We all want to get better at climbing. But getting better is not necessarily about crushing harder grades (we will all reach a plateau sometime, and then decline with age), it is about being a better climber, which means consistently using best-practices.
Here are the top 10 best practices when climbing and why:
1. C-RAP at the top – Acronyms make everything more memorable, don’t they? C-RAP stands for Clean & RAP. Do this instead of lowering off the permanent anchors.
2. Knots at BOTH ends – You know this one but why are there so many people who still don’t do it? This does not just mean tie knots at the end of the rope when rappelling. It means ALWAYS tie off the ends of your rope, even when belaying. When belaying tying off the “free” end of the rope will prevent the rope from passing all the way through the belay device and dropping the climber. Even Alex Honold sustained compression fracture in two vertebrae when he was “dropped” in this way.
3. Back that thing up – Use a back-up knot when rappelling.
4. Talk to me baby (but not too much) - (1) Use good, clear, minimal, and consistent communication. Go over the commands you use when climbing with someone new (i.e. Do you prefer "take" or "tension" or "up-rope?") and avoid full-on conversations when climbing. (2) Go a step further and use best-practice commands as defined by the American Alpine Association.
5. Keep them “On” - Never take a person off belay unless you are 100% sure they told you “Off Belay.” When multi-pitch climbing it can be particularly challenging to hear commands. Some people use a rope tugging signal system, but even that can be difficult to have confidence. Usually we use several cues – yelling the command, 3 tugs (off be-lay), and I if I’m still unsure, I wait until the rope is being pulled up quickly and I can’t keep up.
6. Give good belay – Use the PBUS (Pull, Brake, Under, Slide) with all devices (including a GriGri – don’t get lazy and let your hand come off the rope!). Even better - always use a brake-assisted device such as a MegaJul or GriGri AND PBUS.
7. Check, check, 1, 2, 3 - Check and re-check each other.
8. Climb clean (party later) - Don’t climb drunk, stoned, or under the influence.
HERE’S WHY: Does this really need explanation? If you do this, you can easily convince yourself that being under the influence “helps” because it does x, y, z (relaxes you, makes you more focused, fill in the blank…). This is your brain fooling you because it likes the drug. Research shows otherwise. Even low levels of alcohol impair thinking and motor function. Although studies show alcohol is worse than pot on many cognitive, reaction, and thinking-ability levels, pot still has a deleterious effect – it slows thinking and reaction time down. Not really what you want to happen when you are in a risky situation like climbing. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15276919; http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/24/politics/marijuana-study-drivers-impact/ ; http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/24/politics/marijuana-study-drivers-impact/ )
9. Get SERENE, anchor in peace man... – This means build SERENE anchors. In many sport climbing scenarios using two draws at the anchor is acceptable, but they still need to meet the SERENE standard. Equalization can be difficult to achieve with a quick-draw anchor set-up. Here is what SERENE stands for:
It can be challenging to achieve each of these elements 100%, but it is worth a try.
NEVER USE THE AMERICAN DEATH TRIANGLE!
10. Habituate – Habituate these best practices. This means doing them every time all the time. Is the route you are about to rappel a short 30 feet? So what, still tie a knot in the end of your rope and use a back-up knot on the rappel - habituate.
We all may not become 5.13, or even 5.12, climbers, but we can all be a better climber by using best practices!
Here are the top 10 best practices when climbing and why:
1. C-RAP at the top – Acronyms make everything more memorable, don’t they? C-RAP stands for Clean & RAP. Do this instead of lowering off the permanent anchors.
- HERE’S WHY:
- Rappelling saves wear and tear on the anchors. It is expensive and time consuming to put up routes. Let’s be good stewards of the crag and take care of the permanent equipment.
- Rappelling saves wear and tear on the rope. Many anchors are bolts and plates. The plates have edges that can press sharply on the rope and wear the fibers down more quickly.
- Rappelling protects YOU! If you rappel then you are not reliant on another to put you back on belay when you have been taken off belay. Numerous severe accidents have occurred from miscommunication/misunderstanding during this critical time. Don’t risk it, rappel.
2. Knots at BOTH ends – You know this one but why are there so many people who still don’t do it? This does not just mean tie knots at the end of the rope when rappelling. It means ALWAYS tie off the ends of your rope, even when belaying. When belaying tying off the “free” end of the rope will prevent the rope from passing all the way through the belay device and dropping the climber. Even Alex Honold sustained compression fracture in two vertebrae when he was “dropped” in this way.
- HERE’S WHY: You just might misjudge the length of a climb. It happens more than you might think and there are several reasons this can happen: a) the midpoint of the rope is not clearly marked or you missed it (a bi-pattern rope helps mitigate this problem); b) The rope is shorter than you thought. You thought it was a 70m and it is really a 60m (what happened to Honold). Or part of it was cut off to remove a damaged section; c) The route is longer than expected – guide books may not list the length of a climb or make a mistake.
3. Back that thing up – Use a back-up knot when rappelling.
- HERE’S WHY: Shit happens. There is truth and wisdom in that phrase. Having a backup knot makes it easy to use both hands to disentangle the rats nest of rope that inevitably occurs when you toss it down or when the rope gets caught in a crack or tree (by the way, there are some handy ways to avoid these problems…). Or, it can save your ass if you are knocked unconscious by falling rock during a rappel.
4. Talk to me baby (but not too much) - (1) Use good, clear, minimal, and consistent communication. Go over the commands you use when climbing with someone new (i.e. Do you prefer "take" or "tension" or "up-rope?") and avoid full-on conversations when climbing. (2) Go a step further and use best-practice commands as defined by the American Alpine Association.
- HERE’S WHY: (1) You want your partner to know what to do when you tell him or her to do it. A misunderstanding can result in a potentially injurious mistake. Talking too much can be confusing or distracting to nearby climbers who are trying to hear their partner's commands. (2) The American Alpine Association's list of commands are clear and they do not sound similar to one another (with the exception of "on belay: and "off belay" which are said in a particular sequence). In addition, their commands are just that, commands, clearly telling the belayer what to do. A statement like "safe" is problematic because it sounds like "take", in addition, it does not provide a command. If you are secured in a Personal Anchor System (PAS) say "off belay," but ONLY if you want to be taken off belay. Otherwise don't say anything.
5. Keep them “On” - Never take a person off belay unless you are 100% sure they told you “Off Belay.” When multi-pitch climbing it can be particularly challenging to hear commands. Some people use a rope tugging signal system, but even that can be difficult to have confidence. Usually we use several cues – yelling the command, 3 tugs (off be-lay), and I if I’m still unsure, I wait until the rope is being pulled up quickly and I can’t keep up.
- HERE’S WHY: Unless the person above you is in a PAS or secured for a rappel, the belay is their ONLY lifeline. Taking someone off too soon or if there is ANY question is a death sentence.
6. Give good belay – Use the PBUS (Pull, Brake, Under, Slide) with all devices (including a GriGri – don’t get lazy and let your hand come off the rope!). Even better - always use a brake-assisted device such as a MegaJul or GriGri AND PBUS.
- HERE’S WHY: The old “hands-up” or “slip-slap-slide” method keeps the rope in an un-braked, open (parallel) position for a period of time. If a fall occurs when the rope is in an open position at minimum the belayer will get bad rope burn trying to stop a run-away rope. At worst, the fall becomes uncontrollable. The BEST best practice is to also use a brake-assisted device. I highly recommend the MegaJul (see review) because it is multi-purpose. It can be used for top-rope belaying, lead belaying, belaying in guide-mode on multi-pitch climbs, AND it can be used to rappel (with brake assist!). A brake-assisted device is the ultimate insurance policy for “shit happens.”
7. Check, check, 1, 2, 3 - Check and re-check each other.
- HERE’S WHY: We know mistakes happen with newer climbers, but they also happen A LOT with experienced climbers because we “have it down.” I have even rushed through checks and missed an error. So now I talk through (verbalize) each check and really pay attention.
8. Climb clean (party later) - Don’t climb drunk, stoned, or under the influence.
HERE’S WHY: Does this really need explanation? If you do this, you can easily convince yourself that being under the influence “helps” because it does x, y, z (relaxes you, makes you more focused, fill in the blank…). This is your brain fooling you because it likes the drug. Research shows otherwise. Even low levels of alcohol impair thinking and motor function. Although studies show alcohol is worse than pot on many cognitive, reaction, and thinking-ability levels, pot still has a deleterious effect – it slows thinking and reaction time down. Not really what you want to happen when you are in a risky situation like climbing. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15276919; http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/24/politics/marijuana-study-drivers-impact/ ; http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/24/politics/marijuana-study-drivers-impact/ )
9. Get SERENE, anchor in peace man... – This means build SERENE anchors. In many sport climbing scenarios using two draws at the anchor is acceptable, but they still need to meet the SERENE standard. Equalization can be difficult to achieve with a quick-draw anchor set-up. Here is what SERENE stands for:
- S = SOLID – Make sure the bolts or rock in which you are placing the anchor are/is solid.
- E = EQUALIZED – Equal pressure/pull/weight needs to be distributed across each of the anchor points (i.e. the two bolts in a sport anchor or 3 or more pieces of protection in a trad anchor). This can be difficult to achieve when using quickdraws and depends on the position of the bolts and the natural fall-line of the rope. If all of the rope is hanging on one quick-draw, the anchor is not equalized. There are different ways to equalize an anchor (which become increasingly complex in trad-climbing situations). A good quick anchor to use is the sliding-x (see the article and video on this anchor to learn more about how to create a SERENE anchor using the sliding-x).
- R = REDUNDANT – This means if some part of the anchor breaks, there is a back-up. In short – double up. Building an anchor (or rappelling) off one bolt is not redundant.
- E = EFFICIENT – This is most applicable in multi-pitch situations where saving time and physical resources, such as gear, matter.
- NE = NO EXTENSION – If one part of the anchor breaks you want to minimize additional shock loading by decreasing the amount of extension that occurs. Less extension means less shock loading.
It can be challenging to achieve each of these elements 100%, but it is worth a try.
NEVER USE THE AMERICAN DEATH TRIANGLE!
10. Habituate – Habituate these best practices. This means doing them every time all the time. Is the route you are about to rappel a short 30 feet? So what, still tie a knot in the end of your rope and use a back-up knot on the rappel - habituate.
- HERE’S WHY: Habituating best practices means that when you are tired, hungry, distracted by your recent break-up, get stuck in a thunderstorm or be-nighted, or what-ever bull-shit is thrown at you, you will be less likely to fuck-up. Taking 10-seconds or a few-minutes to implement a best-practice could save you months or years of physical therapy or rehab.
We all may not become 5.13, or even 5.12, climbers, but we can all be a better climber by using best practices!