This is an email I sent to someone requesting information on speed climbing. ...Here are my tips for moving quickly on two-person climbs which are predominantly free (may
be a bit of aid here and there).
Please note I wrote this quickly and it is not meant to be an exhaustive treatment of the subject: just some notes. Also please note that if you use these techniques and get maimed, well, that would be a drag, but it would not my responsibility; use this
information at your own risk!
To : Walt
Cc :
Attchmnt:
Subject : Re: Manuscript for Book
----- Message Text -----
Walt, Well, I have yet to put the book online, it's a pretty big project
to do just at the moment, end of semester and all...but I will see what I
can do.
Speed Climbing: I think you are probably referring to my Red Rocks trip:
here is what I know for speed in all terrain (this is not from my book but
is just off the top of my head now so may be disoprganized, but you'll get
the drift). I wil put all this on my web page I think...
1. The Rope:
In alpine and many rock routes, a rope longer than the standard is now
'standard'. For alpine, i use a 100-meter rope (9mm). This can be
(a) led out for 100-meter leads on easy terrain (e.g. 5.5 pitches,
scrambles at the bottom and top of routes, easy snow slopes etc), (b)
doubled for difficult / dangerous pitches (giving you the security of two
ropes, which are less likely to be chopped in a fall or by falling debris than one rope); this doesn't even require
learning double rope technique: you can just clip both lines through each
biener (twin rope technique), but you are still far safer than with a single line...(c) the rope
can be used for full-length raps with NO KNOT, which has been the death of
several well-known alpinists as they went up to retrieve snagged lines.
SO, a rope of more than 50m is really helpful; i use the 100m rope on most
rock climbs too, nowadays...
2. Simul-Climbing.
This requires finding a good partner whom you trust
implicitly; if either of you fall, it is going to be a DISASTER (even
though you are placing pro).. Basically, the leader takes off, placing
gear...the second follows, perhaps with only 20m of rope between them (the
second carries the rest of the rope coiled on chest and then clipped to
harness as you would on glacier travel; see Andy Selters' book on Glacier
Travel and Crevasse Rescue- you definitely should know this book if you
are getting into alpine climbing). The second encounters a piece that the
leader placed. He yells up, "GEAR"; the leader stops for a second, the
second removes the gear, then they both continue up, climbing at the same
time. At any time, you should have say three pieces between the two
climbers, or at least one bomber piece NO MATTER HOW GOOD YOU ARE AND HOW
EASY THE TERRAIN, you never know when you might get hit by a rock, or have
a freak muscke-spasm or something; just always place gear no matter how
easy the terrain is...SO simul-climbing can get rid of pitches really,
really quickly, but is for you and someone you know very well, so you can
pace yourselves properly.
3. Belays:
I speed these up by (a) carrying a lot of cams, which I plug
in 3 or 4, then equalize with the lead rope in clove hitches (see John
Longs' book 'Climbing Anchors'; this is a must if you are going to set up
anything other than bolted anchors)...(b) once I'm at the belay stance and
clipped in, I yell down OFF BELAY (of course); but I am very careful to do
this immediately and not wast time by messing about with the rigging etc:
once I reach the ledge or whatever, i plug in my friends, clip off to them
with clove hitches from my lead rope (slings are a bother and ther's
almost alwyas enough rope for a belay setup) and yell down OFF BELAY and
start bringing up my partner. This MUST be based on a good appreciation
for how to place cams; I like them because they are generally fast, but of
course you may find times when you can slot three stoppers as quickly as
you can cams: just know how to place gear quickly, solidly, and how to
equalize your anchors, and then call for the next guy to come up.
4. Second Man:
if there's a lot of slack rope at the bottom (e.g. on a
short pitch), it is often faster for the second guy to whip the rope into
a coil on his chest and shoulder rather than for the first guy to make th
CLASSIC slow error of setting up the belay, preparing the rope through the
belay device, and then having to haul up all the rope through the belay
device (he could take apart the rope from the device and hand-crank the
slack rope up, but I find it faster for the second to just bring up the
rope).SO Second guy coils the rope as for glacier travel, and then heads
up.
5. Hauling / Baggage / Etc.
: Take the minimum you need to survive (of
course). All you have to do is survive; comfort, , well you can
have that at home...Leave a big food prize in camp or the car for your
return and let this motivate you. As for a haulbag or a pack that needs
to be hauled up; 1. carry a small plastic pulley (the kind for crevasse
rescue; they are cheap and weightless and I never do an alpine climb w/out
them); this pulley you can used to haul up the bag, though you don't need
a wall-type (heavy and expensive) pulley. Once the second is jugging (see
below), you start hauling up the bag. The rope goes from the bag throught
he pulley to your hand (it is alos of course tioed off). You bring yp
your foot, step on a loop of rope between your hand and the pulley, and
push down; you are using your larger leg muscle to push down the rope
(held tight in your hand but running free through the pulley) which is
bringing up the bag. If you want a break, loop the rope around your foot
a few times and just stand on it (if you are on gritty rock or are wearing
crampons, of course, be careful). SO this is a fast way to haul yp a
bastard of a pack; not too heavy, but heavier than the second can quickly
jug with, and since he is jugging you must be working as well: always be
ACTIVELY WORKING TOWARDS GETTING TO THE SUMMIT, be it in re-racking gear
in an organized fashion, hauling the pack, or just thinking out the next
pitches rather than just being braindead at the belay (a habit of mine),
you must be organized and efficient when going for speed.
6. The Rack:
Skip all the fancy nifty items and carry what you know best
how to use; learning how to throw in a stopper and assess how good it is,
QUICKLY, is critical, and not as easy as it sounds; it takes time, and is
worth a lot of practice. If you are moving for speed, you must be
extra-careful! Anyway, the rack...I basically carry, for rock routes,
friends and stoppers. On alpine routes I will maybe carry three or 4 friends, three or 4 pins of various types, some screws. etc. The idea is to be versatile, ready to protect any terrain. I always carry two Leeper Cam-Hooks; these you can slot into a
crack and rest or make an aid move. This brings up the next point:
7. Ethics;
Up to you of course, but for speed, and certainly in alpine climbing, I really have no ethic except to get home alive. I mean this in the point of 'will I aid this move or not'? Well, you bet I will, it is my objective to (1) surviv
e (2) finish the ascent (3) do it in style. I do actually care, on some climbs, and in cragging I have an ironclad ethic of never dogging a route etc: if I cannot lead it from the ground up placing my own gear, with no falls, on the first try, I'm not i
nterested and do not consider that I did the route; this attitude protects me from getting complacent and over-confident: if I say I can climb 5.9, i mean that I will not fail you, I will lead 5.9 without falling, period. This is of course critical in
alpine climbs, where, as Jim bridwell said, FALLING IS OUT. No truer words...SO the point on ethics being that (a) at the crags, never fool yourself, and (b) on the mountain, do what you need to SURVIVE and let the armchair critics blow off...
8. Fitness:
Stay in shape. If you smoke or drink, fine, but punish yourself with merciless workouts as well. You and your partner need to be at the same level of fitness and motivation to make a good speed ascent.
9. Aiding:
Use the leapfrog method, where you place a piece (A), stand on it, place another (B), stand on it (this takes your weight off of A), reach down and remove piece A, then place A above B, and so on (this is easiest on parallel cracks
wehre you can use two friends and just 'crack-jumar' to go up). You must remember to leave good bomber pieces in every 10 feet or so. Still, remember that in relatively easy aid, the higher you go, the safer you are; easy aid (up to A2) leaves good piec
es and so the further up you go the safer you are with a string of bomber pieces below you.
10. Jumaring:
some routes you may want the second to jug the pitches rather than climb them (normall, aid pitches you want to jug, but on alpine it is often best to just reclimb the pitch). If you will jug, will you use a fullsize jumar? THes
e are heavy, and if you plan to jug only one or two pitches on the route, I'd say spend the cash for the new Petzl ROPEMAN; this is basically a microjumar, weighs little and a pair is really worth it (plus, the ropeman or some other ascender is essential
for the two-person alpine team; with two climbers, you cannot reasonably expect to rescue your partner from a crevasse fall without a good pulley system; see Andy Selters' book again). If you will jug, practice at home so yhou know precisely what lenght
slings you need, also when you practice, use the slings you'd normally take on the route, not specialized aiders, which are heavy. Just jury-rig a couple of aiders from your normal slings. Of course, if you plan on extended aid sessions, carry regular
aiders.
11. Route Selection.
Pick routes that are well within your capability. Again, those who want to give you flack for doing it, well, they can go to hell, they should be climbing, not giving you flack. A few years back I climbed the Royal Arches in Yosemite with my partner Chiu, and it was a blast, awesome. At the end of the day, back at camp we got sort of ragged on by these 'hardmen'; yeah, well they were sitting around all day talking about some climb -- I was
actually climbing (not to mention that Chiu and I had also done a lot of alpine stuff before Yosemite, and been in storms, without food for two days, nearly avalanched, etc...I felt a bit indignant !) So, screw 'em. Pick, especially for speed, routes t
hat you feel are going to be technically feasible and where the crux will not be techincal but scheduling: can you finish before it gets dark/cold/ whatever.
12. Team Size:
Two is the only good number for moving quickly on predominantly free routes. On extended aid routes three may be good, as two can climb while one cleans the previous pitch, but this needs an extra rack (for the two climbers). S
O, for 99% of all climbs, it should be just two compatible climbers.
13. There is no 13:
I guess that's it. One thing to consider, speed is definitely important on some routes, and a saftey factor in the mountains, but on some climbs it will be more fun to bivvy than to go racing like mad. I remember little of
Epinephrine because we were so mechanical about it, just working like crazy to get up (we did it and had half the day left)....that felt good, and is something to remember, but it might have been nice to bivvy on the route. I
find I like longer routes more than anything, routes taking more than a day, where I have to bivvy;;;that is, for me, adventure, which is basically what I'm really after. Speed is about organization, efficiency, fitness and motivation. Start out on eas
y routes, see how fast you can go, NEVER FALL, and make your way carefully towards your goals.
Well, guess that's it (a lot more than the few tips I thought I'd just write out!). If you have any questions, let me know.
Cameron
Cameron's Climbing Page