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squeaks
Big Wall climber
Denver
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Topic Author's Original Post - Aug 16, 2006 - 09:00pm PT
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can anyone post up pictures of their solo aid anchors? I usually set a downward pull anchor, rap and clean off that and then set up a few pieces to hold the power point down. I clip into the power point and climb on.
Is there a better way to do this?
Peace
-Eric
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Rhodo-Router
Gym climber
Otto, NC
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Aug 17, 2006 - 12:14pm PT
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OK, who's gonna out themself as the kind of geek that takes pictures of their ANCHORS?
Me, I guess. Here's one. hope this helps ;)
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Lambone
Ice climber
Ashland, Or
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Aug 17, 2006 - 04:27pm PT
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nice clusterfk Rhodo-Ruter!
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Rhodo-Router
Gym climber
Otto, NC
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Aug 17, 2006 - 06:04pm PT
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duude, that's the bivy, back off.
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ricardo
Gym climber
San Francisco, CA
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Aug 17, 2006 - 06:16pm PT
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well .. i'm afraid i can't add anything interesting .. (but i'll post anyways) ..
every anchor (with few exceptions) that i've found on el cap has been make up of at least 2 decent bolts ..
.. a few anchors i've deemed kinda crappy .. (usually 3 crappy bolts, 1 good bolt) .. and they can usually be backed up ..
.. when doing solo anchors on bolts .. i just clip all three together with a cordallette .. attach the bag to the PP .. and keep on climbing .. the bag provides the downward pull ..
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ha-ha
climber
location
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Aug 17, 2006 - 06:21pm PT
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i'd like to see Piton Ron chime in about solo anchors on drilled angles like you see on some zion routes. on space shot i just clipped them off with no upward-pull anchor. dicey?
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Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
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Aug 17, 2006 - 06:41pm PT
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Many of the bolts on SS were added by other parties. This includes all but the first hanging belay which I left in 4/76 (and which is apparently still in use.)
When I use DAs for belay I often thread the rope right through the eyes with an overhand to jam against each. Eliminates the need for biners that might move and get cross loaded or levered. Lightens the rack too.
Don't fall often but on occasion I've been able to untie the knots, often because I re-enforce my belay while climbing a pitch, one of the perks of roped soloing.
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Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
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Aug 17, 2006 - 06:44pm PT
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Oh yeah, and I usually rig some upward pull nuts below the DAs.
Sometimes I add shock cord slings to hold them upward. (If you ask if I clip the rope to the shock cords you are in for some ridicule.)
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ha-ha
climber
location
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Aug 17, 2006 - 07:44pm PT
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thanks ron.
by "re-enforce" do you mean clove hitching into peices on the pitch?
shock cord = bungee cord?
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RippedAndGripped
Social climber
Dirt, Washington
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Aug 17, 2006 - 07:49pm PT
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Clip the bolts? Brilliant reply. Very helpful.
Maybe some more thoughful answers for when you have to build your own anchors.
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Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
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Aug 17, 2006 - 08:46pm PT
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Yeah, I'll use anchors good for upward pull mid-pitch, but to avoid increasing the fall factor might use a sling to delay its active involvement until the stretch is pulled from the start.
Shock cord = bungie cords, obviously rigged separate from the belay
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Holdplease2
Big Wall climber
Yosemite area
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Aug 17, 2006 - 09:02pm PT
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Squeaks, I sent you an email but not about anchors.
-Kate.
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'Pass the Pitons' Pete
Big Wall climber
like Oakville, Ontario, Canada, eh?
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Aug 17, 2006 - 09:06pm PT
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OK, this drawing is somewhat correct, but there are a few changes that need to be made.
First of all, forget the Double Tagging bit - that's where you hang a half-body-weight load off of a fifi, and when you rap the pitch to clean it, you pull this load up. I don't use that with the Solo Tag Rack, because it is too terrifying to have another load hanging off a fifi! I tried Double Tagging on my solo of Native Son, but stopped doing it about halfway up, and haven't bothered since.
I do use the Solo Tag Rack when soloing. It lets me solo wearing as little rack as I like, and pull up stuff when I need it. It is tricky and dangerous, and a DFU practice - definitely not for everyone.
The beginning of the Continuous Loop is the end of the lead rope. I do it a bit differently now. I connect the end of the lead rope into the Power Point, then I run it down to the pig, and then up. It's good to use Yates Screamers on the first few pieces when soloing. The key is to have the lead rope connected into the pig, so that gives you a bit of dynamicism in your belay system. It is a REAL disadvantage to aid solo without having a pig as your "belayer".
It is partly for this reason I recommend people practise soloing by hauling a bag of rocks. Not only does it make constructing your anchors hugely easier because you don't have to struggle with upside-down gear to take an upward pull, but it lets you practise hauling a big-ass pig. If you can confidently haul a large load during you practice sessions, then what is to stop you from soloing a big wall?
You might add a Screamer between your lead rope and the pig. You have to be careful with the rigging to eliminate any possibility of a Factor 2 fall. This is why I run the rope starting at the anchor, then down to the pig, then back up again, to get that extra lead rope into the system to reduce the Fall Factor.
The Solo Tag Rack contains the Lead Rope Bag, and all your spare gear. When you need more gear, you pull up the Solo Tag Rack which hangs from a fifi. I usually put a series of "slippery overhand knots" into the lead rope above the Solo Tag Rack to hopefully prevent the rack from being bounced off in the event of a fall. Whipping past your Tag Rack is never a good idea.
You will also notice I put LONG "prusik" [really Klemheist] loops into the lead rope every thirty feet or so to take the weight of the lead rope so it doesn't slide back through your Grigri. You need to make these prusiks long so that if you fall, the rope stretch doesn't pull upward on the piece it's clipped to. This isn't really a problem, though, since the Klemheist is a one-way knot, and the lead rope slips through. This I *have* tested in falls!
The other benefit of periodically rebelaying your lead rope is when you clean the pitch - each prusik takes your weight as you are jugging, so instead of the lead rope rubbing against an edge a two hundred feet above you as you jug and clean, instead your weight is held by the prusik as you clean. This way, if you do it right, your lead rope WILL NOT RUB and you can actually solo a big wall without putting ANY nicks and abrasion into your lead rope!
Think about it - there's a nasty sharp edge halfway up the pitch. You hate to jug the rope when cleaning, because the rope is rubbing against this edge. Or is it? No it isn't! Because you put a long Klemheist rebelay just below this edge, and your weight is taken by the Klemheist, so the rope is SLACK across the sharp edge!
Note that there is a real art and science to putting these Klemheists on the rope, and getting the tensions in the thing just so.
You can click here to read more about [url="http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.html?topic_id=64652"]big wall solo tips including Klemheist rebelays.[/url] Scroll down til you find my posts.
Here's a photo of my system in use when I soloed The Shortest Straw:
Top right corner is my Cleaner's Rack - my lead rack has tethers on it, so when I get to the top of the pitch, I just take it off and leave it, rather than taking the bother to remove everything. I rap back down, and there's my cleaner's rack ready to go. Notice how it's up and out of the way so it doesn't tangle in anything. Similarly the Crab-O-Ledge [which I flag when hauling] is secured down low to be made windproof.
The turquoise rope is the lead rope and you can sort of see the chain of slippery overhand knots I have tied above the Solo Tag Rack, which you see in the foreground left. The Solo Tag Rack is hidden behind the green lead rope bag which is on this rack, and comes up with me when I tag.
Solo tagging is dangerous, so don't blow it.
Cheers,
Dr. Piton
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JEM
Social climber
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Aug 17, 2006 - 09:10pm PT
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Wait a minute here.... That's a real climbing post.
JEM
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'Pass the Pitons' Pete
Big Wall climber
like Oakville, Ontario, Canada, eh?
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Aug 17, 2006 - 09:15pm PT
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Too bloody right it is. We could use a bit more of that round 'ere, lad...
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Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
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Aug 17, 2006 - 09:18pm PT
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Huh?
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Jacob
Trad climber
yucky valley
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Aug 17, 2006 - 10:35pm PT
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that is the most confusing diagram i have ever seen! im just gonna stick with finding a belayer instead
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WBraun
climber
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Aug 17, 2006 - 10:38pm PT
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Pretty cool setup Pete.
Thanks for taking the time to do that.
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fareastclimber
Trad climber
Hong Kong & Wales
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Aug 17, 2006 - 11:14pm PT
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About the best I could come up with... it certainly ain't textbook, but at least there is something to criticize.
BTW, this is an excellent thread to have my morning coffee to!
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'Pass the Pitons' Pete
Big Wall climber
like Oakville, Ontario, Canada, eh?
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Aug 17, 2006 - 11:33pm PT
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Like, I'm still drinking beer here, eh? Well, you could start by untwisting the top of the haul line with the lead rope! And for the Real Thing, you will obviously need a haul line bag.
If you leave your lead rope in a lead rope bag that you don't either tag up later like I do, or carry with you, then make darn sure you don't tie the end of the lead rope to the bag or you will be SOL! Also be darn careful on a long pitch that you don't somehow have the whole lead rope pull through your Grigri. You could avoid this by tying a stopper knot in the end, but I wouldn't want to chance pulling up such a knot, and having it jam in a crack. Better to leave no knot in the end of the lead rope, and when you see it dangling, tie a series of backup knots in the dedicated wide-gate autolocker that dangles on your harness, since you now have to hold the weight of the remaining half of the rope on you.
Screamer above the bolts => Good!
Clove hitches => Not so good!
Dudes, clove hitches are obsolete, so quit using them. So are Figures-of-eight on a bight. The Better Way is emphatically the amazing Butterfly Knot, which is stronger than either and much easier to untie. I always thought the butterfly was stronger than the eight-on-a-bight, but it wasn't until a couple years ago I saw a Bluewater rope advert that proved it.
Yeah, the Butterfly is a bit harder to tie than the clove, but not once you practise it a bit. And it is a bit harder to adjust to length, but not all that much harder. If you think the Butterfly is tricky to tie, just remember your first attempts to tie a clove hitch!
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