Lowering vs. rappelling through rap rings at crags

[Rad]

The guidebook for Exit 32/38 mention lowering almost exclusively throughout, I would tend to think they are or consulted with the developers when writing the book. What is your opinion in that case?

 

Actually, I think you can be pretty confident that Garth did not consult with all the developers.

 

I'm not sure why everyone seems all fired up about this. Replacement gear is simply not that expensive unless you have a lot of routes to maintain. A quick check of the HD website shows that:

 

3/8" galvanized chain is $3.60 per foot. Smaller guage is cheaper.

One 3/8" zinc plated quicklink is $2.89.

One stainless 5/16" quicklink is $7.

 

If the last link of an otherwise good chain is getting worn through, simply pull it down, take it to Home Depot, cut off the last link, and put it back. No equipment cost at all.

 

Sometimes lowering is safer than rapping, particularly on overhanging or traversing routes. One of the biggest reasons to rap, when feasible, is to minimize wear and tear on the rope. Abrasion on rough rock and over edges is much, much harsher on ropes than simply passing over a chain/quicklink. New ropes cost a lot more than the items above. These are usually the two factors I balance when deciding to rap or lower. If I know what the standard practice is for a route then I'll usually adhere to that.

 

Route developers usually do what they do as a labor of love. If my routes become used so much that the chain links wear through then I'd be delighted to upgrade hardware to keep them safe. As it is, I have finally found a use for all those booty biners I've accumulated over the years: leave them on the chains to make it faster and easier for people to get down. Perhaps extensive use of a route is a sign it is well-loved and has become 'real', like the velveteen rabbit. This is well worth the inevitable wear and tear.

[redlude97]

All the chains I have placed, I assume will be lowered from. When cragging, I always lower unless the anchor is set up with rap rings or hangers. If I place anchor biners, I assume they will be top-roped through and will wear even faster.

 

The only place I have seen where anchors are continually needing replacement is at Smith and I think there it has to do with the abrasive nature of the rock/dirt, the high volume of people on routes like 5 gallon buckets, and the fact that a lot of people are TR'ing through chains. I can't think of too many WA routes that are in chronic need of chain replacement. Thin Fingers and Japanese Gardens have pretty deep grooves in the steel biners, but that is from top roping.

My experience at Smith is that not one person I saw at the morning glory wall or dihedrals area rappelled, while quite a few did when in the lower gorge fwiw.

[sobo]

...If the last link of an otherwise good chain is getting worn through, simply pull it down, take it to Home Depot, cut off the last link, and put it back. No equipment cost at all.

Call me crazy, but I have been known to lug a pair of bolt-cutters and several quick-links up routes to perform required maintenance. No need to close the route/pull the chains down, since it's maintained in situ. Simply cut the worn links, install the new quick-links, bring up the second, and move on to the next station. The QLs are replaceable by anyone with a wrench as they become worn in later years, so shortening of the chains is not an issue.

 

My problem has been to convince someone to belay me on these ventures, as they are somewhat time-consuming (especially the multi-pitch routes) and are not most climbers' first choice of use of time while at the crag.

[chris_stolz]

If you put the route up, you can lower off the chains or rings.

 

If you didn't put the route up, note that another person spent $50-70 to put the route up, plus God only knows how much time figuring out moves, cleaning, drilling, etc. You, the user, are getting a free ride on somebody else's work. As a courtesy to them, and to everybody else who wants to climb safely, take the whole two minutes it takes to thread your rope, and rap.

 

If you bring a beginner out to the crag, you can make the effort to take down your two draws by re-climbing the route and then rapping, when your gumbie is done with the route. Or, belay from the top of the route. It takes what, ten minutes? to re-climb a route and then rap. THAT is worth it, when you consider the hassle, time and $$ (about $20/route) to replace chains.

 

Bottom line: if it's somebody else's work, respect the work, time and $$, be safe, and rap.

[Edlinger]

Lowering Cons:

Definitely harder on the gear than rapping.

Hard on ropes

Isn't as safe on routes with heinous edges.

 

Lowering Pros:

Many of the obscure routes we climb at see so few people that they would take a long long time to wear out from lowering. If the route is seeing 15 or less ascents a year, lower away.. this happens to be QUITE a few routes in this state

 

You will not get up the harder routes lugging rappell devices, locking biners, extra draws and or daisy chains and such clipped to your harness- so lower away. Extra shit clipped to your harness will also throw off your balance.

 

Many of the routes I climb are too steep to rap and clean (although many have fixed draws year round)

 

If you chose to rap, please do so quickly. A lot of the groups at areas like smith in April and May that are on my wife's warmup climbs take 20-30ish minutes to set up a rappell for Pete's sakes.

 

Bear in mind that very few sport climb a lot on this site and many of those that have posted on this thread have never led out of sport caves where rapping to clean is nearly impossible.

 

On the last three routes I have opened, I have left fixed biners at the bottom of my chains. At smith I've seen locals tape the leaver biners so profusely to the chain that they'd be impossible to steal without a knife and a lot of work. We all have plenty of old ovals, we should donate them to our favorites. Route openers take note.

[orion_sonya]

my opinion is that lowering damages the links...and i've travelled all over the world. like orion says.. go look at Thin Fingers and J Gardens.... you should be toproping through your own gear too.. which is stated in plenty of places... OK orion, so you assume the stuff will be lowered from... do you go back and fix it every coupla years? if you do.. then hats off to you.. where can I send you a check??? Tell me and I'll send you money.

 

I fix whatever I see that needs fixing, be it my own route or otherwise.

 

No check required, but I appreciate the offer

 

Orion

[Hokus]

Not many people are willing to take a chain off the hanger, go to a hardware store or a vice, then cut the last link off.

 

Lowering through the last link in a chain eventually ends up being a pain in the ass for *someone*.

 

For high traffic areas, I HOPE that you are TRing through you're own quickdraws or biners for the people that are following the route that got put up. Last person raps... it's really not *that* much longer to set up a rap than a lower... maybe 3 minutes? Plus you are saving your rope as well, if you wanted purely selfish reasons for rapping

 

I personally think that quicklinks at the end of a chain make the most sense, since it's way easier to replace them: you can bring a wrench up and a new quicklink and you are good to go, as opposed to getting a bolt cutter and pry-bar to get the worn-through chain link off.

[TrogdortheBurninator]

one option with long chain, when climbing with new climbers is to thread the rope through the chains, but unweight the links with two quick draws. No load on the chains = minimal wear. Last climber simply unclips the draws and lowers. Not as low wear as rapping, but better than gang banging the chains and keeps you from having to reclimb some super easy route.

 

i almost exclusively lower nowadays when climbing at sport areas. Mostly because partner and I both lead the route, and it seems faster and safer. I think it is the accepted practice at most sport areas. I usually keep an extra quicklink with me in case something needs to be beefed up. I'd happily leave behind old carabiners everywhere if I thought other climbers could resist the temptation to take them.

[markwebster]

I agree. I used to replace worn rap links&chains at the pinnacles and it can be pricey. Top rope, if you must, on your quickdraws. Last person up threads and raps.

 

I used to think there was a way to discourage the big packs of gangbangers (one leader, 5 followers), but it has become the norm at sport areas. For me, this bad behavior is another reason to go trad climbing instead, preferably multipitch trad where toproping is not possible.

 

I love trad climbers! Definitely a better, more experienced class of climber.

[hanman]

Recently heard at local crag:

 

Guy 1: "Hey, how bout putting some draws on so the chains don't get worn out while you're top roping?"

 

Guy 2: "Chill brah, I got Burdo on speedial"

 

No shit....

 

 

 

[billcoe]

I used to think there was a way to discourage the big packs of gangbangers (one leader, 5 followers), but it has become the norm at sport areas. For me, this bad behavior is another reason to go trad climbing instead, preferably multipitch trad where toproping is not possible. I love trad climbers! Definitely a better, more experienced class of climber.

 

I'm hearing:

 

...hmmm....this might help you Mark

 

WWW.CascadeSportClimbers.com ?