Beautiful Fall day, fortunately nobody died.

Truly skinny trees.

If a tree is too small for one anchor, does having three make it better?

I don't know how much of that rock is buried, could they know?

You don't see the flying lasso anchor much.

The yard sale. Hundreds of dollars of gear that could disappear in a heartbeat.

This would be a tensionless anchor, but with two wraps, it is pretty useless. Look carefully at the second wrap, you can see daylight.

 

Shoelace is sub-optimal as an anchor.

 Not to mention the carabiners.

Unclear on the concept.

Lots of extra rope, bowline on a bight, but a half hitch as a tie off, suboptimal.

Barely hanging on at that point. This is important due to the rest of the anchor.

If that shaky anchor slips, the whole left side started whipping around.

 

What's the real anchor?

 That little bitty partially. buried rock is the real anchor. If that pops off, the rope will straighten and probably come off the big rock.

Dental floss.

This appears to be 6mm accessory cord. The good news is that it really isn't part of the system. The bad news is that it could easily cut. It is rated as strong enough, but the quartz nubbins could make quick work of it.

 

How many twigs should you tie off?

Apparently two is good enough.

If it isn't big enough to be THE anchor, it shouldn't be AN anchor.

Don't leave stuff at the top, especially about $150 in climbing gear. Love the laminated belay anchor card, it probably came with an expensive course.

This yard sale is pretty tempting.

The AMGA used to claim that the BFK was auto-equalizing. Well, no.

 

What's wrong with this picture?

Picking the dead limb is what we call suboptimal.

If it just hanging limp it is a back up, not equalized.

If you sling both of these blocks, they won't move. If you sling just one, it moves.

 Putting the anchor way up in the tree increases the force on the tree.

It would be great if it weren't dead.

Eastern cedars have deep roots, but the complete absence of needles tells us it is dead.

Using two independent figure 8's means the anchor really isn't equalized.

How big is that rock? How much is underground?

Webbing used single strand, hardware in breakable rock.

Another mystery rock, this time with single strand webbing.

 

Mystery knots.

I think it was an attempt at a figure 8.

This one is on a bight.

The ever popular tiny tree and dead stump.

The anchor is one large loop, tied together in the center.

The knots.

No idea.

Looks like a bowline on a hollow tree, so it is backed up with...

wraps around a rotten log secured with a couple of half hitches.

 

If you can't tie the right, tie lots.

It's a good idea to check your anchor after you attach the climbing rope.

Lots of rope to tie into the anchor and avoid two points of failure.

Same thing, plus a tree barely hanging onto a ledge.

It's bedrock but less than a foot in diameter. The knot is "creative."

When in doubt, wrap the rope until you run out.

 

Hammocks, the scourge of the crag.

First, select a loose rock.

Or use shoe lace and a runner.

 Don't forget to block the trail.

"It's dead Jim."

They can't resist the refrigerator. It is spalling or crushing the rock beneath it. It now overhangs by more than a foot when it used to be flush with the surface beneath.

The little tree that is desperately trying to hang on is pretty marginal.

The flying secondary anchor is pretty desperate.

There is enough black rope, no need for the second rope, carabiner and unstable clove hitch

One carabiner and thin non-climbing rope don't make an ideal anchor.

This anchor tree above Kindergarten died during the winter.

 

One anchor got someone hurt.

The flying directional is brutal on the tree and usually creates anchors with over 90 degree angles.

That's the climbing rope running over lots of sharp edges.

ONE carabiner.

This one caused an injury. The anchors were ten feet apart, at a 90 degree angle. Note the use of the loose rock.

The tree is just too small.