catbirdseat Posted March 2, 2004 Posted March 2, 2004 A "Sierra Picket" is one which has the sling girth hitched to the middle hole and is placed vertically with a trench for the sling and the trench backfilled and compacted. It is faster than a deadman to place and holds better in soft snow than a conventional vertical placement. Reference Has anyone tried this sort of anchor? Quote
Greg_W Posted March 2, 2004 Posted March 2, 2004 Are you saying the picket is placed vertically? Or horizontally? Quote
jja Posted March 2, 2004 Posted March 2, 2004 Yes. I did this once, it made me feel better, but it wouldn't have held a thing. Quote
jja Posted March 2, 2004 Posted March 2, 2004 Are you saying the picket is placed vertically? Or horizontally? In fact Greg_W retrieved it and he was the one that told me it wouldn't have held a thing Quote
Thinker Posted March 2, 2004 Posted March 2, 2004 from the article: "Pickets are much stronger when tied in the middle and placed as deadmen than when pulled from one end in traditional "picket" placement. If you need to do the traditional placement, try to get the top of the picket fully buried and firmly pack snow in front of the top of the picket. We experimented with a new placement that appears to be stronger and faster than burying a picket like a deadman. This placement involves burying the picket like a deadman, but having it buried upright in "picket" position rather than horizontally in "deadman" position. Start with a picket tied to a hole in the middle of the picket. Dig a trench for the rope like the trench you would dig for the rope if you were burying the picket like a deadman. Do not dig a second trench perpendicular to the first. Instead, drive the picket into the snow in the bottom of the trench in "picket" position, with the rope ending up in the same position in the trench as if you were placing the picket in deadman position. You now have the picket half buried in picket position, with the upper half exposed in the trench. Fill the trench, covering the rope and backfilling behind the picket. Stomp this snow in firmly--the strength of this anchor depends on how well you pack this snow. Compared to the traditional deadman placement, in this position the picket is less likely to fail by sliding between layers in the snowpack and less likely to fail by pulling a block of snow out of the snowpack. In our summer Cascade snow we could break the metal of the picket before the picket would pull out of the snow. We plan to do more testing of this new position in snow with different consistencies." Interesting concept regarding reducing the tendency to pull out between snow layers. Imagine what it must take to break the metal. Do you suppose they recruit a couple troops of boy scouts to run this test? Greg, I think vertically means vertically...but I could be wrong. Quote
Greg_W Posted March 2, 2004 Posted March 2, 2004 Are you saying the picket is placed vertically? Or horizontally? In fact Greg_W retrieved it and he was the one that told me it wouldn't have held a thing Oh, yeah; that thing wouldn't have held shit. It was like burying a wooden spoon in a bag of flour. But, gee, it was textbook and all. Thinker, it was not clear as to what was being placed in a vertical orientation, the picket or the sling; thus my question. Quote
catbirdseat Posted March 2, 2004 Author Posted March 2, 2004 Are you saying the picket is placed vertically? Or horizontally? Vertically. Quote
catbirdseat Posted March 2, 2004 Author Posted March 2, 2004 My take is that often it would take too much time to place for a running belay, but may be good for a belay anchor or a rescue anchor. Quote
Greg_W Posted March 2, 2004 Posted March 2, 2004 My take is that often it would take too much time to place for a running belay, but may be good for a belay anchor or a rescue anchor. jja took some time placing his, but we were simulclimbing, so it was worth having it in (I don't think there was much else). Quote
tomtom Posted March 2, 2004 Posted March 2, 2004 Further down on the page: The Holy Crap II Award goes to Seth Brothers and Colin Sterr, who responded to the Glacier Peak mission in late July thinking they were looking for a lost hiker at Kennedy Hot Springs. The two ended up climbing from the 2,300’ trailhead to about the 9,000’ level on the Sitkum Glacier in about seven hours. They bivied in the rain and the next morning went over the summit north down to the Rabbit Ears at 10,000’, and then back up again to 10,300’ to find the missing "hikers". They then went up, back over the summit again and then down to Boulder Basin to deposit the three missing hikers to a waiting chopper. Both Seth and Colin declined a ride and decided to walk out instead. When the same Sheriff was asked if a pre-positioned horse team should meet Seth and Colin at the PCT to help them with their gear, the Sheriff said "Holy crap no; those two are apt to try and carry out one of the horses" Lost hikers. Quote
iain Posted March 2, 2004 Posted March 2, 2004 based on the average sheriff's deputy I've worked with, a bout of excessive sneezing would be considered for that holy crap award. Quote
catbirdseat Posted March 2, 2004 Author Posted March 2, 2004 Was that Lambone's rescuers? It sure sounds like it except that I know Doug Sanders was one of them (maybe there were three of them?). I saw a picture of the rescuers posing with the rescued. The rescuers looked in way worse shape. Quote
jjd Posted March 7, 2004 Posted March 7, 2004 Pickets are much stronger when tied in the middle and placed as deadmen than when pulled from one end in traditional "picket" placement 2200 years after Archimedes formed the law of levers, someone just figured this out? Earth shattering! Quote
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