Aiding - Clip gear as high as you can

When leading on aid, standard practice to get maximum reach is to try to clip gear as high as you can.

Let's start with a bolt. Typically, you clip your ladder directly to the bolt is shown below on the right, as this gives you maximum reach. If you clip a quickdraw first, and then clip your ladder to the top carabiner of the quick draw, you're losing a few inches. Pretty much all modern both hangers have enough room for two carabiners, that's why this works.

Sometimes you may have strange hangers that can only accommodate one carabiner, or maybe you're leading a roof where it makes more sense to clip the quick draw first, but those situations are pretty rare.

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When you place a cam, you usually (depending on cam design) have three different options of where to clip it:

1. the racking carabiner

2. the sling

3. the wire loop

The wire loop is generally best for aiding, because it gives you the highest reach. (Note that some cams, such as the Metolius Master cam, don’t have a wire loop.)

Note that clipping the wire loop decreases the rated strength of the cam by about 1-2 kN, due to the sharper angle. But, it's just for your body weight and not for taking a fall, so in this case it's fine.

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Let's look at these three clipping options in the photo below.

• Left: Aid ladder clipped to the racking carabiner of the cam. Not ideal, you're losing about 8 inches of reach. Clip it higher if you can.

• Center: Aid ladder clipped to the sling. Slight improvement, but let's see if we can get a little higher.

• Right: Aid ladder clipped directly into the wire loop. This gives you the most reach, and is usually the best option.

While most modern cams are designed with wire loops that can handle your body weight and even maybe a bounce test without getting too abused, older ones (below) may not. Repeated aid climbing can damage the cable housing and potentially kink the cable a bit. Newer style cams with more robust thumb loops generally don't have this problem. Here's a photo of my beloved old orange Metolius that’s not in the best condition. =^(

How does your belay device affect impact forces?

“You should NEVER use a Grigri for trad climbing, because it puts too much force on the top piece of gear.”

Have you heard some version of this?

There are plenty of (often very experienced) climbers who trad climb with a Grigri, and they're not ripping gear out of the crack every time they take a fall, so what's the deal? (Actually, using a Grigri for alpine rock climbing has a host of benefits, which we cover at this article.)

I've also heard absolute numbers tossed around, such as, “Using a Grigri increases the force on the top piece of gear by 30%.” Percentage increase in force is not nearly as important as the actual force. For example, if the force on the top piece of gear goes from 2 kN to 3 kN, that's a large percentage increase, but a rather small numerical increase.

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Fortunately, the clever gear testing gnomes at Petzl did some testing on this, and the results are interesting!

Petzl compared falls of increasing severity, using real live belayers and climbers. They measured the force on the climber, the top piece of gear, and the belayer.

Check it out here, or click the button below.

(There's a nice video of the test climbers catching big whippers, always fun to watch!)

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It's important to note that falls involving real people have a much different (usually lower) forces then those typically measured in the harsh environment of a drop tower. This is typically due to belayer displacement, squishy human bodies, and some rope slipping through the device as braking is applied.

(With real people, you can't really test past factor 1 because someone's probably going to get hurt.)

Keep in mind these are not absolute rules for every kind of rope, belay device, etc. From the Petzl web page: “The results are influenced by slippage in the belay device and therefore by the belayer's grip. Variability is thus high: these results cannot be generalized to all situations and allow us only to quantify, in a broad sense, the influence of the belay device.”

If your French is a bit rusty: the gray dot is the top piece of gear “l‘ancrage”, the blue dot is the force on the climber “grimpeur”, and the black dot is the force on the belayer “l’assureur”.

image: https://www.petzl.com/US/en/Sport/Influence-of-the-belay-device?ActivityName=rock-climbing

For a Grigri belay with larger fall factors (0.7 and 1.0) the force on the top piece of gear is about 2 kN higher than a belay with a Reverso. The highest force measured overall was 6 kN (factor 1, with a Grigri, on the top piece of gear). Not catastrophically huge, but potentially concerning, depending on the quality of that top placement.

However, for the more common lower fall factor of 0.3, the Grigri generated only a very minor increase in force on the top piece of gear. That’s good!

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Comments . . .

• The takeaway: provided you can keep your fall factor relatively low, and you have good placements in good quality rock, using a Grigri for trad climbing is fine.

• It's not the Grigri that's solely responsible for increased force, but more the amount of dynamic rope in play to help absorb the force.

• Fortunately, high fall factors are rare and usually avoidable. Here are some ways to mitigate them.

• If you're on a multi pitch route and looking at marginal gear and/or hard climbing right off the anchor, it might be best to belay with a tube style device or munter hitch. Once the leader has a few good placements and has some dynamic rope in the system, fall forces should remain low, belaying with a Grigri should be fine, if you want to (carefully!) change belay devices

• A downside to using the Reverso (or similar device) is that by giving a softer catch, your climber might fall farther. This can obviously be a problem if there's a ledge or (ground) below them.

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Want to learn more? See these articles that cover similar studies by Petzl.

• This test compares forces on system components between a Grigri and a Reverso.

• This test covers climbing forces tested with actual people (belayer and climber).

• This test shows that a rigid mass weight has a much higher impact on the top anchor point than an actual climber.

Anchor overview - a German perspective

image credit: Georg Sojer / Chris Semmel / VDBS

The German Mountain and Ski Guides Association (“Verband Deutscher Berg und Skiführer” or “VDBS”) has a well deserved reputation for professionalism and technical expertise.

German Mountain Guide / Bergfuhrer Chris Semmel published an interesting PDF file that summarizes some modern, “VSBS approved” approaches to anchor building.

Many of them are quite different than what's used in the United States, so let's have a look!

Suggestion: When we encounter a technique that’s different from the one we currently use, it’s good to keep an open mind. There are few absolutes in climbing, “gotta do it this way or else”. Most everything else is somewhat subjective. Always practice new methods on the ground first, ideally with a qualified instructor.

A few notes . . .

• All images on this page are credited to Georg Sojer, Chris Semmel and the VDBS.

• Side note: Georg is a superb and funny cartoonist! Follow him on on the Insta: @sojercartoon

• Many of these anchors originated in the “South Tirol”, (Dolomites) which is in northern Italy and not Germany, but credit still goes to Chris and the VDBS. Let's not get hung up on country of origin here, okay?

• Graphics with the “VDBS “ logo are the recommended practice. Graphics without the logo are “alternative” methods.

• The images are screen grabs from a zoomed in PDF file, so sorry if the quality is not so great.

• I'm sure there are some native German speakers reading this who might take issue with some of my translation. I had help from a friend who is self-professed 90% fluent, so any mistakes I blame on him. =^) Let's stay focused on the image content and not get bogged down in tiny translation errors, okay?

• Alpinesavvy tries not to offer advice, only ideas and information. I’m absolutely not saying that you should go out and start using these techniques tomorrow, especially without knowing the context and having appropriate instruction. I say again, having appropriate instruction. (Doing this may require a trip to Europe, lucky you.)

• I'm not posting every graphic in the entire document, rather the ones I found personally interesting. I encourage you to check out the whole PDF file yourself; click the button below.

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The title of the PDF: ”Standplatzlogik VDBS 2019 - Ausbildungsstandard VDBS & Alternativen”

This translates as “Belay stance logic - VDBS training standards and alternatives.” This title alone caught my attention. It's “Professional German Guide Training Standards”, not, “random stuff I saw on the Internet that might work for anchor building.” =^)

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Let’s get to it!

Anchor 1 - Let's start off with something not familiar to Americans, a single bolt.

Yes, that's right, one bolt, no redundancy, that's all you got, better get comfortable with it. It's probably a glue in, it's probably about 20+ cm long, and you can probably hang a bulldozer off of it, but it's still one bolt.

It appears that the leader is cloved hitched directly to the yellow carabiner, and brings up the second with a Munter hitch on the black carabiner.

image credit: Georg Sojer / Chris Semmel / VDBS

image credit: Georg Sojer / Chris Semmel / VDBS

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Anchor 2 - Here's an anchor set up more familiar to the rest of the world, “two solid fixed points”

Do you see a sling, a quad, a cordelette, or any attempt at equalization? Nope! If you want to build an anchor using the rope, this is about as simple as it gets. All the load is obviously on the left bolt, with the right bolt only serving as a backup in the (1 in 100,000?) chance that the left bolt fails.

This reflects a different approach to anchor building in areas that have top-quality twin bolted anchors - there's really no need to try to equalize.

(Note, the rope is tied to the belay loop and not the harness tie in points. Not a standard practice in the US and not recommended by most harness manufacturers, but apparently acceptable to the VDBS, so in this case I'm gonna call it good.)

image credit: Georg Sojer / Chris Semmel / VDBS

Here's another approach, in the diagram on the right. Instead of clove hitch, you can make a bight knot and belay from that.

image credit: Georg Sojer / Chris Semmel / VDBS - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rpPxbNOHjCQNFZmnI-qB9iEXun7Q4Qyf/view

Side note: Check out how the rope is tied to the harness in the diagram above: to the belay loop! This is definitely not standard practice in North America, but maybe in Germany?

Have a look at the screen grab below from the Edelrid website. It clearly shows that tying to the belay loop is acceptable.

image: https://media.edelrid.de/images/attribut/54507_GAL_Gurte_Sport_ANSICHT.pdf

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Anchor 3 - The fixed point belay

Again, used with two solid bolts, and again, this puts all of the load on the left bolt with the right serving as backup. This time, instead of using the rope and two clove hitches to connect the bolts, you use a double length (120 cm) sling instead. The sling is tied with a double loop bowline on the left, and either a clove hitch with the end clipped, as shown on the left, or a simple overhand knot, as shown on the right.

This technique can be used here as shown, to bring up your partner(s), and it can also be used to belay the leader directly from the anchor. AlpineSavvy has a detailed article on the fixed point belay technique, read it here.

image credit: Georg Sojer / Chris Semmel / VDBS

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In the right side margin is this text. It's highlighted, I'm guessing it's pretty important. =^)

Yellow: “Dyneema at the belay as linear connection sling with double bowline: width starting at 10 mm recommended (careful with older 6 or 8 mm slings) In red: “NO old dyneema slings with knots at the belay”

image credit: Chris Semmel / VDBS

Takeaway: (I would guess that the applies to using Dyneema slings for any kind of anchor, not just a fixed point as shown.)

• Dyneema slings are fine to use when building an anchor.

• It's best practice to use slings that are 10+ mm.

• It's okay to put knots in them, provided the slings are relatively new.

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Anchor 4 - Swinging leads with a rope anchor

Now, this is interesting. Lots of people think that if you build an anchor with the rope, you can’t block lead. You have to swap leads, because there's nowhere for the second to easily secure themselves.

Well, the set up below lets you swap leads!

It took me a minute or two to digest what was going on, look at the photo below and think it through. Using the quick draw on the top bolt is the key move.

This one is fairly complicated and definitely one to practice on the ground first!

1. Left: The second is belayed up on the light green rope with a munter hitch.

2. Center: The second clove hitches into the upper carabiner on the bottom bolt, removes the bottom carabiner, passes the rope behind the connection to the leader, and then clove hitches to the top carabiner of the quick draw.

3. Right: The leader is put on belay with a munter hitch from the bottom bolt, and clips the quick draw as the first piece for the next pitch.

image credit: Georg Sojer / Chris Semmel / VDBS

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Anchor 5 -Now we're getting into alpine anchors, with “2 fragile fixed points”.

(See, your German is getting better already!) “Standard for load distribution.”

Notice, static equalization only. No sliding X, so no chance of suddenly loading the remaining anchor. An overhand knot on the left, and a girth hitch on the right. Yes, a girth hitch, it's fine to use that at the master point. Get used to it, you're about to see a few more. Learn more about the girth hitch master point here.

image credit: Georg Sojer / Chris Semmel / VDBS

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Anchor 6 - Girth hitch on the ring at the top, pass a bight through the piton at the bottom, and then girth hitch the master point carabiner.

Many people would assume this anchor would require three carabiners, but in fact you only need one. You can rig this same anchor if you find yourself at a chain anchor and are low on carabiners; learn how from this article.

image credit: Georg Sojer / Chris Semmel / VDBS

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Anchor 7 - Look, another girth hitch at the master point!

Also note, this is tied with an open, or untied cordelette. This lets you thread one end through the two pitons and the ring, and then re-tie the cord.

This can be a good method on rock that has a lot of fractures, pockets, or protrusions, because there are fewer carabiners that might be loaded sideways at strange angles.

Historical and geographical note, this style of anchor originated in the Dolomites in northern Italy, where there are lots of fixed pieces of gear in often marginal rock with lots of strange bumps and protrusions. This area is called the “Sud Tirol”, or South Tirol.

Can you see how the cord is tied into a loop? Looks like that's called in German a “paketknoten”, or “parcel knot” which is kind of a 1.5 overhand bend. (Personally I'm fine with a standard flat overhand bend here, although probably with slightly longer tails than what’s shown.)

image credit: Georg Sojer / Chris Semmel / VDBS

Here's a similar version, this time with a caption in English. (For any of you still wondering whether a girth hitch at the master point is a valid technique, hopefully you're convinced by now.) This is from a PDF file called: “Standplatzübersicht VDBS DAV 2020”

image credit: Georg Sojer / Chris Semmel / VDBS

Here’s how to tie the Paketknoten / parcel knot.

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Anchor 8 - Hopefully you never have to make a five piece anchor, but if you do, you might want to remember this technique.

The clove hitches require a lot less cord compared to the traditional cordelette, where you’d have to pull down loops between each piece of gear.

(There’s a three-piece variation of this, called the “V clove” anchor, here's an article about it.)

image credit: Georg Sojer / Chris Semmel / VDBS

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That's about all. Hopefully this may have broadened your perspective a bit on acceptable anchor building practices.

Again, anchors are often dependent on context and intended use, so it can be a bit tricky to extrapolate from a single diagram what are appropriate real world uses.

Please seek qualified instruction for learning critical skills like this.

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And finally, if you've read this far, everyone has at one point wished for an octopus anchor =^)

image credit: Georg Sojer / Chris Semmel / VDBS - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rpPxbNOHjCQNFZmnI-qB9iEXun7Q4Qyf/view

The "easy-to-clean" toprope anchor

Modern “clip & lower” anchor hardware like fixed steel carabiners and Mussy hooks allow faster and simpler transitions from climbing to lowering, and are a great development at many popular climbing areas. However, they are still catching on, and many routes will have a chain anchor without clip & lower hardware. That usually means you need to build your own anchor of some sort, because it’s generally bad practice top rope directly through the anchor hardware. (Hopefully you know that already . . .)

Typically, the most experienced person will lead the route, which means the beginner climbs second and cleans the anchor. Of course, learning to safely clean and lower is an important skill to learn eventually. But if you're climbing with someone who does not have it down, here’s a way to rig your anchor to keep it simple and low risk for the last person up.

Important cautionary note at the bottom of this article, please read all of it!

• The first person leading the route, usually the most experienced, can rig the anchor is shown. You can now top rope off this anchor all day, and all the wear-and-tear from the rope goes your bottom carabiner, not on the fixed hardware.

• If you’re toproping a lot, you might want to use steel carabiner or maybe the cool Edelrid “Bulletproof” carabiners. These are aluminum and have a steel insert at the bottom where the rope goes, meaning they will last much longer.

• Notice how the carabiner is clipped through the quick link which means it's facing out, perpendicular to the rock. This can help minimize rope twists.

• For the last person up (typically less experienced) to clean the anchor, it couldn’t be much easier. They simply clean the carabiner and call for a take and lower.

• To clarify, lowering directly from the anchor chains is only for the LAST person, not everyone who’s top roping the route. Avoid top roping through fixed gear.

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Concerns, grumbles, FAQ . . .

• “You should never top rope through fixed gear.” That's generally true. It might seem like that's what's happening here, but it's not. As soon as the rope is weighted, all the force goes onto the carabiner and there's no significant wear on the rings.

• “It’s not equalized.” That’s correct, because it doesn’t need to be. You're climbing on two modern bolts, each of which is rated to at least 25 kN. In the extremely unlikely (1 in 100,000?) event that the left bolt were to fail, the rope will be caught on the right bolt. (If equalization is important to you, simply clip a second carabiner into the quick link on the right side hanger.)

• “If the bolt fails, it’ll shock load the other one. ” Not a concern. This is a top rope anchor with your stretchy dynamic rope absorbing almost all the force of the very modest fall, if a very unlikely bolt failure ever were to happen. (Again, if this concerns you, just clip a second carabiner to the right bolt.)

• “Do I need a locker?” Not really. A standard snap gate carabiner is fine here. If the rope were to detach from the carabiner, it’s still going through the rings. But if it makes you happy to use a locker, go for it.

• “Lowering through chains is bad, rappelling is better.” With modern anchor hardware that's inexpensive and easily replaceable, it’s now preferred practice (in most areas) for the last climber to lower, not rappel, from the anchor. This anchor is set up perfectly for that: large long-lasting 50 kN stainless steel rings at the bottom, connected to a quick link for easy replacement. This is per the recommendation of the American Alpine Club.

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Caution: Don't do this on “open” anchor hardware (like anchor hooks)

This technique should only be used on “closed” anchor hardware, such as a ring, quick link, or chain, where there is no possibility of the rope coming unclipped. Do NOT use this technique on “open” anchor hardware, such as anchor (aka Mussy) hooks, carabiners, or a ram’s horn / pigtail.

In autumn 2023, there was a fatal accident in Alabama. It involved a beginning climber who was cleaning an anchor hook anchor, that had a locking carabiner added to minimize wear on the hooks. The carabiner was removed, somehow the rope unclipped from the hooks, and she fell.

Short version: for anchor hooks, do NOT add a carabiner on the anchor for the rope. If you do toprope through your own equipment, extend quick draws or slings BELOW the level of the hooks, and put the rope through your own gear that way. This reduces, but does not eliminate, the risk of the above accident happening again.

Also, NEVER have someone clean an anchor who is not 110% solid on the correct procedure. The proper learning sequence should be: 1) instruction on the ground, until the person can demonstrate several times in a row the correct sequence. Then, 2) doing it with an instructor off the ground, hanging at the actual anchor, where they can be directly supervised. (This means NOT yelling instructions from the base of the cliff!)

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Here’s an analysis of the accident from IFMGA Certified Guide Karsten Delap.

Here's another video from Karsten showing some ways to build your own anchor with your own gear, and then transfer to the anchor hooks when it's time to lower off for the last person.

Printing backcountry maps in CalTopo

CalTopo, my favorite backcountry mapping software, has a lot of great features. (While many of them are free, you can get a lot more with an annual subscription, which I strongly encourage you to do.)

One CalTopo highlight is superb map printing. Let's have a closer look.

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1  - CalTopo generates a “geospatial” PDF

Rather than just spitting out a file to your printer, CalTopo generates a PDF file. (There is a JPG option, but I hardly ever use it.) This makes it easy to save the PDF to your computer, the cloud, and/or email it. This might sound like a trivial feature, but it's really handy. Tip - the “Generate PDF” button opens a new browser tab that shows the PDF. Remember to save or print this file; if you close the browser tab, it's gone and you have to generate it again. You can also save this PDF to your paid account, making it easy to share and organize.

Plus, it's not just a “dumb” PDF file, it's what's termed “geospatial”, or “geo-referenced”. This means that it has real world coordinates embedded in the file. This lets you to use the PDF map in various types of phone GPS apps, such as Avenza, as your base layer. (Personally this is not something I use, but some people find it handy.)

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2 - Choose your paper size (depends on subscription level)

A free CalTopo account lets you print only on one paper size. But as you move up in subscription levels, it gives larger and larger printing options. At the basic $20 a year level, you can print on 11” by 17” paper, which is a very convenient size for lots of backcountry trips. By adjusting map scale to a custom number (such as using 1:30,000 rather than 1:25,000) and paper size, you can often print a map for a fairly large area on a single sheet of paper. (Pro and Desktop subscription levels allow printing on pretty much any size paper you want.)

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3 - Print at any map scale you want

Many types of mapping software don't give you any option to choose the scale, and they don't tell you what scale the map is even when it does get printed. CalTopo does both. At the top left side of the print dialog box, there’s a dropdown for five or six common map scales. You can also choose your own, under “Custom”. (I often use this feature to make custom orienteering maps, which are often a 1:10,000 scale.)  

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4 - Choose your DPI (depends on subscription level)

DPI, or dots per square inch, determines the overall quality of your printed map. The default DPI is 200, which is fine for most weekend climbing and backpack trips. Higher subscription levels (Pro and Desktop) give you access to a 300 and 400 DPI option.

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5 - Print a UTM or lat/long grid

Having a printed UTM grid on your map can be helpful for several things. It can help you estimate distance in kilometers, lets you plot UTM coordinates from a GPS onto your map, determine your UTM coordinates from your map, and give you a grid that's pretty closely aligned to true north, which can make measuring compass bearings on your map a bit more accurate.  You can toggle this grid on or off with one click. I usually choose to have it on.

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6 -  Print multiple pages

One of the most powerful features in CalTopo is the ability to print multiple map pages, and do so in any combination of landscape or portrait that you want. For example, on a multi-day backpack trip you would probably need to print out several different pages to cover your trip at a reasonably large scale. If your trail runs north-south, you can print in portrait mode. If the trail changes to more east-west, you can print a few pages in landscape. Also, the red box that shows the actual print area is idiot proof and accurate. Click and drag the red print area boxes to determine how much overlap you have between map sheets.

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7 - How to print it

Always protect a printed map from the elements. At the bare minimum, use a 1 gallon Ziploc freezer bag. Having the map in a plastic bag also makes it much more resistant to tearing.

It's best to print your map on a color laser printer if possible. Typically I save the map from my desktop computer onto a thumb drive, take the thumb drive to my local office store, and use the color laser printer there for a buck or two.

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8 - Other helpful map information

On the bottom margin, CalTopo prints just enough info to be helpful, but not more than you need. You get a scale bar in miles and kilometers, the UTM zone, a ratio scale (like 1:25,000) the map datum (defaults to WGS84), and the correct magnetic declination for your location (declination is often incorrect on older printed maps).

One unique feature of CalTopo maps is a QR (Quick Read) code, printed on single page maps only.  If you point your phone camera at the QR code, it can save the map as a PDF onto your phone, very cool! (You can even do this off of a computer screen, you don't even have to have the printed map in front of you.) This means one person can make a PDF map, email it to everyone else on the climbing team, and they then can print it, and/or save the map to the phone with the QR code. I'm a big fan of always carrying a digital backup of a paper map on my phone, and this is a super easy way to do it.

Here’s an example of the bottom of a CalTopo one page map, showing datum, UTM zone, two scale bars, ratio scale, QR code, and declination diagram.

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Finally, here's an example of the finished product, for the Disappointment Cleaver route, Mount Rainier.

• 1:25,000 scale

• 11 x 17" paper (prints nicely on 1 page)

• 1 km UTM grid

• MapBuilder Topo layer

2mm cord cuts 9mm climbing rope

You don't need a knife to cut (okay, melt) a climbing rope.

• Take a meter or so of any kind of thin cord. In the video I'm using 2mm but I've also done it with 5mm.

• Tie a bight knot in each end, clip the loops to carabiners for handles.

• Rapidly saw back-and-forth through the material that's under some tension. You’ll cut it through in a few seconds.

Check out the message from an Instagram friend below, they used it to cut through a tether. Pretty much any cord can cut through any kind of soft good if you do it fast enough.

This should also be an outstanding reminder of one of the few “Nevers” in climbing: Never set up a top rope through any kind of cord or webbing. When you lower your partner off, all of that friction, and resulting heat, can potentially cut through or severely damage your anchor material!

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This is more than a party trick. Here's a message I got the Instagram after I posted this.

BD Gridlock with Grigri - are you using it wrong?

The Black Diamond Gridlock is a popular belay carabiner, because it has a clever mechanism that (in theory) prevents your carabiner from being cross loaded. You would think the narrow end with the clip around it should always be put in your belay loop, right?

Apparently, not always. At least, that what Black Diamond says.

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Lucky for you, the Alpinesavvy web gnomes actually read instruction manuals from time to time, even for carabiners.

The following is a screen grab from a PDF from the Black Diamond website, which you can see here. (You'll either need a magnifying glass or hit “control +” on your keyboard about seven times to make it big enough to read.)

image: blackdiamondequipment.com

Check out the first two diagrams. With the tube style belay device and a munter hitch, Black Diamond wants you to clip the carabiner in the logical way, with the small side toward your belay loop. 

But look at the third diagram, with a Grigri. According to this, you're supposed to turn the carabiner so the small side is AWAY from your belay loop.

I don’t work for Black Diamond, so I can’t comment on the exact reasons for this. But, judging from the last diagram on the right, it appears that cross loading is a concern. Keep in mind the whole point of using a carabiner like this is to avoid across loading . . .

(And yeah, it’s a bit odd that BD is telling you how to use a belay device made by Petzl, but that’s a different conversation.)

Alpinesavvy offers ideas and information, not advice. If you use a Gridlock carabiner with a Grigri, consider yourself informed as to what Black Diamond wants you to do. Following manufacturer recommendations is usually good practice. But, you're free to use your belay device any way you like.

Grigris for alpine climbing

Thanks to AMGA Certified Rock Guide and Assistant Alpine Guide Derek DeBruin for assistance with this article. Connect with Derek: Facebook and Instagram

Also, thanks to Blake Harrington for this article which covers some of the same key points made in this one.

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Have you ever heard some version of this?

“Grigris are great for sport climbing, but not for alpine routes. They’re too heavy and single purpose.”

This a common dismissal from many climbers, but it really true? Let’s have a closer look at these objections and see some of the ways a Grigri (or similar assisted braking device, aka ABD) might just earn a place on your alpine harness.

Now to be clear I'm not saying a Grigri is always the best choice for every route that could be considered “alpine”. If you climb with double ropes, or in conditions where your ropes might get very wet or icy, a Grigri will probably stay at home. But for a team of two, with mostly rock climbing, with a single rope, it can be a pretty sweet setup.

(Yep, I know there are some cool belay devices such as Edelrid’s Giga Jul, Mammut’s Alpine Smart, etc. Today we’re talking about the Grigri.) We’ll cover some of those other devices in another article.)

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North Ridge, Mt. Stuart, Washington. About 25 pitches, and a great route for a Grigri. Photo credit, Steph Abegg (used with permission). Steph has a SUPERB website with loads of great beta, annotated photos and trip reports, check it out!

North Ridge Mt Stuart. photo credit: StephAbegg.com

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First, the “it’s too heavy” issue.

Well, check that out! A Grigri and one locker can actually be LIGHTER than a plaquette and two lockers!

Of course your real world weight is going to vary a bit depending on your belay device and carabiners, but we’re really only talking a few grams between different systems. Do you really think you're gonna notice that on your harness?

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Okay, weight isn’t an issue. How about functionality?

A two person team climbing on a single rope  with one Grigri and one plaquette style belay device (such as a DMM Pivot, my favorite) can have a lot of benefits. Some of them are pretty obvious, others perhaps not so apparent. 

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Wait a sec, I heard you shouldn’t a Grigri for trad climbing, because it increases forces on the top placement . . .

Good point! One possible concern with a Grigri and trad climbing is that the Grigri can put more force on the top piece of protection when catching a fall. The better question would be, how much extra force are we talking about, and is it concerning? Let’s check out the nice graph below from Petzl.

With a low fall factor of about 0.3, the difference is negligible. As fall factors increase past about 0.7, there can be an extra 2 Kn or so on the top piece of gear. So, we can see that the potential problem is not with the Grigri, but rather the fall factor.

If there’s a reasonable chance of a high factor fall (climbing is hard off of the belay and there's not many gear placements), there are various solutions. One simple one: the climbers switch devices just for that pitch.

image: https://www.petzl.com/US/en/Sport/Influence-of-the-belay-device?ActivityName=Rock-climbing

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1 - Reduces belay risk

With this system, typically the leader is always belayed with the Grigri and the second is always belayed with the plaquette in guide mode. On alpine routes where the belayer needs to use semi-downtime to change clothes, check the topo, grab some food/water, etc., you can be momentarily hands-free and still have a (fairly) secure belay. If you really need to go really hands-free, just tie a quick bight knot in the brake strand as a backup. 

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2 - Reduces rappel risk

At first glance, you might wonder how this system works for getting down, because the Grigri can only use one strand of rope. There are several different ways to descend with a Grigri - 1) fix one strand of rope, 2) self-lower, and 3) knot block. Of these, fixing a strand of rope will usually be the most practical.

With this system, the rope is threaded for a normal rappel, one strand gets fixed to the anchor, and the Grigri partner raps first. There are LOTS of ways to rig this. Here’s a simple method: add a locking carabiner to the master point and fix the rope with any sort of a bight knot. A Figure 8 or overhand is fine. In the example below I used a butterfly because it's often easier to untie after its been loaded.

The first person descending with the Grigri has a few advantages over a normal two strand rappel. They can go hands-free to to sort out rope clusters, find the next anchor, pendulum around if needed, and any other shenanigans that are less risky when you don’t have to always be concerned with keeping a tight grip on the brake strands. And, if the first person rappels too far past an anchor, the Grigri is easy to convert into an ascending system to go back up the rope, see next step.

If the wind is really whipping around, the first person can descend on a Grigri and can tie in to the end of both rope strands, keeping them under control and minimizing the chance they’re going to get blown around and cause problems.

Once the first climber is secure at the lower anchor, the second person unties the bight knot, removes the locking carabiner, and rappels normally on two strands with the plaquette.

Another approach, which can further increase speed and reduce risk, is for the second climber with the plaquette belay device to use an extended rappel and pre-rig their device on the rope. If after doing this they add a third hand autoblock under their device, both strands of the rope are essentially locked in place. The first person with the Grigri can descend on either strand.

Note: Many people think that simply pre-rigging is enough to lock the rope in place for the first person down. This is not always the case. If you have a smaller diameter, slick sheathed rope, a heavier first person, minimal friction from rock, etc., the rope can start to slowly creep through the device. Adding the auto block stops this from happening. You could also stop any “rope creep” by tying a Stone hitch or a BHK (overhand on a bight in both strands) below the rappel device.

As with all new rappelling systems, always practice in a controlled environment before you ever try it on real rock.

3 - Simplified belay changeovers

When the second arrives at the anchor, they are already secure on the plaquette, so there's no real need to clove hitch to the anchor, use a PAS/tether, etc. ( At an exposed stance, the leader can add a quick bight knot on the brake strand for some extra security if needed.) If you're swapping leads, the new leader racks up, gives their Grigri to the previous leader, goes on belay, cleans the plaquette device and carabiners, and begins the next pitch. Simple, efficient changeover.

4 - Easy rope ascending

If the second needs to ascend a fixed rope, it’s easy to rig an efficient system with the Grigri, a small ascender such as a Petzl Tibloc and a double length runner as a foot loop. (Or a regular handled ascender and pre-tied webbing foot loop if you think you’re going to be doing it a lot.) In low angled alpine terrain, you may not even need the Tibloc; just push off the wall with your feet to make upward progress.

On a hard alpine route, especially if you have a rope gun, it might end up to be faster to have your stronger climber lead the really hard pitches, and the second ascending directly on the rope, just like on a big wall.

Here’s an article with complete details and video examples of how to do this.

5 -Simul climbing (for advanced climbers only!) 

You know those expert teams climbing El Capitan in a few hours, who are pretty much always in motion and never really stop to belay? The second climber is almost always attached with a Grigri (as well as being tied into the end of the rope.)

You don't have to be a Yosemite speed climber for this technique to be effective. Long, moderate routes such as the 25+ pitch North Ridge of Mt. Stuart (photo at top) can be ideal for this, provided you and your partner are solid and experienced with the techniques.

The Grigri lets the second quickly feed out or take in a rope as necessary. Being able to fine tune the amount of rope between the second and the leader can be a tremendous help when simul climbing. Is the leader moving faster than you are? Throw them some slack through the Grigri. Is the leader slowing down and you’ve got a big loop of slack in front of you? No problem, pull that slack back through the device. (A kiwi coil, if you have the free hands to make one, to take up slack can be a good idea on lower angle terrain, so you don't trip on the rope.) You get the idea.

If the leader needs a proper belay through a few hard moves, the second can climb up to the next protection, or place some where they are, and give a proper lead belay. If the leader is using a progress capture device such as a Tibloc or Ropeman on the pro, it would be a fine idea to add this in after, not before, the hard moves. (In case you're wondering, this is a legit technique, read more about it here.)

These few suggestions are just scratching the surface of a very advanced application. If you want to learn the nuances of simul climbing, I highly recommend professional instruction from a certified guide.

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So, that's my take on using a Grigri in the alpine. There is no significant weight penalty, and it's useful for a lot more than just belaying. If you’ve never rappelled on one or used it as an ascender, please practice in a controlled environment with a competent instructor before you ever do it for real on a big route.

"Summit flattening" in Google Earth

Google Earth (“GE”) is a wonderful tool for trip planning. However, there's a rather annoying bug for alpine climbers - mountain tops that are especially pointy can sometimes appear much flatter than they are in real life. This can make a technically difficult summit appear to be just a casual walk up, which could obviously get you in trouble if that's the only navigation tool you’re using. Let's look at an example.

Here is a photo of Mt. Thielsen in southern Oregon, a popular route. This view, from the Pacific Crest Trail, clearly shows the dramatic and steeply pointed summit block. (The route goes up the right skyline.)

image: Wikipedia, By Claytontullos - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0

And, here's what the summit block looks like close up.

Definitely not a casual walk up. Most people use ropes and rappel. What’s not shown is the thousand or so foot drop just behind the guy in the red shirt.

image: adamschneider, https://www.oregonhikers.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=16436

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Here's a topographic map that shows the true steepness.

image: Caltopo, US Forest Service 2013, 25% shaded relief

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Let's compare that with a few screen grabs from Google Earth of Mt. Thielsen.

Wait, what happened to the pointy summit? Looks like a casual stroll to the top!

More of a close-up . . .

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Here’s a view from the increasingly-excellent-if-slightly-expensive mapping software Fatmap. Fatmap uses a different 3D terrain model than Google Earth, and the summit appears much as it does in real life.

image: fatmap

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However, Google Earth doesn’t “flatten” every pointy peak. Here's a final example, the iconic Matterhorn Near Zermatt, Switzerland - looks perfect!

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So, a good rule of thumb: If you’re climbing something steep but it doesn't look that way on Google Earth, always check other photos and topographic maps to make sure you have a true understanding of the terrain.

Double loop bowline for a rappel tether

Using a rappel extension is a good idea for a lot of reasons, which we cover in detail here. Why might you want to use a rappel extension?

• Easier to use a third hand / autoblock backup

• Lets you use a stacked, or pre-rigged, rappel

• Easier to rig your rappel device correctly, especially if you have on lots of clothing

• Less chance of clothing getting caught in the rappel device

There are lots of ways to rig it, but I sure learned a new one from Mark’s class. It has a few benefits and is definitely a Crafty Rope Trick (CRT)!

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A double loop bowline, tied through the belay loop (or tie in points). Why is this cool?

• Easy to untie after its been loaded, much more so than an overhand knot.

• Two redundant loops - for anyone who’s not too excited about rappelling off of a single loop of webbing, this is an elegant solution.

• Because it's tied in a loop and does not cinch down like a girth hitch, it's fine to use this on your belay loop. Using your belay loop instead of your harness tie in points can make this more comfortable when it's loaded. If you prefer your tie in points, that works fine too.

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Concerns . . .

• “OMG, a ring loaded bowline, you should never do that, Yer Gonna Die!” If the end of the rope is anywhere near the knot, that’s probably correct. But here were using a sling, not a rope. In this configuration, it breaks at about 18 kN. As with all knots, tie it correctly and dress it well. When rappelling you're going to put around 1 kN on this sling, so no worries.

• “OMG, a knot in Dyneema, you should never do that, Yer Gonna Die!” I feel that knots in Dyneema are acceptable in most climbing situations, which we cover in this article. But if you don’t, feel free to use a double length nylon sling; that works fine too.

• “OMG, you’re attaching a tether to the belay loop! You're not supposed to do that!” Even though a belay loop is rated to 15+ kN, some folks are still hesitant to girth hitch a sling directly to it. But notice, that's not what's happening here. A girth hitch cinches down on the belay loop (and if you leave it pretty much permanently attached to your harness, which is NOT recommended) and can conceivably damage the loop through repeated rubbing in the same spot. However, this is a tied loop, not a girth hitch, which puts zero significant strain on your harness. But, having said that, if you're more comfortable using your two tie in points, go for it. We cover it at this article.

How strong a ring loaded bowline in Dyneema?!

Double loop bowline in Dyneema sling being ring loaded, breaks around 20 kN. From HowNot2 (about 6:30 in the video). A belay loop usually breaks around 15 kN, so think about that for a moment . . .

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Here's how to tie it. This will probably be a new knot for most people, but it's simple and once you get it down, you can literally tie in a few seconds.

You’ll need a double length/120 cm sewn runner and your harness. First, a step-by-step with photos. There’s a video link at the bottom.

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Pass the runner through your belay loop, from left to right. Keep the stitching at the far end of the sling away from you.

Cross two strands over to make a loop as shown. Important - Make the loop just as shown here, otherwise the knot will fail.

Pass the end of the sling up through the loop.

KEY MOVE: Instead of “running it around the tree” like a regular bowline, pass it “over the top of the tree” by passing the long tail through the small loop.

Pull on the right side of the double loop and the long tail. Voilà, you should have a bowline.

Dress the knot and snug it down. To test it, pull hard on the large loop. If you tied it wrong, the knot will collapse, or turn into a slipknot, or do something weird other than be a solid loop. (Like all knots, once you have it right, practice it 20 or so times until it gets into your muscle memory.)

When it's dressed and ready to go, it should look about like this:

Attach a locking carabiner and rappel device to the double loop, and your anchor tether locking carabiner to the end of the single loop. You're ready to rappel.

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A video:

Making a GPX track file in Google Earth

What a great time to be a backcountry navigator! The bounty of amazing and free navigation resources has never been better. If you know the basics of how to use a few of them, there's not much excuse to get lost anymore. I’m a huge fan of CalTopo mapping software to do at home trip planning, and this usually includes creating GPX files to use on my phone in the field.

However, there can be times when creating a track with the 3-D viewing aspect of Google Earth (called GE from here on) can be helpful. However, I’ll be honest here: While GE is great for viewing, the drawing tools can take some getting used to. I mostly prefer to use CalTopo (especially the Google satellite imagery map layer, which is identical to what you get in GE) whenever I can. But, for times when you want to look at smaller terrain features, such as which of several ridges or gullies might be the easiest to go up, GE can be the winner. So, here's a tutorial on how to draw waypoints and tracks in Google Earth. It might sound a bit complicated if you haven't done it before, but if you're reasonably computer savvy you'll get the hang of it in a few minutes.

Notes on terms: Google Earth refers to a single point as a “placemark”, and a line as a “path”. We’ll use those terms from now on.

I'm doing this in Google Earth Pro, which I recommend. It's free and has a few different features than the browser based version of GE.

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Short version: Make a folder in GE for your trip. Draw placemarks and paths in GE. Right click on the folder, save as KML file. Open CalTopo, import KML file, check it, export as GPX file, done.

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Long version: Let's go through it step-by-step. For this example, we’ll use the Leuthold Couloir route on Mt. Hood, Oregon USA.

Suggestion: when you're learning to do this on your own, don't start with steep mountain topography. Find a park near your house that you know pretty well, ideally with some roads and trails that you can see from the satellite. Drop some placemarks, make a few paths, see how it generally works without the complications of doing it in 3-D. After you get the hang of it, and then go find some steeper mountains to practice.

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Step 1 - Zoom into your area of interest, and make a folder for your placemarks and path.

It’s possible to do it without a folder if you just want to draw one path, but if you want to draw any more than that, such as placemarks plus the route, you need to contain them all in one folder so they export as a single file later on. So, let's do that. In GE, Choose “Add > Folder” from the top menu, and name your folder. You should see it on the left side.

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Step 2 - Add some placemarks along your route.

These help keep the path drawing (next step) more accurate. You can keep the placemarks after you draw the line, or delete some or all, your choice. The simplest would be two, a trailhead, and a destination.

Zoom to where you want to add a placemark, using all the 3-D features of zoom, pan, and tilt until you just the right spot. When is looks good, click the yellow “thumbtack” icon along the top row. Drag it to the right position, then click “OK” in the pop-up box. (If you want to change the name or position after this, right click on a placemark icon or the placemark name from the left part of your screen, and choose “Get Info.”)

If you know where your route goes, then you can add proper names of placemarks in the correct location. If you're not sure of the route, you can still add placemarks. Zoom in close in GE, and draw placemarks at places like “base of ridge” or “top of gully”. Below, I added about five placemarks that show important progress points of the route.

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Step 3 - With a few placemarks to guide you, draw a path.

When you're ready to start drawing your line, click the “Add Path” icon at the top. You should see a pop-up box with some properties of the line. I like to change the color to red or magenta at this point and not use the default of white, because you can't see the white line when you're drawing over snow.

Also, somewhere counterintuitively, you need to keep this dialog box open and available while you’re drawing your path. So, after you name your path and change the line color, drag the box off to one corner of your screen, so it's out of the way but you can still see it.

You will soon discover that the wonderful zoom, pan, and scroll viewing options in GE do not work nearly so well when you're trying to draw a line at the same time. So, try to adjust your viewing angle in GE before you start so it shows where you want to go as clearly as possible.

You can change the viewing angle with the up down left right buttons on your keyboard, and also with the GE view controls in the top right corner. Don't try to scroll or click and drag on the screen while you're drawing the line, because you'll be sure and screw up your line. (I did say this was a bit annoying, right?)

While you can click and drag to draw freehand, this gives you a zillion different line points and makes it hard to edit. I prefer to click one by one to draw the line. If you draw a vertex that you don't like, tap the keyboard delete button to remove it. You have to click OK in the dialog box to complete the line and stop drawing.

If you have a more complicated route, draw in one section of it at a time that you can clearly see. Then, change the view for the next segment of the route, right click on the path, choose “Get Info”, and then you click to extend the path for the next part of the route. (A bit hard to describe in words, try it yourself and you'll get the hang of it.) You can also use “Get Info” to drag a vertex into a new position. So, don't stress when you're drawing if a vertex isn't exactly in the right spot, you can adjust them later.

When you're done, you hopefully have something that looks about like this:

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Step 4 - Save folder as KMZ file

A KMZ / KML file (which stands for Keyhole Markup Language, for you software nerds) is a file containing geographic data that is the native GE format. (A KMZ is the compressed version of a KML; they're both basically the same thing.)

Right click on the folder name on the left side of your screen, and choose “Save Place As.” Save as a KMZ file to your hard drive.

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Step 5: Import the KMZ file into CalTopo

Let's import the file into CalTopo, and check to see that it looks good. If we like it, then we can export it as a GPX file for use in a smartphone mapping app like GaiaGPS or on a handheld GPS device.

Go to CalTopo.com, tap the “Import” menu from the top, and select your file.

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When it imports and draws, it should look something like this. That looks pretty good! Notice that the path and placemarks were imported exactly as they look in GE, with correct labels and colors.

Note: When you export as a GPX and open it in a phone app or handheld GPS device, it's quite likely the icons and line color might change. Don't worry about that, the geo-data is in exactly the right place, it just might look a little different.

Step 6 - Export as a GPX file.

Now, the final step is to export the file as a GPX file and save it to your computer, ready to use in the field. Click the Export button at the top of the screen in CalTopo and save to your hard drive. (CalTopo uses the term “Download File” on the drop-down menu. Don't let that throw you off, think of it as a “Save As”.)

Now you have a GPX file to use on your device in the field. If you’re a fan of Gaia GPS (like I am!), the easiest way to get this onto your phone is to go to GaiaGPS.com, log into your account, click your account name in the top right corner, choose “Upload” from the drop-down menu, and upload the file. In a minute or so it should auto-magically synchronize with your phone.

BOOM, you’re done! Give yourself a high five!

Petzl Sm’D carabiner - there’s a keeper cord hole

The Petzl Sm’D carabiner is a compact, lightweight locking carabiner available in screwgate or double action sleeve. It's a great choice just about anytime you need a smaller locking carabiner, plus it has a bonus feature:  near the base of the gate, there’s a tiny hole. As far as I know, no other carabiner offers a hole like this, and it's pretty darn handy.

This hole allows you to tie off a keeper cord to better secure expensive hardware such as a Grigri, progress capture pulley like the Micro Traxion, or mini ascender like a Tibloc. Of course, you can tie a bight knot on a keeper cord and just clip it to a carabiner, but then it’s flopping around and can hang up on things. This method is a bit cleaner.

And, hopefully this goes without saying, but the cord is only to keep you from losing the gear if you drop it. Clip the hardware to the carabiner and clip the carabiner to your harness. The cord is there only as a backup in case you’re an occasional fumble-fingers.

I've heard some people voice concern that this hole might weaken the carabiner. Let's trust the ace Petzl engineers on this one, shall we? The carabiner is just as strong and properly rated as anything else you will use. Do you think Petzl would sell this if it wasn't bomber?

Photo: A Petzl Tibloc secured with some #36 bank line. Bank line is heavy duty twine rated to more than 300 pounds, and useful for all kinds of things. Read more about it here.

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Here’s a Petzl Micro Traxion progress capture pulley connected to an Sm’D carabiner with some 1.3 mm dyneema / spectra / UHMWPE string. A mere 1.3 mm, but rated to 580 pounds, amazing!

Pro tip: the Micro Traxion actually has a hole designed for a keeper cord. (I’ve found a lot of folks with Micro Traxions don't even know this hole is there  =^) You need a string with a very small diameter to fit through that keeper cord hole in the pulley, that's why I suggest this 1.3 mm dyneema string. You'll also probably need a safety pin or something similar to work at through this tiny hole.

Here’s a link where you can buy dyneema string like this. Bonus, it can also work for repairing the trigger wires of cams. Share some with your friends, you’re going to buy quite a lot of it, like about 10 meters. 

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Finally, you can add a keeper cord to the Petzl Grigri. But, this requires that you drill a hole into the device, and doing so is not an approved practice by Petzl. So, I’m not going to give details on how to do it. If you choose to make this modification, Google is your amigo.

Repair a cam with trimmer line - tutorial

Photos (used with permission) are all from Pacific Northwest climber Dave Hill, thanks Dave!

Original idea from British expedition climber Andy Kirkpatrick.

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Got a frayed or broken wire on a cam? You might be able to make a quick fix with plastic trimmer cord from a weed whacker. (Other options are Dyneema string, and bicycle brake cable with small swages.) Trimmer cord comes in different diameters, experiment to see what works with your equipment. This example is for a Black Diamond cam. Other makes and models might have a slightly different procedure.

How long you can expect a trimmer cord repair to last? Good question. While some people have got years of use out of a fix like this, others might consider it more as an temporary “field repair” than a long-term solution. It’s probably a good idea to replace the trimmer cord with something more substantial once you get home.

Black Diamond replaces cam trigger wires for about $15, not sure about other manufacturers. (Web search: “Black Diamond cam repair”.)

Finally, here’s a link to a PDF tutorial from Metolius of how to repair their Master Cams with Kevlar cord, sent to me by @dumbanchors.

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What you need:

• wire cutters

• needle nose pliers

• lighter / flame

• weed whacker cord - get a couple of feet from your neighbor with all the tools, or from a yard maintenance person

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A better way to tie the figure 8?

Here are two seemingly identical figure 8 knots. But, there’s a subtle difference that can affect how easy it is to untie after loading. Can you see what it is?

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Let’s add some tape so we can more easily see what's going on. (Note the skull and crossbones hockey tape, my favorite for marking soft goods like slings! =^)

The load strand on the left comes out on the OUTSIDE of the knot. The load strand on the right goes through the MIDDLE of the knot.

Most people find the knot on the left to be significantly harder to untie. (It can depend a bit on how much load you're putting on it, the type / diameter of rope you’re using, etc.)

Why?

• Load strand on the outside of the knot: When loaded, this cinches down on the entire knot, even to the point of partially deforming it. No loose strands, welded, hard to untie.

• Load strand on the inside of the knot: the very top strand goes to the rope tail, and takes minimal load. This gives you a slightly looser strand to start with when you need to untie it.

Give this a try yourself. Try each version, load it with your full body weight, and bounce on it a few times. See which one works better for you!

Notes:

• To emphasize, both of these knot variations are perfectly safe and acceptable to use.

• Like with every knot, it should be properly “dressed and stressed”. That means no crossed strands, and pulling each of the four strands separately to snug everything down.

• If you need to tie a bight knot and expect it to take a large load, a butterfly knot might be a better choice. It's almost always easier to untie than a figure 8.

• The good news: if you tie a figure 8 the correct way, the load strand will almost always be in the correct position, as shown in the right side photo. (Check out the video below from the Swedish climbing instructor on one way to do this.)

• If you’re a hotshot sport climber and taking loads of big falls working a project, you're probably good enough to tie in with some variation of a bowline. However, there are lots of bowline flavors, and they can be a bit hard to recognize and partner check, so I recommend a bowline only for more advanced climbers.

• For beginners and intermediates, I strongly recommend using the retraced figure 8. It's been the standard tie-in knot for decades for a good reason.

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Here's a YouTube video from the outstanding YouTube channel “The Rope Access Channel” where a rigging professional (Alex, he’s great) explains how this works.

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Here's a short video from Swedish climbing instructor John Liungman on how to tie it with the load strand in the middle.

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For a counterpoint, here’s Australian rigging expert Richard Delaney from RopeLab. Richard has a quick look at the methods of tying it, and concludes they're both equally easy to untie. (But notice he doesn't actually try to do it himself . . . )

I'm going with the Rope Access Channel on this one.

The Petzl Micro Traxion has a keeper cord hole

The Micro Traxion is a progress capturing pulley, popular for rock and crevasse rescue, rope soloing, arborists, riggers, big walls and more. It's also an expensive piece of kit, and you want to do everything you can to avoid dropping it.

Did you know the micro traxion has a hole in it that's designed for a keeper cord? Thank you, clever Petzl product designers! I’ve talked with people who have used it for years and don't know that it's there. I took a careful read through the technical documentation, and it's not mentioned in there either. (And, full disclosure, a Petzl product rep told me about it, otherwise I never would've found it myself.) Well, now you know, a secret little bonus from Petzl! =^)

You need a strong string/cord with a very small diameter to fit through the keeper cord hole. I used 1.3 mm dyneema / spectra / UHMWPE string. A mere 1.3 mm, but rated to 580 pounds, amazing! You may find something tiny (2mm?) at your climbing shop, good luck. You'll also probably need a safety pin or something similar to work it through the hole, be patient.

Now I get it, not everybody likes keeper cords. Some people find that they are fiddly, get in the way, and hang up on other gear. You'll probably feel this way until you drop a Grigri or something similar, then you'll be a convert. =^) Give it a try and see what you think, it's easy to remove if you don't like it.

(And, hopefully this is obvious, but please do not carry gear on your harness dangling only from the keeper cord. Clip it properly to a carabiner. The cord is there only if you’re a fumble fingers.)

Here’s a link where you can buy dyneema string like this. Bonus, it can also work for repairing the trigger wires of cams. (Or so says British expedition climbing expert Andy Kirkpatrick, I personally have never done this.) Share some with your friends, you’re going to buy quite a lot of it, like about 10 meters. 

An excellent carabiner to pair with your micro trax is the Petzl Sm’D. This is a modern compact D shaped carabiner, available in screw gate or double action twist gate. It has the bonus feature of a small hole drilled just below the hinge, which is designed for the other end of the keeper cord. See photos below.

Gear we love: the sun hoody

If you're on the lower slopes of Mt. Rainier on a warm summer day, there's one piece of gear you'll see most every guide wearing: the sun hoody.

The solar oven of a large snowfield or glacier is strong enough. Combine that with high altitude, where there’s less atmosphere to absorb solar radiation, and you can get a memorable sunburn in about 30 minutes on most any exposed skin.

Sunscreen? It’s heavy, expensive, messy, and there's increasing evidence some of the chemicals enter your body through your skin, yuck!

The sun hoody is a better solution. Instead of a snug fitting, cold weather base layer, the sun hoody is a loose, long sleeve shirt with sweat wicking, UPF protection, and you guessed it, a hood. You can combine this with a ball cap style hat and even a buff for pretty much complete face protection.

One more bonus: bug protection. You can treat the shirt with Permethrin and pretty much keep those pesky insects off your upper body.

These shirts are now popular enough so you can get them from many different vendors. Most seem to have some bit of odor prevention in the fabric; your mileage may vary on the effectiveness. (The one I have is from Patagonia, and to be honest, I’m not too impressed with the anti-stink compared to my wool shirts.)

Here's a nice article on the sun hoody from Northeast Alpine Start.

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Perfect for a day on the glacier, hanging in the yard with your dog . . . or maybe witness protection.

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Here are a few options:

• Patagonia Cool Daily Hoody

• Black Diamond Alpenglow Hoody

• Outdoor Research Echo Hoody

• RAB Pulse Hoody (snug / athletic fit, less baggy)

• Bight Gear Solstice Graphene Hoody (designed by Rainier guides)

(Alpinesavvy has zero affiliate marketing. These links are provided for your info and convenience only.)

Dealing with brake knots in crevasse rescue

Credit to the Petzl graphic design experts for the diagrams below, from the always terrific Petzl website.

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IMAGE: HTTPS://WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/WATCH?V=QHW9AM7AHLA

As a climber, when might you have to deal with knots in a hauling system? Maybe in two person crevasse rescue, where you’re following best practice (with one other highly skilled partner, who has all needed gear, and their rescue skills dialed) and using brake knots in the rope. Or maybe big wall climbing, where you want to do a super long haul from the ground tying several ropes together, to get your bags up several pitches all with one haul.

Untying a knot from a loaded rope (or getting a knot past the hauling pulley) can be tricky, but it doesn't have to be if you follow the steps below. This is one of various ways to do it. Initially this might look a little complicated, but it's actually a simple procedure. Study it for a bit and I'm sure you'll get the hang of it.

Note: In this example, for a 3:1 mechanical advantage (MA) system crevasse rescue, the knots are being untied. For big wall load hauling, you’ll probably be using a 2:1 MA, the knots will very likely stay in the rope, and a different procedure is needed, which were not going to completely cover in this article.)

In the diagram, they’re using the Petzl Micro Traxion as a progress capture pulley on the anchor point, and a Tibloc as the “tractor” pulley to actually pull the load. These are two great pieces of gear and work fine here. However, you could also use pretty much any other sort of pulley, prusik and rope grab combination.

If you have more than one knot you need to pass, such as in a two person crevasse rescue, using the Tibloc is going to be faster, because you don't have to fumble with re-tying a prusik hitch at each knot pass. Best practice for using brake knots in glacier travel to have three or four of them between climbers, so you're probably going to repeat this process a few times.

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Bigger picture, a more modern approach to crevasse rescue eliminates the problem of brake knots entirely. Lower either a single strand or a loop of rescue rope to your partner, and pull them up on this separate line. The original brake knots on the rope they fell in on? You can pretty much ignore them.

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Here’s how to do it.

1. Haul until the knot gets close to the anchor.

2. Ease up on your haul and let the load rest on the anchor pulley. Move the unweighted Tibloc below the knot.

3. Clip a double length / 120 cm sling (green) to the anchor, clip the other end to the Tibloc, and push the Tibloc down the rope, tensioning the sling.

4. Do a short pull on the rope and open the toothed cam on the Traxion pulley. Lower the load slowly onto the sling. Check to see that everything is holding. (Tying a backup knot in the haul strand at this point is not shown in the diagram below, but might be a good idea.)

5. The load is now on the Tibloc, and you have slack above it. Untie the knot from the slack rope. (At this point, if the knot had to stay in the rope, you could extend the master point pulley on a 60 cm sling below the rope and reattach it.)

6. Engage the cam on the Traxion so it’s grabbing the rope again. Resume hauling. After one pull, unclip the sling from the Tibloc. If you have another knot to pass, keep the sling clipped to the master point. If not, you can remove it. Continue hauling.

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image: https://www.petzl.com/BE/en/Sport/Crevasse-fall--hauling-on-a-rope-with-knots

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image: https://www.petzl.com/BE/en/Sport/Crevasse-fall--hauling-on-a-rope-with-knots

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Finally, here's a nice video clip from British IFMGA Certified Guide Dave Searle showing how it's done. (Dave has loads of great tips on his Instagram, check it out.)

Petzl Tibloc - Everything you need to know

Petzl TiBloc, Ver 2 (left) and original

The Petzl Tibloc, developed in 1998, was one of the first micro ascenders available. With a simple design, solid steel construction, and sharp teeth that can grab the rope through ice and mud, it remains one of the lightest (35 grams) and most compact emergency ascenders. It’s a handy bit of gear and can be used in some clever ways, some of which may not be very obvious. It can also be a bit finicky unless you know some tricks. Let's take a deeper look at this popular and time-tested piece of gear.

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First off, how do you pronounce it? You may have heard several different ways. Petzl USA confirms that it's "tee-bloc", as in “drink some tea”. The original French pronunciation is a truncation of the words "petit bloqueur," meaning "small ascender." (Sweet, glad we got that settled!) The first rope ascender from Petzl (intended for caving) came out in 1968, so they have a very long history of ascender R&D.

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How can you use a Tibloc?

• emergency ascender for going up a fixed rope

• the “tractor” pulley in a mechanical advantage hauling system

• progress capture on the anchor

• safeguard the leader when simul-climbing (advanced use only!)

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Before we get into the rigging, a few notes . . .

• Around 2018, Petzl introduced Tibloc version 2. In addition to being made from gray steel that offers a better grip, the newer version has a orange plastic hood on it with a small spring. This spring tension gives a much better connection between the carabiner and the rope, regardless of the rope diameter or carabiner shape. (My single greatest grumble with the older version was its tendency to somewhat randomly slide down the rope, which is usually not something you want an ascender to do. See video below). The spring on the Tibloc 2 pretty much eliminates any slipping down the rope, a substantial improvement.

• Avoid taking any kind of a fall with a shock load / slack in the rope onto a Tibloc (or any other toothed ascender.) For example, if you’re ascending a rope, you get to the top of the cliff, and then take a few steps forward without moving the rope through the system, that's generating slack. If you were to fall at this point, you're putting a large force with a toothed ascender onto probably a short amount of rope. No bueno. Avoid this by always minimizing slack rope between you and the anchor.

• The Tibloc is rated for ropes from 8 mm to 11 mm. But, it's also approved for use on the Petzl RAD crevasse rescue system, which uses a special 6 mm static rope. (So, if you need to use it on a slightly smaller rope, you can probably get away with it, but it's not recommended by Petzl.)

• The Tibloc has a bit of a reputation as a rope shredder. In a long-ago crevasse rescue training, I saw firsthand someone put a 1 meter long core shot in an 8 mm dynamic rope as they were putting their (sizeable!) body weight on the Tibloc when ascending. However, most of the time rope damage is probably due to user error, like using the wrong kind of carabiner with an older style Tibloc on a rope that's borderline too small. The Tibloc 2, with the spring-tensioned orange hood, seems substantially more rope-friendly.

• Possible damage to the rope can happen when the carabiner is pressing the rope against the device, and then you try to move it up when it's weighted. Like with most ascenders, try to unweight the Tibloc before you move it.

• It's not for big walls. This is designed for improv and emergency use, If you're jumaring fixed ropes in El Cap or an expedition peak, get a larger handled ascender.

• Petzl recommends always using a locking carabiner with the Tibloc. With the older Tibloc, it’s best if this is a rounded oval or HMS carabiner to avoid damage to your rope and make the Tibloc behave properly. With Tibloc 2, a more modern I-beam style or locking “D” shaped carabiner works fine.

• Speaking of carabiners, the Petzl Sm’D is a great choice to pair with the Tibloc 2. In addition to being a svelte, modern locking D carabiner, it also has a tiny hole, intended for attaching a keeper cord for important bits of hardware like Tiblocs, Micro Traxion, Grigris, etc. See photo below. (This is a much cleaner way to attach a keeper cord then having it flop around the carabiner with a bight knot.)

• Add a keeper cord if you like. There is a small hole in the Tibloc to add one. If you're using it for winter or snow climbing when you might have gloves, make the cord loop fairly large. If rock climbing, you can keep it much smaller. 3 mm climbing cord, or my favorite, bank line (in photo) would be good choices. Some people find the cord is fiddly and gets in the way. It’s entirely optional, so try it and see what you think. See below - the Sm’D carabiner with a clever hole for a keeper cord.

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The video below shows a couple of things.

1. The difference between the original Tibloc and version 2. You can see that the original version can slide/fall down the rope if it's not under tension. Not good. No such problem with version 2.

2. You can move the Tibloc down the rope, but it's not very intuitive. You sort of rock the device forward with your index finger and thumb. It's a better show than a tell, watch the video to see how.

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Does it damage ropes?

Excellent question! Short answer: it doesn’t damage your rope significantly more or less than other toothed devices, such as Micro Traxion or a handled ascender. Check out the detailed video below from BreakTest Meister Ryan Jenks at HowNot2. Ryan found that the Tibloc destroyed the rope around 6-7 kN.

Some other testing from Richard Delaney at RopeLab show a higher value with an 11 mm static rope of around 10 kN. See that short video here.

Below is a screen grab from the online technical documentation for the Tibloc, showing results that are fairly consistent with what HowNot2 found.

Image: https://www.petzl.com/US/en/Sport/Ascenders/TIBLOC

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How to clip it (for ascending and as a “tractor”)

There is some discussion as to whether the carabiner should be clipped around the rope (left) or hang straight down from the Tibloc (right). According to Petzl, either way is fine when you’re ascending or using it as a tractor. However if you're using it as a progress capture or to simul climb, it's important that the rope be clipped through the carabiner, as shown below on the left. More on that below.

I got a few comments on social media saying that the rope must ALWAYS be clipped through the carabiner as on the left. Check out the video just above. It was made by rope rigging expert Rich Delaney (who runs the excellent website Ropelab), and you can clearly see that the carabiner is not clipped around the rope.

Petzl’s technical documentation says this is not true; see screen grabs from their website below.

(If you find it easier to remember to always clip the carabiner around the rope, that's great, go for it. But let's not slam on people who use this gear in a different and Petzl-approved way. =^)

Related diagram from Petzl website:

image: https://www.petzl.com/US/en/Sport/Ascenders/TIBLOC

Another diagram from the Petzl website, where the Tibloc is a tractor in a 3:1 haul. The carabiner clipped to the Tibloc is not clipped around the rope.

image: https://www.petzl.com/INT/en/Sport/Crevasse-rescue-no--3--haul-systems-for-crevasse-rescue

And finally, here’s a screen grab from a YouTube video produced by Ortovox and the German Mountain and Ski Guides Association (“Verband Deutscher Berg und Skiführer” or “VDBS”). You can clearly see the carabiner is clipping the Tibloc and not the rope. (If some of the top mountain guides in the world say this is how you do it, then I'm gonna roll with that. =^)

image: screen grab from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsTihq92IlQ

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Use #1 - As an ascender

For self rescue from a crevasse fall or improvised rope ascending, the Tibloc works great. It’s MUCH easier than the old school prusik! Clip it to the rope with a locking carabiner, add a double runner as a foot loop, and stand up. You can combine this with various devices clipped to your harness to capture your upward progress, such as a Grigri, a plaquette style belay device in guide mode, a progress capture pulley such as a Petzl Micro Traxion (photo below), or even another Tibloc rigged as a progress capture.

A few notes on the photo:

• The blue double length / 120 cm runner is the foot loop.

• Note the single length / 60 cm sling (yellow) from the Tibloc to the harness, plus the Micro Traxion on the harness belay loop. These give you the highly recommended two points of contact to the rope at all times.

• If you want to simplify things a bit, you can omit the yellow sling, but in that case you would want to tie back up knots in the rope below the Micro Traxion every 5 meters or so.

And, since we’re talking Tiblocs, if you happen to have two, you can use a second one on your harness as the progress capture, as seen below. (This is not going to be as smooth or hassle free as the options listed above, but it's possible. Generally, use a Micro Traxion or Grigri if you have one.)

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Use #2 - As a “tractor” in a hauling system

In a mechanical advantage hauling system, the “tractor” is the term for the rope grab that’s doing the work. The Tibloc is well-suited for this, and because of its camming action and lack of moving parts, it can bite down and hold on ropes that might be icy or muddy. (If you're not too thrilled with using a toothed cam as a critical component of a hauling system, you can of course use something soft like a prusik loop as the tractor instead.)

Note the orientation of the Tibloc: the orange top is pointed toward the load, not toward of the anchor. (If you set this up wrong, it will become immediately obvious when you pull the rope.) Also in the photo, we have the Micro Traxion progress capturing pulley on the anchor, which is a perfect application for this great piece of gear.

One advantage of the Tibloc if you ever have to pass a knot through your hauling system (such as you might have to do in a two person crevasse rescue scenario with brake knots in the rope) is that it's very fast to remove from the rope and reattach below the knot. (Learn more about dealing with brake knots in crevasse rescue at this article.)

Below is a standard Z drag, which gives a theoretical 3:1 mechanical advantage.

And, if you want to go a little crazy with the Tiblocs, if you happen to have three of them, you can rig a theoretical 6:1 mechanical advantage, as shown below. (If you'd like to learn more about rigging a 6:1, see the Alpinesavvy mechanical advantage pages.) A standard prusik loop can be substituted for either of the two tractor Tiblocs in the photo.

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Use #3 - As a progress capture

This is a clever use of the Tibloc that a lot of people don't know about. It grabs the rope with a minimum of friction while maintaining your pulling progress. Rig it so the hole with the keeper cord is in the direction of load. The device will flip back-and-forth over the carabiner sort of like a munter hitch as you change from hauling to resting.

Note: This is best used for emergency or improv (like hauling a backpack) not as a device for sustained hauling of heavy loads like on a big wall. Reason: there are two sources of inefficiency, which is to be avoided whenever possible when pulling big loads:

1. The flip-back-and-forth motion, because you lose a few centimeters of progress every time you rest.

2. You’re hauling through a carabiner which is about 50% efficient, instead of a good quality progress capture pulley such as the Petzl Micro or Pro Traxion, which are rated about 90% efficient. For big walls, you definitely want a proper progress capture pulley!

Safety note: be sure to clip the rope into the carabiner along with that Tibloc when hauling! A common mistake is to set this up as a progress capture with the rope NOT in the carabiner. It appears to be working correctly, but as you can see below on the right, the rope is not clipped in. Probably not a catastrophic mistake if you're hauling a backpack, but if your load is more substantial, you want the rope running through the carabiner for sure.

Note for eagle eyed readers: this setup is slightly different than the one above marked “How to attach it”. In the diagram, Petzl says it doesn't matter whether you clip the rope inside or outside the carabiner. (I’m guessing that for simply ascending the rope under bodyweight it doesn't matter if it's clipped or not, but for hauling a potential large load, having the rope run through the carabiner is best practice.)

Related diagram from Petzl website:

image: https://www.petzl.com/US/en/Sport/Ascenders/TIBLOC

And here's a nice video showing how to use it as a progress capture.

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Use #4 - Simul-climbing protection - ADVANCED CLIMBERS ONLY

And finally, for the very advanced climber, the Tibloc can be used when simul-climbing to protect the leader from getting pulled off by the second. I remember when this idea was introduced in Climbing magazine around 15 years ago, and it was extremely controversial, Since then, it's generally become more accepted, but it's still an advanced technique; think of it as making a dangerous situation only slightly less dangerous.

Typically in simul-climbing, if the second falls, they will likely also pull off the leader. (This is also why the more skilled climber will usually go second, a reversal from normal climbing.) But, if the leader clips a Tibloc to protection, and the second then falls, the second will probably not pull the leader off.

Typically the leader will place the Tibloc AFTER a crux section, not before as with regular pro. This takes a little getting used to and can be easy to forget in the heat of battle, ask me how I know this. =^)

This is for advanced climbers only who clearly understand the risks of simul-climbing. There are a LOT of cautions and considerations to do this properly, way too much to get into here. I only mention it here because Petzl has it on their website as an approved technique, so it's not such a fringe, crazy idea anymore.

There's lots of info on the web about this if you want to read further.

• Here’s one image from the Petzl website, and you can read more about it here.

• Outstanding article from Brent Barghahn about simul-climbing with Micro Traxions

image: https://www.petzl.com/INT/en/Sport/Progression-with-a-taut-rope-using-a-TIBLOC

In real life, it looks like this:

Anchor-induced rope twisting

Some configurations of anchor hardware can give you a smooth easy rope pull with no twists. Others can add some snarls to your rope. Here are a few examples of each.

Side note: if the rock below the anchor is slab / lower angle, that often leads to more twists. If it’s hanging pretty much freely or vertical, it’s usually less twisting. 

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Do you need to rappel, lower off, or redirect a lower from an anchor rigged like the top photo? Be prepared for some possible rope twisting.

When you run a weighted rope through anchor point(s) with the bottom link(s( lying flat against the rock like this, the rope drags at these two spots and starts spiraling, which can put some serious pigtails in your rope.

The general concept: the more friction and direction changes, the more twisting will happen.

(It's unlikely you will ever see this, because any halfway competent route setter will add another link so it looks like the second photo below, but it's possible; I've seen it a few times.)

If you have two extra quick links with you, or maybe want to donate a couple of carabiners, you can add those to the anchor to improve it as shown below. You might want to tape the gates of the carabiner closed, to discourage people from stealing them.

If you don't have any hardware to enhance the anchor, there's probably not much you can do about it. If rappelling, try to separate the rope strands when you pull them, so one doesn’t twist around the other which might make pulling your rope difficult to impossible. If it's your local crag, be a good citizen, climb up there another day with some hardware and re-rig it as shown below.

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One improvement: add a second set of either welded steel rings (preferred, as they rotate and last longer) or good quality quick links. Note that these are now perpendicular to the rock. This results in an easier rope pull with less twisting. But, depending on a few other variables, your rope might still get a bit pigtailed.

Of course, if adding rings you’ll need to open the sleeve of the existing quick link, so be sure and bring some pliers.

It helps if the bolts are aligned horizontally. If one bolt is a bit higher than the other in this setup, you still might get a little rope twist, but not nearly as badly as you might without the second link/ring.

The closer together the rings are, generally the less rope twist you will have.

Lowering someone tends to create more twists, because the rope has a higher load. If come across anchors like the image below, you might be better off rappelling rather than lowering.

Anytime you're putting a quick link on an anchor, especially at a popular climbing area, it's best practice to use at least 8 mm (and perhaps even 10 mm) and ideally proper CE climbing rated quick links rather than random ones from the hardware store. CAMP is one of several manufacturers to offer strong, inexpensive, CE rated quick links, read an article about that here.

One more quick link note: it's best practice to place quicklinks so the threaded sleeve closes in a downward direction. That way, if the sleeve ever loosens, gravity helps hold it closed. As the saying goes, ”Screw down so you don't screw up.”

If you’re setting quick links in a more permanent position, give them a good crank with some pliers or a wrench and maybe some Loctite on the threads. If you do that, it doesn't matter which way the threaded sleeve is facing.

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A great way to rig a rappel anchor for minimal rope twisting is to have two points that come together at the same level.

Even better, a single point of connection. Like this welded ring rated for something ridiculous like more than 80 kN. Yes, it’s not redundant, but you can trust this absolutely.

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Tip: If your rope does get twisted, when you get to the bottom or maybe the next lower anchor, try pulling the entire rope through a tube style belay device clipped above you. This can be a fast way to remove the pigtails. Read how to do that at this article.

Download maps for an entire state in Gaia GPS? Yes!

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With most every backcountry mapping phone app, a necessary but often tedious chore is downloading the map layer(s) covering your outing to your phone before you leave cell phone coverage. Sounds simple enough, right?

But, if you want multiple map layers, at different resolutions, and especially if your phone has limited memory (maybe even forcing you to select and delete previously saved maps, or deleting the memory cache of the app to free up memory), coordinating all this can become a serious hassle. And of course, how about those times when you forget to download maps, or change destinations, or drive an unexpected route home? Whoops, maybe you’ll have no map at all!

Happily, those days are pretty much over. There’s now a convergence of two great navigation advances: phones with lots more memory, and high quality map downloads that require less space. A great example of the latter is the new and greatly improved “Gaia Topo”, the default layer from Gaia GPS, my favorite backcountry GPS phone app.

Making plans for a Utah road trip, with great places to explore and lots of remote areas outside of cell coverage? Before, downloading high resolution maps for the entire state would've been pretty much impossible, because it would max out the memory on most phones, not to mention taking hours to download. But not any more! On wi-fi, the download only took me about 8 minutes and about 230 MB. (Or is it 443 MB? See below.)

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You might think that decreasing the download size would also result in less useful map information. But, it's actually the opposite - the Gaia GPS cartography wizards somehow managed to make this map layer have MORE useful data, while at the same time making the download sizes much smaller.

How does Gaia fit so much data in such a tiny download? I don’t know all the details, but it’s pretty damn cool and I love it! (We could get into a nerdy discussion about raster versus vector map data, zoom levels and map scale, but that’s a little much for the non map-geeks.)

I cover the many improvements in the Gaia Topo layer in detail in this article. Here’s a screen grab from the Gaia GPS blog to give you a sense of the improvements from the previous version. Suffice it to say, the new Gaia Topo is much more useful than the old one. Plus, the Gaia cartography gnomes regularly add upgrades and improvements.

A note on map improvements: Map updates appear automatically when you open Gaia Topo in the app or on a desktop computer. However, if you download / save a portion of the Gaia Topo map to your phone and don’t have cell or Wi-Fi coverage, those map updates will not appear automatically; you need to download that area again for the latest map updates to appear. So, if you do decide to download say your entire state or country, you may want to delete it and re-download it about every six months, so you always have the most current map.

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Here’s a chart from the Gaia GPS blog giving a comparison of download sizes and speed between the different versions of the map.

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A few notes:

1. It’s highly recommended to download large maps like this on wi-fi instead of using cell data.

2. To download maps to your phone, you need at least a standard membership to Gaia GPS. (The cost for this is about the same is just one quality printed map, so in my mind it's a pretty screaming deal.) Learn more about their different subscription plans here.

3. Map scale: If you look at the map scale in the top part of the screen grabs, it says something strange like “Max Zoom 12, 1:192,000”. That scale is incorrect, don't let it throw you off. This map is based on “vector” (line) data as opposed to “raster” (or pixel) data. So, zoom level 12 corresponds to about a 1:8000 scale. If you download at this maximum level of 12, you’ll have an incredible level of map detail, even when you zoom in close. If you have lots of extra memory on your phone, this is recommended. If you're short on phone memory, you can reduce the maximum zoom with the slider bar to make a smaller download file.

4. I want to mention what appears to be a (hopefully temporary) bug with the app. There appears to be a discrepancy between the original “estimated” download size, and then what the actual download size turns out to be. I reported this bug to Gaia GPS in early July 2020, and their response was, “Thanks for letting us know, we’ll have a look.” For example, look at these two screen grabs. On the left is the estimated size of the download. On the right is the actual size after downloading. You can see there's a difference of about 200 MB. Now, if you have a phone with a huge amount of free memory, a few hundred extra megs and extra minutes of download time is not that big a deal. But if you’re short on phone memory and have limited Wi-Fi, then this download size might become an issue. Just be aware of this.

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International coverage

Travelling abroad? Gaia Topo has worldwide coverage in a metric version, along with the same high quality maps. Check out this screen grab; download all of Switzerland for about 100 MB.

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Downloading an entire large area ONLY works with the Gaia Topo layer, not other map layers!

Just for fun I tried to download all of Utah using Open Cycle, one of my favorite map layers. Bad idea! This would’ve been 5+ gigabytes to download, taking up way too much room on my phone.

Plus, Gaia GPS has a download limit of 100,000 map tiles for pretty much every map layer (except for satellite, which has a limit of 10,000 map tiles). If you try to exceed this, Gaia is clever enough to give you a red warning text in the upper right corner, letting you know that it’s probably not a good idea.

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Downloading odd shaped areas

It might appear that Gaia only lets you download rectangular areas of maps. That’s great if you're after Utah, Colorado etc, but not so helpful if you want to download a large area that's not a convenient rectangle, like Southern California, New Zealand, or some other large odd-shaped land area. But you can! Here's how.

On the phone app or GaiaGPS.com, you need to create and save what Gaia calls an “Area”. This is simply a polygon that can have as many vertices as you want. Then, after you’ve defined your area, you download the map tiles that cover it. Here are a few screengrabs to show the process.

Here's what would happen if you try to download Southern California with the normal download rectangle. Lots of ocean and Nevada that we're not interested in (sorry, Nevada), plus a 453 MB download, ouch! We can do better than that!

On your phone, tap the “Plus” icon from the top row, then tap “Create Area”.

You should see a selection triangle on your screen with five blue dots.

Tap and drag the blue dots to cover your area of interest. Every time you move a dot a new one appears, letting you select large irregular shapes. When you're done selecting Southern California, it should look something like this:

Tap “Save” in the upper right corner. You should get a prompt to “Choose Offline Maps”. Under Resolution, tap “High”. (It actually doesn't seem to matter what resolution you choose with Gaia Topo, the map downloads size stays the same.)

Now if you tap “Save” in the upper right corner the map should start downloading.

Note the download size in the very bottom, 248 MB. That’s a whole lot better than the 453 MB that you would've downloaded if you tried to use a rectangle!

Give the map a few minutes to download. (Remember to do this with a Wi-Fi connection if possible.) To check that it's properly saved to your phone, tap the “Saved” folder icon on the bottom, and select “Maps” from the filter in the top left corner.

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Testing your download

Once you’ve downloaded a big area, you can run a test to prove to yourself that the map is indeed saved properly onto your phone and it’s ready to use outside cell phone coverage.

1. Go to your phone settings, and turn on Airplane mode. This should turn off your Wi-Fi and cell coverage.

2. Zoom into some part of the country you’ve never been before. The map should look blurry and terrible, because your phone is not able to download the map tiles on the fly like it normally does.

3. Now, while keeping Wi-Fi and cell coverage off, zoom in to a part of the large map area that you downloaded. The map should look crisp and clear. This proves that it’s on your phone and ready to use when you don’t have cell coverage.

4. And, if you zoom / pan carefully right to the edge of your download area, you should be able to see a noticeable change in map quality between what was downloaded on your phone and was not. Here's an example of that. The bottom half of the image with the better quality contours is what's actually saved onto your phone.