splitter climbing gear

Climbing Anchors Reviewed And Tested

Based on SRENE (Solid, Redundant, Equalized, and No Extension) or ERNEST (Equalized, Redundant, No Extension, Solid, and Timely) standards a cordelette may not be the best to use when rigging anchors in a vertical crack. When using a cordelette in a vertical crack, equalization is severely losing out of the SRENE or ERNEST standards; this is because the bottom piece will be holding more than 50% of the load (see the picture to the right). A cordelette really only equalizes the pieces in an anchor for 1 direction of pull and only if the legs of the cordelette are of equal length. (i.e. - in a horizontal crack). For these reasons, Splitter Climbing Gear recommends that climbers DO NOT use the cordelette method of building an anchor. Since the cordelette equalizes  especially poorly in a vertical crack, Splitter Gear recommends using one of the methods described below for anchor rigs in a vertical crack.   

Every climbing anchor is extremely dependent on the situation in which it is being used. There are several different ways to build a safe climbing anchor and deciding which one to use is a judgement call that the leader must make. Some anchors will be better suited than others depending on the situation. We will review some of the basic methods to build anchors and explain the pros and cons of each system.

One important thing to note about all climbing anchors is that your primary tie in to the anchor should be with a  short piece of the climbing rope. Clipping in with the climbing rope allows a more dynamic system, rather than clipping into the anchor with a static connection (i.e. - a daisy chain or a piece of high-tensile cord or sling). Splitter Climbing Gear recommends against tying into the anchor with anything, including a daisy chain or a sling, except for the climbing rope.

Also, it’s very important to place a piece of gear as soon as a climber leaves the belay. This will (assuming the gear is solid) avoid a factor 2 fall on the anchors. There is still some debate as to whether or not clipping a piece in the anchor is a viable option to avoid a factor 2. This is because when you clip a piece in your anchor, the pulley effect causes the force on the anchor to increase by 60 to 70 percent, based on Craig Luebben’s book: Rock Climbing Anchors: A Comprehensive Guide.

1. •Should I clip the high point in my anchor to avoid a factor 2 fall when multi-pitch climbing?
   

2. •Clipping the high point in your anchor is still an interesting topic of debate. In Rock & Ice Issue 164 pg. 86-87 they answer this question saying to clip the anchor as your first piece of pro off of the belay. They point out to clip it with a nylon sling instead of a dyneema or spectra sling. Why? Read our article on nylon vs. spectra slings. The reasoning is that a factor 2 fall is much worse than increasing the force of the fall on the anchor because of the pulley affect. In general, you will probably want to clip the high point in your anchor because this will decrease the fall factor the most until the leader sets more pro as he continues to climb. Don’t clip the high point in your anchor if it’s a marginal piece of gear. Instead, clip one of the more bomber pieces of gear. Even if you clip the anchor as the first piece of pro off the belay, you should still try to place a piece of gear soon after you leave the belay to get a piece that’s independent of the belay anchor. As you climb through the pitch, place gear early and often.

Anytime the direction of pull won’t be straight up or down (or if the direction of pull might be changing direction) and you can’t rig a cordelette with equal length legs, then a Sliding X may be a viable option. You may also want to use the Sliding X if you have less than bomber placements. If you use a cordelette when the placements are poor, then because the cordelette does not equalize the forces, you risk blowing out the whole anchor. Whereas, if you are to use a Sliding X in this situation, then the anchor might hold, because the force on each piece could be reduced enough (through the pure equalization of the Sliding X) that your anchor will hold. If you are worried about extension in your Sliding X, then you can simply add overhand limiting knots to each leg of the Sliding X. The possibility of your anchor extending seems to send most climbers running for their mommy’s. However, as is stated in the John Long Book: Climbing Anchors: Second Edition, true shock loading of an anchor system cannot happen if you are tied into the anchor with your dynamic climbing rope. (Think about it like a load limiter (a screamer), if the force is great enough, then the screamer deploys. But when the screamer is fully deployed, you don’t shock load your piece because of your dynamic climbing rope.) If you are tied into your anchor with a daisy chain or any other static connection, then the forces on your anchor can increase drastically, and true shock loading can occur. Also with the Sliding X, it’s important to minimize load multiplication because of an angle formed by the Sliding X that is too large. If the angle is approximately 45 degrees or more, then use longer slings to decrease the angle. An angle of about 20 degrees is optimal. Lastly, when using a Sliding X, putting a twist in the middle loop is absolutely essential. If you incorrectly put a loop in your Sliding X, then if one anchor blows, the other anchor won’t catch you. 

Based on the findings in the John Long book, and based on testing that is summarized in his book (with test results featured in the book), the equalette (or equalizer) is “worth consideration as (a) primary rigging tool”. The equalette can easily be constructed from a shoulder-length or double-length sling or even from a 20 foot loop of 7mm nylon cord. If you use the 20 foot loop of cord, then you can even use the equalette to easily rig an anchor with 3 or even 4 pieces. Whereas, with the cordelette, a 4 piece anchor starts to get tricky.

To tie an equalette with a sling, simply tie two overhand limiting knots in the sling, one on each side of the center of the sling. The limiting knots should be several inches from the center to allow equalization. Clip each end of the sling to your pro, and clip yourself into the master point of the anchor with 2 locking carabiners, one ‘biner on each strand of the master point (as shown above). If you only have one locking ‘biner to attach yourself to the master point, then put a twist into one of the strands of the master point, and connect yourself as you would to a Sliding X. If your sling is long enough, then you can double it up (or just use 2 slings and treat them as one). Tying the equalette this way yields a more redundant anchor with a redundant tie-in point. See the excerpt from page 172 of John Long’s book on the right.

You can tie an equalette with a 20 foot loop of cord the same way you would tie it with a sling. Double up the loop of cord to make a more redundant system. You can also use your 20 foot loop of cord to rig an equalette with 3 or even 4 pieces of gear. For example, you can clip the 2 left-most pieces with the left strand of the equalette. Each piece gets tied to the left strand of the equalette with a clove hitch. Do the same for the 2 right-most pieces of gear and the right strand of the equalette. Using this method, you can quickly and easily rig an anchor with 4 pieces of gear.

With every anchor system, there are some limitations. Though in comparison to other anchor rigs, the equalette has few limitations. There are essentially 2 limitations outlined in the John Long book. First, is that tying several clove hitches in your equalette can cause it to kink up. The second draw back is if you use an equalette with 3 or 4 pieces of gear, then the equalization at the limiting knot of the side with more than one piece of gear is less than the almost perfect equalization achieved at the master point.

There is a Rock & Ice article on equalizing anchors (Issue 135 pg. 70-75), but since the introduction of John Long’s new anchor book and Craig Luebben’s anchor book, this Rock & Ice article is outdated.

John Long and Craig Luebben have not yet endorsed the opinions described here by Splitter Climbing Gear.