Climbing Tips: Do This, Not That (Part 3)
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1 - Cast, don’t throw, your rappel rope
Try to avoid tossing one big coil of a rappel rope and hoping it's going to pay out smoothly down the cliff face. Most of the time it won't.
Think of casting a fishing line. There's a weight (lure) on the end. The line is carefully spooled on the reel. The weight is cast over the water, and the line smoothly follows it from the reel. No snags, no snarls.
“Casting” rappel ropes uses the same concept. Create a weight with one end of the rope, and flake the rest of the rope carefully. Toss only the weighted end, which should carry down the rest of the rope. Only toss one strand of rope at a time.
Doing this might take a little more time initially, but it is usually a good investment because it saves you from declustering the ropes later on.
2 - Block leading - don’t “trap” the leader
Block leading refers to the practice of one leader leading several pitches in a row. If you do, this, be sure that the leader attaches to the anchor in a way that allows them to easily get out of it.
In the left photo, the leader clove hitched themselves to the master point carabiner, and then added the Grigri between the clove and the gate. This “traps” the clove hitch, making it pretty much impossible for them to get out of the anchor to lead the next pitch!
A better choice is shown on the right. Here the leader is connected to the master point carabiner with a carabiner and a clove hitch. Now the leader can easily unclip and continue with the next pitch.
3 - Caution with girth hitched rappel rings
If you come across a girth hitched rappel ring, be very careful how you clip it.
If you clip it on the BOTTOM of the ring, it's safe.
If you clip on the TOP of the ring, when you weight the ring it's gonna completely detach from the cord/sling and Yer Gonna Die (YGD)!!!
There was a recent serious accident in the North Cascades related to this exact issue. (Link in my article) \
Please do not set up anchors like this. If you find one in the wild, be careful.
I recommend avoiding any sort of girth hitching a ring around a sling like this. The more standard methods shown in the photo below are more secure and easier to check.
When rigged like this, you can clip a tether to any point on the metal connection and you're gonna be safe.
Why is about 30 cm the ideal length of tail for a flat overhand bend?
When you put a cordelette around a tree and you want to use the shelf, how is that different than a two point anchor?
