Matterhorn Belay Station

Hi guys,

Just saw this video of a climb on the North Face of the Matterhorn, and i captured a photo of the guides belay station. I know speed was probably of the essence and you need to set up your stations quick and easy, but at first glace is there not many things technically wrong with this setup?

Thanks for you 2 cents! 

Colin

What do YOU see wrong with the setup?

apoet wrote: What do YOU see wrong with the setup?

Just look closely at the belay device.

Yer gonna die.

Temp is obviously below 52 degrees.  The guide should have called it first thing.

That belay device setup looks like it belongs on justbombergear

That keeper cable on the belay device should be good for at least 50 pounds of force. So as long as the belayed climber weighs under that...

He is trying to use the ATC in guide mode but failed to hang the ATC from the guide hole.  Basically, the followers are unbelayed.

It should resemble this. https://www.mountainproject.com/photo/105873259

Also if he just hung the ATC from the guide hole the ropes would be inserted into the device upside down and the followers would still not be belayed.  Additionally, it looks like his anchor might suck too.  That is  a little harder to tell.
 

apoet wrote: What do YOU see wrong with the setup?

I see wrong (of at least not ideal):

Carabiner on carabiner 
no redundancy in single anchor cord or piton if thats what it is in the rock
girth hitch is a bad knot for that kind of possible shock to the system
belay device not being used properly and on wire
i might be picky though 

Jim Titt wrote:

Just look closely at the belay device.

Bomber....:P

Other than the belay device, my advice to the OP is that he never get into Alpine because he'll never get off the ground wanking about gear like that.

Harumpfster Boondoggle wrote:

Bomber....:P

Other than the belay device, my advice to the OP is that he never get into Alpine because he'll never get off the ground wanking about gear like that.

Having been (albeit briefly) on the Matterhorn NF I'd say the belay is normal enough, he is on his ice tools as well. The belay device setup though........

Jim Titt wrote:

Having been (albeit briefly) on the Matterhorn NF I'd say the belay is normal enough, he is on his ice tools as well. The belay device setup though........

Exactly. NF Matterhorn is real deal Alpine and that anchor is better than many I bet in the Alps that are regularly guided. Its not a place to be wanking with AMGA cordellette woofuckery and wasting what can be vital minutes before the storm/afternoon rockfall with SERENE voodoo.

Harumpfster Boondoggle wrote:

Bomber....:P

Other than the belay device, my advice to the OP is that he never get into Alpine because he'll never get off the ground wanking about gear like that.

Just seeing if i can identify issues with setups and get feedback from you guys to see if im looking at things correctly, thats the purpose of the question 

climber pat wrote: He is trying to use the ATC in guide mode but failed to hang the ATC from the guide hole.  Basically, the followers are unbelayed.

It should resemble this. https://www.mountainproject.com/photo/105873259

is the dynema on this autoblock to lift it to lower? 

North Col wrote:

is the dynema on this autoblock to lift it to lower? 

Yes.

Yeah I like this anchor a lot better than that one

The biner on biner action is fine because they're both lockers. What you don't want is 2 non lockers clipped together and unattended as if they twist they can come unclipped. The girth hitch isn't really that bad, especially for the alpine, although that cord looks a tad bit thin. Is that other piece an inline clove? I can't really tell exactly what's going on.

eli poss wrote: Yeah I like this anchor a lot better than that one.

So far we're not talking about sport anchors in this thread!

North Col wrote:

Just seeing if i can identify issues with setups and get feedback from you guys to see if im looking at things correctly, thats the purpose of the question 

Yes and seeing the wrong belay setup is very good.

All the rest of it is perfectly fine for a route that must be climbed as fast as possible due to notorious rockfall. Its the sort of route that no one wants to take the time to rig properly with fixed anchors because they don't want to die taking the time. So in that sense its not worth the effort to quibble because no one would be doing it "better" in that situation and on that route unless they found a faster way.

Auden Alsop wrote:

Biner on biner really isn’t an issue at all, the problems come when chaining more than 3 together, which can cause unclipping. This anchor is wack though, he hasn’t used the cord to do any equalization which wouldn’t be a big deal except the anchor is two pins that probably have been there a while and may be suspect, hard to tell though. The belay device thing is ridiculous. This was a guided party?

The anchor's fine, its the belay device that's the real issue here.

Jaren Watson wrote: Depending on the terrain and the climber, there might not be anything wrong at all.
Or there might be many problems.

The belay device issue seems like it would be wrong in any terrain.