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Tech Tips
Get that extra edge you need to succeed on your dream climb with Climbing's Tech Tips - Aid, Alpine, Sport, and Trad Beta for the vertical world. Illustrations by Jamie Givens, Mike Clelland, Mike Tea, Kieth Svihovec, and Joe Iurato.
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 Chilling Imagery
Seven tips for cold-weather shooting - The sunscreen is frozen in the tube. The toothpaste, too. Your hands freeze within seconds without gloves. The thermometer reads –35ºF. It’s cold—really cold. But can you still photograph? You bet. Here are a few tips. Keep your batteries warm. Cold temps rapidly drain a battery’s strength. Carry a back-up battery—or several—in an inside pocket. At night, keep batteries in your sleeping bag.  Short-Fixing
One way to move faster on long routes - Short-fixing is an experts-only technique that essentially separates a climbing team into two roped soloists via a knot at an anchor, allowing the climbers to move simultaneously. It’s most commonly used on one-day ascents of big walls, or to speed up the process during multi-day ascents. Don’t confuse short-fixing with simul-climbing, when both climbers move together, without the rope fixed to an anchor in between. When simul-climbing, if one climber falls, the results can be catastrophic. Worth a Shot
Bonus uses for your digital camera - Halfway up a new route, roofs and blankness loomed above. Where was the long hand crack that had lured us up here? I pulled out my camera and scrolled through photos of the face, taken earlier from camp. After identifying our position on my glowing camera screen, I saw that a short traverse rightward would bring us below the splitter, and from there the route-finding looked simple.  Escape Systems
Hand drilling an emergency anchor - If you’re climbing a little-traveled big wall, or venturing into soft-rock climbing areas like Utah’s San Rafael Reef (click here), you may want to carry an emergency bolt kit—and know how to use it. Here’s the lowdown. A basic bolt kit consists of a hammer, drill holder, drill bits, blow tube (a short length of 1/4-inch plastic tubing), nylon hole brush (try a test-tube brush), correctly sized wrench for your bolts, and slings and rings to rig your anchors.  Thumbs Up!
Use that fifth finger to help get a grip - Climbing holds are like snowflakes—no two are identical—and clever use of the thumbs adds important diversity to your gripping arsenal. Here are four “thumb” techniques that could make the difference during your next tough climb. The thumb catch is the most basic of thumb tricks—it isn’t so much a grip as a supplement to many open-hand gripping positions. As you work a tricky hold in search of the best purchase, feel around for nubbins or divots for your thumb. Social Climbing
Tips for speedier threesomes - You and your regular climbing partner have planned to climb the East Buttress of El Capitan (IV 5.10b), and at the last minute, she invites a friend along. Now, at the top of pitch 10, the three of you are looking at climbing the final pitches in the dark and onsighting the descent by headlamp. Here are a few tips to speed up a threesome and finish your climb with plenty of daylight.  Stop the Flying Circus
How to belay a heavier leader - People whose partners outweigh them by 25 pounds or more routinely get yanked off the ground when catching sport-climbing leader falls. Although this phenomenon is disconcerting at first, it can be perfectly safe with a few simple precautions—and it provides a nice, soft catch for the climber. Some climbers recommend anchoring a light belayer to the ground, but this may cause the falling leader to experience a hard, shocking fall. In most cases, allowing a sport-climbing belayer to move around decreases the chance of injury to the leader and belayer, and also lowers the force applied to the system.  The Pre-thread Toprope
Setting up an anchor-friendly TR session - You're climbing outdoors with novice friends, and you want to rig a toprope from a fixed-chain anchor. You’re the only one in the group who can safely install and clean a toprope setup, but you loath having to climb each route twice—once to hang the rope, and once to clean the anchor and rap from the chains. It’s tempting to thread the rope through the chains and lower off, letting everyone toprope through the fixed hardware. Don’t—it’s a sin and you know it. Repeated lowering will wear out the chain or rings faster than any other abuse.  No More Tangles
Stacking ropes on multi-pitch climbs - Good rope management at belays saves time and headaches. When you belay on a ledge, feed the rope into a small pile, about two feet around, as you take it in. Compact the growing rope pile with your hands or feet to keep it stacking bottom to top, and to keep it from sliding off the ledge. If your partner leads the next pitch, just pay out rope from the top of the pile. If you’re leading in blocks, you’ll want to “pancake” the pile: Once your partner has arrived at the belay, flip the rope pile like a pancake so your end is now on top.  Tech Tips: Cam-hooking 101
A speedy alternative to nuts and pins - Cam-hook technique has been honed to a fine edge by Yosemite’s speed-aid climbers, but even if you prefer to climb walls slowly, as I do, cam hooking can save you a lot of hassle when aiding thin cracks, as well as protect the rock and win you “clean aid” points. Cam hooks, originally designed by Ed Leeper, are simple, hard-steel levers that wedge in thin cracks, dihedrals, under roofs, and even in pockets or boxy pin scars.  Tech Tips: Better Boinking
A useful trick for working steep routes - Boinking is a little trick that all sport climbers should know. When you’re working a very steep route, falls may leave you stranded in space, too far from the wall to regain the rock. Instead of lowering to the ground, you can often “boink” back up to your last quickdraw by pulling up on the rope, unweighting, and allowing your belayer to quickly take in slack.  Tech Tips: Adventure Climbing 101
Nine ways to smooth the path - Adventure climbing: an eight-pitch jaunt up Cannon Cliff, New Hampshire; an all-day route in Colorado’s Black Canyon; a 1,000-foot line in the canyons of Red Rock, Nevada. On long outings like these, you want to be nimble, time-efficient, and physically and mentally ready for challenges and surprises. “Adventure” implies danger and unknown risks, and if you get caught in a storm, benighted, off-route, or otherwise thrashed, that’s part of the game.  Tech Tips: Contact!
Hangboarding 101 - Hangboard training is one of the most time-efficient ways to build hand and finger (or “contact”) strength, especially if you can’t train at a climbing gym. Two or three 30-minute workouts per week can deliver excellent results. All you need is a hangboard—many models are available for about $50— and a little motivation. The basic exercise is a dead hang from small holds. Mount the board so you can easily reach the holds.  Tech Tips: Anchors Away
Using personal anchor tethers safely - Traditionally, climbers have anchored to the belay by tying in directly with the rope. Now, many prefer the convenience of personal anchor tethers specifically designed for this purpose for belays, as well as for cleaning the top anchor on a sport climb or anchoring during multi-pitch rappels. When used properly, these systems can be safe and strong, but when used improperly, they can lead to fatal accidents.  Climbing Video 101
A beginner's guide to making a great short film - Just as digital photography opened up the world of image-making to the masses, so have the many gadgets that shoot video opened up the creative possibilities for amateur filmmakers. Whether you have an iPhone or a $6,800 Canon XF300 camcorder, you can be your own media mogul thanks to Facebook, YouTube, Vimeo, and similar sites.  Point and Shoot Cameras
How to pick 'em, how to use 'em - Today's compact digital cameras are slimmer, lighter, and more durable than their predecessors—and their image quality is much better. They’re also a lot more portable and a lot less expensive than full-sized digital SLRs—meaning you’re more likely to carry them on your climbs—and many have features that even the pros respect, including image stabilization and continuous-shooting modes. If you want quality photos from your climbing trips, but don’t want to drop $2,000 or more on a digital SLR, a good point and shoot is a great option.  Tech Tips: Purcell Prusik
Video by Tree Climbing Etc - The Purcell Prusik: a prusik-based lanyard that offers excellent adjustability and energy-absorption potential, with just a bit more weight and bulk than daisies. The Purcell can be purchased (from Sterling Rope) or easily tied from 6mm nylon cord. The prusik knot will slip under high load, avoiding the extreme impact forces of falls on more static tethers. Read more about using the prusik in your personal climbing anchor in the August issue of Climbing.  Tech Tips: Daisy Chain Dangers
Video by Black Diamond - These are aid climbers’ tools, used to link one’s harness to aiders or ascenders, but they’re commonly and improperly used as personal anchor tethers. Daisy chains should not be used as anchoring systems, for two important reasons. First, the bestcase scenario for a climber dynamically loading a daisy chain is a perilously harsh impact that could break the daisy, rip the anchor, or injure the climber. Second, it is extremely easy to clip a daisy chain in such a way that you are clipped through loops that only are designed to hold body weight. Read the full article on personal anchors in the August issue of Climbing.  Tech Tips: Come to Papa
Short-hauling your partner with a guide-style belay - It's been a long day on the rock. If your partner can just fi nish this pitch quickly, you can be down on the trail before dark. But he’s exhausted, and a crux overhang has stopped him. “Take!” he yells. You give him tension, with your belay device rigged in guide mode off a cordelette power point. He tries again. “Take!” Again and again. Your coaching ends in futility, and the sun is getting low.  Tech Tips: The Safety Stick
Stick clipping, big-wall style - Many big-wall climbers see stick clips (aka cheater sticks) solely as emergency tools to use when they run across a broken rivet or missing copperhead. However, a stick clip also can greatly assist in retreating off overhanging walls like the right side of El Capitan or Leaning Tower. Some overhanging rappels may leave you dangling in space, unable to reach the next anchors. In such cases, the usual solution is down-aiding instead of rappelling—a slow and awkward task. With a stick clip, you can often simply rappel down, reach in with your stick to clip the anchors, and reel yourself in. |
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