Clove hitches

[Jens]

Here is a crazy climbing story:

 

A British dude named Tom I climbed with in the alps this summer told me about a time when he climbed the Matterhorn when he was younger. He and his partner passed a guide and his client. Tom and the guide exchanged pleasentries and kept climbing. A few minutes later, Tom came to a halt as his rope got stuck. The guide and his client clamly passed Tom and his buddy. Tom spent almost 20 minutes trying to free the rope as his calves and forearms got progressively more pumped. After screaming at his partner for a while and trying to move, Tom and his partner realized that the guide had reached over and clove hitched Tom's rope to a fixed pin that was in the back of a small alcove, effectively handcuffing him and his buddy so that the guide could move past. That's lower than throwing rocks at your competition!

[underworld]

20 minutes to untie a clove hitch?

[chirp]

20 minutes to untie a clove hitch?

Dude, he was obviously above it thinking it was simply jammed.

[gmknight]

That is a good one to keep in mind. Might need to use it next time I'm on a trade route.

[ken4ord]

If a person did that to me, I would be thinking of kicking their ass or throwing rocks at them while they were on rapel. Fuckers. Real lame, I doing that to a friend as a joke, but some you don't know is pretty rude.

[catbirdseat]

That goes way beyond rude. But it makes for a funny story.

[goatboy]

My friend John was climbing in Europe and after being accosted by local guides insisting that he NEEDED a guide for his climb (I think he was on or near the Matterhorn) almost pulled him off his route by yanking on his lead line repeatedly...worse than the clove hitch trick, but driven by the same insanity....

[catbirdseat]

My friend John was climbing in Europe and after being accosted by local guides insisting that he NEEDED a guide for his climb (I think he was on or near the Matterhorn) almost pulled him off his route by yanking on his lead line repeatedly...worse than the clove hitch trick, but driven by the same insanity....

This explains why people tell you you have to have a guide on the Matterhorn. There aren't any laws apparently, just "hoodlum guides", trying to protect their monopoly.

[Weekend_Climberz]

That's pretty messed up. I would hope I had brought along my #5 to swing at his head.

[Cobra_Commander]

I'd just dump a spot of white gas in his cigarette pack.

[fenderfour]

I'm not a proponent of physical violence, especially on a climb, but this is truly an ass-whupping offense.

 

You simply do not F*ck with the protective gear of another party.

[goatboy]

Another time my friend was on Bugaboo Spire and had a Euro team following him all the way up...one guy (who had been clipping into my friend's pro mid-pitch as he lead up behind them) at one point actually MOVED my firend's cam so he could place his own in the same spot while in the middle of a pitch!

 

I would have dropped some shit on him...

[mountainmatt]

I had a similar experience as you goatboy on the Bastile in Eldo. We were making our way up the last pitch when (as I was leading) a french team came up and started cliping my gear. I stopped mid route and told him to unclip it. He pretended not to know english. I took my sweet ass time to finish the pitch just to frustrate him since he couldn't get by (small bit of revenge).

[Lambone]

My buddy took a factor 2 onto a clove and that shit got welded, had to cut the rope.

[kevbone]

Hey jens, nice story, great meeting you at the grasslands. I spoke with you and marylou, for quite a while on Friday night. Along with IVAN.

[catbirdseat]

My buddy took a factor 2 onto a clove and that shit got welded, had to cut the rope.

Damn, that's the first I've heard of that. Guys like John Long recommend tying into their primary with a figure eight loop then clove hitch to any additional pieces. I guess there is a very good reason for this.

[jmace]

He and his partner passed a guide and his client.

 

sounds like the guide didnt like that very much...

[wfinley]

I was climbing in the Gunks once and a Russian party lead up to the route we were on and then began to climb up the same pitch as my wife was belaying - clipping gear right next to mine and getting the ropes all tangled. My wife (who is fluent in Russian) was furious. Apparently the reason the abandoned her major in Russian studies was because of Russians and it all came flooding back. I just assumed that's the way it is in the Gunks.

[RuMR]

My buddy took a factor 2 onto a clove and that shit got welded, had to cut the rope.

Damn, that's the first I've heard of that. Guys like John Long recommend tying into their primary with a figure eight loop then clove hitch to any additional pieces. I guess there is a very good reason for this.

 

i think it'd be pretty hard to untie an 8 if you went factor 2 onto it...

[catbirdseat]

My buddy took a factor 2 onto a clove and that shit got welded, had to cut the rope.

Damn, that's the first I've heard of that. Guys like John Long recommend tying into their primary with a figure eight loop then clove hitch to any additional pieces. I guess there is a very good reason for this.

 

i think it'd be pretty hard to untie an 8 if you went factor 2 onto it...

That may be true, but it would be less likely to actually melt.

[Lambone]

The crazy part is that when my partner factor 2d on the anchor, he was actually cleaning a pitch. figure that one out! he was attached to the rope with a gri-gri and luckily not his jugs.

 

Werner from supertaco warned me never to clip a clove to a piece when solo-aiding because ropes have chopped when the biner smashed the rock during a fall. Werner's seen some shit, so I'll take his word for it.

 

On a related topic, I once had Euros simo past me on Nutcracker clipping quickdraws into my cams! those fuckers...

 

[catbirdseat]

The crazy part is that when my partner factor 2d on the anchor, he was actually cleaning a pitch. figure that one out! he was attached to the rope with a gri-gri and luckily not his jugs.

 

Werner from supertaco warned me never to clip a clove to a piece when solo-aiding because ropes have chopped when the biner smashed the rock during a fall. Werner's seen some shit, so I'll take his word for it.

 

So his top anchor failed. How was it that his rope was still attached to the lower anchor?

[Lambone]

sort of, but I wouldn't quite call the top piece an anchor. It is prehaps one of the only pitches I've seen that goes downward for about 75 ft, very hard to clean.

 

the point above the anchor that failed was a fixed lost arrow piton that broke directly in half. It was a pendulum point to the anchor. I had the line fixed to one bolts with a clove and backed up with an 8 to the powerpoint. Not to smart I know...

 

we beat the clove for a while with a hammer, but no go. gald we had a knife!

Edited October 13, 2006 by Lambone

[plexus]

Another time my friend was on Bugaboo Spire and had a Euro team following him all the way up...one guy (who had been clipping into my friend's pro mid-pitch as he lead up behind them) at one point actually MOVED my firend's cam so he could place his own in the same spot while in the middle of a pitch!

 

If your friend pitched, and that pieced failed and he wounded up cratering, could the other party be charged?

[JayB]

I think you'd have to take the matter up with the offending parties later, and keep your head together on the route and either bail or just live with it/make the best of it if no amount of verbal persuasion, nice or otherwise kept them off of your gear. Seems like a mid-route fist fight would have a higher potential to result in a fatality than gear that's been messed with - especially if you are on the losing end of the altercation.

 

I heard rumors of some swinging ice axes at the base of an ice climb outside of boulder, and some cases of someone lowering off or rapping down and brawling, but never of two folks that are tied in brawling mid-route. If the story about the guys brandishing the ice axes is true, they must not have been too serious about using them as it's hard to see how an ice-tool fight could get very far along without things getting fatal for one of the participants.