Debunking anchor/climbing myths, Part 2

Here's something to consider when talking about climbing techniques - Consider using the words “never” and “always” with restraint.

Let's have a look at some long-running misunderstandings, myths, and hearsay. Maybe we can put some of these well meaning but perhaps misinformed ideas to rest.

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“I saw the DMM video where they broke Dyneema knotted runners in drop tests. So, you should NEVER tie a knot in Dyneema; it weakens the material to a dangerous level.”

Wowzer, this one can really get people riled up on the interwebs! Opinions range from “Yer Gonna Die (YGD)”, to “Generally not best practice, but it’s probably okay”, to “No worries, not a factor in real world climbing.” Might the truth be somewhere in the middle?

Here’s my short answer: Yes, it does weaken the webbing, depending on the knot, let's say 50%. But, a sewn Dyneema runner is rated to about 22 kN, so even if you reduce the strength of that half, you still have a strength of around 11 kN. The maximum force possible in any real world climbing scenario is about 9kN, and that is in the extremely rare scenario of a very harsh factor 2 fall. Even when catching a factor 1 fall, the force on the anchor is only about 2 kN.

The technical documentation on Dyneema slings from Black Diamond and Petzl does not expressly forbid knots in Dyneema. Black Diamond mentions it as a “caution”. But they also mention as a “caution” getting water, ice, or mud on your slings, which we know is hardly the end of the world. (Plus, they also have the same caution warning on a nylon sling, so it's not just a Dyneema thing.)

Thus, the diminished strength that comes from the knot doesn't really matter in real world climbing scenarios. Yes, it can break in a drop test. No, it doesn’t break in real life. Think of it this way: tens of thousands of climbers have tied knots in Dyneema for decades, but have you ever heard of a knotted sling breaking in real life? No.

Here's another way to think about: 11 kN is as strong or stronger than any gear placement, stronger than the force a dynamic rope will create, and more than your body can handle.

Many IFMGA certified guides use and teach this technique regularly.

Having said that, if you don't like it, then don't do it. But, no need to criticize others if they choose to tie knots in Dyneema.

Below: Quad anchor tied with overhand knots in Dyneema webbing (photo and anchor by Dale Remsberg, an IFMGA Certified Guide and Technical Director of the American Mountain Guides Association (AMGA).

image: DAle Remsberg; https://www.instagram.com/p/B3USg1UDcRz/

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“You should NEVER connect your tether/PAS to your belay loop. Todd Skinner did that, his belay loop broke, and he died. So, you shouldn't do it either.”

or maybe:

“You should ALWAYS run soft goods, like rope and slings, through the tie in points, and clip hard goods, like carabiners, to the belay loop.”

Read a detailed article about tether attachment here.

When ascending a route, it's usually best practice to use the rope and clove hitch yourself to the anchor. But when it's time to rappel, you're probably going to want a tether. Whether you use a designated tether like a PAS or a Petzl Connect, or make one DIY with a double length sling, you need to choose how to connect it to your harness.

There are some cases when attaching your tether directly to your belay loop is not only acceptable, but the recommended practice. There are some other situations where it's probably not such a great idea.

• What activity are you doing?

• What does the manufacturer say?

• What’s your tether made of?

• What kind of knot or hitch connects the tether to your harness?

These are all nuances in technique that need to be considered, rather than a binary “always” or “never.”

Here are some general guidelines:

• Regarding Todd Skinner's tragic death, he apparently was rappelling fast on static ropes. The bottom of the rope was tied to the lower anchor (the “J loop”). Todd rapped into the bottom of the loop at speed, and when he hit the bottom of the loop, this large static force caused his harness to fail. It did not happen under a standard body weight rappel. (Source: Andy Kirkpatrick, “Higher Education”, page 182., and private Instagram message from Will Gadd.) Todd's harness was extremely old and worn out. Check your harness regularly and retire it without hesitation if it shows significant wear for any reason.

• If you do connect a tether to your belay loop, don’t leave it permanently connected. Doing this can prevent the loop from rotating and may concentrate wear in a single spot. Remove the tether when you're done for the day, or after your rappel.

• If you're girth hitching a designated PAS type tether, the usual manufacturer recommendation is to use both tie in points. (Even then it's a bit of a “soft” recommendation.)

• If you're girth hitching a “DIY” tether with a skinny Dyneema sling, it’s probably best to use both tie in points. (Plus some people think it’s best not to use a static Dyneema sling as a tether at all.)

• If you're girth hitching a tether (or adjustable daisy for aid climbing) with a wider nylon sling, either the tie in points or the belay loop should be fine.

• If you're using a rope style lanyard such as the Petzl Connect Adjust, follow Petzl’s recommendation and girth hitch it to your belay loop.

• If you’re doing via ferrata, the standard practice is to girth hitch the lanyards to your belay loop.

• Many world class climbers and IFMGA Certified Guides prefer to use the belay loop.

• And . . . if you're not using a girth hitch and using a double loop bowline tether, it's okay to tie it through your belay loop with any kind of material.

Again, to learn more about this, check out this detailed article.

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“You should ALWAYS rappel off of sport climbing anchors. If you lower off, it wears out the anchor hardware.”

Many older climbers were brought up with this ethic. However, the modern approach to getting the last climber down from a sport anchor is to lower through the anchor hardware. Why?

• Most modern hardware is designed to be easily replaced

• Lowering can reduce communication errors between the climber and the belayer

• The climber never goes off belay

• There’s less chance of dropping the rope

• You don't need any extra gear like a leash or a rappel device

• Most of all, it’s the recommended practice from the American Alpine Club. You can see an entire article about it here.

Note, this only applies to the LAST climber. Generally, the first climber should build an anchor with their own gear, and lower of that. This is especially true if you are a top roping with a larger group or doing multiple laps.

And yes, some climbing areas have a local ethic of always rappelling for the last person. If you’re climbing somewhere new, ask about preferred technique. It's up to you to choose between getting a stinkeye from the locals and using modern best practices.

General procedure of what's going on below: 1) Climber pulls a bight of rope and threads it through the anchor chains. 2) Climb a ties a figure 8 loop and clips it to her belay loop with a locker. 3,4) Climber then unties her tie in knot and pulls the tail through the chains. 5,6) After clear communication with the belayer, climber calls for a lower. Note, she stays on belay the entire time. Diagram, Petzl.com

image: Petzl.com

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“You should NEVER load a carabiner in 3 or more directions; doing so weakens it dangerously.”

Hopefully you learn early on in your climbing that whenever possible you should load a carabiner along the spine, and always avoid cross loading across the gate, which can reduce the strength of the carabiner by about 2/3. Good advice, always do this when you can.

But, there are some other situations where a carabiner can be loaded in three or even four directions, such as in the photo below. What's the story on that? Is it dangerous?

Turns out, for recreational climbers, this is probably fine. Black Diamond did some break testing on this, and even under extreme loading in four directions (known as quad-axial loading) , the carabiner only lost a maximum of about 25% strength, down to around 15 kN.

Setting up an anchor as shown in the photo below to belay your second, where the maximum force is probably going to be at most 3 kN, is acceptable. Again, you don't have to do it yourself, but if you see someone else rigging it like this, know that it's well within the breaking limit of the equipment. (And, loading in three directions, known as tri-axial loading, showed hardly any reduction in strength in the carabiner.)

We cover this extensively and share the Black Diamond results in this article.

IMAGE: IFMGA GUIDe KARSTEN DELAP - HTTPS://WWW.INSTAGRAM.COM/P/B5EJRGOJXDI/

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“When you tie into your harness, you should ALWAYS tie a ‘safety knot’ to backup your rewoven figure 8 knot.”

A “backup” knot is unnecessary. This myth is further propagated by many rock gyms (and maybe their overzealous lawyers?) who require this practice. A proper rewoven figure 8 has a good long tail of at least 6 inches, and has been properly “dressed and stressed”, so all the slack is pulled out of it. Once you do these two things, there's no need for a so-called safety knot, backup knot, or anything like that.

Rewoven figure 8, good to go, no backup knot. (Okay nitpickers, the tail could be a few inches shorter . . .)

Decluster your anchor: Put lap coils on a sling

This tip is from AMGA Certified Rock Guide Cody Bradford. While sadly Cody is no longer with us, his Instagram continues to stay up and is a great source of tips like this, check it out.

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On a multi pitch climb, rope management is a key skill to staying cluster free and moving efficiently. The basic question is, ledge, or no ledge?

• If you have any sort of a ledge, you can often (neatly) pile the rope at your feet.

• If you're at a small stance or full hanging belay, the typical approach is to make lap coils over your tie in connection.

However, these lap coils can be cumbersome, especially when belaying a leader.

Below is the standard approach of the rope draped over your tie in connection. Do you think this might be awkward when you try to belay your leader from your belay loop? (Answer, yes.)

image: Cody Bradford, https://www.instagram.com/p/BsZCqrpBXpu/

Solution: hang the coils from a sling on the anchor. The rope stays tidy AND out of your way. Much easier to belay your leader on the next pitch.

image: Cody Bradford, https://www.instagram.com/p/BsZCqrpBXpu/

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Here's a short video by Cody Bradford that demonstrates this simple and effective technique. (He's doing it on ice, but it works fine for rock climbing as well.)

Remove rope twists with an ATC

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Twists (aka pigtails) in your rope are a hassle, and you need to get ‘em out.

The source of pigtails is often a mystery. Some possible causes might be:

• Munter hitch rappel or lower with poor technique

• Lowering off an anchor with quicklinks lying flat against the rock

• Unwrap a new rope in a hurry

• Or just some random rope weirdness!

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Here's a simple and fast way to decluster your spaghetti pile.

• Clip a carabiner and a tube style belay device (here the DMM Pivot, my fave) to a bolt, some rock pro, tree branch, whatever, about head high. A small carabiner can work better than larger one.

• Flake the rope onto the ground.

• If you have the space, try to stretch the rope out to most of its full length. (A grassy field or park works well for this.)

• Why stretch out the rope? Because as you pull the rope through your device, the twists start migrating toward the end. If the rope is all stretched out, these twists can more easily work themselves out the end of the rope instead of making a gigantic tangle as will probably happen if you flake the rope into a pile. (Ask me how I know about this . . . )

• Feed the rope through the belay device and carabiner, and pull the rope through. When you get to the twists, continue pulling through the device, giving a few shakes and shimmies as needed. Having a friend to assist you can be nice.

As the rope is pulled through the small diameter of the belay device, the twists move to the end of the rope and should work themselves out. If your rope is REALLY messed up, you might need to repeat this.  

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Pigtails in your rope can be more than a minor annoyance. It’s especially important to remove them when you're pulling a rappel rope.

If you don't, the strands can twist together or cause other weirdness, making your rope difficult or impossible to pull. Check out this description (translated from Italian) and photo from @aledallo91.

“. . . a crunch created during the recovery of a rope on a broken descent on two anchors that forced me to abandon it, as it was impossible to recover from the intermediate stop. Then I went back up to save my baby. ❤️

This ball was formed by itself in recovering the rope, due to the twisting of the last meters of the same.

Experience that teaches the importance of checking that the rope is always well stretched and free of slots and twists before attempting the retrieve.”

Rope management - clip knots to a big carabiner

(I first read this tip in the British climbing magazine “High” about 15 years ago, and I believe the article was written by Andy Kirkpatrick, so I‘ll give him credit here for the idea.)

Here's a link to a newer article on Andy's website that covers this in more detail.

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Good rope management on a multi pitch climb is one of the keys to efficient belay transitions. There are various approaches to keeping your ropes tidy. Any system that keeps the rope out from under foot and from snagging on rocks, roots, cracks, and is easy to feed out snag-free on the next pitch, is a good choice.

What are some common methods?

• If you're standing on a nice big ledge, lucky you, just make a “pancake pile”.

• At a steeper stance, you can lay butterfly coils across your lap (lap coiling). I’m not a fan, as having 60 m of rope hanging right off of your tie in point is a hassle.

• You can make coils and clip them into a sling. This can work pretty well, but unless you make tidy coils, you can get a royal mess can you try to feed out the rope.

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Here’s an easy and elegant alternative for multi pitch rope management, that works for swinging leads or block leading.

• Take a wide mouth locking carabiner, such as the CAMP Core Lock (above) and clip it somewhere to the anchor.

• As the second climbs up and the belayer takes in slack, the belayer ties a slip knot every 10 meters or so and clips the loop to the big carabiner. Keep these loops loose so they are easy to untie; don’t snug them down or worry about dressing them very well. For a 60 meter rope, this will give you at most six knots in the carabiner, with the rope loops hanging about 5 meters or so down from the belay (hopefully not getting in the way of your partner as they get close to you). Do NOT lock the carabiner gate.

If the belayer is using a Grigri or plaquette style belay device guide mode, this is even easier.

When the second arrives at the anchor, the rope is in tidy loops and ready for the second to lead out. If you’re swapping leads, you’re all set to go, because the last loop to be clipped should be the first loop for the new leader to head out.

To belay the new leader, the belayer simply unclips a loop, pulls with one hand remove the slipknot, and the rope is ready to feed.

• If you want to make your loops shorter, simply add a second large carabiner to the anchor and continue clipping slipknot loops to that after the first carabiner is full.

• If you can, start with slightly larger loops, and make subsequent loops slightly smaller, so each loop will pull up and feed cleanly without getting tangled with the other ones.

• If you're leading in blocks (with the same person leading several pitches in a row) simply rotate the carabiner clockwise 180 degrees, so the wide part is clipped to the bolt. Now the last loop that you clipped is the first one that you can unclip, which lets you block lead smoothly. (That's probably a little confusing; try it once and you'll figure it out.)

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Sidenote: I received a surprising amount of hate mail when I posted this on Instagram. “This is a crazy system, I can't imagine trying to unclip a knot while I'm lead belaying, have you ever actually even tried this, blah blah blah . . .”

Idea: If you find it difficult to unclip a loosely tied slip knot with one hand and untie it, you should probably work on your skills. Yes, having a Grigri or similar assisted braking device can give you a momentary backup if you do need two hands for a second to untie the knot.

Plus, think about it this way: if your leader is moving fast, that probably means the climbing is easy for them, and they should be ready to take a momentary break of a few seconds about every 10 meters, so you can untie a knot. Conversely, if your leader is moving slowly, then the climbing is difficult. But, because they’re moving slowly, that easily gives you time to reach down and untie the knot. Either way, the system works.

The purpose of Alpinesavvy is to give ideas and information, not advice. I'm certainly not saying everybody has to use the system, but don't knock it until you try it.

Finally, keep in mind the source, Andy Kirkpatrick - he knows his stuff.

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And, speaking of Andy, let's look at a couple of alternatives from his excellent website.

You don't actually even need a carabiner at all. You can tie off the rope onto the arms of the cord that makes up your anchor.

Image: https://www.andy-kirkpatrick.com/blog/view/rope-belay-wrangling

Or, you can make a sort of daisy chain. (I have not tried this variation, but it looks like it should work.)

Image: https://www.andy-kirkpatrick.com/blog/view/rope-belay-wrangling

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Here's a nice video clip from Petzl via Facebook that shows a similar system. (Sorry I can’t embed this video on my webpage, you need to click the link to see it.)

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This works slightly differently for big wall climbing.

As the second ascends the fixed rope and cleans the gear, they have a large carabiner hanging from a short sling (usually about 30 cm) from their belay loop. The short sling is somewhat optional, but it declusters the front of your harness a bit and makes it slightly easier to clip in the knots. The second ties a backup knot every 10 meters or so and clips it to the carabiner.

This backup knot system is pretty standard practice in big walling, as it does two main things: 1) Protects the cleaner from a huge fall in the event their ascenders become detached from the rope, and 2) Helps prevent the rope from blowing / swinging sideways and getting hung up somewhere where you don't want it to be.

The one downside to this technique: as the cleaner nears the top of the pitch, most of the weight of the rope hanging off of their harness instead of having it hanging weightlessly beneath them. If there isn't a knot in the end of the rope that might get snagged, and if the pitch goes pretty much straight up, and if there is no wind, it might be a better call to not tie the backup knots and just let the rope hang free.

The trick is when you get to the top, you keep all of the loops tied into the carabiner, and transfer that onto the anchor. Ta dah, instant rope management for the lead rope, everything is already tied up in short 5 meter long loops, ready to belay the leader. No rope bag needed. As mentioned above, if you’re leading in blocks, you unclip the loops for a moment and reverse them, so the correct knot is on top for whoever is leading the next pitch.

Another tip for a big wall climbing: this same system of rope management can work for the haul rope also. As you pull up your piggage, generating slack in the haul rope, simply tie off a slipknot loop every 10 meters or so to keep things tidy. (But a dedicated rope bag usually is best.)

For big wall climbing, this is how the harness of the second would look when cleaning and tying the back up knots.

National Park Service technical rescue manual - free PDF

image: Department of interior National Park Service

National Park Service SAR (Search and Rescue) professionals, with skills honed over decades at parks such as Yosemite, Grand Teton, and Grand Canyon, have a technical rescue manual. It’s online as a free PDF file, hosted on the Mountain Rescue Association website, MRA.org.

If you want to get into some serious rope geek material, this is some solid reading. This 290+ page document pretty much covers it all; below is a screen grab of the table of contents to give you an idea.

It starts with the basics and then gets increasingly technical and complex. Even if you're not on a SAR team, there are some expert techniques and tricks here that can benefit anyone interested in small team self rescue. Check it out.

Note: Some of the more advanced techniques have evolved since this was published in (I think) 2014. Most recreational climbers won’t need to know the detailed benefits of the dual tension system over the older style main and belay, for example. If you're looking for a more up-to-date reference, check out “The Technical Rescue Riggers Guide, Third Edition” by Conterra.

(And, in case the MRA.org link above doesn’t work, you can see a copy here.)

image: Department of interior National Park Service

Debrief after your climb

Treat every climb, summit or not, as a learning experience to analyze what you did and to improve your performance next time you’re out.  A great way to do this: a post climb “debrief” talk with your team (even if that’s just you and one partner). On the car ride home, the hike out, or at dinner heading home, when details are fresh in your mind, is a great time to discuss things like:

Time - How long did the climb take? Was this faster or slower than what you planned for? Look at the segments of your climb (approach, climb, descent, hike out); Were your estimated times close for each of those? What factors contributed to the overall pace/speed of the team? (If you hit your planned time within plus or minus one hour for each day, you can pat yourself on the back for good planning.)

Technical aspects - What was the technical crux of the route? Was the entire team prepared for it? Were there any aspects that could be improved to be faster or safer next time? (Think simul climbing, downclimbing rather than rapping, rope management, order of team members.)

Routefinding - Was your pre trip route planning adequate?  Were you ever “lost?” Did you camp in the best spot, or did you notice a better place (and mark it with GPS or on the map for next time?) Did you take the best line, for ascent and descent? Did you take adequate photos or notes so you remember the details? Did you record a GPS track? Can you draw your route and save it in CalTopo, for future reference or to share with someone else?

Gear and food - Was the gear you brought suitable?  Did you have too much or not enough or anything? (rock pro, snow pro, ropes . . . ) What pro did you bring that you did not use? Was your food sufficient and tasty?

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The main question: What would I do differently next time?

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Now, when you get home, if you write these details in your ongoing climb journal, you’ll really have a good record of the trip that you can learn from yourself, or pass onto someone else when they try the route. (The benefits of keeping a climb journal are covered in another Tip coming soon.)

Make a regular habit out of reviewing your climb journal, and look for repeating patterns. Are you consistently making similar “mistakes”? (For me, this is typically forgetting the lip balm and bringing a bit too much food.)

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Hey, don’t just take my word for it. Expert alpinist Steve House made a video on the topic, as part of his excellent five part “Alpine Principles video series on YouTube, highly recommended. Check it out below.

Uploaded by Alpine Mentors on 2019-05-02.