Maximum Number of Pieces for a Trad Anchor?

In response to this thread asking about the minimum, what is the maximum number of pieces you have placed in an anchor. Pictures welcome.

For me it was 6. I was run out, off route, 70m up, fighting rope drag. Sticking pro in virgin alpine rock. I knew the flakes I was placing gear in were all at least somewhat suspect. I placed pretty much everything I had left on my harness in as many different independent features as I could.

I built this unessasary monstrosity once out at red rocks once, as I had lots of cams and there were so many yummy pockets!  Amusingly enough it made my partner nervous as she realized for the first time what climbing up on a trad anchor meant.

Nick B wrote: I built this unessasary monstrosity once out at red rocks once, as I had lots of cams and there were so many yummy pockets!  Amusingly enough it made my partner nervous as she realized for the first time what climbing up on a trad anchor meant.

that thing would make me nervous too.

Nick B wrote: I built this unessasary monstrosity once out at red rocks once, as I had lots of cams and there were so many yummy pockets!  Amusingly enough it made my partner nervous as she realized for the first time what climbing up on a trad anchor meant.

Looks like the highest piece is holding all of the weight

Nick B wrote: I built this unessasary monstrosity once out at red rocks once, as I had lots of cams and there were so many yummy pockets!  Amusingly enough it made my partner nervous as she realized for the first time what climbing up on a trad anchor meant.

This would make me nervous - one piece is holding all the weight and it does not look bomber in a shallow pocket. If that piece fails, it would shock load another piece...

hmm, i was just thinking, "well at least all the weight is on the best piece..."

I can't see all the pieces, but I don't see any piece I'd call "bomber".

Nick B wrote: I built this unessasary monstrosity once out at red rocks once, as I had lots of cams and there were so many yummy pockets!  Amusingly enough it made my partner nervous as she realized for the first time what climbing up on a trad anchor meant.

Whatever this is, it looks pissed.

Lol I get why the photo would make people nervous but the anchor is not under direction of pull load and all the cams but one of those #2s were plenty strong (the most visible #2 was questionable).  The photo doesn't make it clear that most the cams are in deeper parallel recesses of the shallower pockets and are transmitting force to the wall, not the lips.  

I guess calling it an unecessary monstrosity was unfair as the situation did call for backups and I did put them in as my options made me a bit nervous, but the end result was overbuilt for an anchor only going to see top belaying forces of a single climber on a 5.7. 

either 4 or 5 pieces. If my pieces are so crappy that I want more than 3 or 4 then the entire anchor is probably a piece of crap and I'm bailing rather than climbing on it. You can turn 2 or 3 solid pieces into a super bomber anchor but if you're pieces are crappy then you can't really make an anchor that's anything but crap.

^Just out of curiosity, how will you bail from an anchor that you are unwilling to weight or climb above?

Traditional Belgian clusterfuck belay

John Wilder wrote: I've built a couple of 6 piece anchors- mostly because I was scared out of my mind and just kept plugging gear into the wall until I calmed down.

ha ha, if you aren't doing this at least once a month you aren't really climbing ....  :)

michalm wrote: ^Just out of curiosity, how will you bail from an anchor that you are unwilling to weight or climb above?

Traditional Belgian clusterfuck belay

From patagonia.typepad.com/thecl…

I never said I was unwilling to weight it. Climbing above it and potentially risking a high factor fall onto it is very different from bailing and rapping off of it as smoothly and bounce-free as possible. I have pretty different standards for anchors I'm willing to bail off of and anchors I'm willing to climb above. 

On my first multipitch I built every anchor out of 6 pieces per the instruction of my climbing partner. He knew it was my first multi and didn't yet trust that I'd do it right. Realistically I never use more than 4 pieces and usually 3.