Sunday, October 28, 2018

Halloween comes early.

1. The anchor is 3 feet up the tree, increasing leverage on the tree. 2. That is one runner  doubled around the tree, if it or the carabiners fail on either side, the anchor fails. 3. The long runner is doubled and knotted with one strand clipped into each side. This accomplishes nothing, one side fails, it all fails. 4. If they had extended this runner they might have made it over the cliff edge. 5. They paded the edge with their rope bag, the rope was burning through it.

1. There is an enormous tree just out of sight to the left, better than a root that you have no idea what it is attached to. 2. The girth hitched edge of the rock is hardly stable. An overhand loop knot might be more stable. Learn to use it. 3. The thread at the top should have been tied off with all the extra rope, eliminating a runner, carabiner and risky clove hitch. 

Tuesday, October 16, 2018

Is Tuesday gumby day now?

Of all the anchors, he went with this skinny tree, but..

he had this big loose block too.

A REALLY dead tree is not a good anchor.

Two anchors on one tree is not redundant. I guess he thought being able to see all the roots was a good thing.

Why use the enormous tree when you can use the loose rock.

He had lots of rope to sling the whole block but went with a tiny corner.

Sunday, October 7, 2018

Can you use webbing for an anchor? Yes, but...

You could come up a little short and you're going to let the carabiners grind and side load because it's a bitch to retie all those runners.

This is canyoneering rope, which is not really static. The bowline with no stopper knot goes to a bent gate carabiner (easier opening). Bonus points for the stopper doing nothing.

A clove hitch is OK for a belay when it is right in front of your face, not 40 feet away and out of sight.

When you use 9/16" webbing and 8 MM cord, I guess you want the anchor high to stay off the rock.

You can't side load the carabiners unless you have two anchors.

Nobody used the enormous tree, but made a spider's web from its roots.

Think about a way to go under somebody's ropes.

Saturday, October 6, 2018

Need gear? Find these guys.

Gear isn't good for anchors because the rock breaks. The carabiner gates are facing into the rock so they can be forced open.

These anchors use single carabiners in a mission critical role. They left a juicy pile of gear , lots of sport draws, 2 packs, not a soul in sight. It all looks brand new, except the bananas, those are real ripe.

Monday, October 1, 2018

Unclear on the concept.

The tiny tree in the center was tightened with a clove hitch, so it is actually taking the full weight of both climbs.