Lessons Learned
WISE WORDS. HELPFUL TIPS. SHARED EXPERIENCE.
do what your partner asks.
Everyone has different levels of comfort during the climbs and as partners we need to be willing to accommodate that with their best interest in mind without question. Unless the request will be causing more risk or potential danger.
Always carry a headlamp. Period.
It doesn't matter if you are just going out for an morning sport climb, short 3 pitch climb, or bouldering up in the woods... ALWAYS CARRY A HEADLAMP. It's happened to me and my friends more than once. We say: Its going to be an easy day... Its only 4 pitches... Oh no you can go first... Something can happen: it rains... You get your rope stuck during a repel... you struggle through a pitch... someone gets hurt... you need to rescue another party. Any number of things can happen through out the day, always be prepared to hike out in the dark. There isn't much that can be more scary then a 4th or 5th class down climb in the dark after evening showers.
Manage your rope at belay ledges.
Do not let your rope hang below your belay ledge unless the rock is smooth and unobstructed. Getting a rope end wedged or wrapped on the rock below you can cause a nightmare of a situation for the belayer/climber. Instead coil the rope over you personal anchor system (PAS) or pile it on the belay ledge. Think about where your followers are going to be sitting and who is going to lead next to best position the ropes.
Lap Coil ropes before Throwing.
Who ever goes first on a repel is going to have to deal with the mess that was just created when you throw the rope over the edge without neatly lap coiling it, also known as: a knot, rats nest, cluster f@#%, jumble f@#%ed, "...Pull it back up" in order of severity.
Some helpful tips:
-Do not coil the rope in a circular mountain coil fashion, this will cause the rope to pig tail and loops to cross each other.
-Coil a quarter of the rope from the anchor point outward (put on ground anchor side down), coil the rest (throw this bundle).
-Make sure someone is holding onto the rope when throwing so it doesn't keep going.
-When throwing into the wind, lap coil both ends of the rope together and tie a bundle.
-Make sure everyone is anchored in before throwing a rope, people tend to get hit, tangled in the rope, or loose balance.
Some helpful tips:
-Do not coil the rope in a circular mountain coil fashion, this will cause the rope to pig tail and loops to cross each other.
-Coil a quarter of the rope from the anchor point outward (put on ground anchor side down), coil the rest (throw this bundle).
-Make sure someone is holding onto the rope when throwing so it doesn't keep going.
-When throwing into the wind, lap coil both ends of the rope together and tie a bundle.
-Make sure everyone is anchored in before throwing a rope, people tend to get hit, tangled in the rope, or loose balance.
Gear Belongs on a harness or in a backpack.
Placing gear on the ground = gear falling into cracks or forgetting to pick it back up again. Because I have been such a stickler with my buddies on this I have had a few close calls but have yet to lose any gear due to this phenomenon. With all of the ropes and strings and cams hanging off of us at any given time, when gear is placed on the ground any and all movement is directed at lifting, pushing, hooking, or sliding gear around. Plain and simple. clip it to yourself, your PAS, the anchor, or give it to a partner to hold.
Treat your nut tool like an untrained dog. put it on a leash.
Whether you have yelled "Stop!... a little lower!" or hung there using your own strength to mess with getting a stuck piece out, or that infamous booty piece. Having my nut tool on a leash has prevented me from dropping my nut tool numerous times. My buddy is not so smart and nearly buys nut tools in bulk.
Dogs. Awesome, but unpredictable Poop machInes.
When dogs are running around the crag, make sure you have your rope/gear in a place where the dogs can not mess with them. Nothing quite like having a dog take a dump on your rope before you are about to lead to help with your mental game, not to mention now having to put that rope in your mouth while clipping. I have also heard stories of dogs treating backpacks like fire hydrants.
Rock Smash Tested. Approved Climber Tool.
You can be in the best mood or just finishing up an all day suffer fest up a climb, when something goes wrong. Also known as an epic day. One of my buddies recently rock smash tested one of his ropes, while on a climb, to salvage a short section of the rope, to rappel the rest of the way down... 4 rappels turned into 9 and only leaving $50 dollars on the wall (minus the rope). To their surprise the 9 mm rope took about 3-4 bashes before the rope suffered severe core damage and not too long after completely severing it. Good to know!
Seven useful tools for those epic days, when you don't have sharp rocks laying around:
1. Sharp folding knife (~3in): Cut ropes, spread peanut butter, peel fruit. 3" or less.
2. Lighter: Start your jet boil when the igniter doesn't work, start a fire, burn ends or ropes, sterilize tools.
3. Chap stick: Keep your lips from cracking, no one likes peeling lips.
4. 6mm prusik rope (3-4ft): Allows for transfer of loads, pass knots thru belay device, backup rappels, build haul pulleys.
5. 7mm static rope (~30ft): build bail anchors, repair/add to rappel station tat (click for bomber example).
6. Iodine tablets: back up water purification, after crack your ceramic filter or your fancy UV pen runs out of batteries.
7. Lots of toilet paper: Start fires or wipe your butt after you though you could hold it.
Seven useful tools for those epic days, when you don't have sharp rocks laying around:
1. Sharp folding knife (~3in): Cut ropes, spread peanut butter, peel fruit. 3" or less.
2. Lighter: Start your jet boil when the igniter doesn't work, start a fire, burn ends or ropes, sterilize tools.
3. Chap stick: Keep your lips from cracking, no one likes peeling lips.
4. 6mm prusik rope (3-4ft): Allows for transfer of loads, pass knots thru belay device, backup rappels, build haul pulleys.
5. 7mm static rope (~30ft): build bail anchors, repair/add to rappel station tat (click for bomber example).
6. Iodine tablets: back up water purification, after crack your ceramic filter or your fancy UV pen runs out of batteries.
7. Lots of toilet paper: Start fires or wipe your butt after you though you could hold it.
Crush it!! You got this!! Oh crap... is that crimper good enough to hang there for a sec?
Whether you are climbing with new people and there is a lot of teaching going on, climbing with your regular partners and you begin to get complacent on the basics, or you are out for a quickie after work. A common error at belay ledges that I have run into multiple times is the leader leaving their belay device in guide mode after bringing up your last follower and not realizing they don't have a belay device until they have reached the top (assuming you are not switching leads).
Basic checklist before starting the next lead:
-Is everyone clipped into the anchor and safe?
-Rope flaked or lap coiled? Is the climbers side on top of the pile or buried underneath?
-Passed all gear to leader?
-Does the follower have a nut tool?
-Does the leader have a belay device?
-Does the leader have gear for a top anchor?
-Does the leader know where the route goes?
going through the basics no matter who you are climbing with will save time and headaches should one of those items from the basic list be missed.
Basic checklist before starting the next lead:
-Is everyone clipped into the anchor and safe?
-Rope flaked or lap coiled? Is the climbers side on top of the pile or buried underneath?
-Passed all gear to leader?
-Does the follower have a nut tool?
-Does the leader have a belay device?
-Does the leader have gear for a top anchor?
-Does the leader know where the route goes?
going through the basics no matter who you are climbing with will save time and headaches should one of those items from the basic list be missed.
uh oh, i think it's stuck...
One of the worst feelings in the world, having to cut your trusty favorite life line.... finally got to use my little mini multi-tool scissors. Afterward if you are able to salvage any of it they make for great dog toys or leases, even better if it was your buddies rope. While in Red Rock, NV climbing what was supposed to be an easy route we top out and start the the rappel process. First rap, a-lot of friction low angle descent. Second rap, rounded curved top out section over vertical wall followed by a wide ledge half way through typical rap length, with a slight ridge to scramble over to get to the next vertical section. Smart choice would be to just setup another rappel on the next ledge down for the next steep section and not try and link. We did not, and as a result the low angle 30' section next to the anchor added so much friction that it took both of us full weight to pull rope (issue #1), after you are thoroughly exhausted pulling the rope... it breaks free and coils itself on the next ledge since you can't pull it fast enough to span the gap, this is where it will knot and loop around rocks (issue #2). Normally you could probably pull said obstruction off the wall except for the friction caused by the small ridge preventing this. Kidding aside, one thing to remember when you are trying to descend from your multi or single pitch climbing is to think about how your rope is going to follow you when it's sliding along the rock. Ask yourself, is there loose large boulders it could get trapped in? What kind of rope drag will there be? Is linking rap stations worth a 20 minute savings? Luckily I was able to solo an easy chimney about 40' to try and recover as much rope as I could, as we had one more 60ft rap to go.... we made it with about ~10 ft of rope left.
are we river rafting or climbing?
Lumpy Ridge, Estes Park, CO. Another tick against you as my least favorite climbing area. Ever climb in the rain? I'll give you a hint, it sucks. Especially a heavy Colorado rain, that sneaks up on you while you are finishing the first pitch (luckily w/rap anchors). Lesson learned, negative angle walls tend to funnel and concentrate water, especially large unbroken faces, even more so in cracks that trad climbers love so much. One of my favorite things that I heard one of the famous climbers say during an interview (paraphrased) "Getting to the top is not worth not being able to climb tomorrow". When we finally saw heavy clouds coming in at the top of the first pitch, it's time to talk about an escape plan, even if it is your first pitch of the day. After deciding to call it a day, on our way out we actually had to help to two other guys figure out how to bail off of the route they were on (probably mid climb when the rain started), they were wearing shorts and short sleeve shirts and were very cold and frantic haha. Here is a little taste of the monsoon that ensued, within 5 minutes there was waterfalls where we just climbed.
Personal experience and random thoughts will be added as they come.