
direction of the loading. For many
anchor systems, you can in most cases
readily determine the direction your
anchor system will be loaded in, so
complex self-equalizing rigs are not
required. The cordelette system is
essentially a system of backups. If one
piece fails, the load transfers instantly to
the remaining pieces with minimal shock
loading, since the rigging limits
extension.
Four-piece anchor pre-equalized with a
7mm diameter nylon cordelette.

The beauty of the pre-equalized

cordelette system is that it is easy to
remember and simple to rig. The
cordelette is fairly versatile in that it can
be used to rig two, three, or four
placements. The most common fixed
anchor you’ll encounter is a two-bolt
anchor. An easy and bomber rig is to
start by doubling the cordelette, then
clipping the doubled strand into both
bolts with locking carabiners. Pull down
between the bolts, gather all the strands
together, and tie a figure eight on a bight.
This gives you four strands of cord at the
master point.
Four-piece toprope anchor pre-equalized
with 6mm Sterling PowerCord
cordelette.
Simple two-bolt toprope anchor rigged
with a doubled 18-foot 7mm nylon
Sterling cordelette. The cordelette is
doubled to start with, producing four
strands at the master point loop, and the
climbing rope is clipped into three oval
carabiners opposed and reversed. The
bolts have Fixe Ring Hangers. The welded
rings are rated at 10,000 pounds breaking
strength.
Demonstration of pre-equalized
cordelette with three anchor placements,
tied with a 7mm nylon cordelette. A
clove hitch has been tied to the top left
piece to keep the double fisherman’s
knot away from the end loops. This is a
simple and effective rig as long as the
direction of load is predetermined, which
is most often the case when toproping.

To rig three or four placements, clip

the cordelette into all the placements,
then pull down between the pieces and
gather all the loops together. I like to
clip a carabiner into all the gathered
loops and pull in the anticipated loading
direction, then tie a figure eight knot
with the carabiner attached to help even
out all the strands. If you find yourself
coming up a bit short on enough length to
tie off all the loops with a figure eight,
an overhand knot will take up less cord;
even though it’s a slightly weaker knot,
this is not a factor, since you’ll have at
least three or four loops at your master
point. Another trick is to take a regular
length (24-inch) sling and clip it into the
piece that’s farthest away from you—
this will give you more length to work
with on the cordelette.

Rigging a Cordelette
An 18- to 20-foot-long cordelette is
usually long enough to equalize three or
four anchor points, as long as they are
not spaced too far apart. Use a sling or
two if necessary to get all the carabiners
you’ll be clipping into within a workable
range. Clip a single strand of the
cordelette into each carabiner, then pull
down between the pieces and gather the
loops (with three pieces you’ll have three
loops). Clipping a carabiner into the
loops before you tie the knot will make it
easier to equalize all the strands. Tie a
figure eight knot to create your master
point, which should be roughly 3 to 4
inches in diameter. If you don’t have
enough cord to tie a figure eight, an
overhand knot takes up less cord.
The drawback of the cordelette system
(left) is that if the direction of the
anticipated load changes, one piece in the
anchor takes all the load (right). Think of
the cordelette system as a system of
backups: If the one piece that is loaded
fails, the load goes onto the next piece,
with relatively minimal extension in the
system. For toproping anchors and top
belaying, since the load on the anchor
system is relatively low, the cordelette
system has the advantage of being easy to
use and simple to rig, negating any
potential for major shock loading.

Three-piece anchor rigged with a 7mm

nylon cordelette. Since nylon cord
stretches, the very short bottom arm will
absorb most of the force in this setup. If
you’re using a high-tensile cord
(Dyneema or Technora) this stretch is
negated, since the material is basically
static. Guide Chris Baumann offers this
tip when rigging a nylon cordelette with a
long arm: “Lean in to the shortest arm
before you tie the knot, creating a tiny
bit of slack in the shorter arms.” In this
case, before tying the knot, if you had
“leaned” a little to the right, the short
arm would have a bit of slack, allowing
the top arms to load and stretch before
the shorter arm loaded.

Adjusting the
Cordelette
My colleague Chris Baumann is a rock
climbing instructor who guides at
Joshua Tree and Donner Summit,
California. He offers these tips on how
to fine-tune cordelette equalization:
“After tying your cordelette into a
master point (with a figure eight loop)
you may have experienced, or probably
will experience, an instance when you
misjudge your angle of pull, creating
slack on one or two arms of the
cordelette. Whether you are hanging
from the anchor, ready to belay up your
second, or have just set your master
point carabiners to hang a toprope, if
you notice that the equalization is a bit
off, there are some quick and easy fixes
without having to take apart your master
point. When this happens to me, I use a
sequence of hitches and knots to
achieve the perfect angle of pull
quickly. In the following sequence, each
one of the hitches and knots takes up
progressively more slack.
“Start with just an extra coil through
the carabiner; if that doesn’t take
enough slack, remove the coil and try
adding a Munter hitch, then a clove
hitch, then a figure eight.
“If the connection knot on the
cordelette is set too close to a
carabiner, you won’t be able to use the
hitches. The figure eight can be tied
anywhere in the strand.”
Here a 7mm nylon cordelette has been
untied and used in its full length. Many
professional guides tie their cordelettes
with a knot that can be easily untied so
that, if necessary, they can use the full
length as shown here. A good knot to use
to tie your cordelette into its original
loop is a flat overhand (make sure the
tails are at least 8 inches long, or back it
up with a second overhand tied right on
top of the first one) or a figure eight
bend, tied with the tails at least 3 inches
long. The figure eight bend is a much
stronger knot, but it’s more difficult to
untie.
Three-piece cordelette anchor. Note how
the cams have been positioned so that the
stems are not bent over the lip of the
crack.

When untied, the cordelette can

equalize three more widely-spaced
pieces, where the standard, fixed-loop
cordelette would be too short. To rig
three points, tie a figure eight loop on
each end, clip these into the two outside
pieces, then clip a strand to the middle
piece. Pull down the cord between the
pieces and you’ll end up with a loop to
the middle piece and a single strand to
each outside piece. Tie a figure eight
loop and you’ll have a three-loop master
point.

Self-Equalizing Systems
T HE SLIDING X
The sliding X (aka magic X) is a simple
way to equalize two anchor points with
a sling, creating a mini-anchor system
that adjusts as the load shifts in
direction. In scrutinizing the overall
anchor system, if I use a sliding X
between two pieces, I count this as only
one placement as far as redundancy is
concerned, because it is only one sling.
However, by equalizing two placements
that can adjust to slight shifts in
direction, you create one more inherently
bomber piece.
When rigging a sliding X, make sure you
clip into the loop you’ve created by
twisting the sling.
Rigging a Sliding X

Using a single sling, you can create a

self-equalizing system that adjusts with
changes in the direction of the loading.
A simple two-bolt anchor rigged for
toproping with a sliding X using two
separate slings and three oval carabiners
at the master point for a redundant, self-
equalizing system. With a two-bolt
anchor, I always use locking carabiners
on the bolt hangers. The drawback of this
rig is that if one bolt were to fail, the
system would extend to the length of the
slings. As a general rule, limit the
maximum extension in your anchor
system to half the length of a single (24-
inch) sling, which is what you have here.

If using the sliding X with a long

sling (like a sewn, 48-inch double-length
sling), you can minimize extension by
tying overhand knots just above the clip-
in point. This allows the system to
adjust, but limits any extension if one
piece fails.
A tricky belay anchor on Mechanic’s
Route, Tahquitz Rock, California. When I
got to this spot, I realized I’d left my
cordelette at the previous belay, so I had
to improvise. The top two pieces are
equalized with a sliding X, with an
overhand knot tied to limit any extension
to the top piece. The double-length red
nylon sling is tied with a figure eight to
create redundancy at the master point.
Two pieces equalized with a sliding X. An
overhand knot is tied on the long arm of
the sling to limit extension. If the top
piece fails, the sling moves only a few
inches. This rig is not redundant, since
the master point is a single loop of
twisted sling.
A two-cam anchor on Tahquitz Rock,
equalized with a sliding X using two
separate slings. While making three
separate placements is a dogmatic goal
for gear anchors, consider one of the
most common anchors on face climbs:
two bolts. Here we have perfect rock
structure—immaculate, fine-grained
granite—and two perfect Camalot
placements. Would I trust this anchor?
Absolutely. I belayed off it. Each
Camalot has a breaking strength of 14 kN
(over 3,000 lbs.), each sling is rated at
22 kN (nearly 5,000 lbs.), and two
opposed and reversed carabiners are
stronger than that. Know your equipment,
its breaking strengths, and how it all adds
up. A good rule of thumb is for your
anchor to be no weaker than 25 kN
(5,620 lbs.).
Two-bolt toprope anchor rigged with a
sliding X and extension-limiting knots.
By using a double-length (48-inch) nylon
sling tied with two overhand knots, the
sling itself becomes redundant at the
master point, since it has two loops of
webbing.
Since there is no knot on the locking
carabiner side of the sling, this setup
lacks redundancy at the master point,
since you’re relying on a single, twisted
loop of the sling.

To set up a simple self-equalizing

anchor system from two bolts, you can
use two single-length slings together
with a sliding X, creating a redundant rig
with minimal extension.
Stacked Xs. In this three-piece anchor,
redundancy has been achieved by tying
two extension-limiting knots on the
purple sling.
Stacked Xs. By tying two overhand knots
on both the red and yellow double-length
nylon slings, this three-piece anchor has
redundancy and minimal extension
throughout the system.

This toprope anchor is self-equalizing

but lacks redundancy in three critical
elements: in the single, rewoven 1-inch
tubular nylon sling; the single yellow
cordelette; and the single locking biner
that connects them. While plenty strong,
the issue here is not one of strength, but
of redundancy. Lack of redundancy is a
problem for unmonitored toprope
anchors like this one, particularly if it’s
being heavily used, since the soft nylon
cordellete will get abraded over the edge
and no one will see it happening. Also, if
one of the three pieces were to fail,
you’d get some major movement in the
red sling, resulting in shock loading the
two remaining pieces.

THE QUAD: EVOLUTION OF THE

CORDELETTE
Since John Long and I introduced the
quad in the third edition of Climbing
Anchors, back in 2006, the quad system
has gained popularity as a rigging system
for multipitch anchors, particularly with
professional guides. The quad is also a
great system for equalizing two-bolt
toprope anchors. It gives you near-
perfect equalization with minimal
extension and great strength.
A two-bolt anchor rigged with a 7mm
cordelette and the quad system. The
cordelette is clipped directly to the bolt
hangers with locking carabiners,
bypassing the cheap hardware store lap
links (which are only rated at around
1,000 lbs.).

To rig the quad on a two-bolt

anchor, start by doubling your
cordelette, then grab the middle with
your fist. Tie an overhand knot on each
side of your fist, and you’re ready to rig.
Clip the double-strand loops into the
bolts with locking carabiners, then clip
only three of the four strands at the
master point, leaving one loop outside
your master point carabiners. This
ensures that if one bolt fails, you are
clipped into a pocket on the master
point.
Detail of quad rig master point rigged for
toproping with three oval carabiners
opposed and reversed.
Detail of quad rig with two locking
carabiners opposed and reversed.
Quad rig using Sterling 6mm PowerCord
and three steel oval carabiners for a
toprope setup.
By splitting the four strands, two and
two, the quad offers two separate,
redundant master points, great for
belaying from single or multipitch
anchors. To use the quad on a multipitch
anchor, split the end loops two and two,
giving you two separate but redundant
master points. The quad can easily be
rigged from two or three anchor points.
Rigging a three-point anchor with the
quad. First, double the cordelette.
Clip a single loop into two points, pull
the cordelette down in the direction of
anticipated loading, even the loops, then
tie an overhand knot
Tie a similar overhand knot and clip to
the third piece (lower right). Ideally, the
third piece should be your strongest
placement. Now you have two redundant
master points.
Three-piece anchor using a combination
of quad and sliding X rigging to create a
self-equalizing anchor system.

Vectors
A vector is a quantity that incorporates
both direction and magnitude. Picture a
high liner balancing out on the middle of
a taut line. If he weighs 200 pounds, the
load at each end where the line is
attached will be roughly 1,000 pounds.
Why is this? When two anchor points are
equalized, as the angle of the wire, sling,
cord, or rope approaches 180 degrees,
the forces at the anchor points increase
drastically. When the angle is narrow,
the load is distributed at around 50
percent to each anchor.
 Keep this in mind when you build
anchor systems. If the angle between two
anchor points reaches 120 degrees,
you’ll load each anchor at 100 percent.
Strive to keep all the angles under 60
degrees so that you’ll be splitting the
load roughly 50/50. A good rule of
thumb is to always keep the angles under
90 degrees. Also, avoid rigging a sling
between two anchors in a triangular
configuration (called the American
Triangle), which, even at 90 degrees,
places 1.3 times the force at each anchor
point. An American Triangle rigged at
120 degrees would almost double the
load at each anchor point!
American Triangle

Load per anchor with 100 lbs. of force

Bottom V Rigging Triangle
Angle Rigging
30 52 82
degrees lbs. lbs.
60 58 100
degrees lbs. lbs.
90 71 131
degrees lbs. lbs.
120 100 193
degrees lbs. lbs.
150 193 380
degrees lbs. lbs.
This diagram illustrates how a 100-pound
load is distributed between two anchor
points at various angles. Keep the angle
between two anchors as narrow as
possible, striving to keep it under 60
degrees. At 120 degrees the load is 100
percent at each anchor! Think of 0 to 60
degrees as ideal, 60 to 90 degrees a
caution zone, and over 90 degrees a
danger zone.
The American Triangle rigged at a rappel
anchor. Avoid rigging with a triangle
configuration—it adds unnecessary
forces to your anchor points. Stick to a V
configuration to limit the force to as low
as possible.

The Joshua Tree System

Joshua Tree National Park is a vast area,
with hundreds of crags to choose from.
The setups can be time-consuming and
gear intensive because most anchors
require gear placements set well back
from the cliff edge, and bolted anchors
are a rarity. Out of necessity we
developed a system to rig toprope
anchors that is both efficient and
redundant, using a length of low-stretch
rope. I call it the Joshua Tree System,
and I can vouch for its efficiency—it’s
the system we’ve used for more than
thirty years in my climbing school on
countless toprope setups.
For your rigging rope, I’d
recommend either 10mm or 10.5mm
diameter. For most situations a 60-foot
length will suffice. My favorite rigging
rope is the Sterling Safety Pro, which is
EN 1891 certified, with a stretch of
about 4 percent in a toprope fall
situation. This rope handles well and has
good abrasion resistance. It can also be
used for fixed lines, tethering,
rappelling, and toproping. You don’t
want to use a dynamic rope for toprope
rigging, since its stretch will make it
seesaw back and forth over edges, and
you don’t want to use a low-stretch rope
for leading.
To rig the Joshua Tree System,
visualize a V configuration, with two
separate anchors at the top of the V and
your master point at the bottom, or point,
of the V. The master point is tied with a
BHK (“big honking knot”), which is
essentially an overhand knot tied on a
doubled bight, which gives you two-
loop redundancy at the master point.
In the Joshua Tree System, we call
the rigging rope an “extension” rope, or
“extendo” rope. The two separate
strands of rope that run from the master
point to anchors A and B are the “legs”
of the extension rope.
 Ideally, the angle of the V should be
less than 60 degrees—and at least less
than 90 degrees. Once you have
determined where the climb is and
where you want your master point,
picture the V in your mind and begin to
set your anchors. If using natural
anchors, it could be as simple as two
trees. If you climb at areas with many
trees at the clifftop, you’re in luck; the
Joshua Tree System will simplify your
rigging. All you need is the rigging rope
itself—no slings or cordelettes required.
Tie one end of your rigging rope around
one tree with a simple bowline. Run the
rope over the edge, and tie a BHK. I
usually weight a bight of rope with a few
carabiners and let it dangle about 4 feet
over the edge, knowing that when I pull
it back up and tie the BHK, the master
point will be about 4 feet higher, which
is the length of doubled bight taken up by
tying the BHK. Then tie around the
second tree with a bowline with a bight,
and you’re done.
With gear anchors the combinations
are endless, but a good minimum is at
least three gear placements. Most of my
setups tend to end up with two gear
placements on each end of the V. If you
learn to tie double loop knots, you can
eliminate the need for slings and
cordelettes in most situations.
Using a tether for safety while rigging a
toprope. One end of a double-length
nylon sling is attached to the rigging
rope with a klemheist knot; the other end
of the sling is attached to the harness
belay loop with a locking carabiner.

Tying the BHK (“Big

Honking Knot”)
Start by taking a 4-foot-long bight and
doubling it.
Tie an overhand knot on all four strands.
Thread the two loops back through the
loop you’ve created,
or incorporate the loop into the master
point carabiners.

For safety as you approach the cliff

edge, protect yourself by tethering with a
double length (48-inch) ¹¹⁄ -inch nylon
sling. Pick the leg of the V you feel is
stronger or the one that’s redundant (two
pieces) and tether to that strand by tying
a klemheist knot around it and attaching
the other end of the sling to your harness
belay loop with a locking carabiner. A
nylon sling is preferable to a Spectra or
Dyneema one, since nylon grips better
on the friction hitch and has a bit of
stretch, whereas Spectra or Dyneema is
slicker, static (like a wire cable), and
has no stretch. Now you can slide the
klemheist knot up and down the rigging
rope to safeguard yourself as you work
near the edge. Tie a BHK (see photos)
so that your master point dangles just
over the lip of the cliff edge, positioned
directly above your chosen climb.
Attach your climbing rope with
carabiners (either two opposed and
reversed locking or three opposed and
reversed ovals) and run the rope back to
anchor B, attaching it with a clove hitch
to a locking carabiner. This will allow
you to adjust the tension and fine-tune
the equalization. Use edge protectors at
the lip to protect your rope from
abrasion and cutting if sharp edges are
present.
Tether detail. If you’re working at the
cliff’s edge, protect yourself. This
climber has rigged his BHK master point,
all the while protected with a personal
tether—a double-length nylon sling. He’s
secured one end to his harness to a
locking biner; the other end is attached
to the rigging rope via a klemheist knot.

Overview of the Joshua Tree System. The

left “leg” of the extension rope is
attached with a double loop bowline to
two cams; the right leg is clove hitched
to single, bomber cam. A BHK is tied for
the master point, with three opposed and
reversed oval carabiners ready for the
climbing rope.

Close-up of the master point on the

Joshua Tree System using a BHK and
three steel oval carabiners with the gates
opposed and reversed.
Another version of the Joshua Tree
System. Here, both legs have two cams
equalized with sliding Xs—an elaborate
rig, but one that fully adjusts to any shift,
however minor, in the direction of pull.
In most setups I prefer to use double-
loop knots; it’s more efficient, and since
I know the direction my anchor will be
loaded in, I’m not worried about drastic
vector changes.

The Joshua Tree System rigged with two

double-loop figure eights.

If you learn to tie double loop knots

like the double-loop figure eight and
double-loop bowline, along with the in-
line figure eight, you’ll be able to
eliminate many slings and cordelettes
from your anchor system and become
more efficient in your rigging. For
example, when using the Joshua Tree
System, I often start with two bomber
pieces at the end of one leg on my
extension rope, then equalize them with
a double loop knot, thus eliminating the
need for slings or cordelettes. As I move
toward the edge and perhaps find more
anchor placements, I use the in-line eight
to equalize these pieces to the system.
The double loop knots and in-line eight
are mandatory for those of you who wish
to become master riggers!
 Unmonitored Anchor
Systems
Make sure the extension rope is not
resting over sharp edges at the lip of the
cliff. This setup is an “unmonitored”
anchor system, which means that once
rigged, you’ll be at the base and not able
to watch what is happening at the anchor
—like the extension rope abrading over
an edge. Take special care to prevent
this by padding the edge (a pack or rope
bag will work) or, better yet, using
commercially made edge protectors.
Toprope all day long with your
extension rope rubbing on a sharp edge,
and you’ll end up with a seriously
abraded rope like this one.
 A commercially made edge protector,
like this one sold by P etzl, is a wise
investment. Attach it to your rigging
rope with a friction hitch.

Making the Transition from

Rigging to Rappelling
If you decide to rappel to the base, you
will need to transition from your
extension rope to your rappel rope.
Slide the klemheist knot on your
personal tether down one leg of the
extension rope (pick what you consider
to be the stronger leg) until you approach
the edge. Before you get to the edge, pull
up your doubled rappel rope, rig your
rappel device, and back it up with an
autoblock. Slide the klemheist knot
down until it’s just on top of the BHK.
Make the transition over the edge, using
the extension rope for balance, and until
you’ve weighted your rappel system.
Double-check everything before
removing your personal tether, then
proceed to rappel.
Instructor Erin Guinn making a safe
transition from rigging to rappelling.
She’s used a 48-inch nylon sling for her
tether, attached to the rigging rope with a
klemheist knot. She’s backed up her
rappel device with an autoblock knot
clipped to her harness leg loop with a
locking carabiner.

Transition rig detail. If you know you’ll

be rappelling, don’t make your BHK loop
too long, since you’ll need to get around
it without your tether coming tight.
Before you unclip and remove your
tether, weight your rappel system and
double-check everything. Make sure your
autoblock is engaged and not up against
your rappel device, which would keep it
from grabbing the rope properly.

Anchor System
Assessment for
Gear Anchors
To assess the anchor system, I
use a macro-to-micro
progression. Don’t lose sight of
the big picture and get focused
on the minutia. Number one is the
structural integrity of the rock
itself. Without solid rock, no
matter how great the individual
placements are, a catastrophic
failure is possible due to failure
of the rock structure. The ideal is
the “crack in the planet”—a
crack in massive rock that
bisects the plane of the rock face
at a right angle. Loose blocks,
flakes, and cracked rock should
all be considered suspect. Be
critical in assessing rock
structure—it’s literally the
foundation your anchor is built
upon.
Next, look at the overall
anchor rigging. Is it redundant? Is
it well equalized, with no
extension? A good rule of thumb
is to limit the extension in any
anchor system to no more than
half the length of a single (22-
inch) sling. To pass muster, the
anchor system must satisfy the
RENE principal in general.
Finally, scrutinize each
individual placement, starting
with the microstructure of the
rock. Are there loose flakes,
hollow spots, or any rotten or
disintegrating rock within the
crack? Then look closely at each
individual placement. If it’s a
nut, does it satisfy the SOS.
principal? If it’s a camming
device, is it in the manufacturer’s
recommended range of
retraction?
Terri Condon leads Tension Tamer
(5.13a), Bear Crag, California.
PHOTO BY GREG EPPERSON
 CHAPTER 6

Sport Climbing

History
A “sport climb,” by strict definition, is a
climb that consists entirely of fixed
hardware for protection and for the
anchor. To lead a sport climb, you’ll
only need quickdraws, slings, and
carabiners. Usually the fixed hardware
consists of reliable bolts, although in
rare cases they’re supplemented by a
fixed piton or two. The modern standard
has evolved to a minimum of ⅜-inch-
diameter stainless steel for bolts,
although most bolt replacers now use ½-
inch diameter as the evolving standard.
In general, most sport climbs don’t
have dangerously runout sections, but
there are exceptions. On harder climbs
this can be a section where you simply
can’t let go long enough to clip a bolt, or
a section of easier climbing relative to
the grade of the crux.
The term “sport climb” wasn’t heard
in the United States until the 1980s.
Before that, through the 1970s and into
the early 1980s, a “ground-up” ethic
prevailed at many traditional climbing
areas in the United States, like
Yosemite, Tahquitz and Suicide Rocks,
and Joshua Tree, California, and
Eldorado Canyon, Colorado.
First ascents were done without
preview, and bolts were drilled on the
lead, often from precarious stances. As
far back as 1972, visionary climber
Doug Robinson wrote: “But every climb
is not for every climber; the ultimate
climbs are not democratic. The fortunate
climbs protect themselves by being
unprotectable and remain a challenge
that can be solved only by boldness and
commitment backed solidly by
technique.”
But as techniques progressed,
climbers were drawn to steeper and
blanker faces, where it was impossible
to let go with both hands to hand-drill
and place a bolt.
The use of hooks for aid made it
possible to drill bolts on the lead,
ground up, on these steeper routes. The
zenith of the ground-up era was
undoubtedly John Bachar’s lead of the
Bachar-Yerian route (5.11c R) in
Yosemite in the summer of 1981, which
follows a vertical water streak studded
with knobs leading up the intimidating
400-foot west face of Tuolumne
Meadow’s Medlicott Dome. Bachar
risked 100-foot falls venturing into
unknown terrain. To this day the route
has become a test piece for elite face
climbers wishing to test both physical
and psychological limits. But there
haven’t been many takers—in almost
forty years the route has seen only a
couple dozen ascents.
In Europe, sport climbing was well
established in France by the 1980s,
principally due to the nature of the rock:
overhanging limestone riddled with
finger pockets but devoid of crack
systems. For free climbing to progress,
top-down rappel bolted routes seemed
the next logical progression of the sport,
and French free climbers soon eclipsed
Americans constrained by traditional
ground-up ethics.
John Bachar at Joshua Tree, 1985.

Alan Watts is widely credited with

establishing the first US sport climbs at
Smith Rocks, Oregon. In 1983 Watts
climbed Watts Tot’s (5.12b) up a
vertical, nearly featureless face, and
Chain Reaction (5.12c) up a spectacular,
overhanging arête, ushering in an era that
would change American rock climbing
forever.
In his Smith Rock State Park
guidebook Watts writes about Chain
Reaction: “With that one ascent all the
pieces fell into place, and it became
obvious what we had to do. If something
as outrageous as Chain Reaction went
free, then almost everything would go.
All the elements were there—featured
rock, rappel bolting, cleaning,
hangdogging, lots of free time, sufficient
technical skills, and no opposition. The
final point was key. I wasn’t pursuing
my style to revolt against the established
norms in climbing. All I was trying to do
was tick another route off my list. And I
was using the most efficient process that
I could devise to do that. I might not
have been a rebel, but I didn’t give a
damn about doing things exactly how
they’d been done before. I truly believed
that I had found a better way to push
limits of difficulty.” Smith Rock State
Park quickly became a US sport
climbing mecca, and today the park
boasts more than 1,800 sport routes.
Soon, sport climbs were sprouting
up everywhere, but in the 1980s and
early 1990s at traditional climbing areas
like Yosemite and Joshua Tree, top-
down rappel-bolted sport climbs
weren’t widely accepted. An era that
can only be termed “bolt wars” ensued
as staunch traditionalists chopped
rappel-placed bolts as fast as they were
placed.
In 1985, after returning from a
climbing trip to France, where he
witnessed the evolution of French sport
climbing, a young and talented upstart by
the name of Christian Griffith
established the first sport climb in
Eldorado Canyon, Colorado, Paris Girls
(5.13a), which was summarily chopped.
The bolts were reinstalled, and Griffith
went on to establish Eldorado’s most
difficult face routes at the time—
Desdichado (5.13c), up a spectacular
overhang, and Lakme (5.13b), up a
stunning arête on Eldorado’s Redgarden
Wall. While Eldorado Canyon, with its
majority of traditional climbs, never
became a sport climbing center, other
Colorado areas like Boulder Canyon,
Shelf Road, Clear Creek Canyon, and
Rifle Mountain Park would become
major sport climbing areas.
In 1986 visiting French climber
Jean-Baptiste Tribout established the
first climb in America to be graded 5.14
with his redpoint of To Bolt or Not to
Be (5.14a) at Smith Rocks. This served
as a wakeup call for American rock
climbers that the future for increasing
standards of difficulty would be through
sport climbing.
While the bolt wars raged at
traditional bastions like Joshua Tree and
Yosemite Valley, isolated areas without
traditional history were simultaneously
being developed into popular sport
climbing areas—places like Owens
River Gorge and Clark Mountain in
California, the Calico Hills of the Red
Rocks in Nevada, Kentucky’s Red River
Gorge, and the Rumney Cliffs of New
Hampshire.
By the mid-1990s climbing gyms
began to sprout up in almost every major
urban center in America. A new
generation of climbers, who had learned
on artificial walls, ventured outside,
naturally drawn to sport climbing. This
new generation largely eschewed scary
runout traditional climbs and adopted a
healthy appetite for well-protected, fun
sport climbs. The bolt wars ended, and
sport climbing was here to stay. The next
controversy, which has continued to this
day, is the retro-bolting of older
traditional routes, adding bolts to make
the routes safer for the masses. It will be
up to the next generation to define the
future of the sport, but it’s my hope that
retro-bolting the Bachar-Yerian route
and routes like it will never happen.

Sport Climbing Safety

Common Sport Climbing
Accidents
With closely spaced bolts, bolted
anchors, and no dangerous runouts, what
can go wrong? But accidents do happen
on sport climbs, on a shockingly regular
basis. One of the most common
accidents is a lowering accident, caused
simply by the rope not being long enough
to lower the climber to the ground, and
no knot on the end of the rope to close
the system. Another common mishap is a
leader fall with the rope between the
legs while climbing to the right or left of
a protection bolt, which flips the falling
leader upside-down rather violently,
resulting in head injuries. Incorrectly
clipping the quickdraw can lead to the
rope unclipping itself during a leader
fall. Let’s review the fundamentals of
sport climbing and how to prevent these
scenarios.

Leading Sport Climbs

SAFETY CHECKS
The first thing to do is to close the
system. This means dealing with both
ends of the rope. You can close the
system by having both climbers tie into
each end of the rope or, if the belayer
isn’t tying in, simply tying a stopper knot
in the belayer’s end. Seems simple, but
not closing the system leads to at least
one tragic accident seemingly every year
at some sport crag in America. One of
America’s most famous climbers was
dropped some 20 feet to the ground in a
lowering accident without a closed
system; luckily, he fully recovered from
his injuries and went on to do great
climbs. Not every anchor at a sport crag
is set at 100 feet or less; some anchors
will be more than half your rope length,
requiring a longer single rope (70
meters, or 230 feet) or two ropes to get
down. In a single-pitch environment, you
should always close the system. It’s a
good safety habit.
If you haven’t developed the habit of
partner safety checks, now is a good
time to start. More than one expert
climber has tied in while distracted,
completed the climb, leaned back from
the anchor to be lowered, and fallen to
the ground as his or her rope tie-in knot
failed. This happened due to lack of a
safety check; these climbers never
developed the habit of checking as part
of their program. As a climbing
instructor, it’s so ingrained in my
protocol that it has become part of my
climbing routine.
I use the ABC acronym: Anchor,
Belayer, Climber. This works for both
leading and toproping scenarios. First
check the ground anchor (if it exists),
usually connected to the belayer via the
rope and a clove hitch. Then check the
belayer. Check the harness, knot, belay
device. Then check the climber’s
harness and knot tie-in. If using a Grigri
to belay, Petzl recommends checking the
Grigri by a quick stout pull on the non-
brake strand to make sure the device
properly locks off. The anchor, belayer,
and first point the lead climber will clip
into should all be in a line. Now you’re
ready to climb.
On a route with a difficult start right
off the ground, consider asking your
partner to spot you as you climb up to
the first bolt. You should be well-versed
on properly rigging your quickdraws and
how to clip them. The rope should run
from the inside out through the carabiner
(i.e., from the rock out to you). For me
it’s easiest to clip my rope into the
carabiner with the hand opposite the
gate’s position. For example, with my
right hand, I find it easiest to clip the
carabiner with the gate facing left. I rack
all the quickdraws on my right side for
right-handed clips (quickdraws with
gates facing left), and vice versa for my
left side (left-handed clips), since on
difficult sport routes you’ll only have
one hand to clip. Practice clipping—
both hands with gates facing both right
and left—until you’re proficient. The
worst time to fall is when you’re just
about to clip, since you’ll have a lot of
rope slack in your hand.
If you’re climbing directly above the
bolt, which side you position the gate on
the rope bearing end of the quickdraw is
inconsequential; if you’re directly above
the bolt, you’ll want to position the rope
between your legs. If you veer off
slightly to the right or left, you’ll want to
pay attention to two things (this is
important!):
1. The position of the rope relative to
your legs.
2. Which way the carabiner gate on the
rope bearing end of the quickdraw is
facing.
If the gate is facing right, it will be
easiest to clip with your left hand by
capturing the carabiner with your middle
finger and holding the rope with your
thumb and forefinger.
If the gate is facing right and you have to
clip it with your right hand, grab the base
of the carabiner with your thumb and
middle finger, and clip the rope using the
forefinger.
Correct quickdraw orientation. The rope
runs from the inside out. The climber is
moving right, and the gate is facing left.
Incorrect orientation. The rope runs from
the outside in.
Peter Croft leading My Laundry (5.9) at
Joshua Tree. He’s moving to the right of
the quickdraw, so the carabiner gate
faces left. The rope is on the outside of
his left leg, not between his legs.

Dangerous quickdraw orientation. The

rope runs from the outside in and the
gate is facing right, the same direction
the climber is moving, If the climber
falls, the rope can potentially cross over
the gate and unclip.

If you’re moving to the right of the

bolt, position the rope in front of your
left leg, not between your legs. The gate
of the carabiner that your rope is clipped
into should be facing left (opposite the
direction you’re climbing).
If you’re moving left from the bolt,
position the rope in front of and on the
outside of your right leg. The carabiner
gate should be facing right.

Falling
Falling is a part of sport climbing. And
there is a technique to falling. First,
don’t push off or out from the rock when
you fall—when the rope comes tight, any
outward momentum you’ve created will
be converted to inward momentum and
send you crashing into the wall. Also,
pushing off with your legs creates more
force and momentum for your fall. If you
find yourself swinging toward the wall,
brace yourself with both arms extended
outward and both legs in a
rappel/lowering stance. In big airy falls,
I’ve found that grabbing the rope with
both hands just above my knot helps
maintain a stable posture and keeps me
from flipping sideways.
If you’re in a position where you
might fall, and your belayer can’t see
you, get his or her attention by saying
“Watch me!” A response of “I’m with
you” goes a long way to help muster the
confidence to go for it. If you do come
off, yell “Falling,” especially if you’re
out of sight of the belayer.
On low-angle slab sport routes, a
fall can be more like a slide. On
swinging, low-angle falls, a quick
running/paddling motion with your feet
can keep you from getting scraped up.

Transitions: Lowering and

Rappelling
Before embarking on the lead, go over a
game plan with your belayer and discuss
what you’ll do at the anchor. If the
anchor has gated cold shuts or mussy
hooks, it’s as simple as clipping in and
lowering off. If using quickdraws, make
sure the rope-bearing carabiner gates are
opposed and reversed; or, better yet, use
locking carabiners with the gates
opposed and reversed. By using slings
or a cordelette, you can easily rig a more
reliable two-bolt anchor setup (see
chapter 5).
Before lowering, after clipping in,
communicate with your belayer; if
possible, look down and establish visual
contact to make sure he or she is paying
attention and is in the proper brake
position.
Miscommunication at this critical
juncture has led to numerous lowering
accidents. One fatal accident occurred in
a toproping situation where the belayer
assumed the climber was not going to be
lowered. The climber yelled “I’m OK,”
which the belayer mistook as “Off
belay.” Unfortunately, when the climber
leaned back to be lowered, the belayer
had already taken the rope out of the
belay device.
Mussy hooks are designed for clipping in
and lowering off.

Go over your climbing signals with

your partner, and use a standardized set
of signals. We’ve always used the
following unambiguous signals in my
climbing school, and in thirty years
we’ve never had an incident of
miscommunication.
• Tension (or “Take”)
• Tension On (or “Got You”)
• Lower Me (or “Ready to Lower”)
• Lowering
• Stop (or “Hold”)
OK. Two quickdraws rigged for toproping
with the gates opposed and reversed. Not
ideal, since whatever chains, rings, or
hardware store doodads exist can press
on the gates once the draws are weighted
and potentially open one.
Better. The draws are clipped behind the
chains and quick links so that when
they’re weighted, they won’t be pressing
on the hardware.
Even better. All locking carabiners on the
draws for security, safeguarding against
any unforeseen gate opening. The oval
lockers at the master point are opposed
and reversed.
Here the bottom locking ovals are in a
better configuration for the rope to run
through smoothly, although the top
lockers are connected to some rusty
quick links of unknown vintage.
This setup allows your group to toprope
off the locking carabiners without
wearing down the chains; then the last
person can either lower down or rappel.

Lowering through
Chains/Rings
If you’re transitioning from a lead or
toprope to lowering from chains/rings,
you’ll need to thread your rope through
the chains or rings. There are two
methods.

METHOD 1: THREADING A
BIGHT AND LOWERING ON A
LOCKING CARABINER.
This method assumes the chains/rings
are wide enough to thread two strands (a
bight) of rope. The advantage of this
method is that you are on belay
throughout the process.
Step 1. Attach yourself to the anchor
with a personal tether, quickdraws,
or sling.
Step 2. Thread a bight of rope through
the chains/rings and tie a figure eight
on a bight.
Step 3. Attach this to your harness belay
loop with a locking carabiner.
Step 4. Untie your figure eight follow-
through tiein knot, pull the rope end
through the anchor, and let it dangle
at your side.
Step 5. Call for tension, get a response
from your belayer, then proceed to
be lowered.

METHOD 2: TRANSITION FROM

LEADING OR TOPROPING TO
LOWERING.
Step 1. Attach yourself to the anchor
with a personal tether, into the
anchor master point if possible. If
the anchor points are separated, you
can use two separate slings.
Step 2. Pull down about 8 feet of slack
from your quickdraw or toprope
master-point and tie a figure eight
loop. Clip this with a locking
carabiner into your harness belay
loop.
Step 3. Untie from the rope, thread it
through the rings/chains, then retie in
with a figure eight follow-through to
your harness.
Step 4. Unclip your locking carabiner
with the figure eight loop from your
belay loop, clean the
quickdraws/toprope rigging,
communicate with your belayer (call
for “tension” or “take”), unclip your
personal tether, and proceed to be
lowered.

Transition from Toproping

to Rappelling
Step 1. Attach yourself to the anchor’s
master point with a personal tether
and a locking carabiner. Call “Off
Belay” to your belayer.
Step 2. Pull up a few feet of rope, tie a
figure eight on a bight (or overhand
loop), and attach it to your harness
with a carabiner.
Step 3. Untie your figure eight follow-
through tie-in knot, and thread the
rope end through the anchor.
Step 4. Tie a stopper knot in the end of
the rope.
Step 5. Unclip the rope from your
carabiner, and pull enough rope
through the anchor to complete your
rappel. If you’re not able to see the
end of the rope you’ve threaded
touching down on the ground (or get
verification from your partner that
the end is down) go to the middle
mark of the rope. If you don’t have a
middle mark or bi-pattern rope, you
can always measure from both ends
to find the middle. My preference
has always been to climb on bi-
pattern ropes so that it’s easy to find
the middle. If you can’t see it, check
with your partner to see what’s going
on with the other end of the rope.
Are they still tied in? Or is there a
 stopper knot?
Step 6. Rig your rappel device on your
personal tether, and back it up with
an autoblock attached to your
harness belay loop with a locking
carabiner.
 Step 7. Clean the toprope rigging
and you’re ready to rappel.
Belaying Sport Climbs
Sport climbing falls can often be jarring
for the leader, especially when the rope
is zigzagging through many quick draws,
as the friction in the system reduces
overall rope stretch. On steeper routes, a
“soft catch” will also keep the leader
from slamming into the wall so
violently.
To provide a soft catch as a belayer,
you’ll need to develop a more dynamic
belaying technique. In the old days a
dynamic belay meant letting the rope slip
a little bit instead of locking off.
With autolocking devices like a
Grigri, where the cam locks solidly in a
fall, you’ll have to use your stance, body
position, and body movement to provide
a dynamic belay. Timing is the key.
Anticipate the fall by bending your knees
slightly. The moment the rope comes
tight, simultaneously hop into the air.
Every fall is different, and at higher fall
factors, the impact may propel you
upward—be ready to brace yourself
with your legs against the wall.
The dynamic belay is not
appropriate for all situations. A common
misconception is that a ground anchor is
never required in sport climbing. Be
aware that a common sport climbing
accident is a belayer accident, where the
belayer is pulled so violently that the
person loses control of his or her stance
and gets slammed into the wall or pulled
up into the first quickdraw, often
resulting in hand injuries.

Method 1 of feeding slack to the leader

with a Grigri. The advantage of this
method is that your brake hand stays on
the rope and you never grab the device or
open the cam. Keep both hands on the
rope and feed the rope into the device as
you pay out with the rope with the non-
brake hand above it. The key is to feed
slow to fast, without a sudden jerk. A
good analogy is your car seatbelt: If you
pull fast and hard, it will lock; but if you
start slow and pull smoothly, and don’t
yank it, it won’t lock.
Method 2 of feeding rope to a leader
with a Grigri. The advantage of this
method is that you can feed slack quickly
without the device locking up, although it
takes some practice to use the proper
grip. The disadvantage is that if you’re
holding the Grigri and pressing down on
the handle during a fall, the Grigri’s
locking mechanism won’t engage. So it’s
important to keep a grip on the rope with
three fingers of your brake hand and only
press down on the Grigri’s handle with
your thumb. Don’t grab the entire Grigri
itself with your hand.

The ground anchor is a good idea in

many situations: in uneven terrain where
the belayer can get pulled off their
perch, when the leader outweighs the
belayer by 50 pounds or more, where
there is a high fall factor, and when there
is a real danger of a falling leader hitting
a ledge or hitting the ground. The worst
accident I’ve personally had in more
than forty years of rock climbing was a
belaying accident. I was belaying
without a ground anchor, and I was
pulled off my stance, across a gap, and
into an arcing swing into the cliff. In
another incident, while leading on a new
sport route at Joshua Tree, 5 feet above
the second bolt, a hold broke as I was
mantling up to a ledge. Before I started, I
made sure my belayer had a ground
anchor, since I outweighed him by 60
pounds. At the end of my fall, my feet
were 2 feet above a boulder. It was a
close call. Without the ground anchor, I
probably would have broken my legs, or
worse.
Lowering with a Grigri. If using a rope
bag, make sure the system is closed with
a knot in the end of the rope.
If the climber far outweighs you, a
ground anchor is useful, even on flat
ground. If you’re belaying a leader with a
ground anchor, allow about 3 feet of
slack to your connection; you’ll be able
to provide a softer catch if you’re pulled
that short distance if the leader falls,
providing a more dynamic belay but not
losing control. When you’re lowering,
come tight against the anchor to help
brace yourself and bolster your stance.

The best way to attach yourself to a

ground anchor is with the rope. The
rope, since it’s dynamic, will add some
modicum of stretch to the system
compared to anchoring straight in with a
nylon sling, which has little stretch or, in
the case of a Dyneema sling, no stretch.
Tie into the rope as you normally would,
then clove hitch to a locking carabiner
attached to the ground anchor, which can
be anything from a natural anchor (like a
sling or cord around a tree or a block of
rock) to a single piece of protection set
for an upward force. Every situation is
different, and in some instances, where a
leader can potentially hit the ground or a
ledge, you’ll want to be tight to your
ground anchor. Where the leader has
room to fall, allow about 3 feet of slack
to the ground anchor, which will give
you the opportunity to provide a dynamic
belay but also maintain control and not
get slammed into the cliff.
Merrill Bitter leads Chain Reaction
(5.12b), Smith Rock, Oregon.

PHOTO BY GREG EPPERSON

Bird Lew on Snowshed Wall, Donner
Summit, California.
PHOTO BY GREG EPPERSON
 CHAPTER 7

Trad Climbing

Static versus Dynamic

In 1987 I worked on the movie Star Trek
V: The Final Frontier as a climbing
double for Captain Kirk (William
Shatner). In the opening sequence of the
film, Captain Kirk, on “shore leave” in
Yosemite Valley, decides to free solo
the Nose Route of El Capitan.
The director informed me that for the
free solo scenes (which included the
Boot Flake pitch on the Nose Route, a
5.10c hand crack 1,700 feet off the
ground), I’d be belayed via an ⅛-inch
wire cable, since we had to hide it from
camera. This was before modern CGI
(computer-generated imagery) that made
it easy to paint a rope out of the picture,
and stuntmen routinely did falls rigged
on ⅛-inch steel cable with elaborate
shock-absorbing systems. To assure my
safety I was to learn the ropes, so to
speak, of cable rigging. A meeting was
arranged with Kenny Bates, the top
Hollywood cable fall stuntman at the
time, at Stoney Point, a local bouldering
area just outside Los Angeles. It was
like we were from two different
schools: me the dynamic climbing rope
world, and him the static cable stunt
world. Kenny taught me how to properly
swage the cable ends into loops and how
to use the various thimbles and shackles,
but I wasn’t convinced of the safety of a
cable belay for climbing.
When I got to Yosemite, I teamed up
with John Dill, head of Yosemite Search
and Rescue, to do some tests. I rigged a
20-foot length of ⅛-inch cable (rated at
2,000 lbs. tensile breaking strength)
attached to a concrete block that
weighed 200 pounds, using a stout oak
branch as my anchor. I noticed a smirk
on John’s face when he realized what I
had in mind. I raised the block a few
feet, then dropped it. The cable snapped
like kite string. Then I raised the block a
mere foot and dropped it. It snapped like
kite string. Then I introduced a 9mm
nylon climbing rope into the system,
attached to the cable. I dropped the
block dozens of times, up to 10-foot
drops, and the cable never broke. The
dynamic rope was the key, even with a
static belay (the rope being tied off to an
anchor).
Kenny went on to perform a 400-foot
fall for one scene in Star Trek V on his
descender rig, which was essentially a
giant fishing reel spooled with ⅛-inch
cable, using an air fan and disc brake to
slow it down at the very end. When it
was time to get hoisted up to perform the
stunt, his hands were shaking so badly he
could barely clip in.
 Impact forces depend largely on how
the energy of the fall is absorbed over
time. If you tie into a 100-foot bungy
cord (which stretches 100 percent) and
jump off a bridge, it will stretch 100 feet
and take several seconds for the bungy to
absorb the energy of the fall; therefore,
the impact force at the anchor is
relatively low.
Take the same fall on a 10-foot
length of cable and it will snap every
time, even though the static tensile
breaking strength is 2,000 pounds. Why?
Because there is no stretch, so the cable
absorbs the energy of the fall in less than
a millisecond, creating a high-impact
force since the force is not dissipated
over time.
 The DMM company produced a
series of videos illustrating this
principal, showing drop testing on
Dyneema versus nylon slings. The
Dyneema slings broke in many of the
tests because Dyneema, much like a wire
cable, is static. The nylon slings fared
better, since nylon slings have a bit of
stretch, but nothing close to a dynamic
rope. The bottom line is this: The
dynamic rope is your shock absorber,
and anything else you can do to lower
the impact force on your protection and
anchors is just icing on the cake.
Calculating the fall factor

The Fall Factor

The fall factor is the total distance of the
fall, divided by the length of the rope out
from the belay. If the leader is 100 feet
above and falls 10 feet, that’s a fall
factor of 0.1, an easy catch for the
belayer. Anything approaching fall
factor 1 is a tough catch, with some
lifting force to the belayer, so a ground
anchor would be recommended.
The highest fall factor is 2 and can
occur on a multipitch climb if the leader
is above the belay, with no protection,
and falls. Another way to create a fall
factor 2 is to tether into an anchor or
piece with a sling or PAS and fall from
above the anchor.

Fall Forces
In most climbing textbooks there’s an
emphasis on anchor systems—redundant,
equalized, with minimal extension. But
unless there’s a leader fall directly onto
the belay anchor on a multipitch route
(the dreaded factor 2 fall), the anchor
has only to absorb minimal forces, a
little more than body weight if belaying
a follower with a direct belay. Don’t
lose sight of the big picture: The greatest
forces in rock climbing are routinely
placed on a single piece of gear, during
leader falls.
 This is because the force is
multiplied by the pulley effect, which is
essentially double the force of the falling
leader minus the friction factor created
at the carabiner. Most estimates put this
at 1.66 times the impact force at the end
of the rope. It works like this: Picture a
toprope situation. A 200-pound climber
falls and hangs on the rope. The belayer,
holding the other side of the rope, must
hold 200 pounds. The piece must absorb
the force on both sides—the 200-pound
climber hanging on one end and the
belayer holding the 200 pounds on the
other end. Thus the anchor is loaded to
400 pounds. It’s a little more
complicated than that, since the friction
factor (0.66) means that in reality the
belayer feels as though he or she only
needs to hold roughly 66 percent of the
climber’s 200 pounds to hold the fall.
And any slack in the rope will create a
higher force when the climber falls.

Worst-Case Scenarios
In the 1990s Petzl estimated that with a
dynamic rope, rigged with a direct belay
off the anchor, and a fall factor of 2, the
highest impact force that a falling
climber can generate is about 9 kN. This
impact force would be the same in a 20-
foot fall factor 2 and a 40-foot fall factor
2, because with more rope in the system,
there is more rope stretch to absorb the
energy.
Petzl estimated that the maximum
force a falling leader can generate is
actually fall factor 1.9 when the rope is
clipped into protection, through a
carabiner just above the belay, because
of the pulley effect that multiplies the
force. In this extreme situation, the
falling climber generates 9 kN of force
on his or her end of the rope and the
belayer must absorb 6 kN of force at the
belay device (remember the friction
factor is 66 percent). So the piece of
protection the leader has fallen on has to
absorb a total of 15kN (9kN + 6kN),
which is the maximum force achievable
in the worst-case situation, give or take
a kilonewton, based on the falling
climber’s weight and the dynamic
elongation of the rope.
 But these lab tests were done with a
rigid metal mass (80 kg, or 179 lbs.)
being dropped, not a human climber. In
recent years new tests were done using a
real live climber, and the results were
drastically different. With a real human
body absorbing the impact instead of a
metal weight, the forces were roughly 56
percent less in all the drop tests. In the
fall factor 1.9 scenario, with a real
human, 56 percent less force on the
falling climber would be more like 3kN,
the force at the anchor 5 kN, and the
force at the redirected piece 8kN. So
with a real human, the force during a fall
factor 2, using this percentage, would be
more like 5kN. But, again, it’s not quite
that simple. Other variables, like the
type of belay device used and how far
the rope slips, also come into play. For
example, Petzl has theorized that the
difference between using a manual
braking device (Reverso) instead of a
Grigri reduces the impact force by a
whopping 30 percent due to how quickly
and solidly the Grigri locks off
compared to the Reverso, which slips a
little bit.
Hanging belay at Red Rocks, Nevada.
Here Mike Moretti pays out the leader’s
rope, clipped to the right-hand bolt of a
two-bolt anchor with a locking carabiner,
thus eliminating a factor 2 fall potential.
He’s attached himself to the master point
with a clove hitch and braced himself for
an upward force if the leader were to fall
on this traverse up and right from the
anchor. He’s adjusted his stance so that
he’s created some distance between his
belay device and the first point the
leader’s rope is clipped into. His rope is
well managed—butterfly-looped across
his tie-in strand.
Belay on a multipitch climb at Tahquitz
Rock, California. Here the leader is
ready to go, and the belayer has put him
on belay. When he unclips his clove
hitch, he’ll clip his rope to the top piece,
which already has a quickdraw waiting for
his rope. The leader’s rope is butterfly-
looped and ready to pay out without any
tangles. Once the leader is up on the
pitch, if he were to fall, the upward pull
on the belayer would soften the impact,
and the right-hand piece in the anchor,
which is placed for an upward force,
would keep the leader from getting
pulled too far.

Fall Factor 2
On a multipitch climb, if you’re leading
20 feet above the belay and fall, you’ll
sail past the belay and fall at least 40
feet before rope stretch kicks in. This is
the dreaded fall factor 2.
The first line of defense is simply
not to fall in the first place. Many leader
fall accidents occur when a leader
simply won’t give up and casts off into
unknown moves without being in
control. Practicing downclimbing on
moderate boulder problems will help
you develop a foundation for mental
control in these situations. Knowing
when to back off and exercising good
judgment is your best line of defense.
Hubris will get you hurt.
Doug Robinson, in his article “The
Whole Natural Art of Protection,” sums
it up well: “Learning to climb down is
valuable for retreating from a clean and
bold place that gets too airy. And having
the humility to back off rather than
continue . . . a thing well begun is not
lost. The experience cannot be taken
away.”
There is some debate on how to deal
with a fall factor 2 situation on a
multipitch climb. Should you clip the
lead rope into the anchor’s master point
or the topmost piece in the anchor?
There is no simple answer due to the
variables, the most obvious one being
how trustworthy is the belay anchor?
One solution is to not create a fall
factor 2 situation in the first place. If
you’re forewarned that the route has a
fall factor 2 situation, as long as there is
enough rope at your disposal, and
assuming the anchor is reliable, the
leader can clip the anchor’s master
point, continue into the next pitch up to
the first good gear placement, then lower
back down to the belay, thus eliminating
the possibility of a fall factor 2. The
only drawback I can think of to this
solution is that if the climbing is delicate
and tenuous, the rope drag built up at the
end of the pitch may be a problem.
Another solution, if the anchor is
reliable, is for the belayer to lower
some distance (say 20 feet) below the
anchor and belay from there. The leader
can then clip into the anchor’s master
point, no longer looking at a fall factor
2, since more rope is in the system from
the belay device. And if enough force is
generated in the leader’s fall to yank the
belayer upward, that will only soften the
impact force—a good thing, as long as
the belayer doesn’t lose control and
there’s no ledge for the falling leader to
hit. One option here would be for the
belayer to lower down to the first good
upward directional piece and clip into
that as an additional safeguard,
especially if the leader outweighs them
by more than 50 pounds.
If all the placements in the anchor
are bomber, the leader can clip the
topmost piece of the anchor, creating a
gap of a few feet between that clip and
the belayer’s device. The problem in
this scenario is that, again, the force is
multiplied at that clipped point due to
the pulley factor (a force of x 2 minus
the friction factor = 1.66 x); the belayer
will get pulled violently into that piece
and get slammed into the wall.
Another solution, with a solid
anchor, is a direct belay, which is
normally not recommended for lead
belaying. In recent years there has been
new thinking on this technique, as a
direct belay eliminates the multiplied
force and the slamming of the belayer,
but it is not recommended with an
assisted braking device (e.g., Grigri)
due to the device’s solid lock-off that
transfers more impact force onto the
anchor. A direct belay with a Munter
hitch solves this problem but is a hard
catch for the belayer (gloves
recommended!). If using a Munter hitch
direct belay, create a backup system by
conservatively estimating the distance to
the leader’s next stance and protection
placement; clip a manual braking device
(MBD) like an ATC into the rope at this
point, and tie a catastrophe knot on the
brake strand below it. Then you’ll be
ready to switch from the Munter to the
MBD after the leader’s clipped his or
her first piece of protection.
Rigging for a fall factor 2 using a quad
with a Munter hitch direct belay. This is a
tough catch, so it’s advisable to estimate
the length of the leader’s runout to the
first good piece, back it up by clipping
the rope to an MBD (like an ATC) that
distance down the rope, and then back
that up with a catastrophe knot on the
brake strand side. In a worst-case
scenario, if the leader falls and the
belayer loses control, the backups will
come into play.

If the anchor can’t be trusted, you’re

treading on thin ice, and the best solution
is to belay directly off your harness (to
limit the impact force on the belay
anchor) with an MBD and back it up
with a catastrophe knot on the brake
hand side. Brace yourself in the best
stance you can muster, and do your best
to absorb the energy of the fall with your
legs and torso. If you completely lose
control, the catastrophe knot will jam
into the belay device—averting disaster
as long as the anchor does not fail.
The maximum friction you can generate
with a Munter hitch belay is when the two
rope strands are parallel.

Two-bolt anchor on a multipitch climb

rigged with a quad. Here the leader will
shortly embark on a short traverse to the
right before any protection can be had.
He’s clipped his rope directly to the
master point, so if he falls, the belayer
should brace for a pull straight in to the
wall.

What Is a
Kilonewton? (kN)
A newton was named for, you guessed it, Sir
Isaac Newton in recognition for his
groundbreaking work: Newton’s second law
of motion. A newton measures mass in
motion.
One newton is the force required to
accelerate 1 kilogram of mass at the rate of 1
meter per second squared, or roughly the
force of gravity acting on a small mass on
planet Earth. One kilonewton is equal to 1,000
newtons.
To wrap my head around this concept, I
like to think of it in terms of pounds and how
much load a piece can sustain. One kN is
 equal to 100 kilograms of load, or 224 pounds
of force. So a sling that’s rated to 22 kN could
theoretically hold 2,200 kilograms (4,946 lbs.).
It’s not that simple, however, since a kN
rating signifies the maximum impact force the
sling can withstand, which is a force of gravity
rating (force = mass × acceleration), but it’s
easier for me to grasp the concept that, yes, I
could hang a car from that sling.

In fact, in all these scenarios, a

catastrophe knot (one that will jam in
your belay device) can serve as your
final line of defense if you lose control
of the belay.
The leader’s goal is for the rope to run in
a relatively straight line by judicious use
of quickdraws and slings, eliminating a
conflagration of varying directions of
pull on all the pieces in the system.
Double-rope technique, popular in
Europe, makes it easy to rectify the
problem on most pitches, but this
technique is more complicated,
especially for the belayer, and has never
really caught on in America.

The Zipper Effect

I witnessed the full ramifications of the
zipper effect on a climb called The
Pirate at Suicide Rock, California. It’s
an ultrathin crack, rated 5.12d as a free
climb but commonly led as a practice
aid route using tiny wired stoppers. The
belayer was positioned at the base of the
climb, 10 feet out from the wall, as the
leader methodically aided up the crack.
Halfway up the pitch, a piece pulled out
and the leader fell. The first nut
placement rotated upward and popped
out, as did the next one, the next one
after that, and all the nuts after that
except the one the leader had fallen on,
which just happened to be a #3 wired
stopper—the zipper effect.
When leading trad pitches, the first
placement is a critical one, especially if
the belayer is some distance out from the
base of the pitch or, on a multi-pitch
climb, if the first placement is off to one
side. Once another placement is made,
and the system is weighted in a fall, the
direction of pull on that first piece will
bisect the angle of the rope.
For this first critical piece, an
omnidirectional placement is indicated.
It's the key to the leading system for the
entire pitch, as it locks the rope into the
cliff. The best choice is a camming
device, set to withstand any outward or
upward force. A tricam in the active
mode, two nuts rigged in opposition, or
a nut buried in a constriction set for an
outward force will work as second best.
As the leader proceeds up the pitch,
any subsequent angles created by the
rope zigzagging through the pieces will
have similar forces applied, bisecting
any angle created in the rope system
below the placement the leader falls on
or weights.

Falling
When leading trad pitches, remember
this fundamental: Don’t climb with the
rope between your legs, unless you’re
directly above a piece. If you’re moving
right, run the rope outside your left leg,
and vice versa. If you’re off to one side
above a piece and fall with the rope
between your legs, the position of the
rope will flip you upside down. This
results in a lot of head injuries for
falling leaders.
Don’t push out from the wall unless
you’re trying to avoid an obstacle, like a
small ledge, since when the rope comes
tight you’ll swing back in to the wall
harder with the pendulum effect you’ve
created. Don’t try to grab the rope below
the piece on the way down—if you do
latch onto it, you’ll only get a rope burn.
Fall like a cat; try to absorb the
impact of the fall with your legs in a
wide stance, and flex your knees to
absorb some of the force. Remember to
communicate with your belayer,
especially if he or she can’t see you.
“Watch me!” is the signal to let your
belayer know you’re at a tough spot.
Falls can happen without warning, like
when a foothold breaks, but yelling
“Falling!” will let your belayer prepare
for the jolt if the person can’t see you. A
short fall happens so quickly, it’s over
before you realize you’ve even fallen. If
you can register that “Hey, I’m falling
here,” and sense your body flying
through the air, it’s a big one.

Rope Stretch and Protecting

the Follower
In recent years, ropes have gotten
thinner, with more stretch. The EN 892
dynamic rope certification standard
allows up to 40 percent dynamic
elongation in the drop testing, and most
ropes on the market these days stretch an
average of about 35 percent in a leader
fall. At the same time, the trend has been
toward longer ropes (e.g., 70 meters) to
complete longer pitches. So if you’re
leading with 200 feet of rope out and
zero rope drag, and fall from 20 feet
above your last piece, you’ll sail 40 feet
before the rope stretch even kicks in—
then you’ll fall an additional 70 feet
before you stop!
 If the rope is zigzagging through
pieces, the rope stretch will be less,
since the friction through the carabiners
limits the rope’s ability to stretch
throughout its entire length, but it can
still be substantial.
One thing that many climbers don’t
account for is rope stretch while
belaying the second. As a guide, I’m
hyper-aware of this because it’s about
the only way someone can get hurt
falling on a toprope (the other way is
from a swing). Most dynamic ropes will
stretch about 10 percent in a fall while
seconding or toproping (more with a
heavier climber and with any slack in
the rope). With 100 feet of rope out,
that’s 10 feet; and if your second falls
just above a ledge, he or she might hit it.
As a belayer, keep this in mind—tighten
the rope under a bit of tension when
someone is right off the ground or just
above a ledge when you have a lot of
rope out and the person is facing tough
moves.

Here the leader has made a major error:

not protecting for the follower, who has
just removed the last piece of pro, which
protected the top moves on the face
above the crack for the leader; now the
follower is facing a major pendulum if he
were to fall. The leader could have
chosen to belay directly above where the
follower is now positioned, where there
is a good ledge with good cracks, or
could have placed a good directional
piece before moving right over to this
two-bolt anchor.

As leaders, we sometimes get so

focused on protecting our next move that
we forget to place protection for the
follower. While leading a traverse,
placing a piece right before a hard move
is great for the leader, but when the
follower unclips it, he or she will be
facing a huge swing if the next piece is
far away. If no protection is available
for the follower, one solution is to lower
down from higher up on the pitch and
unclip a few pieces so that the rope runs
straighter.

Peter Croft leading My Laundry (5.9) at

Joshua Tree. Note where Peter has placed
a piece of gear at the start of the
horizontal crack leading right—not for
him, since it’s easy climbing, but for the
follower, who faces a tricky move after
cleaning the second quickdraw.
Peter Croft leading Sidewinder (5.10c) at
Joshua Tree. Note the use of long
runners to reduce rope drag, and how the
rope runs outside his right leg, not
between his legs. He’s decided to climb a
bit higher before he places his next
piece, to better protect his follower.

Multipitch Efficiency
As a guide, I like to keep it simple. And
90 percent of the time when I’m guiding
multipitch, I’ll place three bomber
pieces, pre-equalize them with a
cordelette, and I’m done. My goal for the
master point is to rig it at waist level to
eye level. I’ll belay my client with my
Grigri clipped into the master point. I’ve
never been a fan of plaquette devices,
mainly because I usually don’t guide
long routes, so I don’t belay two clients
at the same time, and I don’t like the
extra workout on the shoulders from
pulling the rope through the device. Most
guides I know started with plaquette
devices but ultimately switched to
Grigris when the second, lighter
generation came on the market. Who
needs an extra workout belaying? To me
it’s always been worth the extra weight
for the ease of pulling the rope through
the device, plus the Grigri is more useful
for all the various potential rescue and
assistance scenarios, the most common
being a short 3-to-1 haul to help a client
get past a tough spot he or she can’t free
climb. It’s also simpler to lower
someone with a Grigri than with a
plaquette device; just make sure to
redirect the brake strand. If I’m guiding
two clients, I’ll clip myself to the shelf,
then belay each client separately and
clip both clients to the main master
point.
Three-piece multipitch anchor pre-
equalized with a cordelette. The bottom
cam is set for an upward pull.
Four-piece multipitch anchor pre-
equalized with a cordelette. The bottom
two cams are rigged in opposition with
clove hitches, making this anchor
multidirectional—good for downward,
outward, and upward pulls.
This cordelette rig affords two master
points, each having three loops. If I’m
guiding two clients, I’ll clip myself into
the shelf (top carabiner) and belay off
the main master point (bottom
carabiner). I’ll have both followers clip
in at the main master point. To correctly
use the shelf, your carabiner must be
clipped into all the loops on the arms of
the cordelette, whether it’s two, three, or
four, depending on the rigging.

In recent years the biggest innovation

for multipitch belay anchor rigging has
been the evolution of the quad rigging
technique, now the favored technique of
many professional guides. By splitting
the four strands (two and two) you’ll
have two separate master points to clip
into. This is especially useful for direct
belays, hanging stances, and multi-pitch
rappelling scenarios.
Two-bolt anchor rigged with a quad using
a direct belay with a Grigri.
Two-bolt anchor rigged with standard
cordellete method using a direct belay
with a Grigri.
A three-bolt belay at Tahquitz Rock,
California, rigged with the standard
cordelette method. I’m clipped into the
main master point with a clove hitch, and
I’m using my Grigri for a direct belay
clipped to another locking carabiner on
the shelf (all three loops of the arms of
the cordelette). Clipping carabiner to
carabiner is fine as long as they are
locking carabiners, especially in a
monitored situation.
1. To rig an alpine draw, use a single-
length (22-inch) sling with two
carabiners attached.
2. Loop one carabiner through the other .
..
3. . . . and even up the three loops.
4. Clip them back into the carabiner, and
you have it. You can use the alpine draw
in its shortened quickdraw length; or
when you need to deployits full length,
clip into a piece, unclip the other
carabiner from all three loops, then clip
it back into any of the three loops. Pull
down and you’ll have the full-length
sling. The big advantage of the alpine
draw is that you can do this all with one
hand—far easier than trying to use a sling
that’s around your neck and over your
shoulder when you’re on a steep climb
where it’s hard to let go.
Climbers at Verdon Gorge, France.

Multipitch Rope
Management
The Navy SEALs have a saying: “Slow
is smooth and smooth is fast.” The key to
rope handling for multipitch is taking the
time to do it right the first time so that
you don’t have to do it again. Detangling
ropes can really slow you down, so
taking the time to properly flake the rope
at every stance will save you time in the
long run. As a guide, a worst-case
scenario for rope management is having
a client have to deal with a tangled rope
while I’m leading. If you’re the belayer
and must deal with a tangled rope, start
by tying a catastrophe knot on your brake
hand side.
Erik Kramer-Webb is an AMGA
Certified Rock Instructor and one of
California’s most experienced guides;
his state-of-the art training through the
AMGA has given him unique insights
into becoming more efficient at
multipitch rope management. First, Erik
recommends:
“If there’s a belay ledge, stacking the
rope on the rock is preferable to making
loops over your tie-in. It’s less work on
your arms and will give more of your
focus to providing a great belay. Make a
tight ‘pancake stack’ about 2 feet in
diameter, patting it down occasionally
with your hand or foot to keep it as
compact as possible. If you are not
swapping leads, then ‘flip the pancake’
by carefully flipping the stack over so
that the leader’s end is back on top.
“On hanging stances, it is best not to
let the rope hang down. Butterfly the
rope back and forth across your tie-in
strand to the anchor. If swapping leads,
butterfly the loops long to short, starting
at about foot level. If one climber is
leading both pitches, use the ‘butterfly
flip’ technique. Butter-fly the loops short
to long. Make the first loop 9 inches, the
second loop 10 inches, etc., making each
additional loop an inch longer. When
your partner is at the anchor, flip the
loops on top of his tie-in and it’s good to
go for belaying the next lead.
 “Where cracks, flakes, horns,
bushes, loose rock, or other rope-
snagging features are present, don’t let
the loops hang down below your feet. Be
wary of long loops getting blown around
on a windy day and getting stuck.”

Gear changeover. Here each climber is

clipped to a quad master point.
Three-point quad anchor. The belayer is
using a Petzl Reverso in the autoblocking
mode for a direct belay of the second.

Strategies for a Party of

Three
Here is where it’s easy to get tangles.
The culprit is usually the strand of rope
that comes from the back side of your
clove hitch. Instead of letting this strand
hang down, tuck it into your harness.
“When climbing with two ropes as a
team of three, the ropes can get crossed
much more easily, which will slow your
party down as you keep reflaking the
ropes in order to untangle the crossed
strands,” says Erik. “Keep one rope on
the left and the other on the right. As the
followers arrive at the stance, clip the
tie-in locker on the left side of the
master point for the left rope, and the tie-
in locker for the right-side rope on the
right side of the master point. If the next
pitch goes right, stack the lead rope on
the right, and keep the second rope on
the left side of the ledge. When the
second starts climbing, he ideally won’t
have to step over or under the other rope
before he can follow the pitch.”
You can belay two climbers at the same
time with an autoblocking device like the
ATC Guide (left) or a plaquette device
like the Kong Gigi (right).

Erik adds: “Unlike a two-person

team, in a team of three it is more
efficient to have your best climber lead
all the pitches. Swapping leads in a
party of three creates more rope
complexity.”
If time is not a factor, belaying each
climber one at a time is the traditional
method, the least complicated, and the
slowest. If you’re proficient in using
autoblocking or plaquette devices (e.g.,
Black Diamond ATC Guide, Petzl
Reverso, Kong Gigi), then belaying both
the second and third climbers at the
same time on separate ropes is most
efficient in terms of speed—the leader
makes one big stack with both ropes.
Another option is to belay the second
climber, then fix a line for the third
climber, who can self-belay using
progress capture devices (see chapter
9).
 To speed up three-person team belay
changeovers, Erik recommends that the
followers clean the gear using a gear
sling. “The follower hands the gear sling
to the leader, who reracks while the
second and third climber can re-flake the
ropes.”

Shelly Dunbar leads Levitation 29

(5.11c), Red Rock, Nevada.
PHOTO BY GREG EPPERSON
Cleaning an aid pitch on the Shield
Route, El Capitan.
 CHAPTER 8

Aid Climbing

I n 1970, when I was eleven, my

initial inspiration to become a big
wall climber came from Warren
Harding’s slide show at Pat’s Ski and
Sport Shop in Southern California. He’d
just climbed the Wall of Early Morning
Light on El Cap with Dean Caldwell, in
one push; it took them twenty-seven
days.
I saved up my money from my job as
a paper boy and began buying pitons, a
few at a time, until I had assembled a
complete rack, from rurps to a 4-inch
Bong. I’d lay out all the pitons in order
from small to large and just stare at
them. I guess you could say I started out
with an equipment fetish.
After that I purchased a Forest
single-point suspension hammock and
hung it from the pull-up bar that spanned
my bedroom doorjamb. Reclining in the
hammock, I closed my eyes and
imagined myself high on El Cap in some
airy bivy, with clouds drifting by and the
ground a couple thousand feet below.
My reverie was suddenly and rudely
interrupted, however, when the pull-up
bar ripped from the doorjamb and hit me
square in the forehead, knocking me out.
Luckily, I was only a foot off the floor.
That summer, the final inspiration
came from actually laying hands on El
Cap during a family vacation, after the
short hike to the base with my dad and
my three brothers. I climbed a little way
up the smooth granite and gazed upward.
At that moment I made a pact with
myself and El Cap.
“Get down from there; if you fall
you’re gonna break your leg!” my dad
yelled up at me.
Back in the car, cruising the valley
loop in our station wagon, I made a
proclamation: “Someday I’m gonna
climb El Capitan.”
Climbers on the Shield Headwall, El
Capitan.

Werner Braun in El Cap meadow, 1983.

“Son, nobody can climb that rock;

it’s too sheer,” my dad replied.
But I’d already read my copy of
Steve Roper’s Climbers Guide to
Yosemite Valley a dozen times, cover to
cover, like it was my Bible and climbing
my religion. I knew El Cap was first
climbed a year before I was born, in
1958, and I could recount the details like
a passage from scripture.
“Dad, it’s already been climbed a
bunch of times. The first ascent of the
Nose Route was in November 1958, by
Warren Harding, Wayne Merry, and
George Whitmore.”
My dad just glowered at me in the
rearview mirror and said nothing as we
drove toward Camp Curry. Ten years
later, just before my twenty-first
birthday, I climbed the Nose Route.

The Yosemite Method of

Leading
Yvon Chouinard introduced the
Yosemite Method of leading an aid pitch
in his 1972 equipment catalog, calling it
“the most efficient sequence of artificial
climbing.” This technique utilizes two
etriers (pronounced A-tree-As), also
known as aiders, which are
commercially made ladders made of
nylon webbing, usually with five “rungs”
plus a “hero loop,” an additional shorter
top sling that allows a super high step to
facilitate long reaches.
Charlie Peterson in etriers on the Nose
Route, El Capitan.

While there are numerous variations

based on specific situations, the basic
Yosemite Method sequence goes like
this:
1. Make the placement.
2. Clip in a free carabiner (ovals work
best).
3. Clip in an etrier.
4. Step into the etrier. If the placement is
doubtful, test it by bouncing with
more than your body weight. After it
passes this test, but if the placement
appears marginal, reduce any sudden
jerky movements and shift your
weight slowly and smoothly between
your etriers.
5. Reach down and collect the previous
etrier; reduce rope drag if necessary
by adding a quickdraw or sling to the
previous placement.
6. Step up and clip your rope into the free
carabiner of the placement when
 you’re about waist level with the
placement.

For extreme aid climbing, where it’s

a challenge to construct a placement
good enough to hold your body weight,
clipping in with a daisy chain to test the
new placement makes more sense. This
way you can bounce-test the placement
without moving so far up to it; if it pops,
it’s attached to your daisy chain. For
extreme aid you’ll definitely want to
wear a helmet, and not look up while
you’re testing it; if you do, the piece will
probably hit you in the face if it fails.
Ouch!
A caution here about aid climbing
with daisy chains. Use them only for
testing your placements and hanging off
placements to rest. Don’t leave a daisy
chain clipped in and climb above it to
the next placement. If your higher
placement fails, you’re looking at a
factor 2 fall onto the daisy chain clipped
to the lower piece. This scenario has led
to broken cams—and broken backs.
Tether comparison. Left to right:
Sterling nylon Chain Reactor, Metolius
Dyneema PAS, Black Diamond nylon
daisy chain.

If you’re going to use a daisy chain, I

recommend a nylon one over a Dyneema
one, simply because nylon has a bit of
stretch, whereas Dyneema is essentially
static.
For your free carabiner, an oval
carabiner definitely works best; it
prevents a phenomenon known as
carabiner shift. I experienced this first-
hand while aid climbing on a big wall in
Yosemite. I was 1,000 feet up the North
Face of Quarter Dome (just up Tenaya
Canyon from Half Dome). I had
thoroughly tested my copperhead
placement, but as I was standing on it, I
heard a loud click—the sound of the
weighted etrier carabiner displacing the
other etrier’s carabiner. Simultaneous
with this miniscule shock loading, the
copperhead pulled and sent me hurtling
down the wall. Ovals, since they have a
wider radius than D-shaped biners, are
less prone to carabiner shift and can
easily accept two etrier carabiners
without them shifting for position.
Warning! If using a traditional daisy
chain with bartacked pockets, do not clip
a carabiner into two loops. This creates
an extremely weak connection (3 kN, or
674 lbs.).

For slightly less than vertical to

slightly overhanging aid climbing, two
etriers, each on a separate carabiner,
work fine. I’ve always rigged my etriers
with smaller D-shaped carabiners and
clipped them with the wider end up and
gate facing the rock. This violates the
old “down and out” carabiner rule, but
you’ll find this makes them far easier to
clip and unclip without scraping your
knuckles.
For wildly overhanging headwalls,
overhangs, and roofs, two sets of two
etriers is the way to go, with each set of
two rigged to a single biner. Here, daisy
chains, clipped in short, facilitate
resting. Pulling on the rope below the
top carabiner also helps by creating a
pulley effect on strenuous overhangs, as
does using the “rest position,” which is
accomplished by bending one leg at the
knee, tucking your foot under your butt,
and sitting on it while in the etrier.

The Yosemite Method of

Big Wall Climbing
In 1963, during the second ascent of El
Capitan’s Dihedral Wall route, Royal
Robbins began using techniques that
would revolutionize big wall climbing
in Yosemite—so efficient was the new
Yosemite Method. This revolutionary
innovation was the use of jumars for
rope ascending, cleaning, and hauling.
Previously, climbers had painstakingly
toiled up fixed lines using prusik knots.
The Yosemite Method is still used
by climbers today as the standard
technique for big wall climbing. It goes
like this: The leader leads the pitch— by
free climbing, aid climbing, or mixed
free and aid belayed on the lead line (a
standard dynamic climbing rope)—and
trails a second rope, the haul line,
clipped to her harness and dangling free
to the previous belay. The preferred haul
line is a 10mm diameter low-stretch
rope (CE EN 1891), which is more
abrasion resistant than a dynamic rope.
Once the leader establishes a belay
anchor, she anchors the lead line to a
master point. Once this rope is fixed, the
second jumars the lead line to clean the
pitch. This leaves the leader free to haul
the bag on the haul line. If the bag gets
stuck, the second can help out by freeing
the bag if it is within reach.

Jumaring
The original mechanical ascender was
the Swiss-made Jumar. Today there is a
wide variety of mechanical ascenders on
the market, but since the Jumar was the
original design, the name has become
generic, and “jumaring” has become a
generic term for ascending a rope with
mechanical ascenders.
The Petzl Ascension ascender.
Scott Cosgrove jumaring a fixed line high
above Yosemite Valley, with El Capitan
in the background. Both jumars are
attached to his harness with slings, and
he’s chosen to place both etriers on his
lower ascender.
Todd Gordon demonstrates basic rigging
of mechanical ascenders for vertical and
less-than-vertical terrain. Nylon daisy
chains have been threaded through both
harness tie-in points and attached to the
ascenders with locking carabiners. The
etriers are clipped with non-locking
carabiners into the locking carabiners at
the ascenders (biner to biner) for easy
detachment of the etriers—allowing them
to be disconnected without unlocking the
attachment carabiner. This is handy for
when the terrain becomes low angle and
you no longer need the etriers, but still
want a safe connection to the ascenders
as you slide them up the rope. The daisy
chain length to the top ascender (in this
case his right-hand ascender) can be
adjusted by which loop you use on the
daisy chain. When using a daisy chain,
never clip the carabiner into two pockets
—it’s a weak (3 kN, or 674 lbs.) and
dangerous connection. For vertical and
less-than-vertical jumaring, the top
daisy’s length should be adjusted so that
when you’re sitting in the harness, you
can reach up and comfortably grab the
jumar’s handle.
Setup for overhanging jumaring on a
fixed line. Here both etriers are clipped
to the lower ascender, and the length of
the daisy chain connection has been
shortened.

The Yosemite Method of

Jumaring
The Yosemite Method is based on safety
and simplicity. Both ascenders are
attached to the harness with slings, and
both ascenders have etriers clipped to
them. For the slings you can use daisy
chains, a PAS, or regular slings. I
recommend nylon over Dyneema or
Spectra for any sling connection, since
nylon has a bit of stretch; Dyneema and
Spectra don’t. The daisy chain or PAS
allows you to adjust the distance easily
by clipping into different loops.
Whatever style of sling you use, attach it
to your harness not with a carabiner but
by girth-hitching it into both tie-in points
on your harness (the same two points
where you thread the rope to tie in). This
method eliminates a carabiner
connection, removing the possibility for
inadvertent unclipping.
Attach each ascender to its sling
with a locking carabiner. I like to attach
my etriers with a non-locking carabiner
clipped to the locking carabiner on my
ascenders (biner to biner) so that I can
quickly remove the etriers without
unlocking the carabiner that attaches the
jumars to my harness.
Mechanical ascenders can be bought
as a pair, one designated “right hand”
and the other “left hand,” because the
release lever is designed for the thumb
side of the hand for quick and efficient
removal and reattachment to the rope. I
always lead with my left-hand ascender
on top, even though I’m right-handed
(probably because that’s the way I
learned), but go with whatever hand you
feel most comfortable. I use my right leg
in the etrier on the bottom ascender.
The key to efficient jumaring is the
length of the slings and where you
position your feet in the etriers. The top
sling should be adjusted so that when
you’re hanging in your harness off the
top ascender, you can reach up and
comfortably grasp the handle of the
ascender with your hand. The sling
connection from the bottom ascender to
your harness is not critical, since when
you’re hanging, you’ll always be hanging
off the top ascender. With the bottom
ascender placed just below the top one,
bend your leg at a 90-degree angle and
place it into a foot loop on your etrier.
When you straighten out your leg and
stand up, simultaneously slide the top
ascender up as far as you can, then
immediately lean back and sit in your
harness. Use your leg strength, not your
arm strength. Jumaring takes some
practice, but once you get the hang of it,
you can zip up a fixed line quickly.
When I teach someone jumaring for
the first time, I give him only one etrier
(for the bottom ascender) and break it
down like this: “Stand on the bottom
ascender and sit on the top ascender.”
Once you get this concept down, you’ll
be much more proficient and use far less
arm strength while jumaring. The best
angle to learn on is a fixed line on a wall
or cliff that is slightly less than vertical.
Adjusting the length of the slings
connecting the ascenders to your harness
will make the process more efficient.
The rule is: The lower the angle, the
longer the sling; the steeper the angle,
the shorter the sling. Again, the sling
connecting the top ascender to your
harness is the critical length.
A good technique for free-hanging
jumaring is to place both etriers on the
bottom ascender and keep the sling to
your top ascender very short. Start with
both knees bent at 90 degrees in the
etriers. When you straighten out both
legs in unison, simultaneously and
quickly slide the top ascender up and
immediately hang in your harness; then
repeat the process.
I consider two mechanical ascenders
on the rope to be safe; one ascender, not
safe. If you take one ascender off the
rope, you should have a backup, such as
clipping in short by tying a loop knot
below the ascenders and clipping it to
your harness belay loop with a locking
carabiner, or tethering to an anchor with
a sling if you’re jumaring a fixed line
and passing an anchor point. Remember,
mechanical ascenders are designed for
body weight only and are not intended to
hold the force of a fall. Most mechanical
ascenders will shear off the sheath of the
rope at around 5 kN (1,124 lbs.) of
force. If you’re jumaring a diagonal line,
an additional safeguard is to clip your
smallest carabiner around the rope and
the base of the handle of the jumar to
keep it from getting levered off the rope.
Climbers on the Nose Route, El Capitan.

Cleaning Aid Pitches

For climbs with short stretches of aid, if
the follower doesn’t have ascenders, she
can clean the pitch by clipping etriers
straight into the free carabiner on the
placement, just as the leader did. To
clean a piece, she clips above it to the
next placement, then cleans the piece by
reaching down from the lower rungs of
her etrier while clipped to the piece
above it.
For full-on aid climbs and big wall
climbs, the second typically jumars the
lead line to clean the pitch. The
ascenders are backed up by (1) being
tied into the end of the rope and (2)
clipping in short: tying figure eight loops
and clipping them to the harness belay
loop with a locking carabiner at regular
intervals (every 25 feet or so). How
often you clip in short depends on
several variables, such as the steepness
of the wall and any potential obstacles
you might hit—namely, ledges—if the
ascenders were to fail. On an
overhanging wall you’re relatively safe,
so you can increase the distance between
clipping in short to save time.
Jumaring is relatively
straightforward on a vertical rope, but it
becomes more complicated when the
rope zigzags through pieces or traverses
sideways or horizontally out a roof.
When the rope is under tension and
forms an angle at the carabiner it’s
clipped through, you won’t be able to
unclip it with your body weight on the
rope below it. If the angle isn’t too
drastic, sometimes you can maneuver
your body sideways enough to eliminate
the tension on the carabiner, allowing
you to unclip it. Then you can adjust the
height of the jumars and clean the piece
from the optimal position.
If you can’t unclip the rope, and the
next piece isn’t too far away diagonally,
unclip your top ascender and reclip it
above the piece, sliding it as high as you
can up the rope. Transfer your weight to
the etrier on the top ascender, and firmly
grasp and pull down on the rope below
the lower ascender. Then, with your
other hand, release the cam on the
ascender (without removing it from the
rope), and let the rope slowly slide
through your hand until you’ve lowered
yourself sideways to where the rope is
again vertically aligned. Then unclip the
lower ascender and reclip it on the rope
just below the top one. Now you can
unclip your rope from the piece and
clean it.
If the rope runs horizontally, like out
a ceiling or roof, sometimes it’s easier
and less awkward to clip your etriers
directly into the free carabiner of the
placement as the leader did, sliding the
ascenders along the unweighted lead line
and clipping in short for safety. This is
why it’s advantageous to clip your
etriers with a separate carabiner into the
locking carabiner of your daisy chain, so
they can be easily removed while your
daisy chain is still attached to your
ascender with the locking carabiner,
with no need to unlock the gate. This
necessitates the placements being close
enough together to clip one while
hanging off the previous one.

Following Pendulums and

Tension Traverses
Many big walls involve pendulums,
where the leader lowers off a fixed
pendulum point, then runs and swings
sideways, usually to another crack
system. Some of the most famous ones
are on the Nose Route of El Capitan—
the pendulum to the Stoveleg Crack
involving a 40-foot sideways run across
the wall, jumping over a dihedral, then
sinking a hand jam into the Stoveleg
Crack at the end of the swing. Higher,
1,700 feet up, is the King Swing from
Boot Flake, on a section of the wall so
steep and exposed that when you make
the swing, your toes barely touch the
wall.
During a tension traverse, the leader
lowers off the fixed point then uses
tension on the rope, in combination with
using hand and foot holds, to work
sideways across an otherwise
unclimbable section.
Banny Root following the pendulum into
Stoveleg Crack, Nose Route, El Capitan.

In either scenario, the leader can

lessen the difficulty of following the
traverse on ascenders by placing the first
piece after the pendulum as high as
possible.
To follow a pendulum or tension
traverse, here are the steps:
1. When you reach the pendulum point,
clip in with a personal tether. In
approaching the pendulum point,
leave a couple feet of rope between
the top ascender and the pendulum
point, because when you clip into
and hang off the pendulum point,
you’re un-weighting the rope, and
 your ascenders will move up a bit as
the rope shortens (reverse rope
stretch).
2. Unclip your top ascender and reclip it
above the pendulum point, sliding as
far up the rope as possible.
3. Tie a figure eight loop between your
top ascender and the pendulum point,
and clip it to the belay loop of your
harness with a locking carabiner.
4. Pulley yourself tight to the pendulum
point (leave a carabiner for
expediency) by pulling yourself in
with the rope and ascender below it.
5. Grasp the rope below the lower
ascender, release the cam (without
removing the ascender from the
 rope), and lower yourself until your
rope again runs vertically above you.
On big pendulums you’ll want to use
a Grigri or rappel device to lower
with instead of the lower ascender.
6. Once you’re back to where the rope
runs vertically, make sure both
ascenders are back on the rope, with
the figure eight loop backup directly
below them. Untie from the end of
the rope, make sure there are no
knots or twists in the rope, and pull
it through the pendulum point. Retie
the end of the rope back in. Carry on.

On a slight direction change, you can

often just firmly grasp the rope below
the lower jumar, pull down on the rope,
and release the cam with your other
hand, letting yourself move sideways a
short distance.
Left: Following on jumars.
Below left: Example of the rigging to
follow a pendulum on jumars, in this case
a pendulum to the left. The yellow sling
is clipped to the pendulum point,
necessary to unweight the jumars and tie
the figure eight loop, which is attached
to the belay loop with a locking
carabiner.
Below right: Lowering out on the
pendulum. If it’s a short one, you can
lower yourself with just your hands on
the rope. For a big one, rig a belay device
or an ABD like a Grigri.
The Yosemite Method of hauling,
invented by Royal Robbins. The upside-
down jumar is the “detent” jumar, which
acts like a ratchet to hang the load when
you’re not pulling. Hang some gear from
this ascender to weight it down so that
when you pull on the other ascender, the
detent ascender doesn’t ride up but stays
put. The ascender on the right can be
attached with a sling to your belay loop,
which allows you to pull using your body
weight, or you can clip an etrier into it
and use your leg power to help pull.
You’ll want a good pulley and some
gloves. In this setup, reaching down with
your left hand and pulling up on the rope
as you pull down on the right side
ascender is what works best.
Here the pulley has been replaced with
the Petzl Mini Traxion. No need for the
detent ascender, since the Mini Traxion
has a built-in ratchet that locks off.

Bivouacking
There’s no better way to get to know a
cliff than to spend the night on it. It’s
been many years since I last bivouacked
on a big wall, but I can remember it like
it was yesterday. It was during the first
ascent of a new aid route up the East
Face of Higher Cathedral Rock in
Yosemite.
The route was remarkable for its
sheerness—not even a ledge wide
enough to lie down on for 2,000 feet—
so all the belays and bivouacs were
hanging. The climbing had been grueling,
every foot gained up the wall a struggle;
the cracks shallow and poor, without a
solid placement for pitch after pitch,
save for the bolts we slugged in at the
anchors.
As the sun slowly sank to the west,
we realized we’d need to set up a
hanging bivouac. We drilled a few bolts,
spread out horizontally, to hang our
single-point suspension portaledges.
My partner, Alan Bartlett, had been
around the block a few times—with
4,000 Joshua Tree routes under his belt
and first ascents all over the place— but
he’d never done a hanging bivouac.
Alan’s buddy, Steve Gerberding, who’d
climbed El Cap a hundred times (not an
exaggeration!), loaned him a portaledge
so well rigged that, within minutes, Alan
was comfortably reclining on it drinking
a warm beer, a smile on his face.
We snacked on salami, cheese,
crackers, and nuts and spoke
optimistically that the next day would
bring better cracks. As the alpenglow
slowly faded from the West Face of
Sentinel Rock, I drifted into a deep
sleep. I awoke sometime in the middle
of the night, disoriented until I got my
bearings: No, this isn’t my bedroom; I’m
hanging off a wall in Yosemite! I settled
into this reality and took in the
otherworldly scene. A full moon slowly
rose above the valley rim, silhouetting
the soaring Cathedral Spires. Hundreds
of bats poured out of some crack high
above, cavorting in the moonlight in
great swirling torrents.
Dave Katz looks down from the bivouac
ledge. Zodiac Route, El Capitan.

Dawn on a big wall in Yosemite

Valley is a magical experience—the
sunlight gradually illuminating the rock
forms in a grand light show. To save
weight, we had decided not to bring a
stove, but since I was a coffee junkie I
had brought chocolate-covered espresso
beans for my caffeine fix.
Once we started climbing, our
optimism for solid placements quickly
faded, with another day of tedious, scary
aid climbing, pitch after pitch, then
another hanging bivouac. The next day
was more of the same, and we grew
tired and frustrated at our slow progress.
Our physical and mental resources were
dwindling, as was our water supply.
With only a couple hundred feet to go,
we were forced to bivouac again.
Banny Root waking up after a night on El
Cap Tower, Nose Route, El Capitan.

While packing for the climb, Alan

said he would adhere to what Steve
Roper recommended in his Climber’s
Guide to Yosemite Valley, published in
1971: “At least one and a half quarts of
water per man per day should be taken
in midsummer.” Normally I allotted
myself 1 gallon per day, which is good
rule for wall climbing in the summer in
Yosemite. But water is a heavy. One
gallon weighs about 8 pounds, so there’s
a balance between how much water
you’ll need and how much you can carry
and haul up the climb. The weather was
nice and cool, so I reduced my ration
too.
Portaledges allow you to bivouac
anywhere on a route and serve as resting
platforms for ledgeless big wall free
climbs. Here Scott Cosgrove relaxes on
the North Face of Higher Cathedral Spire
during an attempt at a first free ascent of
the route.

We’d separated our personal water

supplies, and that night at the bivouac, I
realized that my stash had dwindled to
only a single quart, for that night and all
the next day.
The last couple of pitches went
slower than we’d anticipated, since we
had to hand-drill several bolts, but by
noon we topped out under a scorching
sun, relieved to be off the wall, but out
of water and surrounded by a couple
hundred pounds of gear.
With all the hardware in the haul
bag, it weighed about 175 pounds; and
by the time I staggered down to the
valley floor with that pig on my back, I’d
never been so thirsty in all my life. In my
car I had an ice chest with a stash of
water that was still ice cold. Nothing I’d
ever drank had ever tasted so good, or
been as deeply satiating.
Alan’s Toyota truck shell had deep
bear claw scrapes down the side, and
his back hatch was partially mangled
from an attempt to pry it off. Underneath
his car were dangling wires, like the
bear had torn them apart just for spite. In
the bed of his truck was a plainly visible
igloo cooler. “You didn’t have any food
in there, did you?” I asked Alan. “Only
chocolate doughnuts” was his response.
Luckily, he was able to drive away.
Lessons learned: Don’t leave food in
your car; and don’t bring less than a
gallon of water per person, per day, on a
summer big wall climb in Yosemite.
On the Nose Route, El Capitan.
Robert Finley solos Needle Eye, Needles,
South Dakota
 CHAPTER 9

Soloing

Free Soloing
Early in my career as a climbing school
manager, a client gave me some honest
feedback. He told me that when his
guide free soloed in front of him to set
up and take down his toprope anchor, it
gave him a sick feeling in the pit of his
stomach. He was worried about what
would happen if his guide fell.
I assured him that despite its
dangerous appearance, free soloing by
an experienced climber was indeed very
safe, and that among the top free
soloists, no one had ever fallen.
That was many years ago, and sadly,
I can’t say that now. Among those who
have fallen to their death free soloing,
several have been my friends. You could
say they died doing what they loved, but
they left this world too soon, without
saying their proper good-byes.
When a friend called me on June 3,
2017, and asked, “Did you hear about
Alex Honnold?” I got that same bad
feeling in my gut. But I was relieved
when he said, “He just free soloed El
Cap.” Honnold’s free solo of the 3,000-
foot Freerider route (5.13a) was the first
route up El Cap’s massive main facade
to be climbed rope-less. Climbing
pundits called it rock climbing’s greatest
achievement, some heralding it as the
greatest singular achievement in sports,
period. You can’t really top that one.
Alex commented after the climb that he
was thinking about focusing on hard
sport climbing.
While free soloing can ultimately be
the most exhilarating and purest form of
rock climbing, I wouldn’t say it’s the
most relaxing. Unexpected things can
happen; a seemingly solid hold breaks, a
bird flies out of a crack, a bee stings you
on the ankle, a foot slips on lichen. And
there is a fine line that you don’t want to
cross—that line between the pure joy of
fun-in-the-sun rock climbing, moving
smoothly and flowing up the climb with
nothing but air beneath your feet, and the
sudden shadow of fear that can sweep
over you as quickly as a dark cloud
eclipsing the sun. It’s happened to me,
when things got a little too bold and airy,
the sky a little too close, my heart
beating a little too fast.
Peter Croft solos Bearded Cabbage
(5.10d), Joshua Tree, California.

The free soloist faces the possibility

of the ultimate irony: falling and dying as
a direct result of not wanting to fall and
die, knowingly risking life for the
pleasure of pure, unfettered freedom of
movement in the vertical world.
If you’re contemplating free soloing,
do it for the right reason: for yourself,
not to impress others. Start easy and
work your way up the grades, on climbs
you’ve done before. The great free
soloists do the same routes over and
over, like boulder problems, getting the
climbs ruthlessly wired, becoming
intimate with every hold. And allow
yourself enough margin for error so that
you’re not approaching that fine line.

Rope Soloing: Self-Belaying

Petzl is the leading manufacturer of
progress capture devices (PCD),
ascenders, and rope clamps. Although
these devices were not designed
specifically for rope soloing, in recent
years the Petzl Mini Traxion has become
very popular for self-belaying,
particularly in Yosemite, where
climbers routinely “mini trax,” doing
laps on long crack pitches or working
the moves on their latest big wall free
climb. With this popularity, Petzl has
addressed the use of their PCD products
for self-belaying.
 Interestingly, Petzl begins their
technical discussion with a remarkable
caveat: “Solo climbing is not
recommended: Climbing with a partner
remains the best solution.” That being
said, rope soloing can give you the
freedom to climb whenever you want,
without a partner, as long as you have
access to the top of a cliff or have
previously rigged a fixed line.
Rope solo rig using a Petzl Ascension
ascender clipped to the belay loop and a
Petzl Micro Traxion rigged with a chest
harness. The Micro Traxion is attached
via a quickdraw, connected to the two
points on the harness with a metal quick
link. Petzl recommends using oval
locking carabiners to clip the devices for
this application. In rigging any self-belay
system, study the manufacturer’s
guidelines to make sure you’re rigging
the devices properly.

This is expert-level stuff, so if you

venture into rope soloing, know the
risks, do your homework, study the
devices, and stick to what the
manufacturers of the devices
recommend, not what you learned from a
friend or on the Internet.
Detail of the Petzl Ascension properly
clipped in for self-belaying. Note that
the rope is clipped inside the carabiner.
Always use two different progress
capture devices when self-belaying on a
single fixed rope, and make sure the
bottom device won’t ride up to inhibit the
function of the top device.

Self-Belaying with a Single

Fixed Line
With a single fixed rope system, you’ll
want to be extremely cognizant of sharp
edges, especially if you’re working the
same sequence of moves over and over
again. Since the rope is tied off, and the
only movement is rope stretch, during
falls one section of rope is repeatedly
exposed to abrasion and cutting over an
edge. Judicious use of a rope protector
is indicated here, as there’s no backup to
your main line. For your rope you’ll
want either an EN 892 (dynamic) or EN
1891 (low-stretch) rope with a minimum
10mm diameter used in conjunction with
two PCDs. My preference for rope
soloing is the 10mm diameter Sterling
Safety Pro (EN 1891 certified), which
has superior abrasion resistance to a
dynamic rope and about 4 percent stretch
in a rope solo fall.
To prevent the PCDs from colliding
with each other and potentially
malfunctioning, both devices should not
be clipped into the belay loop together.
Petzl recommends rigging one PCD or
ascender to the belay loop with a
locking oval carabiner and the second
PCD rigged with a chest harness and
attached to a quickdraw sling with a
locking oval carabiner, connected to the
two harness tie-in points with a steel
quick link.
You’ll want to lightly weight the
bottom of the rope so that when the
devices slide upward, they don’t pull the
rope hanging below up with them.
In a fall, don’t grab the rope (this
keeps the device from loading) or grab
the device, which may cause it to
malfunction.
While many Yosemite climbers
routinely “mini trax” with two Mini
Traxions on a single fixed line, Petzl
does not recommend this: “Petzl has
studied the current usage of the Mini
Traxion as a self-belay device on a fixed
rope. Serious accidents and many
handling errors have been reported.
“The risk of using the device with
the cam held open is significant, as well
as the possibility of accidental opening
of the cam when climbing. Consequently,
the Mini Traxion must be paired with a
different ascender: Ascension, Basic,
Microcender . . .
“Petzl does not recommend using a
system consisting of only two Mini
Traxion for self-belayed solo climbing
with a fixed rope.”
Todd Gordon rappels off the Long Dong
Silver Spire, Utah.
PHOTO BY GREG EPPERSON

Self-Belaying with Two

Ropes
The advantage of using two ropes is
redundancy. If one rope is cut, you have
a backup. Using a chest harness, you can
rig your top PCD with a quickdraw sling
attached to the two harness tie-in points
with a steel quick link. The lower PCD
or ascender can be clipped to your belay
loop with a locking oval carabiner.
Without a chest harness, one PCD or
ascender can be clipped to the belay
loop with a locking oval carabiner, and
a second device can be attached to the
backup rope with a quickdraw sling and
locking oval carabiner attached to the
two harness tie-in points with a steel
quick link.
The device on the quickdraw sling
should not have sharp teeth, since a fall
on this system has the force of a
miniature fall factor 2 and can generate
more impact force. Petzl estimates that
more than 4 kN of force can be
generated in this mini fall factor 2,
which can rip and tear off the sheath of
the rope. Instead of a device with sharp
teeth, use one with a cam-locking
mechanism (like the Petzl Rescucender)
for any PCD attached via a sling,
quickdraw, or lanyard, used without a
chest harness.
With a two-rope system, another
method is to use one or two PCDs on
one rope, backed up with knots on the
second rope (figure eight loops clipped
to your belay loop with a locking
carabiner). The disadvantage of this
system is the difficulty in stopping to tie
knots and clip them in; you’ll also be
dragging up the weight of the rope that’s
hanging below you. The extra carabiner
clipped to your belay loop may also
interfere with the functionality of the
PCD during a fall.
John Mallery belays Tom Callahan on
Separate Reality (5.12a), Yosemite.
 CHAPTER 10

Belaying

B elaying involves three major

elements: managing the slack in
the rope, maintaining a brake hand on the
brake strand of the rope, and stopping
the fall. Belaying is a big responsibility;
if you take on the task, you should be
competent and alert, and you should
know the proper safety checks and belay
signals.
The Hip Belay
I began climbing before the advent of the
belay device. Back in the 1970s we used
the “hip belay” technique to catch a fall,
which was simply wrapping the rope
around your waist to generate enough
friction to stop a fall. Catching a climber
on a big “whipper” was painful indeed,
and I often ended a hard day of climbing
with a black streak singed across the
back of my waistline. The hip belay is
still useful today in situations where
there is so much rope drag that you can
barely pull the rope, in alpine rock
situations (e.g., exposed Class 3 and
Class 4) where the rope is running over
considerable terrain, and when the rock
itself can be used as a giant friction
brake. The hip belay can be made more
secure by clipping the non-brake strand
into the front of the belayer’s harness,
which keeps the rope at the belayer’s
waistline in the event of a fall. If tied in
and anchored with the rope, the tie-in
strand to the anchor should be on the
non-brake hand side of the belayer’s
waist.
The hip belay is the most elemental form
of belay. To take in rope, start with the
brake hand at your hip and the guide, or
“feel,” hand extended.
To take up slack, the brake hand goes out
as the guide hand comes in.
The guide hand reaches above the brake
hand and pinches the rope . . .
In the event of a fall, the brake hand
brings the rope in front of the waist for
maximum friction.
. . . so that the brake hand can slide back.

Manual Braking Devices

The most commonly used belay/rappel
device is a manual braking device
(MBD), essentially a tube or slot device
(with two slots so it can be used for both
belaying and rappelling on a doubled
rope). When the two strands of rope
(one going to the climber, one to the
belayer’s brake hand) are held parallel,
in front of the belay device, there is little
friction; but when the brake strand is
held at a 180-degree angle relative to the
strand going to the climber, the device
affords maximum friction, making it
relatively easy to hold the force of a
falling climber.
Learning the proper hand movements
is key to becoming a safe belayer. There
are many techniques acceptable for a
safe belay with an MBD, and they all
have this in common: They effectively
manage the slack, while still maintaining
a brake hand on the brake strand side of
the rope, and generate enough friction to
stop a fall and safely lower a climber.
Black Diamond ATC XP in high-friction
mode, with the brake strand on the teeth
side.

Over the last decade, advances in

technology have allowed manufacturers
to produce thinner ropes, and belay
devices have evolved along with the
ropes. When buying a belay device,
check the manufacturer’s specifications
and make sure it’s appropriate for the
diameter of your climbing rope. The
most popular MBD is the Black
Diamond ATC (tongue in cheek for “air
traffic controller”), which also comes in
a more versatile version with teeth on
one side (the ATC XP) that gives the
belayer two options: a regular friction
mode when the brake strand is on the
non-teeth side, and roughly twice the
amount of friction when the brake strand
is on the teeth side.

Multipurpose Devices:
Autoblocking Devices
Several manufacturers make hybrid tube
devices (e.g., the Black Diamond ATC
Guide and the Petzl Reverso) that have
both a manual braking mode and an
autoblocking mode, making them
versatile choices that can be used for
both belaying and rappelling in the
regular manual mode, or for belaying
directly off the anchor in the
autoblocking mode. For multipitch
climbing, they allow you to belay two
followers at the same time. The main
disadvantage to these multipurpose
devices is the difficulty in lowering a
climber when the rope is under tension.
Black Diamond ATC Guide in
autoblocking mode.

Assisted Braking Devices

Assisted braking devices (ABDs) with
self-locking cams have become popular
for sport climbing. The most widely
used models include the Petzl Grigri and
the Trango Cinch. These devices are
designed to lock when suddenly
weighted, as during a fall, but might not
lock under certain circumstances: if
there is a slow and accelerating pull,
when the handle is pressed against the
rock or carabiner, when the belayer
grabs the rope on the non-brake hand
side, or when the belayer grabs the
device incorrectly and holds the cam
down, preventing it from locking. For
these reasons it is important to
remember, even though ABDs are self-
locking, that a brake hand should always
be maintained on the brake side of the
rope. These devices are far from
foolproof, and many accidents have
occurred with ABDs, typically when
someone is being lowered, the handle is
pulled all the way open, and the belayer
loses control of the brake hand. The
Petzl Grigri Plus is a new design that
addresses this problem with a built-in
anti-panic function that essentially locks
the device when the handle is opened
too far when lowering.
Petzl Grigri in lowering mode.
 As with any belay device, the
cardinal rule to remember is this:
Always maintain a brake hand!
If for some reason you need to take
your brake hand off the rope, tie a
backup knot (e.g., overhand loop) on the
brake strand side of the rope.
ABDs are very useful for direct
belays. Their main advantage over
multipurpose devices is that they allow
an easy lower when the rope is under
tension. When lowering with a direct
belay using an ABD, the brake strand
should be redirected. I’d recommend
using gloves when belaying with ABDs,
since they’ll allow you to put more
weight on your brake hand for smooth
lowers.
Trango Cinch in lowering mode.
Plaquette Devices
A plaquette is essentially a flat plate
with two slots. The most popular models
are the Kong Gigi and the CAMP Ovo.
They are most widely used by
professional guides when leading two
clients up multipitch routes, as they
allow a direct belay of two followers at
the same time, and the rope is much
easier to pull through the device than it
is through an ATC guide or Petzl
Reverso. Many guides have discovered
this the hard way, with tendinitis from
belaying after a season of multipitch
guiding. Other disadvantages to these
plaquettes are that they are poor choices
for belaying the leader and are more
complicated to use for lowering a
climber, especially when the rope is
under tension. They are not the most
versatile rappel devices either, and for
this reason many guides carry a second
device, like an ATC, for rappelling.
Kong Gigi. Note the position of the
carabiner, which is the recommended
orientation for direct belaying with a
single rope of 10mm diameter or less.

Standard Climbing
Signals
Proper use of the universal climbing signals,
along with a methodical safety check, are
integral parts of a safe climb. Ambiguity in the
use of climbing signals has led to many tragic
accidents, simply because of lack of
communication between the climber and
belayer. One infamous tragedy occurred in a
toprope setup at a popular ice climbing area
when the climber reached the top of the climb
(at the top of the cliff) and the anchor. The
climber yelled, “I’m OK!” but the belayer
thought he heard “Off belay.” The belayer
unclipped the rope from the belay device and
took the climber off belay, thinking he was
going to walk off the top. The climber leaned
back to be lowered, and fell to his death.
On a yo-yo toprope climb, it’s important to
be vigilant at the transition from the climb up
to the lower down. This is where most
accidents due to improper communication and
climbing signals occur. There should be no
ambiguity. If I’m the climber, I always hold
onto the strand of rope that goes back down to
my belayer until I am sure he or she has heard
my command and is in the brake position and
ready to hold my weight. In most cases you’ll
be within visual contact, so in addition to
hearing the verbal commands, you’ll want to
look down over your shoulder and visually
verify that the belayer is being attentive, with
his or her hand in the proper brake position,
alert and ready to lower you safely. In
situations where you are climbing with other
parties around you, it’s best to include your
partner’s name in the signal (e.g., “Off belay,
Bob.”) to prevent confusion, although I once
saw a leader who was in the middle of a pitch
on a crowded multipitch crag get taken off
belay when someone else yelled “Off belay,
John,” and there was more than one John. So
be vigilant and be heads up.

Standardized
Climbing Signals
Here are the standardized climbing signals
I’ve used for over thirty years in my climbing
school:
On belay? Climber to belayer, “Am I on
belay?”
Belay on: Belayer to climber, “The belay is
on.”
Climbing: Climber to belayer, “I’m beginning
the climb.”
Climb on: Belayer to climber, “Go ahead and
start climbing; I have you on belay.”
Up rope: Climber to belayer, “There is too
much slack in my rope. Take up some of the
slack.” (Too much slack in the belay rope will
mean a longer fall. Remember that rope
stretch also contributes to the total distance of
a fall, especially when there is a lot of rope out
in a toprope scenario.)
Slack: Climber to belayer, “Give me some
slack; the rope is too tight.”
Tension (or Take): Climber to belayer,
“Take all the slack out of the rope and pull it
tight; I am going to hang all my body weight
on the rope.” (This could be a situation where
the climber simply wants to rest by hanging in
the harness while weighting the rope, or a
toprope situation where the climber is getting
ready to be lowered back down a climb.)
Tension on (or I’ve got you): Belayer to
climber, “I’ve taken the rope tight, and my
brake hand is now locked off in the brake
position, ready to hold all your weight.”
Lower me: Climber to belayer, “I’m in the
lowering position (feet wide, good stance,
sitting in the harness, weighting the rope, and
leaning back), and I’m ready to be lowered.”
Lowering: Belayer to climber, “I’m
proceeding to lower you.”
Off belay: Climber to belayer, “I’m safe.
You can unclip the rope from your belay
device and take me off belay.” (Never take
someone off belay unless you hear this signal.
The universal contract between belayer and
climber is that the belayer must never take the
climber off belay unless the climber gives the
belayer the “off belay” command.)
Belay off: Belayer to climber, “I’ve
unclipped the rope from my belay device and
have taken you off belay.”
That’s me! Climber to belayer, “You’ve
taken up all the slack in the rope, and the rope
is now tight to my harness.”
Watch me! Climber to belayer, “Heads up!
Be attentive with the belay—there is a good
chance I’m going to fall right here!”
Falling! Climber to belayer, “I’m actually
falling; go to your brake position and lock off
 the rope to catch my fall!” (A fall can happen
so fast that the climber might not be able to
shout this signal during a short fall, but it helps
the belayer react more quickly, especially in
situations where the belayer can’t see the
climber.)
ROCK! Climber to belayer and others below,
“I’ve dislodged a rock and it’s now free-falling
below me—watch out below!” (The
equivalent signal to “Fore!” in golf, “ROCK!”
should also be yelled when the climber drops a
piece of equipment.)

Plaquette devices can be tricky to

use, so as with any belay device, read
the manufacturer’s guidelines carefully.
Also, seek proper instruction from a
certified guide or experienced climber if
you have any doubts about how to use
the device or the proper technique to use
when belaying with the device.
Someone’s life is, literally, in your
hands; and if you’re the belayer, it’s
your responsibility to know what you’re
doing.

Belaying on a Toprope
The best way to belay from the base of a
climb in a toprope situation is to attach
the rope and belay device directly to the
belay loop on your harness with a
locking carabiner. The rope then runs
through the top anchor and back down to
the climber. Your body weight serves as
part of the anchor, and the added friction
at the toprope anchor makes it relatively
easy to catch a fall, hold a climber who
is hanging on the rope, or lower a
climber back down. The belay device is
right in front of you and easy to
manipulate. In situations where the
climber far outweighs the belayer, or
when the belayer is precariously
perched in uneven terrain, the belayer
should have a ground anchor. A direct
belay (directly off the anchor) is not
recommended for toprope belaying from
the base.
1. The BUS (brake under slide) method
of belaying on a toprope. Start by
clipping the rope into the slot in the
belay device closest to the spine side of
the carabiner and orient the rope so that
the brake side is down.
2. To take up rope, pull the rope up with
your brake hand (palm down) as you
simultaneously pull the rope down with
the other hand . . .
3. . . . then brake the rope down under
your belay device.
4. Take your non-brake hand and grasp
the rope below your brake hand.
5. . . . then slide your brake hand back up
under the belay device, and return the
non-brake hand to it’s starting position
above the belay device. In a fall,
remember the brake position is down.

The Ground Anchor

The worst accident I’ve had in forty
years of rock climbing happened when I
was belaying in a toprope situation
without a ground anchor. I was belaying
from the base of the climb in a relaxed
position about 15 feet out from the base
of the cliff. Between the ledge I was
belaying from and the cliff itself was a
deep chimney. My partner was climbing
on a toprope and suddenly fell while
attempting an overhang about 50 feet
above me. He swung wildly in the air. I
easily caught the fall and locked off my
belay device in the brake position, but I
was pulled off my stance, swinging 15
feet straight into the wall like a
pendulum. I braced for the impact with
an outstretched leg and sustained a
severely sprained ankle. A simple
ground anchor would have prevented
this accident. Belaying accidents are
common, and in almost every case they
have the same element: no ground
anchor.
When should you use a ground
anchor? When belaying a leader, it’s
always a good consideration. Clip into
your ground anchor with your rope, and
allow about 3 feet of slack. If there’s a
high enough impact force to pull you
tight against the anchor, this movement
will serve as a great counterweight to
lessen the impact force on the piece the
leader has fallen on, but the ground
anchor will keep you from losing control
of the belay or slamming into the cliff.
In a toprope situation, if both the
climber and belayer are roughly the
same body weight and the terrain at the
base of the cliff is flat, a ground anchor
is unnecessary. But if the climber far
outweighs the belayer, a ground anchor
should always be considered. If the
climb is vertical or overhanging, more
force will be exerted by the falling
climber than a fall on a low-angle climb.
It is especially important to establish a
ground anchor for the belayer in uneven
terrain, particularly if the belay stance is
perched high on top of boulders, or is
some distance away from the base of the
cliff.

After you’ve mastered the BUS method, a

more advanced technique is to brake
under and switch the brake hand,
alternating back and forth with either
hand. As a professional guide, in a day’s
belaying I can pull over a thousand feet
of rope, which can really work your
shoulders, especially if there’s rope
drag. I prefer this method, as I can
alternate arms/shoulders rather than
tiring out one arm or shoulder.

Two-Rope Toprope
Setups
When rigging long topropes of more than half
a single rope length, two ropes can be tied
together using a double fisherman’s knot or
figure eight bend knot. With such a huge
amount of rope out between the climber and
the belayer, rope stretch is a major concern,
especially if you are using dynamic ropes.
Remember that even a short fall in a toprope
situation will stretch a dynamic rope about 10
percent, so tighten up the rope when belaying
someone just off the ground or just above a
ledge.
 There are two methods that can be used
to deal with the knot joining the two ropes.
The simple solution, also the best if there will
be no stance for the climber to stop at, avoids
the knot pass altogether. With the knot joining
the two ropes at the anchor, tie a figure eight
loop and attach it to the climber’s belay loop
with two locking carabiners (gates opposed
and reversed). When the climber reaches the
anchor, the knot will be just above the
belayer’s device, so no knot pass is required.
Another solution is to use two belay
devices. The climber ties into the end of the
rope as usual. The belayer anticipates the knot
pass and has a second belay device clipped to
his belay loop, at the ready. When the knot
reaches the belayer, the belayer alerts the
climber to find a good stance, then ties a
backup knot (figure eight loop) on the brake
hand side of the belay device. The belayer
steps forward to create a bit of slack, then
clips the rope into the second belay device on
the climber’s side of the knot, leaving the first
 belay device clipped in. If another person is
available, he or she can assist the belayer
simply by holding the rope with both hands
under a little tension above the belay device as
the belayer accomplishes this. When the
climber reaches the anchor, the belayer
lowers him until the knot is almost to the belay
device, and the process is reversed: The
climber takes a stance, the belayer unclips the
second belay device (first double-checking
that the first belay device is still clipped in and
has the backup knot), then unties the backup
knot and lowers the climber as normal.

A good system to rig a ground

anchor is to start with the belayer tying
into the end of the rope. Not only does
this “close” the rope system, but it
allows the belayer to use the climbing
rope to connect to a ground anchor with
a clove hitch, which can be easily
adjusted to suit the stance.
Natural anchors are obvious choices
for ground anchors, like a sling or
cordelette around a tree or a large block
of rock. A single bomber cam or nut in a
crack will also suffice.
If you are the belayer in a toprope
scenario, anticipate that you will be
pulled in a line directly to the toprope
anchor master point, and anchor and
brace yourself accordingly. If you’re
belaying the leader, you’ll be pulled in
straight line between the ground anchor
and the leader’s first piece of protection.
Ideally, the ground anchor will be low
and directly behind or beneath you or
just slightly to the side. Remember your
ABCs: anchor, belayer, climber. There
should be a straight line between the
anchor, the belayer, and the direction of
pull created by the climber.

Belayer ground anchored in uneven

terrain. Remember ABC: The anchor,
belayer, and climber’s direction of pull
should all come into a straight line. Her
tie-in strand is on her brake hand side, so
she won’t spin awkwardly if the system is
loaded.

In the single-pitch environment, it’s

critical to always close your rope
system, either by tying into the end of
the rope, or tying a stopper knot like
this.

Belaying from the Top

Whether on a single-pitch or multipitch
climb, when belaying the follower, the
belayer can choose from a variety of
belay methods, depending on the
situation.

Belaying Off the Harness:

The Indirect Belay
Using the indirect belay method, the
belayer clips the rope and belay device
into a locking carabiner attached to the
belay loop on her harness. The belayer
is “in the system,” which means that if
the climber falls, the belayer’s body will
absorb the force of the fall to some
extent. I call it “indirect,” since the force
generated in a fall does not necessarily
go directly onto the anchor. For
example, if the belayer takes a sitting
stance and braces with her legs against a
rock outcropping, and the climber falls,
the belayer can absorb the force of the
fall without transferring any load onto
the anchor, accomplishing this by the
stability of the stance aided by the
friction of the rope running over the
surface of the rock and at the belay
device itself. When using the indirect
belay, the anchor and stance are
important because if the belayer gets
pulled off-balance, or pulled sideways,
she can easily lose control of the belay.
The belayer should be anticipating the
direction she will be pulled if a fall
occurs and position herself accordingly,
tight to the anchor. The ABC acronym
works in this situation: The belayer
should be in a line between the anchor
and the climber (anchor-belayer-
climber).
Belaying with an indirect belay. The
belayer is in a good seated stance, with
his rope clipped to the anchor’s master
point. The ATC XP belay device is
attached to his belay loop. If the climber
below falls, the belayer will have to
absorb all the force and bear the full
weight of the falling climber onto his
harness. The braking position will be
awkward, and since the belayer is slightly
out of line from the direction of pull to
the anchors, he will get pulled into that
line. The belayer should simply position
himself in line (anchor-belayer-climber,
or ABC) to remedy this potential
problem. My choice in this situation
would be to belay with a direct belay,
using my Grigri.

While the indirect belay is

commonly used by most recreational
climbers, it is rarely used by trained,
professional guides—for a number of
reasons. One is that the belayer is
trapped “in the system,” and if a climber
falls, the climber’s weight is hanging
directly off the belay loop of the belayer,
making it difficult for her to even move.
Once in this position, it is awkward for
the belayer to hold the fallen climber,
particularly if the stance is bad.
Lowering the climber from the top of the
cliff using an indirect belay can be
difficult, if not dangerous, particularly if
the cliff is steep and the climber far
outweighs the belayer.
Here the belay device is clipped into
both the belayer’s belay loop and the
rope tie-in loop. If the climber below
falls, his weight will go mostly on the
anchor, not the belayer. If belaying a
leader, this method is not recommended,
since the belay becomes less dynamic,
thereby increasing impact force on the
leader’s protection.
1. The old-school “pinch and slide
technique” is commonly used as an
indirect belaying technique when
belaying from the top of a cliff. Start
with the brake hand (the right hand in
these photos) next to the belay device,
with the left hand extended out.
2. Pull the rope in with the left hand and
simultaneously pull rope out with the
brake hand.
3. Move the brake hand back behind the
braking plane (more than 90 degrees
from the angle of the rope going to the
climber) and pinch the rope above the
brake hand with the left hand . . .
4. . . . then slide the brake hand down
toward the belay device.
5. Move the left hand back to the
extended position and repeat the process.
The cardinal rule to remember with this
method is to always keep the brake hand
on the rope.

1. Another belay method for an indirect

belay from the top of the cliff is a
variation of the BUS (brake under slide)
method, but instead of braking down, the
brake position is up and back. The
belayer’s right hand is the brake hand in
these photos. Starting with the brake hand
palm down, the brake hand pulls the rope
out as the left hand pulls rope in.

2. Next, the brake hand pulls the rope

back into a brake position.
3. The left hand grasps the rope, palm
down on the brake strand, just below the
belay device.
4. The brake hand slides back toward the
device without releasing its grip on the
rope. The left hand extends again and
grabs the non-brake side of the rope to
repeat the process.

Escaping the Belay

If you are belaying with the belay device
clipped to your harness (indirect belay) and
need to escape from the system, follow these
steps:
1. Tie off the belay device with a mule knot.
2. Tie a friction hitch (klemheist or prusik) on
the load strand going to the climber.
3. Attach the friction hitch to a locking
carabiner and tie a Munter/mule/overhand
with the climbing rope (off the back side
of the knot connecting you to the anchor).
4. Tie a backup knot (eg. figure eight loop) on
the load strand, and clip it to your anchor
with a locking carabiner.
 5. Release the mule knot on your belay
device, and transfer the load to the
Munter/mule/overhand. You are now free
to “escape the belay.” What you do next
depends on the situation. To raise a
climber, if you don’t have a Grigri, build a
3:1 raising system using a prusik knot at
the anchor as a ratchet, and another prusik
knot on the load strand going to the
climber.

The indirect belay is also the worst

method to use if the belayer needs to
provide any assistance (like a raising
system) to the climber below, since the
belayer is trapped in the system and
would need to perform a “belay escape”
in order to get out of the system and
convert it to a raise.
 If this sounds complicated, that’s
because it is! I detailed these steps to
illustrate a point: An indirect belay is a
poor choice for belaying a second. The
only situation where I would
consciously seek to use an indirect belay
is when the anchor is marginal and I
don’t trust it. I’ll still clove hitch my
rope to the anchor’s master point with a
tight connection, but then I’ll take the
best stance I can and brace myself so
that my stance, and the falling climber’s
weight on my harness, absorbs the force
of the fall, not the anchor.

The Redirected Belay

This technique utilizes the additional
friction generated by running the rope
back through the anchor to help assist in
catching a fall. Clip your belay device
into your harness belay loop, then run the
rope back through a locking carabiner at
the anchor master point. If you’re using a
cordelette-style anchor setup, you can
also redirect the rope through a locking
carabiner clipped to the “shelf,” which
is defined as all the loops in the
cordelette just above the master point
knot. If your partner falls, you’ll be
pulled toward the anchor, so brace
yourself for a pull in that direction.
Because of the rope’s friction through
the redirect carabiner, you only have to
hold about two-thirds of the force
generated in the fall. The redirect nearly
doubles the force on the anchor (just like
in a toprope rig), so if you decide to use
a redirected belay, the anchor should be
bomber. The drawback to this technique,
like the indirect belay, is that if any
rescue or assistance skills are required,
it’s more complicated to rig any raising
system.
The redirected belay. If the climber
below falls, the force on the belayer will
be directly in line to where the rope is
redirected through the anchor. The
friction of the rope running over the
redirect carabiner will absorb some of
the force.

The Direct Belay

The method preferred by most
professional guides when belaying a
follower is the direct belay. In a direct
belay the belay device is clipped
directly to the anchor, and in the event of
a fall, the anchor, not the belayer, bears
the brunt of the fall and holds the
climber’s weight.
Using an MBD like an ATC is not
recommended for use in a direct belay,
because unless the device is positioned
below your waist level, the braking
position will be very awkward, and you
will be in a weak and dangerous
position to hold a fall. If the master point
is above your waist level, the Munter
hitch works well, since the braking
position for maximum friction is when
the two strands of rope are parallel to
each other, with the brake position down
below the carabiner, not above it.
The best way to set up a direct belay
is to use an ABD like a Grigri, an
autoblocking device like the ATC Guide
or Petzl Reverso, or a plaquette device
attached directly to the master point on
the anchor. The advantage of a Grigri or
similar device is that in the event of a
fall, the Grigri simply locks off and the
anchor holds the climber’s weight. When
using a Grigri in the direct belay mode,
take care when the device is close to
rock, as anything that presses against the
handle (i.e., the rock) will release the
locking mechanism. Be sure to position
the handle away from the rock.
The direct belay. A Grigri is clipped
directly to the master point. As long as
the anchor is bomber, this is my
preferred method.

Remember, an MBD or similar non-

autoblocking device is not recommended
for use in a direct belay.
Detail of a direct belay setup using a
quad rig.
Another method of rigging a quad for a
direct belay.

A direct belay with a Munter hitch. Here

the belayer’s right hand is her brake hand.
The starting position (left photo,
position 1) is with the brake hand at the
top and the guide, or feel, hand at the
bottom. Pull the rope down with the
brake hand as the guide hand goes up.
Feeding the rope up with the guide hand,
rather than pulling the rope down tightly
with the brake strand, puts fewer kinks in
the rope. The brake hand stays on the
rope as the guide hand grabs below it.
Then return to position 1. Unlike a
manual braking tube device, maximum
friction with a Munter hitch is when the
two rope strands are parallel.

The Rope Direct Belay

If the belay anchor is initially built well
back from where you can see your
follower, and you want to belay from a
stance to maintain a visual on the person
who’s climbing up from below, you can
use the climbing rope and a rope direct
belay technique, which is essentially
belaying off an extended master point.
Clip your climbing rope to the master
point on the anchor with two locking
carabiners, opposed and reversed, then
lower yourself to your preferred stance
(you can remain on belay for this
process), then tie a BHK. The master
point loops on the BHK should be within
arm’s length so that you can easily belay
from these with an ABD. I call this
method “rope direct” because you are
essentially belaying directly off the
anchor, albeit extended whatever
distance is required to position you at
the edge. Using a device like a Grigri,
you’ll have the benefit of a quick and
easy conversion to a raising system if
required, and it’s easy to lower someone
on this setup by redirecting the brake
strand on the Grigri (see “Lowering” in
this chapter).
Guides often use this rope direct method
in single-pitch situations where the
anchor is well away from the edge and
they want to position themselves to
better watch their clients, and perhaps
lower them back down when they reach
this point. It is essentially an extended
master point, created by running the lead
rope through carabiners at the anchor’s
master point (I prefer two lockers,
opposed and reversed), lowering down to
the preferred position, then tying an
overhand knot on both strands, creating
another two-loop master point. While the
loop extending up to the anchor is not
redundant, it’s monitored, and it’s your
full rope strength.
Another method of rope direct belay
rigging useful for belaying from the top
on a single-pitch climb. The belayer is on
the right strand of rope, attached to the
master point with a clove hitch to a
locking carabiner. Off the back side of
the clove hitch, the rope is clipped back
to a separate carabiner with a figure eight
loop. Off this strand, the Grigri is
clipped to another figure eight loop.
Here the distance is fairly close to the
anchor, but this rigging technique is most
useful for greater distances between the
anchor and your desired belay stance,
limited only by the length of available
rope. The big advantage is visual contact
with your climber in situations where the
anchor is some distance back from the
edge.

Rope direct belay using the “Atomic

Clip.” This is a great method to use for a
two-bolt anchor on a single-pitch climb,
or a multipitch sport climb if you’re
swinging leads. Tie a double-loop
bowline, equalize it to the two anchor
points, then tie a figure eight loop off
the back side of this knot. Tie the figure
eight loop so that it’s about arm’s length
above you, and belay with an ABD. To
belay the leader, switch the belay device
to your harness belay loop.

Lowering
It’s often easier and quicker to lower
someone back down a single-pitch climb
than to have her rappel. Depending on
the belay device you’re using, the
lowering procedure can range from
simple to relatively complicated, so
have this in mind when considering
which belay device will work best for a
particular situation.

Lowering with a Grigri

My first choice is always to lower
someone using a Grigri. Since it has a
built-in autolock, there is no need to
back it up with an autoblock. Petzl sells
the Freino, a carabiner that has a special
gate on the side for the brake strand to
be clipped into, to facilitate lowering.
Without the special carabiner, you can
redirect the brake strand back up through
a separate carabiner clipped to the
master point (or, on a cordelette anchor,
up to the shelf). The big advantage of the
Grigri is that once the rope is clipped in,
you can use it for lowering (just
remember to redirect the brake strand!)
or belaying (as the climber climbs back
up), and it’s all set to rig a 3:1 hauling
system if your climber needs some
assistance on the way back up.
A Grigri in the lowering mode with the
brake strand redirected using the Petzl
Freino carabiner, which is specifically
designed for this application.

Lowering with a Munter

Hitch
Flake the rope at your feet so that if there
are any tangles, you can get to them. If
you’re anchored with a clove hitch, it’s
adjustable, so you can fine-tune the
length of your tie-in as required. If the
stance at the anchor allows you to see
down the cliff and watch the climber as
you lower him, clip another locking
carabiner (a large, pear-shaped
carabiner works best) to the master point
and tie a Munter hitch. Back it up with
an autoblock clipped to a locking
carabiner at your belay loop, and you’re
ready to lower your climber.
A Grigri rigged for lowering with the
brake strand redirected through a
carabiner clipped to the master point.

MULE KNOT
The mule knot is used to tie off a Munter
hitch. The great advantage of the
Munter/mule combination is that it can
be tied off and released when the rope is
weighted and under tension, making it
one of the key knot combinations for
many rescue applications.

Using an Autoblock Knot as

a Backup When Lowering
Whenever you are lowering a climber
with a manual braking device or Munter
hitch, it’s best to back up your brake
hand with an autoblock knot clipped to a
locking carabiner attached to your belay
loop.

The belayer is ready to lower the climber

with a Munter hitch on a locking
carabiner clipped to the master point,
backed up with an autoblock clipped to a
locking carabiner attached to the
belayer’s belay loop.
Lowering with a Munter hitch and an
autoblock. The belayer is holding an
autoblock backup that’s clipped with a
locking carabiner to his belay loop.

Some guides call the autoblock the

“third hand,” because if you take your
brake hand off the rope when you’re
lowering or rappelling, the autoblock
grabs the brake strand of your rope like
your hand would. The autoblock adds an
extra level of safety, especially when
there are tangles in your rope that you
need to untangle as you lower your
climber or descend on a rappel.
In a single-pitch setting, if the stance
at the anchor does not allow you to see
down the cliff and watch the climber as
you lower him, you can rig the rope
direct belay system to position yourself
at the edge to maintain visual contact. As
a guide, I always strive for visual
contact with my clients whenever
belaying or lowering them.

Lowering with a Redirected

Manual Braking Device
To lower a climber with an MBD like
an ATC, you can clip the ATC to your
harness and redirect the climber’s strand
back through the anchor at the master
point. This adds friction and makes it
easier to hold the climber’s weight but
increases the load on the anchor—in
fact, it nearly doubles it. Also, if the
climber far outweighs the belayer, it can
be very awkward and difficult to lower
the climber, because the belayer is
getting pulled into the anchor.
A better technique is to clip the ATC
directly to the anchor master point and
redirect the brake strand back through a
locking carabiner at the master point (or,
on a cordelette anchor, the shelf, which
is all the loops in the cordelette just
above the master point knot), to maintain
the proper angle (for maximum friction)
on the brake strand. Back it up with an
autoblock attached to your belay loop
with a locking carabiner. If you’re using
a manual braking device like an ATC or
similar tube device, remember, do not
use an MBD for a direct belay as the
braking position would be weak,
awkward, and dangerous.
A manual braking device (Black Diamond
ATC XP) rigged with a redirect for
lowering. The climber’s end is coming
out of the left side of the belay device,
and the brake strand is redirected up
through a carabiner clipped to the shelf.

Lowering with an
Autoblocking Device
If you’re using an autoblocking device
(like the ATC Guide or Petzl Reverso)
and belaying a second with a direct
belay in the autoblocking mode, if the
second falls, the device locks off.
Lowering from a locked device under
tension presents a challenge, and there
are a variety of solutions based on the
situation.
For very short lowers, or to provide
slack, you can simply grab the blocking
carabiner firmly and ratchet it up and
down. Make sure you have a firm grip
with your brake hand on the brake strand.

For longer lowers, if the climber is

weighting the rope and the device is
under tension, follow these steps.
1. Tie a catastrophe knot on the brake
hand side of the rope.
For a short lower of a few body lengths,
you can use a small carabiner (it’s a good
idea to have one dedicated in advance for
this application) clipped to a small hole
in the autoblocking device. Autoblocking
devices can be unpredictable, and can
release suddenly, so an autoblock backup
is recommended. Tie the autoblock knot
on the brake hand strand, and clip it to
your harness belay loop with a locking
carabiner.

2. Redirect the brake strand to the

master point or up to the shelf.
3. Tie the autoblock knot on the brake
hand strand, and clip it to your
harness belay loop with a locking
carabiner.
Setup for lowering with an autoblocking
device, backed up with an autoblock knot
on the brake strand side. To lower, slide
the autoblock knot down and hold it with
your brake hand while pulling down on
the sling, keeping a firm grip on the rope
with your brake hand.
4. Using a double-length (48-inch) sling,
clip it to the small carabiner you’ve
clipped to the small hole in the
device, then redirect the sling
through a carabiner up higher on the
anchor.
5. Untie the catastrophe knot.
6. Using the sling like a pulley, lean back
to release the tension and autoblock
function, and proceed to lower the
climber.
1. Redirect the brake strand, then tie an
autoblock knot on the brake strand and
attach it to your harness belay loop with
a locking carabiner.
2. Clip another locking carabiner to the
master point, and clip in the autoblocking
locking carabiner on the device
(carabiner to carabiner; check that both
are locked).

If you are using a direct belay with

an auto-blocking device and the plan is
for your second to be lowered once he
or she reaches your stance, you can
easily convert the autoblocking device to
the MBD mode once the climber reaches
the ledge or stance and is ready to be
lowered.
3. Now you’re ready for a smooth lower
in the manual braking mode, brake strand
redirected and backed up with an
autoblock knot.
Beth Renn rappels from the summit of
Charlatan Needle, Giant Sequoia National
Monument, California.

PHOTO BY GREG EPPERSON

 CHAPTER 11

Rappelling

Rappelling Safety:
Preventing Rappel
Accidents
Although rappelling is a simple
technique, statistically a high percentage
of rappelling accidents end in a fatality.
Why is this? Perhaps rappelling is so
rudimentary that the fine points of safety
are sometimes overlooked. Analyzing
rappelling accidents tells us what can go
wrong. Let’s take a look at two
scenarios.

Scenario 1: Rappelling Off

One or Both Ends of the
Rope
Believe it or not, this happens with some
regularity, and almost every year there
are several fatal rappelling accidents in
America in which someone has simply
rappelled off the ends of a rope. Usually
it happens when the ends are uneven on
a doubled-rope rappel. When the short
end passes through the rappelling
device, only one strand of the doubled
rope remains in the device; the climber’s
body weight rapidly pulls the rope
through the rappel anchor, quickly
dispatching the climber to the ground. A
simple solution is to tie stopper knots
separately in both ends of the rope. It’s a
simple solution, and a key safety habit in
the single-pitch and multi-pitch
environment, no matter what you’re
using the rope for.

Scenario 2: Not Clipping

Both Strands of the Rope
into the Carabiner
This is an easy mistake to make if you’re
not alert and double-checking your
system. If you thread both strands of
rope through your rappel device, but
only clip one strand into your locking
carabiner, when you lean back and
weight the rope, you’ll descend as
rapidly as in the first scenario, with
equally injurious or fatal results. A good
safety habit is to first clip in with a sling
to the rappel anchor, rig your rappel
device, then weight the rappel system
and double-check everything before
unclipping the sling.
Always go through a mental
checklist before rappelling—ABC:
A is the rappel anchor. Take a look
at the anchor, slings, chains, etc., and
make sure the rappel rope is threaded
properly through the anchor. The anchor
should be redundant all the way to the
point where your rope is threaded
through the anchor. This means you
should not rely on a single piece of gear
in your anchor system, whether it is a
single cord, sling, or rappel ring.
B is for buckles on your harness—
double-check to make sure they are
buckled properly and doubled back
appropriately.
C is for carabiner. Make sure the
locking carabiner that attaches your
rappel device to your harness is being
loaded properly on the long axis—and
check to make sure it is locked!

Rappel Belays
If you’re teaching a beginner who is
rappelling for the first time, it’s best to
belay him on a separate rope. Another
technique to back up somebody on
rappel is called the fireman’s belay.
This is done by having someone down
below attentively holding both strands of
the rappel rope (in a double-rope
rappel). When this person pulls down on
the ropes and applies tension, the
rappeler will stop on a dime—he cannot
move down the rope when it is under
tension.
Fireman’s belay.
Rappel Backups
In the old days the most common method
for a rappel backup was using a prusik
knot on the ropes above the rappel
device, connected to the harness with a
sling. The non-brake hand would cup the
prusik knot and hold it in a loosened
position during the rappel, allowing it to
slide down the rope. Letting go of the
knot allowed it to slide up and grab onto
the ropes, stopping the rappel. There are
two drawbacks to this method. One is
that for the prusik to lock off, it must
hold all the rappeler’s weight. The
second is that once the prusik is
weighted, the rappeler must remove all
his body weight from the knot in order
for it to be released—not an easy task if
you’re on a free-hanging rappel. In
essence, to take your weight off the
prusik, you might need the skills to
perform a mini self-rescue.
The modern rappel backup utilizes
the auto-block knot, rigged below the
rappel device. There are two distinct
advantages to this method. One is that
for the autoblock knot to grab, it needs to
hold only a very small percentage of the
rappeler’s weight, since it is on the
braking side of the device, and the
device itself is holding most of the
weight and providing most of the
friction. It is essentially like your brake
hand squeezing and gripping the rope;
for that reason, some instructors refer to
it as the “third hand,” like an angel
grabbing your rope and averting a
catastrophe if, for some reason, you’ve
lost control of the brake. The second big
advantage of the autoblock method is
that it is releasable under tension (i.e.,
when you’ve weighted it and it’s
grabbing onto the rope). As you rappel
down, you simply take your thumb and
forefinger, forming a circle (like the OK
sign), and push the autoblock down as
you go, allowing the rope to slide freely
through the knot. When you let go, the
autoblock knot rides up and grabs onto
the rope, like your brake hand squeezing
the rope. To release the autoblock, even
with your weight on it, is as simple as
sliding it back down and holding it in the
“open” position with your fingers. It’s a
beautiful thing, and easy to rig.
Black Diamond ATC XP rigged for
rappelling with a three-wrap autoblock
backup clipped to the leg loop with a
locking carabiner.

By positioning your autoblock carabiner

on the inside of the leg loop strap, you
can gain a bit more separation between
the autoblock and your rappel device.
Proper use of an extended rappel device
with autoblock backup. A double-length
nylon runner is threaded through the
harness tie-in points and tied with an
overhand knot for redundancy. The rappel
device is the Black Diamond ATC Guide
in the rappel mode. The autoblock knot is
clipped to a locking carabiner attached to
the belay loop.

The disadvantage of clipping the

autoblock to your leg loop is that if for
some reason you were to go unconscious
and flip upside down, the auto-block
could ride up and come in contact with
your rappel device, which would
prevent it from grabbing, much like
sliding it down and keeping it “open”
with your fingers. In recent years,
professional guides have developed a
method to safeguard against this simply
by extending the rappel device with a
sling attached to the harness and rigging
the autoblock clipped into the belay
loop. I like to rig a double-length sewn
nylon sling threaded through both points
at the front of my harness (where your
rope tie-in goes through) and tied with
an overhand knot, to gain redundancy at
the sling. I prefer to use a fat nylon sling
over a thin Spectra or Dyneema sling for
this application because nylon has a
higher melting point. If the rappel rope is
running across the sling, it could
potentially create some heat due to the
friction, which could damage the sling
and reduce its breaking strength in later
applications.
Here’s a close-up look at an extended
rappel device with autoblock backup.
In a pinch, the Munter hitch can be used
for rappelling, although it will put some
kinks in your rope. Position the gate of
the carabiner opposite the braking side of
the Munter hitch so the rope doesn’t rub
against the gate mechanism.

Rappelling Safety
Checks
Once the rappel ropes are set and threaded
through the anchor, do an ABCDE safety
check:
A Check the anchor to make sure the rope is
properly threaded, and that the anchor
rigging is redundant.
B Check the buckles on your harness.
C Check the carabiner on your rappel device
to make sure it’s locked and that both
bights of rope are clipped into the
 carabiner.
D Look down and check the ropes to make
sure they’re not tangled and are long
enough to reach the next anchor or the
ground.
E Tie stopper knots in the ends of the rope. If
using a figure eight descender, tie both
ends together with a BHK, and make sure
the knot will be bulky enough to jam in the
device.

Multipitch Rappelling
Climbers use multipitch rappelling
techniques to descend from long routes,
normally with two ropes tied together,
allowing them to descend the length of a
standard rope (60 or 70 meters) on each
rappel.
 The first thing to check on a
multipitch rappel is the condition and
soundness of the anchor, as in most
cases the rigging will already be in
place, having been left by a previous
climbing team. The most common
anchors will be two bolts, a single tree,
or a solid, wedged block of rock. If I
know I’ll be descending a long route via
multiple rappels, I’ll bring extra nylon
webbing, rap rings, and a knife—in case
I need to cut away a nest of old slings
and rerig an anchor. On obscure climbs
in Yosemite, I’ve come across old nylon
webbing bleached pure white by the sun,
only to flip it over and find the other
side bright red. Over time UV exposure
will weaken nylon and Dyneema/Spectra
webbing, so carefully inspect any
existing slings you might decide to use.
If the sling is stiff and the color faded
from UV exposure, it has probably lost
most of its strength. Also, if the sling
shows a burned (blackened) or glazed
mark where a rope has been pulled
across it, the sling should be retired; the
friction from the rope being pulled over
the sling created enough heat to melt it
slightly, and its strength will be severely
compromised.
SMC rap rings are light (11 grams) and
strong (14 kN, or 3,147 lbs.), a good
choice for carrying on long multipitch
climbs where weight is a factor and the
descent will involve multiple rappels.
They are not a good choice for high-use
fixed anchors, as aluminum wears
quickly.
I came across this natural anchor several
hundred feet up a route on Tahquitz Rock,
near Idyllwild, California. Someone had
obviously rappelled from it, probably to
escape an afternoon thunderstorm.
Although the anchor has two basic
components, each “trunk” is less than 3
inches in diameter, and the master point
you’d thread your rappel rope through is
a nonredundant, single aluminum rappel
ring (albeit rated at 3,000 lbs.). The real
problem I have with this rappel anchor is
simply the size of the “tree” itself. I’m
glad I didn’t have to rappel from it!
Typical rigging found at many climbing
areas: two separate 1-inch nylon webbing
slings, each tied with a water knot, and
two rappel rings. I’ve rappelled off this
tree many times over the years, as it
grows on one of my favorite climbs at
Suicide Rock, California. Although the
trunk is over 12 inches in diameter and
the tree is alive and healthy, notice the
crack it grows out of—barely 2 inches
wide! I always back it up with a separate
anchor until the last climber is down.
This sturdy rock bollard is attached to
the main structure of the cliff, and the
rigging is redundant, with two separate 1-
inch tubular nylon slings and two rappel
rings. Bomber.

Whenever you’re not tied into the

climbing rope, always protect yourself
by tethering to the anchor with a nylon
sling or PAS (personal anchor system)
like the Metolius PAS or Sterling Chain
Reactor. Remember, a traditional daisy
chain with bartacked pockets is not
recommended as a tether or for rappel
extensions, because clipping a carabiner
into two loops is a very weak
connection (only 3 kN, or 674 lbs.).
Girth-hitch the PAS or sling through
both tie-in points on your harness, then
clip in with a locking carabiner directly
to the anchor whenever you’re going to
untie from the rope and rig the rappel.
The loop-to-loop design of the PAS
allows you to conveniently adjust the
length. Be cautious when using slings or
a PAS not to climb above the anchor; if
you slip you’ll generate a high-impact
force on both yourself and the anchor—
essentially a mini fall factor 2 (total
distance of the fall divided by the length
from the anchor)—and since the sling or
PAS has virtually no stretch like a rope
would have, you can generate a
surprising amount of force. I prefer the
Sterling Chain Reactor since it is made
of nylon, with at least a modicum of
stretch compared to other designs made
of Spectra or Dyneema, which have
virtually no stretch—like clipping in
with a wire cable.
The most common fixed anchor you’ll
encounter is a two-bolt anchor. An easy
and bomber pre-equalized rappel rig is a
simple V configuration. Thread two
separate 5-foot lengths of nylon webbing
through each bolt hanger and two rap
rings, then tie each sling with a water
knot.

The first person down a rappel

should be prepared for rope tangles,
especially if there are ledges or bushes
on the cliff. Rigging an autoblock backup
allows you to let go of your brake hand
and have both hands free to deal with
rope tangles and clipping in when you
reach the next rappel stance. It’s
important that the first person down be
especially aware of the danger of
rappelling off one or both ends of the
rope if no end knots are in place. When
the first person down arrives at the next
anchor, she should clip in with a sling or
PAS, then unclip from the rappel device
and yell “Off rappel” as a signal to let
the next person know he can proceed
down. If it’s a hanging stance, the first
person down should prepare an
equalized clip-in point for all members
of the team to clip into when they arrive
at the stance. The quad system works
great for this application.
Two-bolt anchor rigged with cord. Thread
a length of cord (7mm nylon here)
through both bolt hangers, then tie into a
loop using a figure eight bend. Pull the
cord down between the bolts, tie with a
figure eight loop, then add two quick
links.

For multipitch rappels, many

climbers don’t tie knots in the ends of
their ropes for fear the knots may jam in
a crack, especially in windy conditions
where the ropes may blow out to the
side.
The quad rigging allows for two separate
and redundant master point clip-ins for
multipitch rappelling, convenient for
two-bolt anchor stations. The red sling is
her rappel extension, which also serves
as her personal tether. Her rappel device
is at the ready for the next rappel. Lori
Satzberg on Walk on the Wild Side,
Joshua Tree.
Multipitch rappelling efficiency with a
party of three on a two-rope rappel. I
arrived first at this anchor, rigged a quad,
and clipped in with my personal tether.
Mike and Lori Satzberg each rappelled
down and did the same. Then I pulled the
ropes down, at the same time threading
one of the ropes through the anchors for
the next rappel. We all clipped our rappel
devices in, then I removed the quad,
leaving Mike and Lori pre-rigged with
rappel extensions. I’m now rappelling
down to the next anchor station, where
I’ll set up a quad rig, clip in, then have
them rappel, one at a time, to the station,
where we’ll do it all again.

For me it just feels unsafe (and

unnerving) to be high off the ground on a
rappel with the free-hanging end of my
rope swaying in the breeze and no
stopper knot in the end. My philosophy
for multipitch rappelling is this: Always
tie stopper knots in the ends of the
rappel ropes as your routine practice,
and only leave them untied if there is a
very, very compelling reason to do so,
such as the high probability of the
stopper knot getting jammed in a
situation where a jammed knot would be
catastrophic.
Rappelling with butterfly coils reduces
the chances of the rope snagging in windy
conditions.

A simple and safer solution is to tie

stopper knots in the two rope ends, then
butterfly coil each rope separately,
drape over a sling, and clip in at both
hips, holster style, letting the coils out as
you rappel down. While this may seem
time-consuming, good rope management
practices will save you time in the long
run.
As the second rappeler comes down,
the first person can prepare by threading
the rope to be pulled down through the
next anchor, tying a new stopper knot in
the end. If there is concern about the
rope getting hung up on obstructions
(blocks, bushes, etc.) on the way down
after you pull the rope through the
anchor, rig the two ropes so that you pull
down on the thinner of the two lines.
This way you’ll have most of the thin
rope already down before you must let
go of the other end, and the thicker rope
will be the last to come down. I’ve
found that a thicker rope is less likely to
get tangled or hung up than a thinner
rope.
Here the PAS (a Sterling Chain Reactor)
was clipped to the anchor for a tether
while the rappel rope was threaded
through the rings. The ATC rappel device
was extended and clipped into two loops
of the PAS. An autoblock backup was
rigged using a Sterling Hollow Block,
clipped to the harness belay loop with a
locking carabiner. Before unclipping the
PAS, go through the ABCDE checklist
and weight the system. If everything is
AOK, unclip the tether from the anchor
and clip the locking carabiner into the
harness belay loop. Since the rappel
device has been clipped into two loops of
the PAS, this now makes the PAS itself
redundant. Note: Never use a daisy chain
for a rappelling tether. A carabiner
clipped into two loops is an extremely
weak connection!
Another method for rigging a
tether/rappel extension with a sling. Start
with a double-length (48-inch) sling and
girth-hitch it through both tie-in points
on the harness. Tie an overhand knot
about halfway down the length of the
sling, adjusting the knot so that when you
clip it back into the harness belay loop
with a locking carabiner, the length to the
overhand knot is equalized. Clipping the
locking carabiner of your rappel device
into both loops you’ve created in the
sling makes the sling itself redundant
when it’s clipped back into the harness
belay loop.

Beware if rapping on ropes of

drastically different diameters (say,
10.5mm with 7mm) and ropes with
different percentages of stretch (such as
a dynamic paired with a static), as this
can cause the ropes to shift at the rappel
anchor and change the lengths at the end
points—another good reason to knot the
ends. Also, use metal rap rings instead
of rope over webbing, as the friction of
a shifting rope creates heat that can melt
the webbing.
When the second rappeler arrives at
the stance, she clips in with her tether
before unclipping from the rappel
device, holding onto the ropes. The
stopper knot is untied, and the rope is
pulled down through the anchor. Once
the rope comes down, a new stopper
knot is tied in the end and the procedure
is repeated.

Tandem Rappel
This simple yet effective technique
allows two people to rappel at the same
time, from the same rappel device, with
one person controlling the brake hand.
Primarily used in rescue scenarios, the
tandem rappel method is also a viable
technique when taking a novice who is
intimidated and fearful of rappelling on
his first rappel, where, like a tandem
skydive, a more experienced person
controls the situation. The advantage of
the tandem rappel is that you’re right
there with the other person, to calm his
fears or, in the case of a rescue, to attend
to his needs. For multipitch rappelling
on long alpine routes, the tandem rappel
saves time and limits exposure to
rockfall caused by your partner
rappelling above you.
To rig a tandem rappel, connect two
separate slings (or cordelette) to each
rappeler’s harness and clip them both to
the same locking carabiner at the rappel
device. An MBD (like an ATC) will
work best. Rig an autoblock backup and
attach it to your belay loop with a
locking carabiner so that you have
hands-free control if you need to stop
and deal with rope tangles, rig an
anchor, etc.
Tandem rappel rig rigged with slings.
Note the autoblock backup.
Tandem rappel rig rigged with cordelette
and autoblock backup.

Simul Rappel
This technique is used by experienced
climbers and military special forces to
facilitate a more rapid descent. Using
this method, two people can rappel at
the same time, each on a separate strand
of rope, using the other person’s body
weight as a counterbalance. In climbing
situations, the rope is typically threaded
through an equalized anchor, and it is
important to rig the rope through metal
rappel rings, quick links, or carabiners
and not over web-bing or cord—the
rope may saw back and forth and slice
through the webbing or cord due to
differences in rope stretch and body
weight. Also, the two rappelers should
stay close together—within sight of each
other—watching carefully for the other
person to complete the rappel before
unclip-ping, as unweighting one side of
the rope leaves the other side
unanchored. An additional safety
measure is to take a long sling or
cordelette and attach it to both rappelers
with locking carabiners. Utmost care
should also be taken to account for the
rope ends, which absolutely should have
stopper knots. Be forewarned that many
accidents have occurred during simul
rappels by inattentive climbers, usually
resulting in a single or double fatality.
Simul rappels should only be undertaken
by experienced rappelers who are fully
aware of all the necessary precautions.
My first simul rappel was not by
choice but necessity. John Long and I
had just completed the first ascent of an
obscure arch formation in the Utah
desert, and after I hand drilled a bolt
anchor for the rappel at the top, John
plucked the bolts out with his bare
hands. The soft sandstone had a
consistency more like mud than rock, so
to descend with no fixed anchor, we
decided to simul rappel, each off
opposite sides of the arch. We each
clipped our rappel devices into the same
rope. Facing each other, eye to eye, we
leaned back, the rope taut between us.
We used each other’s body weight as an
anchor, intently mimicking each other’s
steps as we paced backward, away from
each other, before stepping over the
edge. Once the rope was firmly seated
on the broad back of the arch, I breathed
a sigh of relief; after descending to the
open window of the arch, we enjoyed a
free-hanging rappel, gently spinning in
the air about 30 feet apart.

Rappelling with a Heavy

Pack or Haul Bag
Rappelling with an extremely heavy
pack or haul bag can be dangerous. The
weight of the pack can make a long
rappel strenuous and more difficult to
control or, worse, flip you upside down.
An easy solution is to hitch a sling to the
pack or haul bag, then clip it with a
locking carabiner to the locking
carabiner on your rappel device
(carabiner to carabiner). This takes the
weight off you and puts it on the rope,
making it much easier to manage. Make
sure the sling is hitched to a bomber
loop (or, better yet, two points) on the
pack. More than one climbing team has
had the misfortune of dropping all their
gear when the attachment point to their
pack ripped out. You can put the pack
between your legs and straddle it as you
rappel down, or use a long sling to rig
the bag just below your feet, keeping it
out of your way.
Rope Management

Tossing the Rope

There is an art to tossing a rope. The key
is preparation—taking a little time for
rope management will save you time in
the long run. Several methods work
well. One is to flake about half the rope
(coming from the anchor) right at your
feet, then butterfly coil the bottom half.
Before you toss the rope, check that no
climbers are directly below so that you
don’t toss the rope right on top of them.
Make sure there are no loose rocks
where you’ve flaked your rope, as the
rope will launch any loose stones. If
there are people directly below, yell
“Rope!” and give them enough time to
move out of the way before you toss it
down. If there are trees at the cliff base,
be careful not to throw the rope too far
outward and get it hung up in a tree.
“Rope!” is the universal signal to use
before tossing down a rappel rope. To
prevent tangles, butterfly coil the rope
first. At crowded climbing sites, when
people are down below, a better method
is to simply lower the rope from the ends
until the entire rope is down.

Retrieving the Rope

One of the best days of climbing in my
entire life was nearly ruined by a
careless retrieval of a rappel rope. My
exuberance faded to grave concern in the
time it takes a tear to flow down a
cheek. I had just rappelled to the ground
after completing one of the most difficult
free climbs I’d ever done, in Eldorado
Canyon, Colorado. I pulled my rappel
rope to retrieve it, and just as the end of
the rope passed through the rappel
anchor rings, I called “Rope!” to alert
my wife and partner, Yvonne, that the
rope was coming down. She looked up,
and the end of the rope, now whipping
down with the sound of a fast jump rope
slicing through the air, hit her squarely in
the eye, temporarily blinding her.
Luckily it wasn’t a serious eye injury,
but it could have been much worse.
I learned an important lesson that
day; and after that near-miss, I’ve
always been more vigilant whenever I
pull a rope down. First I make an
assessment on where the rope will go; if
anyone is in the path, I explain that I’m
going to pull a rope and ask them to
move out of the way beforehand.
 If it’s windy, note the wind direction
and where it will take the rope. Calling
out “Rope!” as the rope comes sailing
down is too late for anyone to move out
of the way.
Before you begin pulling the rope
down, look up and make sure there are
no twists in it. If it’s a long rappel, it’s
important for the last person down to
safeguard against any twists and to be
careful to separate the strands when
unclipping the rappel device. If two
ropes are tied together, make sure
everyone in the party is clear on which
rope to pull before you head down (e.g.,
“pull red”). If there is any chance of
rope drag hampering the pull, do a test
pull when the first person rappels down
to ensure the rope can be pulled without
jamming, and make any necessary
adjustments (e.g., a longer sling
extended over an edge) before the last
person comes down.
There is a technique to pulling a
rappel rope down, and it takes a little
practice to get a feel for it. First double-
check that there are no knots, kinks, or
twists in the end you’ll be pulling up
toward the anchor. As the end
approaches the anchor, slow your pull
so that you can feel when the weight of
the rope coming down toward you starts
to pull the free end of the rope up toward
the anchor without your assistance. Wait
a second—for the end to pass through
the anchor—then make an instantaneous
sharp, forceful outward tug on the rope,
which should fall away from the rock.
Beware that a pulled rope can knock
rocks off the cliff face, so be alert for
rockfall. If all goes well, the rope will
be lying in a big pile on the ground.

Dealing with Stuck Ropes

Early one summer morning I came
across a curious scene at the base of a
multipitch climb on Tahquitz Rock in
Idyllwild, California. There was a
doubled rope, seemingly abandoned,
hanging from the first pitch of a
moderate climb I was planning on taking
my client up. I pulled on one end of the
rope. It didn’t budge. At the base of the
climb were telltale signs of a nighttime
epic: a dozen cigarette butts, an empty
pint bottle of gin, and a few discarded
batteries. Upon reaching the ledge at the
top of the pitch, I found the rope was
simply wedged deeply in a crack—
jammed solid, but easily extracted from
my position.
Instructor Erin Guinn rappelling a single
fixed line with a Grigri at Joshua Tree. If
you take your brake hand off the rope, tie
an overhand loop as a backup knot as
shown here. If the Grigri slips (as it will
when unweighted), the knot will jam.

A stuck rope can be your worst

nightmare. Visualizing and anticipating
what might happen when you pull your
rope will prevent most mishaps; be
especially vigilant for situations where
your rope can get pulled into a crack. If
you have two ropes tied together, the
joining knot is what you need to watch
out for on the pull-down; using the flat
over-hand will present a cleaner profile
(with the tails pointed away from the
rock) if you’re concerned about the knot
getting stuck.
Any twists in your rope at the anchor
can make pulling the rope difficult, even
impossible if there is friction with the
rope running over a ledge or contacting
lots of rough rock.
If your rope is stuck at the anchor
and you have both strands available, and
both strands are still through the rappel
anchor, then the solution is relatively
simple and fairly straightforward: Prusik
up both strands of the rope, fix the
problem, and rappel back down (see
prusiking in chapter 12).
If you have only one strand of rope at
your position, and the rope is jammed
somewhere above you, then you face a
risky proposition and the worst-case
scenario. Prusiking up a single strand
with the other strand jammed on who
knows what is not advisable. You can
use what rope you have to lead up
(placing protection) and hopefully reach
the jam. If you’re on the ground with
little rope length available, you may
want to abandon the rope and return with
another rope to properly re-lead up to
the jammed one.
Again, be aware that many rockfall
accidents occur when a rappel rope is
being pulled down a cliff. Sometimes the
rope jams behind blocks or loose rocks,
and the vigorous pulling to free the rope
launches a barrage of rocks on those
below.
The Reepschnur Method
This technique is the most common
rigging method to block a rappel rope
when two ropes are tied together. It
allows you to rappel with your Grigri on
a single strand. The larger rope is
threaded through the anchor and tied to
the thinner line with a flat overhand—or
a bulkier knot if needed. Remember, the
knot must be bulky enough to jam into the
rappel rings, chain links, or quick links.
Below the jamming knot, a figure eight
loop is tied on the thinner line and
clipped to the rappel strand with a
locking carabiner. This critical backup
is the key to safely rappelling with the
Reepschnur Method.
The Reepschnur knot block with one
rope. This technique allows you to rappel
on a single line using a Grigri (in this
example, on the right strand), retrieving
your rope by pulling on the left strand.
The Reepschnur Method with two ropes.
The blue rope is the rappel line and the
green line is the tag line for retrieval.
Always tie a safety backup—shown here
with a figure eight loop clipped into the
rappel strand with a locking carabiner. If
the flat overhand knot pulls through the
rings, your rappel line will still be
attached.
Practicing counterbalance ascension to
rescue a fallen climber.
 CHAPTER 12

Rescue and
Assistance Skills

Improvised Rope
Ascending: Prusiking
One of my favorite movie scenes is in
the James Bond classic For Your Eyes
Only, where Bond makes a preposterous
roped solo climb up a towering rock
formation in Meteora, Greece. Before he
can reach the enemy stronghold, he (of
course) takes a monstrous fall, which
was performed by stuntman and climber
Rick Sylvester. Rick was a bold
climber, and the first person to ski off El
Capitan (and pop a parachute) before it
was illegal. Rick performed the same
stunt in the opening of the Bond flick The
Spy Who Loved Me, skiing off Mount
Asgard on Baffin Island and popping a
Union Jack parachute for the 4,000-foot
ride down. But I digress.
In For Your Eyes Only, Rick
performed a 165-foot fall tied into two
11mm diameter ropes that were rubber-
banded together. In the movie, after
Bond takes the catastrophic plunge, he
dangles like a dazed spider for a
moment, collects himself, then unties his
shoelaces to use for prusiking up the
rope. At the top he encounters a bad guy
trying to bang out his sole anchor piton
with a gun, so Bond hurls a piton at him,
knife-thrower style, which pierces the
guy’s chest and sends him over the brink.
“Prusiking” is a verb for the act of
ascending a rope using friction hitches.
It’s a generic term, since the prusik knot
was the first friction hitch used for such
purposes, although it’s still called
prusiking if other friction hitches are
used.
When rock climbing, there are a few
situations where improvised rope
ascending skills will prove
indispensable. One situation is when you
take a leader fall on a multipitch
overhanging route that leaves you
hanging in midair. Falling off a
traversing climb, where you can’t climb
up to get back on route would leave you
in a similar predicament. In either case,
all you need to do is prusik back up the
line to get back to your last piece of
protection. Your rope tie-in is your
backup if the friction hitches slip, and
you can also tie a figure eight loop and
clip it into your belay loop with a
locking carabiner below the prusiks as
an additional backup as you proceed
upward if you so desire.
Another situation is during a rappel,
when something gets stuck and jammed
in your rappel device, like an article of
clothing or long hair. You’ll be unable to
proceed, and to fix the problem you’ll
likely need to take the weight off your
rappel device. If the rappel is low angle,
it may be as simple as standing on the
rock to unweight your rappel device and
yanking it out. If it’s a steep or
overhanging rappel, you’ll need to
perform a basic self-rescue. First make
sure you’ve backed up your brake hand,
because you’ll need both hands free to
perform this maneuver. If you have
previously rigged an autoblock backup,
simply slide the autoblock up until it
engages. If you don’t have an autoblock
backup rigged, a simple and fast backup
is the leg wrap (see photo). Better yet,
tie a figure eight loop on the rope below
you and clip it to your belay loop with a
locking carabiner. Tie a friction hitch
(e.g., prusik or klemheist) on the rope
about a foot above your device, then take
a double-length (48-inch) sling, or two
24-inch slings girth-hitched together, and
clip it to the friction hitch. Stand in the
sling so you can unweight your device.
Don’t grab the friction hitch itself, which
can cause it to slide down the rope.
Another situation is when you’ve
completed a double-rope rappel,
proceed to pull on one strand to retrieve
your rope—and the rope is hopelessly
jammed. This can happen when the rope
is twisted a few times below the anchor,
or if the rope is wedged tight in a crack.
You’ll need to prusik back up the ropes
to fix the problem.

Demonstration of basic prusiking

technique to ascend a double rope as in a
stuck rappel rope scenario. With the top
friction hitch slid as high up the rope as
possible, hang in your harness and put
your foot in the sling attached to the
lower friction hitch. (Left) Stand up in
the foot sling and slide the top friction
hitch as high up the rope as you can; then
(right) hang in your harness and repeat
the process. As a backup as you ascend,
tie an overhand loop on both strands and
clip it to your harness belay loop with a
locking carabiner.

Another scenario is on a multipitch

rappel where you’ve lost your way and
can’t find the next anchor, you’ve
rappelled past the anchor, or your rope
is too short to reach the next ledge or
anchor. In all these cases you’ll need to
prusik back up the rope to resolve the
situation.
In each scenario you’re dealing with
a doubled rope (two stands), and the
best method is simply to tie friction
hitches around both strands of rope. A
prusik or klemheist knot is a good choice
for rope ascending. If you don’t have any
prusik cord at your disposal (a 5mm or
6mm soft nylon cord works best) and
only have slings, the klemheist knot is
preferable. A nylon sling is a better
choice than a Dyneema or Spectra sling
for a friction hitch, since nylon grips
better and has a higher melting point than
either Dyneema or Spectra.
There are myriad prusiking methods,
but I’ll describe only one here, because I
believe it is the fastest, simplest rig,
requiring the least amount of gear. All
you’ll need are two prusik cords, three
regular length (24-inch) slings, and three
locking carabiners.
The basic setup for improvised rope
ascension is to tie two separate friction
hitches—the top one attached directly to
your harness with a 24-inch sling, the
other used with a foot sling (also
attached to your harness with a sling).
The procedure is a simple, inchworm-
like technique. Stand on the bottom sling
and slide the top friction hitch as high as
you can reach, then immediately sit back
in your harness, with your weight on the
top friction hitch. Now that you are more
or less comfortably hanging in your
harness, move the bottom friction hitch
up until your leg in the foot sling is bent
at a 90-degree angle at the knee. Stand
up in the sling, using your hands for
balance by grabbing the rope with both
hands below the top friction hitch, and
slide the top friction hitch up again as
high as you can reach. Remember, don’t
grab the body of the friction hitch itself
—this can loosen the hitch and cause it
to slide down the rope.
Prusik rig with cord. The top cord was
rigged by taking a 5-foot length of 6mm
nylon cord and tying a loop in both ends,
with the top loop large enough to tie a
prusik knot. The bottom length of cord is
11 feet long, tied with loops on both
ends and a larger loop in the middle to
accommodate the prusik knot.

Although it may sound complicated,

and can be a little awkward, the
technique can be mastered quickly with
a bit of practice. To back up the friction
hitches, simply take both rope strands
together and tie a figure eight loop
below the friction hitches, then clip the
loop into your harness belay loop with a
locking carabiner. This is known as
“clipping in short” and should be done at
regular intervals (every 15 feet or so)
when you’re ascending a long way.

Ascending a Single Fixed

Rope
To ascend a single strand of fixed line,
the same methods just described apply,
although you may need an extra wrap
with your friction hitch to add a little
more friction on a single rope. For
example, if ascending a doubled 10mm
diameter rope with a prusik, two wraps
of your prusik cord (i.e., four strands)
will probably suffice, where on a single
cord three wraps (six strands) are
usually optimal. When ascending a
single 10mm diameter rope with a
klemheist knot, with either cord or sling,
I usually go with four wraps.
If you have an ABD (like a Petzl
Grigri) or an autoblocking belay/rappel
device (like the Petzl Reverso or Black
Diamond ATC Guide), there is a very
simple system you can use to ascend a
single-strand fixed rope. Clip the Grigri
or ABD device into your harness belay
loop; if you’re using an autoblocking
belay device, clip it into your harness
belay loop in the autoblocking mode. Tie
a friction hitch (prusik or klemheist) on
the rope above your device and attach a
48-inch foot sling to the friction hitch.
Slide the friction hitch up until your foot
sling is positioned at the height where
your leg is bent 90 degrees at the knee.
Grab the rope above you with your non-
brake hand and stand up in the sling,
simultaneously pulling the rope through
the device at your waist by pulling
straight up on the brake strand with your
brake hand, then sit back and rest in your
harness on the locked-off device. When
you’re hanging in your harness, slide the
friction hitch up again until your knee is
bent at a 90-degree angle, then repeat the
process. Tying a slip hitch for your sling
foot helps your foot stay put. As a
backup, clip in short every 15 feet or so
by tying a figure eight loop and clipping
it into your harness belay loop with a
locking carabiner. This is an easy and
quick method for a short rope ascent, but
if you plan on extensive fixed-line
ascending, then mechanical ascenders
are the way to go (see chapter 8).
Instructor Lisa Rands demonstrates
ascending a fixed line with a friction
hitch and a Grigri. As she straightens out
her left leg and stands up, she’ll pull up
on the brake strand side of the rope
above the Grigri, then sit in her harness
tight to the Grigri as she slides the
klemheist back up.
Mini ascenders like the Petzl Tibloc
(left) and the Wild Country Ropeman
(right) are much faster and efficient than
friction hitches for rope ascending.

Assistance from the Top

3:1 Raising System

One reason to use the direct belay
technique with an ABD when belaying is
that it is easily converted to a 3:1 raising
system (aka the Z system) in a matter of
seconds. As a climbing guide, the direct
belay is always my first choice,
providing the anchor is bomber, because
it allows me to anticipate and prepare
for any eventuality, like a quick
lowering or raising of the climber. I use
my Grigri, clipped directly to the master
point or extended master point (using the
climbing rope).
If you’re direct belaying with an
autoblocking device (e.g., Black
Diamond ATC Guide or Petzl Reverso),
the 3:1 system enumerated here will still
work, but you’ll have way more friction
in the system, which will make the raise
much more difficult.
To set up a 3:1 raise, follow these
steps:
1. Tie a backup knot (overhand loop) on
the brake strand side of the Grigri.
Now I’m “hands free” and can take
my brake hand off the rope.
 Tie a friction hitch (prusik or
2. klemheist) on the load strand going
down to the climber.
3. Clip the brake strand side of the rope
(from the Grigri) to a locking
carabiner clipped to the friction
hitch. Now untie the backup knot and
pull up on the brake strand side of
the rope. Pulling 3 feet on your end
raises the load 1 foot. Friction is
your enemy when raising with a 3:1.
If the rope going to the climber is in
contact with a large surface area of
rock, the raise will be
correspondingly more difficult. A
pulley at the friction hitch carabiner
reduces friction and makes it easier
to pull. Remember, this technique is
for assisting a climber, helping him
get past a tough spot, not for hauling
up a severely injured or unconscious
climber.
A 3:1 raising system using a Grigri and
klemheist knot.
Also known as the Z system, the 3:1
raising system is easy to rig if you’re
already using a Grigri for a direct belay.
The Grigri is the ratchet (which locks off
when you need to reset), and the friction
hitch (in this example, a klemheist knot)
is your tractor (which moves up and down
the field).
A 5:1 raising system with two friction
hitches.
4. When the friction hitch is all the way
to the Grigri, reset the friction hitch
by sliding it back down toward the
climber. The Grigri’s built-in ratchet
will lock off and hold the load as
you do this. Then continue the raise.
By building a 3:1 on top of a 3:1, you get
a 9:1. When you pull 9 feet of rope, the
load is raised 1 foot. But be careful here;
whatever force you’re pulling with is
multiplied about eight times on the
anchor. In most scenarios a 3:1 is more
than adequate to do the job if the climber
you’re trying to pull up is assisting by
climbing the rock as well as she can.

3:1 Assisted Raise from a

Direct Belay
For this method the climber must be
close enough that you can throw her a
bight of rope. The climber clips the rope
into her harness to assist in the raise.
Using this system allows both the
climber and rescuer to work together,
and makes it much easier for the rescuer
to raise the climber.
If you are the belayer/rescuer, the
steps are as follows:
1. Tie a backup knot (overhand loop) on
the brake strand side of your ABD or
autoblocking device.
2. Toss a bight of rope down to the
climber and have her clip it into her
belay loop with a locking carabiner.
A 3:1 assisted raise. With the climber
also pulling, you get a tremendous
mechanical advantage, making it far
easier to raise someone than with an
unassisted 3:1 raise.
3. Identify which strand the climber
should pull on by shaking it.
4. Untie the backup knot.
5. The climber pulls down as you pull up
on the brake strand side of the rope.
Warn the climber to watch her hands
so they are not pinched in the
carabiner as you pull.

Assistance from Below

In more than thirty years of
professionally guiding thousands of
clients in toprope situations, I’ve only
had a few instances where I actually had
to go up on the rock and bring a climber
down—all of them being in toprope
situations with young kids who were
overcome by fear and mentally lost
control, afraid to lean back and weight
the rope so they could be lowered back
down. Having the knowledge and skills
to go up the rope and bring a climber
down is important in case you ever have
to assist an injured climber, even in a
toprope situation.
Basic assistance skills will allow you to
assist your partner if needed.

Climber Pickoff on a
Toprope
I call this technique the “climber
pickoff,” and it is essentially the same
technique you can use to rescue a fallen
lead climber who is injured and can’t be
lowered. The difference in a toprope
situation is that you’re dealing with a
bomber anchor, not just the one piece of
gear that held the leader’s fall. If you
practice this technique in a benign
toprope setup, and get it completely
dialed in, you’ll have more “tools in
your tool box” if, God forbid, you ever
need to rescue a fallen leader who can’t
be lowered.
The climber pickoff is most easily
accomplished with an ABD, like a
Grigri. I highly recommend carrying a
Grigri as a part of your basic personal
rescue package, as it streamlines and
facilitates all the basic rescue techniques
described here. To me it’s worth its
weight in gold. My second-best choice
would be an autoblocking device, like
an ATC Guide or Petzl Reverso. I’d also
recommend first learning the climber
pickoff with a Grigri before trying it
without one. The climber pickoff utilizes
a counterbalance ascension and
counterbalance rappel technique.
Basically, you ascend the rope to the
climber, then rappel down with him. The
beauty of this system is that it requires
minimal equipment and can be done very
quickly.
All you need is the following
equipment as your rescue package:
• 1 ABD (Grigri) with locking carabine
• 1 double-length (48-inch) sling with
locking carabiner
• 1 prusik cord (5mm or 6mm soft nylon
cord, 4 feet long, tied into a sling
with a double fisherman’s knot)

If you are already belaying with a

Grigri, here are the steps:
1. Start by tying a backup knot (overhand
loop) on the brake strand side of the
Grigri.
2. Tie a friction hitch (klemheist or
prusik) with your prusik cord on the
load strand going up to the climber,
and attach your double-length sling
to it with a locking carabiner.
3. Ascend the rope by sliding the friction
hitch up so that when you put your
foot in the sling, your knee is bent at
a 90-degree angle. You can tie a knot
in the sling to shorten it as needed.
Stand up in the sling, and as you
straighten your leg, simultaneously
pull the slack through the Grigri
(pulling straight up on the brake
strand) and hang in your harness off
the Grigri. Alternate standing up in
the sling, then hanging in your
harness, tight to the Grigri. About
 every 15 feet or so, tie a backup knot
(overhand loop) on the brake strand
side of the Grigri.
4. When you reach the climber, transfer
the friction hitch from your side of
the rope onto the rope above the
climber you’re assisting. Take the
double-length sling and thread it
(basket style) through your belay
loop, and clip both ends of the sling
to the locking carabiner attached to
the friction hitch. Where you position
the friction hitch (klemheist or
prusik) will affect where the assisted
climber will be positioned. If the
friction hitch is as high as you can
slide it, the climber will remain at
that position as you both rappel. If
 you position the friction hitch just
above the knot, the climber will
move up and slightly above you
before you both descend.
5. Rappel with the Grigri, untying the
backup knots as you descend.

If you are belaying with an MBD

(like an ATC) or combo device (like an
ATC Guide or Petzl Reverso), the
sequence will be as follows:
1. Tie off your belay device with a mule
knot.
2. Tie a friction hitch (prusik or
klemheist) on the load strand (going
up to the climber) of your rope.
3. Thread (basket style) the double-length
 sling through your belay loop, and
attach it to the friction hitch with a
locking carabiner.
4. Tie a backup knot (figure eight loop),
and clip it to your belay loop with a
locking carabiner.

5. Release the mule knot, and create

slack at your belay device—the
tension will now be transferred to
the friction hitch, with you
essentially becoming an anchor.
6. If you have a Grigri, unclip your belay
device and replace it with the Grigri.
If you’re belaying with an
autoblocking device (e.g., ATC
Guide or Petzl Reverso), switch it to
the autoblocking mode and clip it to
your belay loop with a locking
carabiner.
Counterbalance ascension using
klemheist and Grigri.
7. Transfer the weight of the hanging
climber from your friction hitch/sling
to your ABD or autoblocking device
by taking up all the slack in the rope
and pulling upward on the brake
strand side of the rope, using your
body weight as the anchor.
8. Unclip one end of the sling from the
locking carabiner at the friction
hitch.
9. Ascend the rope by sliding the friction
hitch up so that when you put your
foot in the sling, your knee is bent at
a 90-degree angle. You can tie a knot
in the sling to shorten it as needed.
Stand up in the sling, and as you
straighten your leg, simultaneously
pull the slack through the Grigri
(pulling straight up on the brake
strand) and hang in your harness off
the Grigri. Alternate standing up in
the sling, then hanging in your
harness, tight to the Grigri. About
every 10 feet or so, tie a backup knot
(overhand loop) on the brake strand
side of the Grigri.
Counterbalance rappel.
Counterbalance pickoff using an ATC
Guide. On the way up, she used her ATC
Guide in the autoblocking mode in lieu
of a Grigri, then converted it to manual
rappelling mode, backed up with an
autoblock, for a counterbalance rappel
descent.
10. When you reach the climber, transfer
the friction hitch from your side of
the rope onto the rope above the
climber you’re assisting. Take the
double-length sling and thread it
(basket style) through your belay
loop, and clip both ends of the sling
to the locking carabiner attached to
the friction hitch. Where you position
the friction hitch will affect where
the climber you are bringing down
will be positioned. If the friction
 hitch is as high as you can slide it,
the climber will remain at that
position as you both rappel. If you
position the friction hitch (klemheist
or prusik) just above the knot, the
climber will move up and slightly
above you before you both descend.
11. Rappel with the Grigri, untying the
backup knots as you descend. If
you’re using an autoblocking device,
convert it to manual mode, and back
it up with an autoblock knot on your
brake hand side. You’ll need an
additional prusik/klemheist on your
side of the rope, above the device, to
make this conversion. Make sure
you’ve backed everything up with a
figure eight loop attached to your
 belay loop with a locking carabiner.

If you’re using an MBD, and don’t

have an ABD or autoblocking device at
your disposal, you can still use this
system, but you’ll need an additional
prusik and slings (see the improvised
rope ascension discussion above).

Rescuing a Fallen Leader

When I’m teaching self-rescue skills,
students often want to go straight to a
worst-case scenario: How do I rescue a
fallen leader?
In most cases it’s one of the easiest
scenarios: The leader falls and sustains
an injury, but is not incapacitated, and
his top piece is less than 100 feet above
your belay. Solution: You simply lower
him back down.
In cases where the leader’s top piece
is more than 100 feet above your belay,
the first option, as long as the leader is
not too badly injured, is to lower him to
a point less than 100 feet above you—to
a good ledge or stance—where he can
build an anchor, transfer to it, pull his
lead rope, and rig a rappel to get back
down to your belay stance or the ground.
But that’s asking a lot if the leader is
dealing with a distracting and painful
injury.
The scenario gets increasing
complex if the leader is more than 100
feet above you and is so severely injured
that he is not able to perform tasks like
building an anchor, rigging a rappel, etc.
This is where your assistance from
below comes into play.
Before attempting to rescue a fallen
leader, your initial consideration should
be the viability of the piece the leader
fell on, since you’ll both be using it as
your anchor. It’s a given that it held the
fall, but is it a #2 Camalot or a #2
stopper? How far below is the next
piece that backs it up? And how many
pieces are between you, the rescuer, and
the top piece. These are all important
factors to consider before you proceed,
as you are now putting yourself at
greater risk too.
The initial goal is for either you or
the fallen leader to reach a ledge or
stance with a solid anchor less than 100
feet below the top piece the leader has
fallen on. The fastest way to accomplish
this is for you to tie off and back up your
belay device (tie a figure eight loop and
clip it your harness belay loop with a
locking biner) then climb up as the
leader is lowered down to a point where
he can clip into a solid piece. You can
switch to rope ascending mode at any
point to reach his position.
Another option, if the leader is
moderately incapacitated, is for you to
ascend the rope while the leader stays in
place as a counterbalance. If you’re on a
multipitch climb, cleaning the gear from
the anchor and a few pieces as you
ascend upward will give you some gear
to help build a higher anchor, but if
possible you’ll want to leave at least a
few pieces between you and the top
piece for safety.
Once you get to that point less than
100 feet from the top piece, build an
anchor and lower the leader to join you.
From here you can proceed with a
counterbalance or tandem rappel.
Having the right tools in your rescue
“toolbox” will allow you to perform self
rescues no matter what the scenario.

If you’re ascending all the way to the

fallen leader, he can provide additional
security for you, if you can unweight the
rope, by clipping your side of the rope
into a piece of gear with a clove hitch or
loop knot or, if you can’t unweight the
rope, with a friction hitch.
In situations where the leader
exhibits sustained unconsciousness,
possible spinal cord injury, or other
critical injuries, you’re going to need
help from a rescue team, and possibly a
helicopter evacuation. Every situation is
different, and obviously if you’re in a
remote setting, help from a rescue team
may be a long time coming. Having the
right rescue tools in your climbing “tool
box” will help you improvise in even
worst-case scenarios.
If you’re interested in studying more
advanced self-rescue techniques, I
highly recommend Self-Rescue, second
edition, by David Fasulo
(FalconGuides).
 CHAPTER 13

Knots

Loop Knots
Loop knots are tied by taking two
strands of rope (called a bight) and
wrapping them back over themselves so
that the knot does not slide, or by taking
the end of the rope and tying it back over
the standing part so the knot does not
slide. Loop knots are used to clip the
rope into a carabiner, or to tie around an
object.
 Knot Terminology
Bend: Two ropes tied together by their ends.
Bight: Two strands of rope where the rope is
doubled back on itself.
Load strand: The strand of the rope that
bears all the weight.
Hitch: A knot that is tied around another
object (such as a carabiner or rope).
Standing end: The part of the rope that the
end of the rope crosses to form a knot.
Tag end: The very end of a rope, or the tail
end that protrudes from a knot.

Overhand Loop
This is the simplest knot you can tie to
form a loop. It requires less rope to tie
than the figure eight, which makes it
useful on cordelettes when you don’t
quite have enough length to tie the master
point with a figure eight loop. For most
applications, however, the figure eight
loop is superior because it tests about 10
percent stronger than the overhand loop
and is easier to untie in small-diameter
cord.
Overhand loop.
Finished overhand loop.

Tying In with a Figure Eight

Follow-Through
Check your harness manufacturer’s
guidelines for information on how to
properly tie the rope to your harness. For
harnesses with belay loops, you generally
follow the same path as the belay loop,
which goes through two tie-in points on
the harness. Tie the figure eight so that
its loop is about the same diameter as
your belay loop. The figure eight knot
does not require a backup knot.

Figure Eight Follow-

Through
The standard knot for tying the rope to
your harness, it can also be used to tie a
rope around an object like a tree or
through a tunnel. Tie it with a 5-inch
minimum tail, and tighten all four strands
to dress the knot.
Tucked figure eight. Sport climbers often
use this variation of the figure eight
follow-through, which makes the knot
easier to untie after hanging/falling.

Figure Eight Loop

Another standard climbing knot, the
figure eight loop is used for tying off the
end of a rope, or for tying a loop in the
middle, or bight, of a rope. It is also
commonly referred to as a “figure eight
on a bight.”
How to tie a figure eight loop.
Finished figure eight loop clipped to an
anchor.

In-Line Figure Eight

Tying the In-line Figure

Eight (aka Directional
Figure Eight)

1. This knot, like the clove hitch, can be

used with the extension rope to attach to
a series of anchors in a line. It takes
some practice to master this knot, but
after you do, you may find it easier to
use than a clove hitch. Cross the strands
to form a simple loop.

2. Cross a bight under the single strand.

3. Cross the bight over the strand.

4. Thread the bight back through the loop

you’ve just formed.

5. Finished in-line figure eight.

Bowline
If you were a Boy Scout, you learned
this knot with the saying “the rabbit
comes up through the hole, around the
tree, and back down through the hole.”
The bowline is very useful to tie the
rope around something, like a tree, block
of rock, or tunnel in the rock.
Tying the bowline. The bowline should
always be tied with a backup, shown here
with half a double fisherman’s knot for
the backup (photo 4).
The bowline knot with fisherman’s
backup.

Rethreaded bowline. Tie a regular

bowline, but leave the tail long enough to
go all the way back around the object
you’re tying around, then retrace the start
of the knot, like you would on a figure
eight follow-through, finishing with a
fisherman’s backup. This is a great knot
to use for tying a rope around a tree or
through a tunnel, because you end up with
two loops, adding strength and
redundancy to your rigging.

Tying a bowline with a bight (not to be

confused with the bowline on a bight also
known as the double-loop bowline). The
big advantage of the bowline with a bight
is that you can tie around an object
anywhere down the length of the rope
without having to pull the tail all the way
through. It’s essentially the same
configuration as a simple bowline, but
tied with two strands of rope—very
useful for tying to trees if using the
Joshua Tree System for a toprope rig.
Back it up with an overhand (photo 4).

It is important to note that a bowline

knot requires a backup, as weighting and
unweighting the knot easily loosens it.
Always tie half a double fisherman’s
knot to back it up. One advantage of the
bowline is this same feature—it is very
easy to untie after it has been weighted,
so it’s used regularly by professional
riggers. Be aware that an unsecured
bowline used as a tie-in knot (without
the backup knot) has been responsible
for several climbing accidents when it
came untied.
Toprope setup using the Joshua Tree
System on rock horns. The top horn is
tied with a simple bowline, backed up
with half a double fisherman’s knot. The
bottom horn is tied using a bowline with
a bight, backed up with an overhand. The
master point is tied with a BHK. This is a
great system to use on two trees.

Double-Loop Knots

BHK
BHK is an acronym for “big honking
knot.” Technically, it’s an overhand knot
tied on a doubled bight. It’s commonly
used to rig a redundant master point
when rigging toprope anchors with an
extension rope.
1. Tying a BHK. Start with a bight of rope
and double it.
2. Tie an overhand knot on all four
strands.
3. Thread the two loops back through the
single loops you’ve created . . .
4. . . . or incorporate all three loops into
the master point carabiners.

Double-Loop Figure Eight

This knot is very useful for pre-
equalizing two anchor points. Note that
if the two loops are used together to
form a master point, they are not
redundant due to the rewoven
configuration.

Tying the Double-Loop

Figure Eight
1. Take a bight of rope and cross it back
over itself, forming a loop. (above left)

2. Take two strands of the bight and wrap

them around the standing part, then poke
them through the loop. (above right)
3. To finish, take the loop at the very end
of the bight and fold it down and around
the entire knot you’ve just formed.
(right)
The double-loop figure eight is a great
knot to use to equalize two gear
placements. You can manipulate the knot
by loosening one strand and feeding it
through the body of the knot, shortening
one loop, which makes the other loop
larger. Unlike the double-loop bowline,
the double-loop figure eight does not
require a backup knot.

Double-Loop Bowline (aka

Bowline on a Bight)
This is another great knot for pre-
equalizing two anchor points. It’s very
handy for clipping into a two-bolt
anchor. Back it up with half a double
fisherman’s knot if the tail end is near
the body of the knot, as it can shift a bit
when weighted.

Tying the Double-Loop

Bowline

1. Take a bight of rope and cross it over

the standing part.

2. Thread the bight through the loop

you’ve just formed.
3. Configure the end of the bight in a
loop above the rest of the knot.
4. Flip the loop down like a hinge behind
the rest of the knot.
5. Pull on the two loops until the end of
the bight tightens at the base of the knot.
6. The two loops can be adjusted by
feeding one strand into the body of the
knot, which alternately shortens one loop
and lengthens the other.

Knots for Webbing

Nylon webbing is a slick material that
should be tied with caution. There have
been many accidents where poorly tied
knots in nylon webbing have failed. The
two recommended knots for tying nylon
webbing into a loop are the water knot
(also known as the ring bend) and the
double fisherman’s knot (also known as
the grapevine knot). When tying the
water knot, your finished tails should be
a minimum of 3 inches in length. It is
important to tighten the water knot
properly, as it has a tendency to loosen
if tied slackly in a sling that is being
used over time.
Tying the water knot (ring bend).

Why would you even use nylon

webbing tied with a knot as opposed to a
sewn runner? A sewn nylon runner is
stronger than the same material tied with
a knot. The answer is for rappel anchors
when you tie slings around a tree or
through bolt hangers. It is also
sometimes useful to untie the knot, thread
it through something (like a tunnel), and
retie it.
Tying nylon webbing with a double
fisherman’s (grapevine) knot.

The water knot.

The double fisherman’s knot is also

a good knot to use to tie nylon webbing
into a loop, although it does require
more length of material to tie and is very
difficult to untie after it has been
seriously weighted.

Bends
A bend is a knot that joins two ropes or
lengths of cord together. These knots are
used to tie your cordelette into a loop,
and also to tie two ropes together for
toproping or rappelling.

Figure Eight Bend

A variation of the figure eight follow-
through, this knot can be used to tie two
ropes together. It has superior strength
and is easy to untie after it has been
weighted. It is simply a retraced figure
eight. On 9mm to 11mm diameter rope,
tie it with the tails a minimum of 5
inches long.

The figure eight bend.

Double Fisherman’s Knot

This is the preferred knot to use for
joining nylon cord into a loop to make a
cordelette. It is also a very secure knot
to tie two ropes together for a double-
rope rappel, but it can be difficult to
untie.

Tying the double fisherman’s knot (aka

grapevine knot). When tying 7mm nylon
cord, leave the tails about 3 inches long.
The double fisherman’s knot.

Triple Fisherman’s Knot

For 5mm and 6mm diameter high-tech
cord (e.g., Spectra, Dyneema,
Technora), a triple fisherman’s knot tests
slightly stronger than the double
fisherman’s.
To tie a triple fisherman’s knot, make
three wraps before feeding the cord back
through.
Completed triple fisherman’s knot.

Knots for Joining Two

Rappel Ropes
Standard knots for joining two ropes
include the double fisherman’s knot and
the figure eight bend. The double
fisherman’s is more difficult to untie
than the figure eight bend once weighted;
the figure eight bend, while relatively
easy to untie, is bulky. Tie these knots
with a minimum of 5 inches of tail, and
carefully tighten the knots before using
them. A stiff rope makes it harder to
cinch the knots tight, so be especially
careful with a stiffer rope.
Figure eight bend.

Which knot you use should be based

on several variables. If the ropes differ
drastically in diameter, or are very stiff,
the most foolproof knot is the figure
eight bend, backed up with half a double
fisherman’s knot on each side. This is a
bulky knot, but it gives you a real sense
of absolute security.
Figure eight bend with fisherman’s
backups.

Flat Overhand (aka Euro

Death Knot)
How this knot received the “Euro Death
Knot” moniker is unclear. Most likely
the knot was initially adopted by
Europeans and deemed unsafe when first
seen by American climbers unfamiliar
with its use. As far as I know, it has
been responsible for only one rappelling
accident in recent times (in the Tetons,
September 1997), when it was sloppily
tied with too short a tail. Ironically, in
July of that year, former Rock and Ice
magazine editor George Bracksieck had
written that “the one-sided over-hand
knot (tails parallel and together) remains
the best knot for rappelling. . . . Be sure
to leave plenty of tail and to set it
snugly.”
Flat overhand knot.

After analyzing the accident, Grand

Teton ranger Mark Magnusun wrote: “I
intend to do some additional research in
an effort to gain information on the
overhand knot used for joining ropes, the
origin of the ‘Euro-death’ nickname, and
incidents of other failures.”
From 1999 to 2009 various tests
revealed the flat overhand knot to be
roughly 30 percent weaker than the
double fisherman’s for tying two ropes
together, but still plenty strong for
rappelling situations. Testing also
revealed that it was virtually impossible
to get the knot to fail—as long as it was
tied with a suitable-length tail and
properly tightened.
Flat overhand with overhand backup.

Petzl, a leading manufacturer of

rappelling devices, recommends the flat
overhand as the knot to use for joining
two rappel ropes together, if the ropes
are of similar diameter and the tail is a
minimum of 20 centimeters (8 inches).
The flat overhand has become
widely adopted as the knot for joining
two rappel ropes of similar diameters
because it is easy to tie and easy to untie
after it has been weighted, and it
presents a clean profile when pulled
down the cliff as the ropes are retrieved,
thus less likely to jam in a crack. Multi-
pitch guides often tie their cordelettes
with a flat overhand so that the knot can
be easily untied and the cordelette used
for other applications. For added
security it can be easily backed up
simply by tying another flat overhand
right on top of the first one, although this
adds bulk.
There are a few cautions, however:
The flat overhead knot is not
recommended for tying together two
ropes of drastically differing diameters
(e.g., 7mm to 11mm), or for use on very
stiff ropes. The bottom line is that the
knot should be used with discretion,
well tightened (pull as hard as you can
on all four strands), and tied with a long
tail (minimum of 8 inches). Personally, I
use the flat overhand (with a second
overhand backup) in situations where
I’m concerned about the knot possibly
jamming in a crack when I pull the rope
down for retrieval. Otherwise I use a
figure eight bend or double fisherman’s.

EBGBs (5.10d), Joshua Tree.

The flat overhand is a very poor

choice for use with nylon webbing, and
it has been responsible for numerous
rappel anchor failures where it was tied
in webbing with a very short tail. An
even worse knot for rope and webbing,
and a knot responsible for numerous
accidents, is the flat figure eight, which
inverts at shockingly low loads as the
knot rolls inward and capsizes. The flat
eight is a knot to be avoided and is very
dangerous if tied with short tails,
especially in nylon webbing.

Hitches
A hitch is a knot that is tied around
something. The clove hitch is used to
fasten a rope to a carabiner. A friction
hitch is a knot tied with a cord or sling
around another rope, utilizing friction to
make the knot hold when it is weighted,
but releasable and movable without
untying when it is unweighted.

Clove Hitch
The clove hitch is tied around the wide
base of a carabiner. The beauty of the
clove hitch is easy rope-length
adjustment without unclipping from the
carabiner, making it a truly versatile
knot for anchoring purposes—for
anchoring a belayer, tying off an
anchoring extension rope, or tying off the
arms of a cordelette.
Tying the clove hitch.

Get in the habit of tying the load-

bearing strand on the spine side of the
carabiner; you’ll ensure that you’re
loading the carabiner in the strongest
configuration. Make sure you tighten the
clove hitch properly by cranking down
on both strands, and you’re good to go.

Munter Hitch
Tied on a carabiner, the Munter hitch
can be used for belaying, lowering, and
rappelling. It can be tied off and
released under tension, a benefit that
makes it a key knot for rescue and
assistance applications. The Munter can
be tied off and secured with a mule knot.

Tying a Munter Hitch on a

Carabiner
Tying a Munter Hitch

1. Grasp a single strand of rope with both

hands, with thumbs pointing toward each
other.
2. Cross the right-hand strand on top of
the left-hand strand, and hold the two
strands where they cross with your left
thumb and forefinger, then slide your
right hand down about 6 inches.
3. Now bring the right strand up and
behind the loop.
4. Clip a locking carabiner where the
forefinger is shown here, below the top
two strands.

Tying a Mule Knot

1. When tying a mule knot, be aware that
when the rope is under tension (holding a
climber’s weight), you’ll need to keep a
firm grip on the brake strand.
2. Keeping the load and brake strands
parallel, form a loop on the brake strand
by crossing it behind while still
maintaining your grip with your brake
hand.
3. With your non-brake hand, take a bight
of rope and pass it through the loop
you’ve created with the load strand in
between the loop and the bight. Snug the
mule knot up tight against the Munter
hitch.
4. Pull some slack, and finish with an
overhand loop backup.

Tying Off a Tube Device

with a Mule Knot in Front
of the Device

1. Pass a bight of rope (from the brake

hand side) through the belay carabiner.

2. Tie a mule knot above the device on

the load strand of the rope going to the
climber.
3. Finish by tying an overhand backup on
the load strand.

Tying Off a Tube Device on

the Spine of a Carabiner
1. Pass a bight of rope through the
carabiner and form a loop. If the device
is under tension, pinching the rope
against the device with the opposite hand
will help lock it off.
2. Pass a bight of rope through the loop
you’ve created, with the spine between
the loop and the bight.
3. Finish with an overhand loop backup
on the load strand in front of the device.

Prusik Knot
A prusik knot is used for rope ascending
and as a component in many rescue
systems. It can be loaded in either
direction. To tie a prusik, first make a
“prusik cord” out of a 4- to 5-foot length
of 5mm or 6mm diameter nylon cord tied
into a loop with a double fisherman’s
knot, which gives you about a 16-inch
loop. Buy the softest, most pliable nylon
cord you can find, because a softer cord
will grip best. To tie the prusik, simply
make a girth-hitch around the rope with
your cord, then pass the loop of cord
back through the original girth-hitch two
or three more times. Dress the knot to
make sure all the strands are even and
not twisted—a sloppy friction hitch will
not grip as well. Test the knot before
using it. A thinner cord will grip better,
but below 5mm in diameter, the cord
will be too weak for many rescue
applications. To slide the prusik after it
has been weighted, loosen the “tongue,”
which is the one strand opposite all the
wraps.
Tests on various friction hitches
reveal that the prusik consistently has the
most holding power in a wide array of
cord and rope combinations. Use the
prusik in scenarios (like 3:1 raising
systems) where it will be loaded with
more than body weight.
Tying a prusik knot.
A four-wrap prusik.

Klemheist Knot
This is another useful friction hitch that
is quick and easy to tie—a good choice
as a rope-ascending knot, or if you’re
forced to use a sling rather than a piece
of cord to tie a friction hitch. If using
asling, pick a nylon one (preferably
18mm/¹¹⁄ -inchwidth) over a Spectra or
Dyneema sling; nylon grips better and is
less susceptible to weakening if it gets
hot (nylon has a higher melting point).
Four wraps of 6mm cord (or ¹¹⁄ nylon)
tied on a single 10mm diameter rope
usually work well. After the hitch has
been weighted, loosen the tongue (the
one strand opposite all the wraps) to
slide it more easily.

Tying the Klemheist Knot

Completed klemheist knot.

Autoblock
Sometimes called the “third hand,” the
autoblock is used to back up your brake
hand when lowering someone, or to back
up your brake hand when rappelling. Tie
it with your loop of 5mm or 6mm
diameter nylon cord wrapped three or
four times around the climbing rope.
When I tie it on a single strand of 10mm
diameter climbing rope (as in a lowering
situation), I usually make four wraps.
For a rappel backup on a doubled 10mm
rope, I usually go with three wraps.
The autoblock with nylon cord. To
construct an autoblock, I’ve found that a
good length of cord is 3-foot 9-inches,
tied with a double fisherman’s knot.
Select the softest, most pliable 5mm or
6mm nylon cord you can find.
The Sterling Hollow Block, shown here
wrapped in an autoblock configuration, is
a 100 percent Technora sling designed
specifically for use with friction hitches.

Stopper Knot
This knot is used as a safety knot in the
end of a rope. It is essentially half a
double fisherman’s knot tied on one
strand of rope. A stopper knot prevents
the end of a belay rope from passing
through the belay device, and prevents
rappelling off the end of the rope if
rappelling with a plate, tube, or assisted
braking (e.g., Grigri) device. When
using two ropes, I tie a separate knot at
the end of each rope, as tying both ropes
together can cause the ropes to twist
around each other.
Tying a Stopper Knot

It sounds almost too simple, but the best

way to avoid rappelling off the end of
your rope is simply to tie a stopper knot
in the rope’s end. The stopper knot can,
however, pass through a figure eight
descending ring, so if you’re rappelling
with that particular device and want a
safety knot at the end of your rope,
you’ll need to use a bulkier knot that
cannot pass through it.
Joshua Tree Search and Rescue Team in
action at Joshua Tree National Park,
California.
 CHAPTER 14

Risk Management

I n 1980 my partner and I started up

the Salathe Wall of El Capitan,
planning to veer off up higher and climb
the infamous Shield route—a smooth,
overhanging headwall of granite climbed
via a 600-foot incision that splits the
wall.
On our way up the Free Blast, the
first twelve pitches of the Salathe Wall
up to Mammoth Terrace, we climbed
smoothly and efficiently, and in no time,
we were only a few pitches shy of the
terrace, where we planned to bivy.
Suddenly I heard faint calls for help,
muffled by the afternoon breeze. Soon,
from the valley floor, came a broadcast
through a bullhorn: “Climbers
approaching Mammoth Terrace. If you
can hear us, raise your right arm.” It was
the YOSAR, the Yosemite Search and
Rescue team rangers, who had their
telescope trained on us. The
conversation went back and forth like a
game of charades: “Climbers on
Mammoth Terrace, if you’re in need of a
rescue raise your right arm.” When we
reached the ledge and found the two
climbers, they looked strung out. They’d
been up there for two nights, with no
food or water. One of the guys had
stretched his T-shirt down to his ankles,
and he looked cold and grim. The first
thing he said was “You don’t smoke, do
you?” And I didn’t.
Their plan had been to climb the
Triple Direct route, then base jump off
the top. They planned on fixing lines
down from Heart Ledge, but made a
serious mistake by putting five ropes in a
single pack. The nonredundant strap on
their pack broke under the weight when
they clipped it in, leaving them only one
rope—and no food or water.
With various questions via bullhorn
from YOSAR and various responses
with raised arms from us, we agreed to
assist the stranded climbers.
We agreed to abandon our climb and
rappel with the two unfortunates to the
ground. Down on the valley floor they
proceeded to give me their rack as a gift,
and swore they’d never climb again.
Afterward, YOSAR chief John Dill
asked if I’d like to join him for dinner.
After a thorough debrief John asked if
I’d like to join the YOSAR team. I guess
my partner and I saved them a lot of
work.
And so began a serendipitous period
in my life where I worked to help
unlucky climbers who’d been in
accidents. The perks: free unlimited
camping at the Camp 4 rescue site in
addition to high wages during actual
rescues.

Anatomy of an Accident
Proper risk management in the rock
climbing environment involves
identifying and assessing hazards, then
making the right decisions to avoid them.
If the hazards can’t be completely
avoided—climbing is not without
hazards and risk—then controls to
mitigate or minimize the risks should be
implemented.
Every year the American Alpine
Club publishes Accidents in North
American Mountaineering, a
comprehensive analysis of all the
climbing accidents for the year. Studying
what happened to other climbers can
heighten your awareness of what to
watch out for to avoid a mishap.
John Dill studied the most serious
climbing accidents that happened in
Yosemite Valley from 1970 to 1990.
During that time fifty-one climbers died
in accidents, 80 percent of those
accidents, Dill estimates, “easily
preventable.” In his article “Staying
Alive,” Dill points out that state of mind
is the key to safety: “It’s impossible to
know how many climbers were killed by
haste or overconfidence, but many
survivors will tell you that they
somehow lost their good judgment long
enough to get hurt. It’s a complex subject
and sometimes a touchy one.
Nevertheless . . . at least three states of
mind frequently contribute to accidents:
ignorance, casualness, and distraction.”
Ignorance is being unaware of a
potential danger. Casualness is not
taking things seriously enough—
complacency reinforced by repeatedly
getting away with practicing poor safety
habits and having nothing go wrong.
Distraction is when something takes your
mind off the important task at hand, and
your brain simply moves on to the next
task without completely checking what
you’ve just done.
My friend Kevin Donald, who used
to run the International Alpine School in
Eldorado Canyon, Colorado, had a
business card he’d pass out to
Hollywood producers when we worked
together as mountain safety officers for
film shoots. The slogan on his card:
“Gravity Never Sleeps.” I took that
adage to heart, especially after a close
friend of mine busted nearly half the
bones in his body and almost died after a
30-foot fall onto a concrete floor during
a seemingly mundane rigging job for a
commercial shoot in an airplane hangar.

Inattentional Blindness
“Inattentional blindness” is a term
psychologists use to describe the
neurological phenomenon that occurs
when the brain fails to see something
obvious, when attention is distracted or
focused on something else.
Psychologists who study multitasking
have found that most of us aren’t the
multitaskers we think we are. Our brain
is simply switching back and forth from
one activity to another, deactivating one
area of focus to process the other task.
Think about it. When you make a mental
error during the course of your day, it’s
almost always because you were
thinking about something else, not the
task at hand.
In my role as an examiner for guides’
certification exams, I’ve seen examples
of inattentional blindness many times
during complicated technical scenarios,
where the guide has moved his or her
focus without seeing an obvious error,
such as a carabiner unlocked at a key
belay or rappel device. It’s as though the
mind skipped a step, or the brain said
that everything was correct and
complete, when in fact it wasn’t—a
cognitive blind spot.
Psychologists theorize that once the
brain determines what is important, it
fills in the picture with whatever your
expectations believe should be there.
These failures of awareness happen to
all of us at one time or another, but
we’re not aware of them, so we don’t
realize what we’ve missed! A
systematic and routine checklist is
helpful, but what we really need to look
for is what might be wrong, not what
looks right.
 Don’t be distracted when performing
crucial tasks, and don’t engage in
conversation when tying in, clipping into
anchors, rigging, making transitions, and
performing technical scenarios. Get in
the habit of double-checking your
systems before engaging.
 Jo Whitford leads Midterm (5.10a),
Yosemite Valley.
PHOTO BY GREG EPPERSON

Pat Ament, the great Colorado

climber of the 1960s and 1970s, writes
in his book Rock Wise: “As with all of
climbing, it is attitude that saves or kills.
There is no better beginning than within
the mind, in the form of complete
concentration. There is no room for
oversight or for dismissing what is
logically understood. Keen intuition
must evaluate all which strikes both
mind and eye.”

Rockfall
The closest call I’ve had in more than
forty years of rock climbing was due to
rockfall. It’s been said that when the
human brain is under the influence of
adrenaline, memories become more
embedded than during its normal state. In
my case, I believe it, since the rockfall
incident I’m recalling happened
seventeen years ago, but I can replay the
moment like it happened a few hours
ago. It was during the first ascent of a
new route in Yosemite Valley. I was
clipped tight to a two-bolt belay anchor.
My partner had nearly completed the
pitch, 120 feet above me, and was
moving over a series of ledges, seeking
a good crack for an anchor. It was his
rope that dislodged the rock. You can
usually judge the size of a falling rock by
how loud your partner yells “ROCK!” I
had one partner who would say
“Pebble” for anything smaller than a golf
ball. But in this case, it was more of a
blood curdling scream, which he
repeated three times: “ROCK! ROCK!
ROCK!” It was roughly the size of a
minifridge, and the moment I saw it, my
brain quickly calculated that the block
would bounce off the wall and squarely
hit me if I didn’t get out of its way.
Tethered to the anchor, I moved
sideways as far as I could, and the rock
barely grazed my shoulder. If my partner
hadn’t warned me, by the time I saw the
rock, it would have been too late. A split
second can make all the difference.
At multipitch areas known for
rockfall, it’s simply not a good idea to
climb below other parties. On ledges on
multipitch routes, and clifftops at single-
pitch crags, be especially vigilant when
pulling your rope around near the edge
of the cliff. In many cases, it’s the
movement of the rope that causes the
rockfall.

Closing the System

In both single-pitch and multipitch
environments, the rope system should
always be closed. That should be your
default. This simple protocol will
prevent many accidents during lowering
and rappelling. If a climber is rappelling
and one rope end is too short, she can
rappel off the short end, which results in
her pulling (rapidly!) the now free short
end through the rappel anchor, quickly
dispatching her to the ground. Another
common accident occurs during
lowering. If the belayer has wandered
out a bit from the cliff, and the rope is
too short and he’s not paying attention to
the end of the rope, the rope can travel
through the belay device, resulting in a
dropped climber.
A closed system means that both
ends of the rope have a knot in them—
either the end is tied into someone’s
harness, or a stopper knot is tied on a
free end. This simple safety habit
prevents the end of the rope from ever
going through a belay or rappel device.
What I teach is always close the system
unless there is a compelling reason not
to do so. An example of a compelling
reason? If you know you’re going to be
pulling the end of the rope back up the
cliff, since the knot can potentially jam
in a crack as you’re pulling it up the
rock.

Safety Checks
If you haven’t developed a safety check
protocol, now is a good time to start.
For me as an instructor, it’s become
second nature, and I’m a little shocked
when I see recreational climbers who
haven’t developed the habit. I start with
ABC: Check the ground anchor (if used),
check the belayer, then check the
climber. A proper safety check should
be both visual and verbal.

Anchor
Check the ground anchor to make sure
the belayer is in a line between the
direction she will be pulled in the event
of a fall and the anchor itself. A best
way to attach the belayer to the ground
anchor is with the rope, since it
stretches, rather than a sling. The belayer
is tied in, as normal, then clove hitches
the rope to a locking carabiner attached
to the ground anchor.

Belayer
Check the belayer’s harness to make
sure it is buckled properly. Check the
figure eight follow-through knot to make
sure it is (1) tied properly and (2)
threaded through the correct tie-in points
at the front of the harness. Check the
belayer’s belay device, to make sure the
rope is properly threaded through the
device. Lastly, check the belayer’s
locking carabiner on the belay device to
make sure that it is locked. Check that
the belayer is wearing her helmet.

Climber
Check the climber’s harness to make
sure it is buckled properly. Check the
climber’s figure eight follow-through
knot to make sure it is (1) tied properly
and (2) threaded through the correct tie-
in points at the front of the harness.
Check to ensure the climber is wearing
his helmet.

These safety checks are simple, but

you’d be surprised how many times I’ve
caught students making a mistake
somewhere along these lines. Do these
checks before every climb. It’s that
simple.
One acronym to help you remember
what to look for is BARCK:
B buckles on the harness
A anchor (check the ground anchor)
R rope
C carabiners locked
 K knots

Whatever system you use, know

what to check for, and be methodical
with your safety checks.
Peter Croft begins his day of climbing
with Figures on a Landscape (5.10b),
Joshua Tree, California.
 CHAPTER 15

Leave No Trace
Ethics

Y ou can practice Leave No Trace

principles from the moment you
step out of your car. The following
simple steps will help keep the climbing
sites we all share as clean as possible,
with minimal degradation to the
climbing area and the surrounding
environment:
• At popular climbing areas, use the
outhouses located at most parking
areas before you embark on your
approach to that day’s chosen cliff.
• Always use marked climber’s access
trails where they are available. If
there is no marked trail to the cliff,
minimize your impact by walking on
durable surfaces (e.g., a sandy wash,
rock slab, or barren ground).
• At popular, easy-access crags, avoid
making a beeline from the parking lot
straight to the crag without first
looking for an established path or
trail. Walking off-trail can
significantly impact vegetation and
cause soil erosion if enough people
 do it over time.
• If traveling in a group in more remote,
pristine areas where no trail exists,
fan out instead of walking in single
file, and try to walk on the most
durable surfaces, avoiding fragile
vegetation. Don’t leave rock cairns
to mark the path—this takes away the
challenge of route-finding from those
who prefer to experience it on their
own.
• If nature calls and you’re far from any
outhouse, deposit solid human waste
well away from the base of any
climbing site or wash by digging a
cathole 4 to 6 inches deep. Cover
and disguise the cathole when you’re
 done. Pack out all toilet paper and
tampons in a ziplock bag. Urinate on
bare ground or rock, not plants.
Urine contains salt, and animals will
dig into plants to get at it.
• Leave no trace means just that: Pack o
everything you bring in, including all
trash and food waste (that means
apple cores and orange peels too).
Set an example for your group by
picking up any trash you find. Plan
ahead; always carry a trash bag with
you when you go out to the crag.
• Don’t monopolize popular routes by
setting up a toprope and then leaving
your rope hanging on the climb,
unused. If your climb begins from a
 campsite and the site is occupied,
ask permission to climb from the
campers there.
• Minimize your use of chalk, and if
you’re working a route, clean off any
tic marks with a soft brush after
you’re done.
• Protect everyone’s access to a climbin
area by being courteous, beginning
with parking only in designated
areas and carpooling whenever
possible.
• Noise pollution can be a problem, from
blasting tunes on a boom box to
yelling and screaming while
attempting a hard climb. Be
considerate and aware of those
 around you, and limit your noise
production to a reasonable level.
• Pick up all food crumbs, and don’t fee
any wild critters; this habituates
them to human food and encourages
them to beg and scavenge, sometimes
even chewing holes in backpacks to
get at food.
Bivouac on Cosmos, El Capitan.
PHOTO BY GREG EPPERSON
• Consider leaving your dog at home—
dogs dig and root up vegetation and
stress native wildlife in rural areas.
If you do bring your dog, be sure to
remove any dog poop from the base
of the cliff and the approach trail.
• Leave all natural and cultural objects s
that they can be experienced by
everyone in their natural setting. If
you are climbing in a national forest
or national park, obey all regulations
concerning the gathering of firewood
and other objects.

For more information on Leave No

Trace ethics, visit www.lnt.org.
 About the Author

Bob Gaines began rock climbing in

Southern California in the 1970s. Since
then he has pioneered more than 500
first ascents at Tahquitz and Suicide
Rocks and Joshua Tree and Yosemite
National Parks. Bob began his career as
a professional rock climbing guide in
1983 and is the owner of Vertical
Adventures Rock Climbing School,
which offers classes at Joshua Tree
National Park, California. Vertical
Adventures was voted the number-one
rock climbing school in America by
Outside magazine.
Bob has worked extensively in the
film industry as a climbing stunt
coordinator. He has coordinated more
than forty television commercials and
was Sylvester Stallone’s climbing
instructor for the movie Cliffhanger. Bob
doubled for William Shatner in the
movie Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
as Captain Kirk free-soloing on El
Capitan in Yosemite.
He is an AMGA Certified Rock
Instructor and is the coauthor of Rock
Climbing: The AMGA Single Pitch
Manual, the textbook for the AMGA’s
single-pitch instructor program. He has
worked extensively training US military
special forces, including US Navy SEAL
Team 6, and is known for his technical
expertise in anchoring and rescue
techniques. Bob is also the author of
Best Climbs Joshua Tree National Park,
Best Climbs Tahquitz and Suicide
Rocks, Toproping, and Rappelling and
is coauthor of Climbing Anchors and the
Climbing Anchors Field Guide (with
John Long). Bob’s other passion is fly
fishing. He currently holds eleven
International Game Fish Association
world records.