Rappelling or lowering off?

[dipsi]

That's neat. I like to rap if I have rock under my feet. I hate air..........I spin and scream like a girl! Then Jesse comes out of nowhere and catches me!

[marathonmedic]

This is the real problem. Not lowering. Lazy climbers or groups that have one leader/cleaner, who leads the route, then cleans the anchors so everyone can TR while they go to the next route. That is what causes the most wear, and the main reason anchor hardware need to be replaced.

I think you see it more on easier routes for the same reason - someone sets it up for their beginner friends, and goes on to other routes. The other reason you don't see it so much on steeper routes is that, without draws for directionals, it is really hard for someone to TR very much. But on 11's that are not as steep (king me?), you still see the TR wear.

Wes

I know some people will continue doing this just so they don't have to climb the same route extra times or try to teach a gumby how to clean, both of which can be a problem when it starts to get dark on you or the weather turns sour. A lot of these heavily trafficked routes have chain anchors instead of just rings or links. If you insist on pre-cleaning the anchors on a route that is going to see a lot of traffic, try this next time.

Clean the anchors any way you please and run the rope through the lowest link on the chains (if you insist). But before you weight the rope and lower, take two biners off your draws and put one on an upper link of the chains and run the rope through them as well. (Now the rope goes belayer, bottom-right link, biner on upper-right link, biner on upper-left link, bottom-left link, climber.) Lower down. Now the weight of the climber is on the biners, not the chain directly.

You have a little more rope drag and there will still be erosion of those links from the rope, but not nearly as much as if the rope rubbed directly against the chains. Now all the last gumby has to do is unclip those two biners and they're ready to lower without ever having to untie or anything crazy. I think I saw a diagram of this in a Climbing magazine a while back for the visual learners out there.

[marathonmedic]

You can stay on belay while you clean whether you're leading or TRing. The trick is to pull the slack through the draws after you go direct instead of pulling slack from you're belayer's side which is normally easier and a little less cramped.

1. Climb.
2. Clip the anchors directly.
3. Pull up several feet of rope on your side of the anchors, not the belayer's.
4. Tie a bight and clip it to a load-bearing part of your harness, not a gear loop! (Now you've effectively tied into the rope twice on your side of the anchors and the draws are still clipped between the belayer and your knots.)
5. Untie, thread, retie.
6. Remove draws and release bight of rope.
7. Back on belay. Lower down.

[Rizzo]

...If you insist on pre-cleaning the anchors on a route that is going to see a lot of traffic, try this next time.

Clean the anchors any way you please and run the rope through the lowest link on the chains (if you insist). But before you weight the rope and lower, take two biners off your draws and put one on an upper link of the chains and run the rope through them as well. (Now the rope goes belayer, bottom-right link, biner on upper-right link, biner on upper-left link, bottom-left link, climber.) Lower down. Now the weight of the climber is on the biners, not the chain directly.

You have a little more rope drag and there will still be erosion of those links from the rope, but not nearly as much as if the rope rubbed directly against the chains. Now all the last gumby has to do is unclip those two biners and they're ready to lower without ever having to untie or anything crazy. I think I saw a diagram of this in a Climbing magazine a while back for the visual learners out there.

clever and simple

[marathonmedic]

Thanks. I just wish I could claim the idea as my own.

[alien2]

clever and simple

You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink.

[busty]

I dropped the rope once when setting up to rap. Fortunately it was clipped to my harness. It still gave me a nice adrenaline rush!

HA! I've done that too! I screamed and my heart flip/flopped.

Me three. Your heart just sinks until you realize you have the rope clipped onto something.

[ynot]

What a good argument.Will it go 12 pages?

[Alan Evil]

So far it seems everyone is right. Not sure who is arguing with whom. Someone correct me if I'm wrong:
1. Rapping instead of lowering is slightly less stressful on the anchors unless the rope is threaded through a chain link in which case it's all about preference.
2. TRing with the rope through the anchors is a shitty thing to do.
3. It is possible to clean anchors without coming off belay (cool trick, that, and so frikkin' simple).

One thing I'm not sure I get is what you would do if your partner is lowering you with a grisgris and gets knocked out by a rock. Do you just hang there and squeal like a girl for them to wake up? If the route isn't overhanging to you upclimb a little to release the grisgris and then try to downclimb (yikes)?

And as far as base jumping goes, check out last month's eBaum.com videos. A guy jumps off a dam and ends up sliding down it, all filmed from his helmet cam. His screaming after the impact with the ground is one of the worst sounds I've ever heard.

[marathonmedic]

That's a happy thought. I'll check it when I get to some highspeed internet.

I'm wondering about these sport routes. Does anybody know of any sport routes that have rap anchors?