Carderock vandalism, on Jan's face at the start of 8 Ball.

Supervised?

Kids 1&2 here are moving the anchor. Down at the bottom kid 3 is telling them they are doing it all wrong, while Dad and kid 4 are fiddling with his harness.

The Tree in the Air

See the daylight at center left.

Bent gate?

Bent gates are supposed to be easier to open, so great for a top rope anchor, right?

Gendarme nut

Here's the real anchor. The big nut is was made at the Gendarme over 40 years ago.

A little loose?

I'm guessing the rope started tight.

How big a tree?

The webbing is actually the holding all the weight. People rarely use boulders, even when it is easier and safer.

They're never equal.

8MM rope and 11MM are never equal once they are weighted.

The tree in the air Part II

" I gotta have an anchor that will crush me like a cockroach."

Almost right

Brand new anchor and shiny locking oval biners, which are grinding on the rock every time the rope is weighted

Almost doubled

Almost doubled, but not.

The biner in the center is just holding the pad.

Dead Tree III

"Let's put it higher."

Could be worse, there are 2 red strands forming one anchor and 2 blue forming another on the right.

Isn't webbing just like rope?

Single strand webbing to runners around an exposed tree root and a tiny tree.

When in doubt, tie every knot you know.

When in doubt, tie every knot you know.

Not quite equalized.

We don't need no stinkin anchor.

Good thing you nag a new rope if you're going to drag across 15 feet of rock.

The tree in the air.

Part of this anchor is the tree in the air. Erosion has exposed more than a foot of the tree roots, it used to buried right up to the trunk. only a few inches of soil remain on this ledge.

9/16" webbing is better than nothing.

The block in the distance is perched on the edge of the cliff. The climbers slung it as a second anchor.

Mystery Knot

Mystery Knot, the strand at left goes to the climbing rope, the one next to it is the working end, then magic happens, but the loop apparently needs a carabiner. The rig was being used by a climbing school.

The anchor ropes are tied together by an knot jammed into a crack. The knot grinds into the crack every time it holds weight.

Lots of nice stuff, too bad they didn't actually use the sleeves where the ropes run over the rock.

A 40 foot anchor crossing a marked trail

A 40 foot long anchor crossing a marked trail.

OK, it is a big tree,but we did have heavy rain and 50 mph winds last night. At what point do we say you really need to tie in right at the bottom of the tree?

Need a stopper knot with a bowline? Why bother when you have at least 5 feet of rope left.

See the pages listed at right for Carderock anchor pictures.