Multipitch Sport Technique

[scott_harpell]

Charlie said:

Speaking of sport routes- check out this route Dwayner, Pope, and I recently put up..........................................

 

where is that?!? if a bolt gets chopped at a crag, and there is no-one there to hear it...

[EWolfe]

Charlie said:

Speaking of sport routes- check out this route Dwayner, Pope, and I recently put up..........................................

 

Dude! That looks run out! Could you convince your pals to put in a few more bolts?

[scott_harpell]

nah man! keep up with the ethics of the area! its a gnar-gnar mixed route.

[catbirdseat]

It appears to be somewhere in Scotland. It is about as flagrant as bolted cracks get. Must be one of JGowans' routes.

[ScottP]

Charlie said:

Speaking of sport routes- check out this route Dwayner, Pope, and I recently put up..........................................

 

Perched blocks; any outward force and they blow. The only way to get throught that section is downward pulls on the creaky flakes, and even then they might go. Hence the bolts for pro to keep you from landing on the ledge, with the flakes landing on top of you.

[scott_harpell]

Perched blocks

 

first of all it is a flake. right above the bottom bolt is a bomber nut/ tcu placement and even a pod for dru's tri-cams. well shit we might have to bolt libra crack as it si in danger of expanding same with city park... granite is sketchyyyyy!

 

edit: also nice looking nut placement to teh right of the second bolt. if the flake is as sketchy and chossy as you say, why would you wanna climb it.

Edited November 17, 2003 by scott_harpell

[Thinker]

scott_harpell said:

Perched blocks

 

first of all it is a flake. right above the bottom bolt is a bomber nut/ tcu placement and even a pod for dru's tri-cams. well shit we might have to bolt libra crack as it si in danger of expanding same with city park... granite is sketchyyyyy!

 

edit: also nice looking nut placement to teh right of the second bolt. if the flake is as sketchy and chossy as you say, why would you wanna climb it.

 

Hey! What in the world are you TALKING about? Those aren't gear placements, those are holds . If you fill those up with gear you can't climb the damn thing.

[ScottP]

scott_harpell said:

 

 

first of all it is a flake. right above the bottom bolt is a bomber nut/ tcu placement and even a pod for dru's tri-cams. well shit we might have to bolt libra crack as it si in danger of expanding same with city park... granite is sketchyyyyy!

 

edit: also nice looking nut placement to teh right of the second bolt. if the flake is as sketchy and chossy as you say, why would you wanna climb it.

 

There are routes out there that are just committing enough that to come across a feature like that I described affords you no other options but to climb through them, pro or not.

 

As for my description...

It was an inference merely for the sake of making a point that what is seen in the picture isn't the whole story and therefore to jump on the "chop it now" bandwagon might be a bit of a knee jerk.

 

And yes, granite can be sketchyyyyy.

 

[Thinker]

I just wanted to add something that may (oh the horror!) bring this thread back on topic.

 

There are obviously many ways to climb a mulitpitch route like you've proposed. I think the best thing you can do is just go do it, making sure to keep the few primary principles in mind (redundant anchor, dont' drop the rope or your partner, climb safe).

 

There's a lot to be learned by creating a absolute cluster f**k at your first couple of belay stations, but as long as you're safe it can be a total learning experience. Try as many of the techniques listed here as you can, they'll all come in handy some day in some situation, and the more you're exposed to the more efficient you'll eventually be.

 

Obviously, you don't want to make your first multipitch climb a long commiting one where an early sunset could cause you problems. Pick a short climb or 2 to practice and do trial runs on. Before I took a relatively new climber to Yos with me we went to Vantage and L-worth and went thru the motions on some fun easy climbs where exposure and time were not factors. So what if you make your pitches 20 or 30 feet long...it's the mechanics of the process at the belay stations you need some practice at.

 

Go have fun...and let us know how it goes.

[minx]

Thinker said:

I just wanted to add something that may (oh the horror!) bring this thread back on topic.

 

There are obviously many ways to climb a mulitpitch route like you've proposed. I think the best thing you can do is just go do it, making sure to keep the few primary principles in mind (redundant anchor, dont' drop the rope or your partner, climb safe).

 

There's a lot to be learned by creating a absolute cluster f**k at your first couple of belay stations, but as long as you're safe it can be a total learning experience. Try as many of the techniques listed here as you can, they'll all come in handy some day in some situation, and the more you're exposed to the more efficient you'll eventually be.

 

Obviously, you don't want to make your first multipitch climb a long commiting one where an early sunset could cause you problems. Pick a short climb or 2 to practice and do trial runs on. Before I took a relatively new climber to Yos with me we went to Vantage and L-worth and went thru the motions on some fun easy climbs where exposure and time were not factors. So what if you make your pitches 20 or 30 feet long...it's the mechanics of the process at the belay stations you need some practice at.

 

Go have fun...and let us know how it goes.

 

i just went through this with someone a couple of weeks ago. it was good for both of us. it made me think about each thing as i set it up, knowing that he would ask a ton of questions. he did ask a ton of questions and made a mess of his first belay but was safe the whole time.

 

we went to index and did GNS. something both of us had climbed before and were absolutely comfortable with. i led the whole thing the first time. brought him up and let him check out the belays and ask questions. then he led each of the pitches.

 

read some info, climb with an experienced partner and try what you think is the best system. For bolted anchors i tend to be lazy and just use the magic x thingy. i generally choose to clove hitch my rope to the anchor and use a sling girth hitched to my harness and clipped to the anchor.

[mattp]

Just to clarify, I want to point out that Thinker is full of you-know-what where he implies that you will only make a mess out of your first couple of belays. Maybe I'm an idiot and only climb with idiots, but my partners and I still manage to still screw it up sometimes after over 30 years of practice! You shouldn't have too much problem at a bolted sport-belay, though.

[Thinker]

Matt, I wanted to leave them with a little hope. Every so often I end up with a big CF, too...still.

[Alpinfox]

[minx]

this should be the new logo for spray

[bunglehead]

Hey Fox, will you go post that on the Rock Climbing Ethics thread? That one is done too.

[Alpinfox]

I'm not going anywhere near that thread. It's too long and I don't have any idea what its about. I think they are exchanging half-naked pictures of Molly Ringwald now.

 

Feel free to put the picture there yourself.

 

Here is the URL:

http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/502/1826deadhorse-med.jpg

[Jake]

Charlie said:

Speaking of sport routes- check out this route Dwayner, Pope, and I recently put up..........................................

 

Hey where is that thing? I think I may have rigged up a sketchy top rope to climb it once - always wanted to bolt parts, but never got around to it.

[SnowByrd]

This is a GREAT thread, by the way. I've found it immensely helpful. Thanks to everybody who posted and to everyone else for not polluting it with spray.

 

I'd like to add to it with another question.

 

Is there anywhere close (within an hours drive) that a person can start to learn multipitch? There are a couple of easy ones on E 90 but those don't really count.

[larrythellama]

l-worth has the most multi pitch sport routes.

i really can think of the names tho...most of the routes might have some gear placements, but as of recent the "new" "developers" in lworth have just bolted everything to make it safer for the children.

 

index has a few on the upper walls tho the tend to be quite stout.

 

mt erie has a few too.

 

and there are a few in mazama:

insperation route is good for starters

 

then the there is the infamous infinite bliss route on mt garfield.

 

and i quite using the reverso as it makes one complacement and does not offer as a good belay then an atc type device.

 

[Szyjakowski]

oh so the midget jerk converted you back to the darkside.

that is so neat and precious!

 

lworth definitely lots of mixed rock climbing to be had.

most domes that have had activity new or not have a spattern of bolts. try trundle dome, duty dome, icicle butt, or even good ole snow cric crag (more pitons tho).

 

erie watch out for projectiles from people above you. i guess they like to drive up and drink beer...index too for that matter at the upper wall i hear.

 

anyone know details about the bolts near the black streak on sews???

[mattp]

Darrington climbs are almost all multipitch affairs, usually with bolt belay anchors, and many are mostly bolt-protected -- but you gotta carry and use gear and it tends toward slab climbing.

 

It is 1 hr. and 30 mins. from Seattle, though.

[SublimeSalamander]

Hi CP,

 

Welcome to cc.com.

 

I think most leaders clip into a two bolt anchor by either girth hitching two slings to their harness and clipping into each bolt with a locking biner on each sling, or by attaching a double length sling to the two bolts (making sure to do the "magic x" thing) and then clove-hitching their end of the main climbing rope to a locking biner on the double length sling. If you know how to tie a "dog-eared bowline" (same thing as B-rock's "atomic bowline" I think) that is also a nice method to tie in and uses less gear (nice for alpine routes).

 

Autoblocks such as a petzl reverso or gri-gri are nice for belaying seconds from above because you can attach the device directly to the anchor and if the second falls/hangs, the weight isn't on you. If you belay with the device attached to your harness, it is a good idea to have the rope run from your harness up to the anchor through a biner (like the quickdraw method that B-rock suggested) and then down to your second. That way if they fall you get pulled "up and in" rather than "down and out". You can use a munter hitch on a locking biner as a belay device (this is a good technique to know in case you ever lose your belay device).

 

Before you start belaying up your second, make sure you are comfortable, that you can effectively pull in rope and lock off the belay device, and that you know what will happen if the second falls/hangs. I got yanked off a ledge and scraped up pretty badly once because my second fell and I was belaying off of my harness and I was above the anchor a bit.

 

As the second climbs up, the leader can stack the rope on rope/sling connecting them to the anchor. This makes for a neat belay ledge. If the ledge is big enough, you can also just make a pile of rope as you pull in slack.

 

I hope that helps. I'm sure others will give you some good advice or point out any errors/omissions I might have made.

 

Here is a good website:

http://www.chockstone.org/TechTips.htm

 

Nice website. A lot of good info there.