Great series on climbing history by John Middendorf

Here’s an excellent series of long articles, photos and diagrams of climbing history in Europe and North America, by American big wall expert and product designer John Middendorf.

Excellent writing and historical photos, highly recommended!

On your first visit, you can click the “Subscribe” button on the right side of the webpage to get free updates to this ongoing series.

John has more articles than what’s below, so check the archive section of his website, bigwallgear.com to see all of them.

(For details on his product design and portaledges, go to bigwalls.net)

• Climbing Tools and Techniques—1908 to 1939 (Europe, Part A) Myths and Legends

• Climbing Tools and Techniques—early North American Developments to 1910

• 1930s Climbing Tools (Europe, Part C)

• Trains and Kain (Canada climbing to 1916, part 1)

• Trains and Kain (Canada climbing history, part 2)

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Below are a few screen grabs from some of the terrific illustrations.

image: bigwallgear.com

image: bigwallgear.com

Did you know early forms of carabiners were used by climbers as early as 1890? I didn’t.

What’s that peak? Find out with the PeakFinder app

What's the name of that mountain? Climbers have wondered this forever, and now finding the answer is a lot easier.

With an augmented reality phone app like PeakFinder, you can find out in a moment. (Yes, it does show lots of hilltops you may have no interest in, but it does well with the big ones too. )

Photo by my pal Wim Aarts, taken from the amazing viewpoints in the Inyo Range, looking westward at a good portion of the central Sierra Nevada.

If you're ever near Bishop CA, visiting the Inyo Range, enjoying this view and seeing the ancient Bristlecone pine forest is highly recommended.

photo credit: wim AArts

Staying Warm - pro tips from Derek DeBruin

These tips are from Derek DeBruin, an AMGA Certified Rock Guide and Assistant Alpine Guide. Connect with Derek: Facebook and Instagram.

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Derek DeBruin recently published an article in the journal of the Wilderness Medical Society @wildmedsociety on ways to manage cold in the outdoors.

It’s called: “Tips to Stay Warm and Dry (and Injury-Free) in Cold Montane Environments” (Volume 39, Issue 1).

While his tips may not be earth-shatteringly novel, they are the accumulated wisdom of thousands of days spent in challenging environments. Just about everyone can learn a few clever ways to manage the cold from Derek’s article.

Click the button below to read the whole thing.

Here are a few tips that resonated with me.

• When driving to the trailhead, put your boots on the floor of your car and crank the floor heater vents to preheat them. Don't wear your boots, because you might sweat when they are on your feet. Don't put them in the trunk of the car or the back of the truck, they will stay cold.

• Have all your gear as fully packed and ready-to-go as possible, so you're not standing around at the trailhead longer than necessary. Put axes on the pack and skins on the skis at home. Encourage your partners to do the same. (In case they don't, see the next tip . . .)

• Use a “car puffy” - an extra big jacket that you can throw on over everything while you're at the trailhead waiting for other people to get ready. Toss it back in the car just before you're ready to head out.

• Putting some KT tape on exposed skin, like your cheeks, can help prevent frostbite if it's really cold and windy.

• Consider super gaiters such as the Outdoor Research X-Gaiter. This adds an extra layer of warmth over your entire boot.

• The simple trick of squeezing your hands into fists, and curling your toes at every step, can encourage blood circulation and keep those digits warmer.

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You get the idea. There are dozens more tips like this in Derek's article, check it out at the link below.

If that official link to the Wilderness Medical Society page gets broken, here’s the article in a PDF on my Google Drive.

Adrenaline induced tunnel vision

It was my first weekend of learning to trad climb with the rock climbing class of my local climbing club. I was paired up with Eugene, a tall, lanky Brit with a quick smile and a sharp wit. I excitedly started up the moderate two pitch climb, and soon got to an obvious large belay ledge.

However, there was one big problem: the only available crack was flaring, awkward, and did not want to take any of my gear. After futzing with the pro for about 10 minutes and getting in a few marginal pieces, I spiderwebbed them together with a tangle of slings, clipped in with my rope, and called down. 

“Hey Eugene”, I stammered, “Belay is on, but . . . ”, I paused, “um . . . don’t fall.”

Eugene hollered up, “Well, that’s not what I want to hear before I start climbing, but I’ll take your advice!”

A couple minutes later he arrived at the ledge. He stood looking at my sorry excuse for an anchor for a few seconds, and then cracked a wry smile.

“Well”, he said, “I have two things to say. One, you’re right, this anchor is absolute crap, and I'm glad I didn't fall on it. And number two, the bolted anchor that you SHOULD have used is right up there.” He turned and pointed upward about 15 more feet to my right, where I could now clearly see two shiny new bolts.

Yes, this was without question the low point of my anchor building career.

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There are many lessons in this, but the one that stayed with me, and which is applicable in many other climbing situations, is the tunnel vision inducing effects of adrenaline.

It was one of the first times I had ever led on trad gear, and an onsight to boot. I was pumped. Adrenaline was circulating, and it had a variety of interesting effects. (One of them is shutting down your kidneys and intestines; this is a reason why a lot of climbers find that they can go the whole day without peeing, and are often not hungry for lunch). The other, more relevant here, is tunnel vision. This is a normal physiological response to a “flight or fight” type situation, hardwired into our body through human evolution.

For our long-ago ancestors on the African savanna being stalked by a hungry predator, that situation demanded your complete focus of vision, to the exclusion of anything other than that lion in the grass. Adrenaline induced tunnel vision is may helpful to avoid a hungry lion, but it's probably not going to be your friend when you’re climbing.

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So, are you feeling pumped and excited? When you’re on lead and looking to place some good gear, or looking for anchor options (at what may or may not be the belay ledge), first do two things.

1. Take a few deep breaths. Deep breathing (ideally in through your nose) will help calm your body, reduce your adrenaline load, and help lessen your tunnel vision.

2. Expand the “tunnel vision” and look around. Many more options may appear. Are you crack climbing, and starting to get a little pumped? Look side to side, you might well find a face hold or a place to stem to grab a rest. Did you finish leading your pitch, you're at the ledge, and need to build a gear anchor?  First, expand your vision, look around, and survey ALL your options. You may well find better gear placements other than what's in a one meter cone right in front of your nose.

3. Oh, and have a look at the route topo before you leave the ground. That always helps too. =^)

“Decision making matrix” for alpine climbing

image credit: Walter Siegmund, via Wikimedia Commons

We can usually get quality weather forecasts before we head to the mountains. How can we use this to help decide if you're going to leave town or not?

When on a climb, the decision to continue up or head down is often a difficult, subjective and emotional choice. How can you add some objectivity into the process?

The decision / weather matrix below is from the excellent mini route descriptions published by the Mt. Rainier climbing rangers / National Park Service. (Anyone climbing the more popular routes on Rainier would benefit from these route descriptions. Read more about them at this post.)

As mentioned again below, “The matrix was created with input from guides and rangers, and represents cumulative knowledge of thousands of ascents” so this is a well tested tool.

• It's pretty simple. Ideally in town before you leave, look at four different weather variables in three different categories, assign them a number, and add everything up.

• You’ll come up with a point value between 4 and 12. Then, compare that for your team’s skill level - green, yellow, or red. Use that to guide your decision.

Ideally this happens in town before you leave. If the weather is unexpectedly changing quickly on your climb, you can use this while en route.

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While intended for climbing on Rainier, a similar decision matrix may well be useful on other mountains. Is this a set-in-stone rule for every trip? No. But, it can be a useful tool to add some objectivity into an often difficult process.

Note: it doesn’t cover avalanche conditions. That's another important and often complex factor to consider in trip planning.

(Personally, I know I'm not going to remember all this, so I made a few color photocopies on waterproof paper and have one in the first aid kit and a PDF saved onto my phone.

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Here’s a link to a PDF so you can print one yourself.

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Here’s a description of the weather matrix directly from the climbing guide:

“To assist in making a decision if one should climb based on the weather forecast, we have created this matrix. This Go/ No Go Matrix only takes weather into account for a given team experience level. Other factors such as avalanche conditions, equipment issues, other team dynamics, etc., need to be evaluated as well. The actual number output from the matrix can be a rough guide, but the important part of the exercise is to discuss conditions with your team and arrive at a consensus as to what the experience level of your team is and determine how prepared you are to deal with the forecasted weather. As always, one should choose to turn back if the weather looks to be deteriorating. The matrix was created with input from guides and rangers, and represents cumulative knowledge of thousands of ascents.

1. Start by going down the gray column on the left. First assess the wind component at either 1, 2, or 3. Then proceed to the precipitation component, add 1,2, or 4 to your running total. Continue down the list, summing all the factors from the four rows.

2. Then place your score in the evaluator tool relative to your team’s experience level. You can see from the below matrix that precipitation and visibility have a higher value and can be showstoppers, certainly on a summit climb, but even for a trip to Camp Muir.

On the lower mountain below 10,000 feet, these weather factors can often be mitigated by equipment and exceptional experience, however, there are far narrower margins of error on the upper mountain for everyone. With weather and navigational concerns, it can become all but impossible to reconnoiter your way and survive.”

image: http://mountrainierclimbing.blogspot.com/2017/03/in-depth-route-descriptions.html

image: http://mountrainierclimbing.blogspot.com/2017/03/in-depth-route-descriptions.html

Try a “racking sling” for slings

Anytime if you want to carry slings longer than a quick draw, you need to choose how to carry them. The choice is pretty much boils down to on your harness, or over your shoulder somehow.

It’s very much a matter of personal preference. The current trend is to have most all of your rock or ice placements and spare carabiners on your harness and have slings over your shoulder.

(A time when this might not work so well is when you have a backpack, with a waistband limiting access to your harness gear loops.)

If you're carrying a few 60 cm slings over one shoulder without carabiners on them, those usually carry and deploy tangle free pretty well.

However, the issues can start when:

• You have carabiners on those slings, which causes tangles

• You have some longer 120 cm slings, for a meandering route

• Maybe you want to carry an Alpine quick draw with one or even two carabiners on it, for a quick clipping to your gear

Some of those may not fit over your shoulders so well.

An alternative: using a designated “racking sling” to carry your other slings.

This racking sling is a slightly wider, typically mostly or all nylon, 60 cm sewn sling that you use specifically over a shoulder to hold your assorted slings and quick draws.

Below are several different styles of slings you might be carrying. From left to right:

1. The “alpine quickdraw”, a 60 cm runner with one carabiner passed through another to shorten it up. A crafty alpine trick that every climber should know, read more about it here.

2. A standard sport climbing quickdraw. Not so common in the alpine, but you might want to have a few if the route goes straight up.

3. A 120 cm sling, twisted around itself a few times to form a nice bundle. Another good trick and you can read more about here.

4. A basket hitched 60 cm sling. Pass one end through your racking sling, and re-clip it to a single carabiner. To deploy, unclip one strand and pull. It should extend to full length with one hand and no tangles. If you're on a route with lots of cam placements that wanders a bit from left to right, this can be a good racking strategy, because you can use the racking carabiner on your cam to clip to the sling.

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You can keep a few spare carabiners on this racking sling as well, to clip gear like stoppers where you typically need two carabiners.

Use this same system when you’re cleaning gear. Have a designated racking sling on one shoulder for slings and spare carabiners, and another racking sling over the other shoulder for rock protection. When you get to the top of the pitch, changeover with your partner is fast and easy; just hand them the slings with the gear mostly sorted, and they should be pretty much ready to lead.

Alpine climbing - carry 6mm cord

For alpine climbing, it can be very handy to have some 6 mm cord stashed in the bottom of the pack. Why?

• Inexpensive. This handy package from Sterling is $15 for 30 feet/9 meters. In terms of low cost and high utility, it's a winner.

• Strong enough. 6 mm cord is rated to about 7.5 kN, as mentioned in this article on climbing gear strength ratings. Some people prefer 7 mm cord for general purpose anchor building, but in many cases, 6 mm will be fine. (Notice the label in the photo above; Sterling says okay for anchor building.)

• Easy to cut and leave behind for rappel anchors. You're not going to think twice about leaving behind $3 worth of cord at a rap anchor, But you may not be too thrilled about cutting up your $25 tech cord cordelette. (And you DO have a knife, right?)

• Can be used for most any sort of friction hitch (including fancier rescue rope tricks, like tying a friction hitch and then using the rest of the cord to make a releasable Munter Mule Overhand (MMO).

If everyone on your team carries a few meters of 6 mm cord, you can combine materials to make multiple rappels off of just about any route.

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Here's a photo from my article on alpine retreat anchors. I'm using about 2 meters of 6 mm cord to make an equalized, redundant and plenty strong enough rappel anchor from a stopper and piton.

Knife options for climbers

YUCK! A rat’s nest like this is confusing and dangerous. Cut out the old slings and pack them out, and maybe add a new one of your own to make it simpler and stronger.

image credit: Silas Rossi, @silasrossi

Carrying a blade of some sort can be a smart thing to have on alpine climbs. No, you’re probably not going to pull a Joe Simpson (see below) and have your partner slice the rope and drop you to free themselves; the normal cases for knife use aren’t nearly as exciting.

What are some uses for a knife when climbing?

• Cleaning up ancient, sun baked webbing from rappel anchors, and cutting some of your own new webbing or cord to enhance existing anchors

• Some sort of self rescue situation, when some piece of rope or webbing is loaded and it needs to get unloaded, and the only way to do that is to cut it loose

• Maybe your rope gets damaged and you want to cut away the bad part

• and, maybe prepare the occasional peanut butter sandwich

There are three general approaches to climbing knives: razor blade, tiny cheap lockblade, or nice designated climbing knife.

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Razor blade

If you want to carry a blade for strictly emergency use, it’s hard to get much more lightweight than a single edge razor. Put a few layers of athletic tape over the blade to cover it. I’ve heard of people taping a razor inside their helmet, or keeping a zipper pocket on the chalk bag, but to me that sounds a little sketchy in case of a fall. Keeping it inside a small first aid kit in your pack sounds like a much better idea. Are you in the fast’n’light camp and want something for emergencies only? This is a good choice.

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Cheap tiny lock blade

This is my personal pick. I got one for under $5 next to the hardware store cash register. It’s tiny, has a wicked sharp serrated edge, and it’s a lock blade. The serrated edge can be especially helpful for cutting webbing. Be sure there is a hole in one end of the knife so you can add a little keeper loop to clip to a carabiner. Make the loop with a bit of of bank line or 2 mm cord. If you find yourself doing more alpine routes, where your liable to find funky anchors, this could be a good call.

(I keep this knife on a small locking carabiner, along with a mini ascender, and call it my “Oh S**t Kit”.

Whatever knife you choose, it needs to be absolutely secure so the blade can never open accidentally, to cut you or your equipment. You can tape it securely closed with athletic tape, and or add a thick rubber band cut from a discarded bicycle inner tube, or both. Below, I’ve added a stout rubber band from an old bike tube to secure the blade.

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Carry a “real” knife

A definite step up in quality from the hardware store lockblade is this nice little knife, the Trango Pirana. It folds, and has a clever design that prevents it from opening if a carabiner is clipped through the large hole.

image: backcountry.com

If you think you’ll be using your knife for more day-to-day things, such as slicing bagels or making that peanut butter sandwich, you’ll want something with a longer blade. Petzl makes a popular model called the Spatha. Personally, I don’t feel the need to carry a blade this big for occasional use, so this is not my choice, but it could be an option for you. (Note the large hole that can take a carabiner.)

image: backcountry.com

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If you really have to cut the rope in an emergency situation with no knife, you can take cord and saw it rapidly back-and-forth with your hands through whatever needs to get cut, and the rope will eventually get cut by friction.

I've tried this and it works remarkably well. Here's of an article and video about it.

One of the most harrowing climbing epics of all time was endured by Joe Simpson in his classic book, “Touching the Void”. On a challenging climb in Peru, Simpson was being lowered by his partner down a steep face, was lowered into a crevasse, and his partner above was stuck. He made the agonizing choice to take out his knife, cut the rope, and drop Joe to what he thought was a sure death. A classic read it if you haven’t.

image: https://www.amazon.com/Touching-Void-Joe-Simpson/dp/0435017055/

Headgear for climbers

Some people have a glove fetish. Me, I’m more of a hat guy. Here are a few different flavors of hat you might consider for your next climb.

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Sun hat with a visor (and neck protection)

If you’re in open snow terrain (especially on a south facing NW volcano route) you’re in a giant solar reflector oven. Heading downhill back to the trailhead you’re going to want some shade on your eyes and very possibly coverage for your neck. I’ve noticed a lot of the guides on Mt. Rain-here have the Outdoor Research Sun Runner hat. It is a little spendy, but it’s quality gear.

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Balaclava

“Baklava” is a tasty middle eastern dessert that goes in your mouth, not on your head.

“Balaclava” is a hat that tastes terrible. But should always be in your pack, as it’s pretty much the best bang for your buck when it comes to warmth and weight. This should be standard emergency gear for just about anyone, and generally part of your 10 essentials kit of extra clothing. Get one that’s thin to medium weight so it fits underneath your helmet. It does not need to be name brand from the outdoor store. Costco, of all places, has a terrific one on sale at this writing (Jan 2019) for just 10 bucks. It’s made by Bula, from soft stretchy fleece, and can be worn in lots of different configurations. Recommended.

Online these appear to be $20, they are $10 each at Costco.

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Ear warmer

This is just a band of stretchy fleece that covers your ears and keeps the top of your head exposed. On cold windy approaches, it’s nice to vent some heat from the top of your head, but still have your ears covered so you don’t get an earache. For me, this seems to be especially true in early mornings on Mt. Hood.

There are loads of Inexpensive ones at the online retailer that starts with “A”. Search for “ear warmer headband”, you’ll find a bunch. Here’s a photo and a link to one I have that works great. Also good for cold bicycle rides, as it fits nicely under my helmet. Get one in a fun color.

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Neck warmer

Having just a bit of coverage on your neck can make a surprising difference in staying warm. It’s a tube, so you can clip it to a carabiner. For chilly morning or routes in the shade when a balaclava may be too much and a buff not quite enough.

A balaclava does pretty much the same thing, but is a bit heavier and bulkier.

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Buff

OK, this is not really a hat, but it can have a place on outdoor trips, especially high altitude treks and climbs. A friend of mine recently returned from a climbing expedition to Nepal. A very common problem with high altitude climbers is known as the “Khumbu cough”, a hacking awful cough that usually starts with sucking a lot of cold dry air. She told me their expedition leader was adamant that people breathe with a buff over their mouth pretty much all of the time, and a balaclava covering their mouth at night. This creates a higher humidity environment right around your nose and mouth, which can dramatically cut down on dry cough and hack attacks. And she said it worked great. Simple solution for a common problem.

A buff can also be worn combined with a balaclava in super cold conditions, And it can replace a balaclava in mild conditions.

image: https://www.alpineascents.com/blog/gear/buff-101/

What’s a “closed” rope system?

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You may have heard the term “closed rope system” in various books and websites. However, I’ve rarely seen it clearly defined, so let's talk about it.

A “closed rope system” means that both ends of the rope have a knot of some kind in them. It’s best practice to make this the default system for pretty much every climbing situation. 

A closed rope system can take many forms. Here are a few:

• A stopper knot in the free end(s) on a rappel or when top rope belaying,

• The end of the rope clipped or tied to a pack, rope bag or similar. This is helpful for single pitch top roping. If you start pulling the other end of the rope, you’ll immediately notice the other end is clipped to a pack. This avoids the extremely common problem of pulling the stopper knot up the route out of reach, whoops! Consider using a clove hitch instead of a bight knot. Once you unclip the hitch, the rope is free to pull. See above photo.

• Your retraced figure 8 tied directly to your harness,

• Both rope ends clipped to the anchor, as you might do with the “J loop” technique on a multi pitch rappel,

This is a simple habit that can prevent the end of the rope from ever going through a belay or rappel device, two common causes of climbing accidents.

Think of closing your rope system with knots the same as wearing a seatbelt when driving. 99.99% of the time you're never going to need it, but that one time you do, you're going to be damn glad you had it.

And, it's worth mentioning again, pretty much always close the system when rappelling. (The exception to this might be a one pitch rappel and you can clearly see the ends of the rope or on the ground.)

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Comments . . .

Some people object to tying knots in the rappel strands, saying they “don't want the knot to get stuck”. I’ve never understood this. Unless you have unusually deep rope-eating cracks right below you, the first person down should easily be able to stop, pull the knot out of whatever crack it might be in, and toss it on down the cliff. A key rule of rappelling is to never go below any rope that’s stuck. The first person down should fix any issues and lower the rope properly.

If it's a crazy windy day and you're worried about getting your knotted rope stuck in some far-off rock crevice, you have some options. You can lower your partner with both ends of the rope, or the first person can saddlebag the rope.

Think of it this way: how many people have died from a knotted rope end getting stuck? Compare that to, how many people have died from rappelling off the end of the ropes?

Do you have a rope that's “long enough”? Don't be complacent. Say you’re climbing a 25 meter route and you have a 60 meter rope. No problem, you think, I have an extra 10 meters of rope. But, if your belayer backs up from the wall or walks downhill, or maybe the climber decides to pendulum off to one side and clip a redirect piece of gear, or something strange like that, you might suddenly end up short when lowering off. Having a knot in the end of the rope, or having the belayer tied to it, eliminates this potential accident. Always close the system, even if you're doing single pitch sport climbing and initially appears you have plenty of rope to lower off your partner.

When your rappel ends on the ground, have the first person down untie the stopper knots. You’re on the ground, so obviously they’re no longer needed, and they need to be untied to pull the rope. So, get into the habit of having the first person do this. This helps prevent that all-too-common mistake of starting to pull the rappel rope with a knot still in one end, yikes!

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For a rappel, consider tying your stopper knot at least 2 feet from the end of the rope. By doing this, you give yourself enough extra rope to at least tie an overhand. This gives you something to clip your tether to, in case you screw up and reach the knot. If you don't do this, yes, you did prevent the catastrophe of rapping off the end of your rope, but now you might be kind of screwed, because you maybe can't do much else.

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Think you’d never make a mistake like this? If it can happen to Alex Honnold, it can darn sure happen to you.

In 2016, Alex was dropped by his belayer because they were using a 60 meter rope on a 70 meter route, there was no knot in the end of the rope, and his belayer was not tied to the end of the rope. Whoops, open rope system!

While the belayer was lowering Alex, the end of the rope zinged through their Grigri and Alex fell onto some “gnarly rocks”. Luckily he only suffered mild injuries. Other climbers in the same situation have died.

Read the accident report here.

Climbing "shades of grey" - Dealing with conflicting advice

Short version: A vast majority of climbing techniques are not black or white, right or wrong, but exist along a continuum of subjectivity and best practice. If you receive climbing advice that differs from what you already know, ask "Why do you like to do it this way, and what might happen if I do it differently?"

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It’s day one of climbing school. You’re out at the local crag with a handful of instructors and a few other eager students. One instructor, over the course of an hour or so, shows you how to belay and tie a few knots. You take a break, rotate to another instructor, and they then proceed to tell you a different method to belay and a different way to tie the same knots.

Aaaaaarrrgh! Confusion and frustration! Who should you listen to?

Sound familiar?

Just about every climber can think of situations in their climbing education where they received wildly different advice on a particular topic or technique. Your climbing mentor tells you to belay with your palm up, but the "Freedom of the Hills" instruction book suggests belaying palm down. There seems like a dozen different ways to tie a butterfly knot and everyone wants to convince you their way is the best. You get the idea. When you’re learning, it sometimes seems like everything is like this!

(And let's not get started on YouTube, where Reinhold Messner himself could post a climbing instruction video and even then some yahoos would rip his "incorrect technique" apart in the comment section.)

After you have some experience under your belt, you may be better able to interpret conflicting advice like this, but it can be especially confounding for the newer climber.

New folks are doing their best just to get their heads around the foundational skills, while underneath it all, anxiety is amplified because we all know we are doing a sport that can get you killed in an instant if you do something critical the wrong way.

Here are two approaches to hopefully cut through this fog. One is to understand that climbing techniques exist along a sliding scale. Two is to remember a back-and-forth dialogue needs to happen when you hear conflicting advice.

Let’s dive into each of these.

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One: sliding scale

It’s part of human nature to want to put things in a binary box. Is it A or B?  Am I right or wrong? Are you liberal or conservative? Is this restaurant great or terrible? This worldview takes less mental energy than trying to weigh the nuances of real life.

But, we all know that most things in life exist along a continuum, a sliding scale of ambiguity between one extreme or the other. The same is true in climbing.

There are actually very few climbing techniques that we can call black or white, set-in-stone, always-do-it-this-way-or-you’re-gonna-have-serious-consequences. I’m giving this a very subjective number of about 10%.

What are some of those black and white rules? Try to think of a few right now.

• Never glissade with crampons on.

• Never take your brake hand off the rope when you're rappelling or belaying.

• Always check your partner's harness and knot before they start to climb.

• Always double back your harness buckle.

You can probably think of a few more, but there really aren’t a whole lot more than that!

That means the other 90% of climbing techniques exist along a continuum somewhere in the middle. You could divide these into five general categories:

1 - Never do it this way, you're gonna die or get seriously hurt. Example: Glissading with crampons.

2 - Outdated technique that has a few problems, but you’re not gonna die. Example, using 1-inch webbing for everything.

3 - Completely up to you, flip a coin.  Example: using loose chalk or a chalk ball.

4 - Generally preferred modern method, best practice: Example: belaying directly off the anchor in fifth class rock, as opposed to off your belay loop.

5 - Pretty much everyone agrees you should do it this way: Example: Tying knot(s) in the end of your rappel rope so you don’t zing off the ends.

So, this means that the vast majority of climbing techniques are fairly subjective and generally up to your personal preference. Good news, if you do it a different way, you’re probably not going to die! Hopefully this is comforting to the beginning climber who's trying to sort out all this well-intended advice that often comes from different directions.

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So, that tells us that this climbing game is not as black-and-white as some people might lead you to think. What's the next step of sorting through the advice? How to decide what you want to absorb and what you want to discard? 

esteemquotes.com

Bruce, that's terrific advice, but as new climbers, it's hard to decide "what is useful and what is not". How do we do that?

Here's how. Simply ask, “What could happen to me if I do it differently than what you just showed me?”

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Two: Reasons and Consequences

For the giver of advice (instructor): when you offer advice or suggestions, try to follow that up with your rationale(s) for doing so, and the potential consequences of doing it another way.

For the receiver of advice (student): if you hear something that's different from what you already think is correct, try to ask two questions (in a respectful way and ideally at a time that doesn’t interrupt the teaching flow.)

• The first question is: “Why do you like to do it that way?”

• The second question is, “What might happen if I do it another way?”

(Of course, this is much easier to do when you’re face-to-face with someone, as opposed to reading a book, magazine, or web post).

“Why do you like to do it that way?”  If the person offering the advice can immediately answer with a few tangible reasons WHY, then you might well think: “Dang, they know their stuff and have clearly thought this through. It’s different than what I’ve learned, but I’m going to consider this alternative method.”

On the other hand, if your instructor person shrugs their shoulders and says “Well, I dunno, I’ve just always done it like that and I think you should too," then that’s not a very compelling argument for their technique.

“What might happen if I do it another way?”  If the answer is "Ehhh, not much", then no problemo, you can pretty much choose whatever method suits you. But, the answer is "If you do it differently than what I taught you, there's a good chance of serious consequences, which are X, Y and maybe Z,” then that's something you should probably pay attention to.

I think you get the idea. Subjectivity is an essential part of climbing, and it's not nearly as black-and-white as many instructors make it out to be. Do your best to embrace the “shades of grey” and develop your own techniques and style within the sliding scale of accepted methods.

A learning sequence for any vertical rope skill

If you want to learn any rope skill that if you screw it up, there's a high chance you're going to die, here’s a conservative learning sequence you might want to follow. It increases the odds of you learning the skills and getting through the process in one piece.

Yes, that may sound a little dramatic, but learning new vertical rope skills is no joke.

For beginners, this might be rappelling.  For more advanced folks, it could cover Crafty Rope Tricks like passing a knot on a single rope rappel, or moving the rappel knot past an obstacle.

Let's use learning to rappel as an example.

1. Watch any solid instructional videos you can find. (Start on the alpinesavvy Video page)

2. Recruit a friend who knows what they’re doing with a few tasty beverages or dinner.

3. Start first on flat ground. It’s easy to do this in a park by throwing a sling around a tree and just walking backwards to get a feel for the basic movement.

4. Then try doing it on a staircase. Again, work with your partner. This gives you the feel of actually putting your body weight on the rope with minimal consequences if you screw up.

5. Finally, you’re ready for something vertical yet very close to the ground, where you can practice your moves under the careful eye of your experienced friend. Unfortunately, due to liability issues, most rock gyms do not smile upon people practicing Crafty Rope Tricks. Always ask first. You may have to be resourceful and find something on your own, A short retaining wall of 10 or 20 feet as a possible option. How about a tree? The first few times you rappel for real, having a back up belay of some kind is an excellent idea.

6. FInally, You can try rappelling from a real life stance, ideally with a skilled climber standing next to you while you do the entire set up, and remaining on a belay of some kind the first few times you try it.
   
   

Airflare - An app that helps search teams find you

The AirFlare app is a unique way to use your phone to assist search and rescue teams to find you in the wilderness.

For an app that’s essentially weightless and for a very modest monthly cost, you could have additional peace of mind on your backcountry adventures. 

The technology behind it is quite sophisticated, but it’s well explained on their website if you want details.

From their website: 

“AirFlare transforms your mobile phone into a wilderness rescue beacon that provides search teams multiple ways to find you on and off grid. AirFlare adds no weight or bulk to your pack, works with limited or no cellular service, extends off-grid battery life to a week or longer and requires no user action to be searchable. Leveraging the cell phone already in your pocket, AirFlare is a low cost, easy to use, lifesaving tool you don’t need to remember to pack.”

As more search and rescue teams hopefully embrace this technology, having the app on your phone becomes more and more useful.

Protect a descent with “downleading”

diagram: Andy kirkpatrick from his great book, “Down”, shared with permission

Scenario:  Your team needs to descend a tricky section (steep snow / low 5th / 4th class rock).  The most skilled climber on the team feels confident they can downclimb it . . . but they’d feel better with some sort of backup.

A #CraftyRopeTrick sometimes called “downleading”, or “belayed downclimbing” can be used to protect the last climber in this situation.

1. Build a solid anchor. Cams are fine, because you're not leaving them behind.

2. Give all the remaining protection (cams, nuts, ice screws, pickets) to the second to last person going down.

3. Tie one end of the rope to the anchor, and toss down the other end.

4. Then, all but the last 2 climbers descend the fixed rope, by rappelling the single line or by downclimbing protected by a friction hitch.

Here's what happens next.

1. The second to last climber places protection (snow or rock) as they descend, and then clips the rope to the pro. These placements should be below any tricky moves, not above.

2. The last person, typically a more skilled climber, unties the fixed rope, then ties the rope into their harness. (Be careful, don't drop it!)

3. A climber at the bottom puts the top/last climber on belay.

4. The top climber then downclimbs the pitch, cleaning gear as they come to it, just as if they were “seconding” a route. The gear prevents the last climber from a big fall should they come off. The last climber ideally climbs below each piece of gear before they clean it, to reduce the length of any possible fall.

Color code your slings

This is an old trick, but a good one:

Make all of the slings of the same length the same color. This lets you glance at your harness and grab the right length of runner that you need.

For example, try to make all of your single (60 cm) slings the same color, like yellow, and all of your double (120 cm) slings a different color, say blue.

Fortunately, manufacturers have gotten on board with this, and now the common color for 60 cm slings seems to be yellow or orange.

(Keep in mind you can shorten a double or connect two singles together to extend them if needed.)

Finally, sport climbing quickdraws aren’t used so much in alpine climbing, so you might want to save those for the bolted routes.

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Here's a related tip: the 4:1 ratio

A general rule of thumb for a moderately meandering alpine pitch is to have about a 4 to 1 ratio of single slings to double slings.

So, maybe eight 60 cm slings, and two 120 cm slings. Of course, the length of the pitch and how much it wanders around has a bearing what you carry.

One double 120 cm sling in blue, and four single 60 cm slings in yellow.

Start with this “4:1” short to long sling ratio and you should be good for most routes.

Eat and drink on the way to your climb

When you’re driving to the trailhead, especially in the early morning hours, make a point to eat and drink in the car. 

Tasty and fast to prepare eat-in-car foods include pre-peeled hard-boiled eggs in a baggie, bran muffins (gotta love the 24 hour Starbucks) bananas, a canned protein drink, and cereal bars - try the "this apple walks into a bar" bars from Trader Joes.

Many people find that having a fairly high protein meal before a big climb day really helps performance. (Personally, I bonk in an hour or so if I just have instant oatmeal, but if I stir in some protein powder it keeps me going for much longer.)

Some of the high protein and drinks/shakes are a good way to easily get this into your body in the early morning. Check out the protein shakes from Costco - tasty flavors, reasonably priced and a full 30 grams of protein.

For hot drinks, a thermos of tea or instant miso soup can hit the spot as well. Go easy on the coffee - it can mess with your lower GI tract in some Less Than Ideal ways, especially the nasty brew you're likely to find at a 24 hour minimart at 3:00am. 

For water, try to down at least 20 ounces of water in the hour or so before you start your climb. Conveniently, a 20 oz. plastic Gatorade bottle is the perfect sized container for car water consumption (20 oz. is about the amount of fluid you can typically absorb in an hour.) Be sure your car nibbles and water can be accessed from your seat, and not buried in your pack in the trunk.

Minimize rock fall - clip some gear in easy terrain

Here’s another solid tip from the excellent American Mountain Guide Association (AMGA) video series, featuring IFMGA Certified Guide Emilie Drinkwater of Cloudsplitter Mountain Guides.

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Scenario: You and your partner are on 3rd-ish class terrain with a fair amount of loose rock. Ideally, you might take a minute or so and shorten up the rope with a Kiwi coil and walk with just a few meters of rope between you, but for whatever reason you decide not to do this.

A simple way to keep the rope from getting hung up on the rocks, as well as the rope potentially causing rocks to tumble down onto your follower, is to simply find a few high gear placements along the way and clip the rope into them.

The gear placements are not needed for fall protection, they just keep the rope out of the rocks. Probably best to use a cam if possible, to make cleaning fast and easy for your follower.

Check the short video below for a demo.

Racking your cordage - Do the Twist

A basic climbing skill is learning to rack your cordage - slings, runners, cordelettes, prusiks - quickly, in a tidy loop, and making sure they never hang below your knees, where they can trip you up.

I've seen lots of people take several minutes to rack their cordelette with some cutesy macramé project. Yes, it may look nice on your harness, but I prefer simple and speedy, especially for gear that you're using every pitch. Here's one good way to rack it:

Do the Twist!

If you take any sort of loop (sewn or tied), twist it a few times, and then hold the ends together, the material will rather magically do this sort of double-helix twist around itself, resulting in a tidy, compact bundle.

It may look like a complete mess, but to deploy, simply unclip it, give it a shake or two, and it should return itself to full length, ready to use.

This also works with 60 cm slings and even a long cordelette. You need to double up these longer slings to get them down to about two feet long before you start.

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As we'd like to say around here, this one is a better show than a tell. Here’s a quick video demo on how to do this.

Keeping track of a group in low visibility

If it’s dark and/or a white out and you have a large group of people to keep together, here’s a couple of techniques. They might sound a little cheesy if you’re reading this on a bright sunny day, but each can bring peace of mind to the team, and some psychological comfort that everyone is part of the group and not isolated.

(Of course, the leader can remind people to take breaks when everyone in the group stops and not to randomly stop whenever they feel like it, which can easily lead to getting lost in the dark.)

1 - Assign everyone a buddy.  After a break and when you’re ready to get going again, the leader calls out “buddy check”. Everyone on the team looks around and hopefully finds their buddy. If they see them, they don’t say anything. But if their buddy isn’t there, they give a shout to indicate someone is missing. 

2 - Count off. Everyone on the team gets a consecutive number, and they shut out the number one at a time to make sure everyone is accounted for. Make one person the leader, “one”, so when they call “one”, everyone answers in order: “two”, “three”, etc.

This tip is partially from the excellent book "1001 Climbing Tips" by Andy Kirkpatrick

Bring some earplugs

Getting a good (well, at least passable) night’s sleep can be a big factor in your climbing success. A tent flapping in the wind or a snoring tentmate can be easily thwarted with the humble earplug.

Tip – buy a pair that’s connected with a foot or so of string.  When one falls out (and it will) it can be easily retrieved and won’t be lost in the folds of your sleeping bag.

Carry them in small plastic bag so the string doesn’t get too tangled up.  Get the plugs at a good hardware store or online . They do get lost, even with the string, so get a few pairs when you’re shopping.