Sport Climbing Anchors (which set up is best)

I get asked a lot when should you use what anchor when sport climbing. Should you build a master point or not. As usual in climbing it depends. The info below should be able to help you make some more informed decisions.

The quick draw anchor

The quick draw anchor is the least secure of all the anchors. It provides easy clipping at the top and I usually choose this for when all climbers will be leading the climb. While it is the least secure, it likely won’t allow the rope to come out especially if you do not climb above the anchor when cleaning but still does not have the added security of all the other methods.

The locking draw anchor

The locking draw is a great way to have added security without loosing a spot for the leaders to clip in. The locking draw can provide some gate protection if there is protruding rock or anything else that could compromise a shut gate. I will choose this method when a few climbers want to tope rope or work the route on top rope and then give it a lead burn as they will still have one point to easily clip when at the top.

The master-point anchor

This anchor provides the most security. All points are redundant and lockers on all points can add more security for gate impediment. It provides a master point to clip into to clean the anchor which can be nice if you need to rappel. I choose this anchor when climbers will be top roping and or the need to be above the anchor might arise.

The master-point with a draw anchor

This method provides the security for the top rope but also a place to clip in for the climber that may decide they was to lead. I use this a lot when photographing climbing. It gives the photographer a great anchor to be secured too but also allows the climber a spot to slip quickly when arriving at the anchor. So this method provides the best of both worlds.

Linville Crusher

Top of Sitting Bear

The Linville Crusher is a fairly sought after objective in the Southeastern United States for climbers that like to go big in the mountains and see what they are made of. It consists of climbing a route on every formation on the East side of the Linville Gorge from Sitting Bear to Shortoff in what ends up being about 16 miles of hiking with 19 pitches of climbing.

The inception came about when Jay Young and Kris Versteegen did the objective in 1999. However more notably pro-climber Pat Goodman started doing bigger link ups and objectives to train and keep in shape for his adventures abroad. While only completing the full “crusher” a couple times and usually without a rope, or a partner, or a car shuttle (sometimes no water and just bumming it), and of course when there was no Strava or social media posting in general, he doesn’t know his times and had to get back to his vehicle. From what he remembers he did this in 12 hours, oh and I forgot to mention he usually choose harder routes up to 5.11. So really we are all still chasing Pat…

The now Crusher is a bit more defined with most parties starting at the Sitting Bear trailhead and finishing with a car drop at the Shortoff trailhead. First timers usually do drops at Table Rock parking lot but the purists will do it self supported. The routes most choose are the easier options; here are the ones I do:

Sitting Bear: Original Route 5.9

Hawksbill: Lost in Space 5.10

Table Rock: North Ridge 5.5

North Carolina Wall: Bumble Bee Buttress 5.8

Amphitheater: I go down the Prow 5.4 then climb out the Daddy 5.6

Shortoff Mountain: Maginot Line 5.7

Water seems to be a main issue and why many do drops. I usually will start with 2.5 liters and get a little off a drip at the NC wall right as you get to the bottom of the wall and start traversing to Bumble Bee. It takes a minute here to fill so I only get .5 liters. You can usually get some more water going down the Amphitheater Gully, but since I down climb the Prow I don’t usually get any here. The next spot is at the “pipe” at Shortoff. This comes from a spring (I still filter) and I get a liter to finish. This is not enough water to be comfortable for most people so do keep that in mind you might want more.

Some of the beta:

Start out wearing harness with .75 cam 4 draws one locker and shoes clipped to it.

On the way to Sitting Bear, drop packs right after the nice pine campsite.

Lower off the climb and steal your partners grigri for the TR belay.

For Hawksbill leave packs right after climbers turn off. I lead the first pitch of LIS and belay. Then take it to the top from here.

Going up to Table Rock is a bit grueling but you are just getting warmed up. We simul to the end of the real climbing on the North Ridge of Table Rock and then my partner passes. Hopefully the rope is put up by this point and there is no real transition. We do this in the approach shoes.

Many of the anchor I use are more “alpine style”. Here is the anchor on the top of the climbing on the North Ridge.

Running down to NC wall takes time. If you stop for water, more time. Then this can also be the climb that shuts you down for wet weather. On my last attempt I had to pitch this out as it was very slick. I typically will do this in two pitches by simuling. Stopping only at the big ledge.

The Belay on the big ledge. I just use a single piece for the anchor and it is a sling shot belay. If it were to fail the rock buttress would become a terrain belay.

Once at the top of this you move to the top of the Prow. Stay near the rim for this. We down solo the prow or when guiding it I short rope and lower my clients down it. Going down the Prow definitely adds the big mountain traverse feeling to this climb as well as saves time.

The Daddy is done in two pitches. To the big ledge for one (this is top of pitch three). I belay here with a terrain belay off the big rocks. Then take it to the top.

Now get ready for some endurance running. First you have to get back to the MST trail which is grueling up hill. Then over to Shortoff which starts as a down. Once you start back up you are only about a quarter of the way there. Many parties will start to feel the fatigue here.

Once at the Shortoff gully I grab some water and then leave packs at the top. I usually will carry a Starbucks Double shot to the bottom to chug before climbing, smash the can and put it in my pocket. I do climb Maginot Line in climbing shoes at this point. I do Maginot in two pitches only simuling the last pitch as a 48m rope just reaches the first belay.

Once at the top, grab the packs and race to the Shortoff parking lot!

The rack for the crusher!

This is the rack that I use and is now updated with all the Z4 BD cams.

Since I am leading all the pitches I don’t carry a Grigri.

My partners rack will consist of:

1 GriGri

2 Lockers

1 prussik

1 double shoulder length sling

1 non-locker to stow gear

This should be sufficient to do a rescue.

At this point (Oct 2023) I have completed the Crusher 9 times, three of which were guided.

My times were:

First time: 10:37 it was September and almost 90

Second: 11:35 late September and 93 degrees

Third: 17:30 Guided

Fourth: 9:18 late November

Fifth: 16:02 Guided

Sixth: 8:49 Bumble Bee Butress was soaked.

Seventh: 6:49 April ‘23 Bumble Bee was closed for birds so we skipped it.

Eighth: 6:09:17 Sept 19th ‘23 FKT at the time with Zack Mintz

Ninth: 8:50 Sept 31st ‘23 Guided (Fastest Guided Time)

If you would like to be guided on the crusher please inquire here: Pisgah Climbing School

Strong Anchors

I did a post on instagram asking about what everyone thought the most important attribute of anchor building was. I used the acronyms EARNEST and SERENE for some examples. So lets look at EARNEST and see what each letter stands for and also why it is important or not.

Equalized

We have now started to move away from the term equalized and more towards distribution of forces as we have found equalization to be fairly unachievable even in lab settings. “Equalized” can still work in theory as we work to see pieces getting similar amounts of force when pieces or of similar integrity. Distribution of force looks more to ways to project the most force on what the anchor builder deems to be the stronger pieces.

Angle

We all know smaller angles put less force on pieces of protection and wider angles create large “vector” forces. Of course we might choose a large angle in some cases to get a master point in a specific place when we only have a few choices in what protection we can use. I am thinking of a single pitch scenario where two trees are close to an edge but not directly over the climb. If the trees are well rooted and quite large it would be hard to imagine a force in climbing that could pull the trees out of the ground even if the angle of the legs was approaching 180°. I would likely be more worried about my attachment points…

Redundant

This has been an interesting attribute that I have seen many folks talk about in the #anchoroftheday posts. It seems redundancy ranks way up there for many climbers in anchor building even though we use many things that are not redundant. For instance climbers will go buy a 8.8mm single rope and whip on it repeatedly but question a two cam anchor in bomber granite. I feel we need to start re-adjusting our thought process here. When we take a leader fall we (usually) fall on a single piece of protection. This should be a greater amount of force than anything we put on the anchor. Sure we could take a factor two fall onto an anchor, but does more pieces make you feel better? Or do stronger pieces make you feel better? For me it is the latter.

Another note with redundancy. When we are always building 3 or maybe even 4 piece anchors we now have possibly 8 pieces of gear in anchors alone. This makes us have to carry more gear. Which of course is a bit heavier. This can slow us down or even make us need to place more gear because the likelihood of falling is greater. So over redundancy could actually get us into problems.

Here a single horn is used for a 5.4 pitch of rock climbing.

Redundancy can cover up mistakes. So really this is where the importance comes into play. For beginning trad climbers it is a good idea to place at least 3 pieces. With training and experience you will start to see nuances of when you can for go the extra piece and thus your climbing can stay at the same level of security but gain efficiency.

Non-Extending

We don’t like anchors to extend if we have a failure in the system because it means a shock load or high amount of force on another piece. This is true but physics still applies here. So a load will accelerate at 9m/s^2. But the load can only travel and accelerate as long as the material in the anchor before the force hits the next piece of the anchor. Think about a quad, maybe a foot? So if our pieces are strong, extension is not really an issue in the first place, but can stop the domino effect if something wasn’t recognized.

Strong

Here we are. In my opinion the greatest attribute to anchors. Of course the question is how strong do they need to be. This is where the variability comes in. What about a seated hip belay? Is that strong? Depends on the force you are going to put on it? What about a huge well rooted tree? What about a single bolt or single cam; and remember we take huge whippers on these all the time. If something is unequivocally strong, we don’t need the be so caught up in trying to achieve other attributes of anchor building.

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We take leader falls on single pieces of gear all the time, and they hold!

Now where can this go wrong?

What if that one bolt you clipped to was not placed well and you did not notice? What if the tree was de-carpeting off of the ledge and it was to dark to see it? What if that boulder was only being held up by a pebble underneath? So really human error is why we might need to use some of the other anchor building theories to keep us safe but in general, when something is strong enough, well it is strong enough.

Timely

This attribute is one that always makes me compromise on strength. I could take longer to build a stronger anchor, but do i need it? And two, is it worth the time. In a single pitch setting where I can pull my rope and go home time doesn’t matter outside of how much climbing you want to get in that day. However, in the big mountains or on multi-pitch climbs looking around for that 3rd piece of pro for your anchor could be the time savings you needed to be off the top before that thunderstorm. So here I compromise. But I do this with years of playing around in single pitch terrain and smaller multi-pitch climbs perfecting my anchor building craft.

So lets make strong anchors! And if we feel we need to add another piece; well we should. But remember you may be costing yourself valuable time that could cause an issue down the road.

Tag me on instagram and hashtag #karstenanchoroftheday to get featured!

Nuts, why are they different...

Nuts Come in all different shapes and sizes… Does this matter? It does.

For sizes when you are starting out the mid ranges work well but companies do not tend to follow any particular way to size. For Black Diamond I would recommend getting #5-11, which is also a standard package for them. For the Wild Country Superlite Rocks I would get #4-10, but this breaks up 2 package deals so you might find yourself just getting #1-10.

So what is the difference with all the shapes? Put simply, the more concave and convex featured the nut is, the more angle on the bevel, the easier it will be to place, and the harder it will be to get out. You can see some of these differences in the photos below. (Left to Right: BD, Metolius, DMM, Wild Country)

Black Diamond nuts tend to be more flat and therefore a little harder to place but easier to get out. They also tend to be one of the cheaper nuts out there. I really prefer the Wild Country Super lights, they are an offset nut (meaning the sides are also beveled) and are quite light which I am always looking for that advantage.

Nuts are generally rated by the size of the wire as it will most likely be the point of failure.

Size of wire determines the strength of a nut.

Smaller nuts or micro nuts are sometimes made of different materials. Bronze and copper are softer materials and will tend to conform to the texture of the rock if they are fallen onto. Of course this means they also can be quite hard to get out. Pictured here you can see the profile of the BD nut is wider than the BD micro and the WC micro. This can play a huge factor in the ability to place them as well. (#9 BD shown for size reference)

I always warn folks about clipping fixed gear. I have seen many nuts that look good but the cable is not intact. You should inspect your nuts by pushing up the wire every once in a while to check the integrity of the wire and make sure it is not frayed. This is really the only inspection needed with nuts albeit there should be no cracks in the nut itself.

Beginning Trad Rack: What to buy!

Here is the long awaited update to one of my older blogs on buying and building a trad rack.

Are you a beginning climber trying to put together a trad climbing rack?

Climbers are asking all the time what pieces of trad gear should I purchase first? Most new climbers are not looking to go out and break the bank on a full trad rack and want to know what pieces make the most sense to buy first. So here are some of my suggestions on what you might want to purchase first as well as some reasons behind it and thing to think about.

Minimalist (cheapest) Rack:

Cams:

BD C4 #1 to #3

BD Z4 #0.2 to #0.75

One set of nuts (skip the micros) so Wild Country Superlight offset #3 to #9

One set of Camp Tricam Evo’s Black through Purple

Show are the UL #1-3 and not the C4 #1-3

Standard Rack:

Cams:

BD C4 #1 to #3 Doubles #1 to #3

BD Z4 #0.1 to #0.75 Doubles #0.2 to#0.75

Set of Nuts Wild Country Superlight offset #1 to #10

Set of Tricam Evo’s Black through Purple

Shown are the UL #1-3 and not the C4 #1-3

High-End Standard Rack:

Cams:

BD UL #1 to #4   Doubles #1 to #3

BD C4 #5

BD Z4 #0.0-#0.75 Doubles of #0.1-#0.75

Set of Nuts Wild Country Superlight offset #1 to #13

Set of Tricam Evo’s Black through Blue

From here you can expand into all kinds of specialized protection like big bros, offsets, and many other size specific and placement specific protection based on your goals for climbing. I have found that the high-end standard rack will get you through most destinations in the US. Newer leaders might want triples in mid size cams (#0.4-#1) to feel comfortable on multi-pitch climbs where they are building anchors whereas seasoned leaders might feel quite comfortable with a more minimalist rack. When you are climbing at your limit you might also want to have a few more pieces on hand as you will probably want more gear to feel comfortable.

Some of my reasons for these racks:

C4 vs X4 (older) vs Z4

If you look at head width on the X4 compared to the C4 there is almost one cam lobe difference. This means the X4 will fit in smaller placements. However the X4 in the bigger sizes can get floppy making it hard to place and even harder to remove. I really see this start at the 0.5 (purple) and up. So the larger pieces could be good for aid climbing but not so much free climbing. The newer Z4 has taken care of this with the Chinese hadcuff style stem. It becomes ridged when you place or take them out. They are also a tiny bit smaller than the X4 making them even more valuable and now I prefer these in the .5 and .75 sizes. It should be noted that Black Diamond has figured out how to keep a similar amount of surface area on all 3 styles of cams so there is little compromise to the placements.

BD Z4, X4, and UL in the #0.75 size. Smaller head width helps with placements.

UL vs C4

The Ultra light cam is amazingly light but this comes at a bit of a cost in dollars, strength, and durability. So first thing first; I do not recommend getting the UL in the 0.4 and 0.5. For one the weight savings is so minimal (around the weight of a locking carrabiner for both), and secondly the stem cap is so large in these two pieces that when overcamed they are very likely to become stuck. The weight savings in the 1-4 is definitely worth it in my opinion.

The UL has a dyneema sling that will not wear as well as the nylon on the C4s. I tend to replace my dyneema slings about every 7 to 12 months depending on use. I have some nylon that is almost 5 years old on my rack and still has some life in it. So if you are replacing cams every year or two, the ULs could be worth it except the price tag is quite high for this technology. My suggestion is to start with the big ones as they will save you the most weight, and if you feel the need or win the lottery buy some smaller ones. #1-3 should save you an entire cams weight.

The C4s have been redesigned and have some weight reduction from the older models. This might help in the decision to just but these for your first rack and then start adding in the ultra lights when you can.

C3s…

The C3 is no longer to be had. You can still find some used on eBay and I do still have some as they are a great cam. The C3s really shine when the placements are small. Here is a review and video of them preforming: https://www.karstendelap.com/blog/black-diamond-c3s?rq=C3

The Z4 has now filled the gap of the C3 and added in the 0 again. there is no 00 or 000 zero however so maybe BD has something in the pipeline.

Nuts or Stoppers:

As for nuts I have found the Wild Country Superlight offsets to work about the best especially for the weight. They place well but like any nut that has a ton of bevel it will be harder to remove. Many guides and professionals will use BD nuts as they tend to be a little more finicky to place but are easier to remove. So pick your poison there.

Tricams:

As many of you know I am not a big fan of Tricams. They are hard to place, hard to get out, and well; I like to climb fast. They do have their place though. They can be a cheaper bail piece, they can double as nuts, and they are great for anchors with a good stance to help save your cams for the leader. The Tricam Evos have a beveled side so they are worth the money as it gives you an entire extra placement per piece.

These are suggestions based on what I have found works best for myself and my clients over the years. I tend to use top of the line protection in my climbing because I like to be able to look down at that last piece that is keeping me off the deck and not have to think about when I purchased it, if that was the piece I bootied, or if it was a cheap cam that I thought my fill in my rack. I also think Black Diamond cams tend to feel better to place, have a great camming range, and plenty of holding power. I also have found the Elderid Nineteen G rack pack to be an awesome carabiner. Some of my partners find them a bit small especially with gloves; but they sure are light!

Please weigh in with your comments, and let me know what you think!

La Sportiva TX Guide hits the mark! Is the Ganda dead?

The La Sportiva Traverse X or TX series has been around since 2016. The innovative line provided different types of shoes depending on the objective at hand. However, this line was trying to pick up where the La Sportiva Ganda left off and in many peoples mind came up short. Pairs of the Ganda still appear on Ebay every once in a while for astronomical prices and people do get what they are asking for the shoes. Well that time might be over!

The TX Guide is here and the performance is pretty unmatched. It preforms like the TX series from a breathability standpoint, has a way better price point than the Ganda did, and dare I say, climbs like the Ganda but approaches better??? Yup, Im gonna say it! It does!

When I first put the La Sportiva TX Guide on it hurt my feet, albeit I did have a broken toe and had run 20 miles in the two days previous. One day later, I did not even notice them on my feet they were so comfortable so they either broke in or maybe some swelling went down.

After 10 guiding days in the shoes I took them out on a run I do sometimes after work called the Trifecta. It is 3 different multi-pitch climbs in the Linville Gorge with a fare amount of trail running from the parking lot. When I got back I sent my times over to a friend thinking I was getting close to his times and he replied back: I always knew someone could do it in under 90 min. I had done the Trifecta in 1:24, and at the time thinking, I think I could have gone faster!

I have more than 80 days in the shoe. I get home from guiding and forget to take it off when I go out to do yard work. So it is very comfortable. It is also durable, with a fairly lugged sole on the back allowing it to perform in muddy trail (or wet yard) terrain.

Sorry Ganda you met your match, I might be putting my last pair on Ebay!

Himalayan Ice Available today April 21st!

Himalayan Ice available on Amazon Prime and iTunes April 21, 2020

In December 2018, alpinists Ari Novak and Karsten Delap set out for India to explore one of the most remote valleys in the Indian Himalaya with local climber Karn Kowshik. Their goal was to meet with the indigenous population of the Spiti Valley and try to support local ice climbing. What they found was perhaps the biggest treasure trove of unclimbed ice in all the Himalaya. Himalayan Ice, tells the history-making story of their journey to put up 9 first ascents (including "Snow Lepard" HWI7 the hardest water ice line in the Indian Himalaya) and start an ice climbing movement by the local population. From their journey to the valley along the most treacherous road on earth to walking amongst Snow Leopards, the expedition was anything but expected. 

The film will be available digitally worldwide on April 21st.

The film is now available for Pre-Order  on iTunes / Apple:

https://geni.us/HimalayanIce

Trailer for Himalayan Ice 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iIMwQoERK

(Don't) Put knots in the end of your rope...

Seeing all of the posting about Brad Gobright’s death and how we should “always put knots in the end of your rope” shows how people don’t understand climbing systems.

Brad was simul-rappeling. This comes at great risk; like free soloing. Brad did both. Both are fast, both are dangerous. I did not personally know Brad, from what I hear he was a thoughtful climber, especially with another person on the rope.

When you simul-rappel you have 2 chances for 2 people to die. One person lets go two people die; take that times two. You can mitigate all but one problem with simul-rappeling by using techniques like tethering to your partner, and putting knots in the end of the rope. But this takes a fair amount of time; so much so that you might as well pre-rig rappel and take even the one consideration most do not even factor in out; rope damage. When you simul-rap you are putting twice as much force on half as much rope and the likelihood to damage the rope goes way up.

So why do knots in the end take so much time. On the first rappel, its easy, you have both ends. On the second rappel when you go to feed your rope through and pull it from the anchor above, that end flies by. So now you have to pull it back up to time the knot in it. This is the time suck…

Now lets look at risk. Brad soloed. A lot… He was aware of the risks. He seemed to like it. He seemed to like moving fast. Moving fast by todays standards in the mountains usually takes great risk. When you go out and climb, you get in 4-10 pitches and are probably like; yea that was a good day. Brad is probably like “yea 30 pitches… should we go get lunch before we do more?” So we have time to back up rappels, tie knots in the end, and use a rope; the way he liked to recreate, he didn’t.

It is sad, he is gone. I wish he or his partner would have noticed the ends coming up. However, let’s use this time to celebrate the ways he inspired us all and save the “always tie knots in the end of your rope” for the American Alpine Club Rappel clinics.

Photo by Brett Protasiewicz

Rappel Extensions

Rappel extensions started becoming in vogue around 2006 after a climbing accident in Wyoming where a friction hitch backup was likely tended or pushed down by the device causing the climber to lose control and eventually rappel off the end of the rope. The rappel extension helps eliminate this issue and sets us up for success in many other situations.

The rappel extension has morphed over the years as technology has improved. We now can consider using a dynamic extension like the Petzl Connect Adjust to extend our rappels and prevent high force shock loading when clipped to an anchor.

Petzl’s Connect Adjust

The double shoulder length sling is still a great option for extending a rappel and using nylon can allow for a larger margin of error. Most climbers now only carry UHMWPE (Ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene) so basketing the sling is a good option and we should stay away from girth hitches with this material. Here are a few configurations with the sling.

double shoulder length sling rappel extension

I do still use a locker draw for extensions at times. Here is a video that I made about the locker draw and some of its uses in 2012.