Racking up before the approach

I have always racked everything I need for the first pitch before I start the approach, regardless of length. Was wondering if other people do this or if having a pack to throw it in is more comfortable? If you carry it in the pack what is your pack of choice? (Yes I know many threads on this)

Possible Pros:

• Ready to climb as soon as you get there
• Allows you to bring a smaller pack if you will be climbing with it 

Possible Cons:

• Looking like a dweeb
• Obnoxiously loud while hiking
• Less comfortable?

K Lwrote:

I have always racked everything I need for the first pitch before I start the approach, regardless of length. 

something tells me your "approaches" may be very short.

try racking up at the car and hiking 6 miles...

curt86irocwrote:

something tells me your "approaches" may be very short.

try racking up at the car and hiking 6 miles...

Yeah, two hours through spiky shit will soon change one's ideas.

Even racking up at Lunch Rock (Tahquitz) and traversing the scree to a given route destroys my hips. I'll take a bag.

Entirely objective dependent. I'm not slogging through the alpine with a rack and harness on. 

I like racking on slings for shorter approaches like The Black Canyon/Eldo. I prefer it to hiking with weight on my hips. 

Sport climbing out of the campsite at Holcomb Valley? Sure- rack up your 8 draws.  

Questing out and bushwhacking toward some obscure mixed line at Corte Madera? Good luck ever getting through the scrub oak before you die. 

Normalize putting on your harness in the parking lot

The meme 4.0 thread has decreed an answer:

There’s a few places in Squamish where it makes total sense. The approaches are very short, most climbs don’t require a backpack, and on many the descent doesn’t bring you back to where you started. 

An added bonus is that you can beat people to the base and start ahead of them. 

Racking up is a smarter approach when there is a walk off involved and it puts you closer to the parking lot than the base.

I'll generally rack up at the car if my descent doesn't bring me past the base of the climb. Otherwise everything goes in a backpack.

Jake Joneswrote:

The meme 4.0 thread has decreed an answer:

Well if a MEME said it...

I've hardly ever found a reason to do this: the exception is routes with a walkoff back to the car instead of the base, where I don't want to bring a pack for whatever reason. Some easier climbs on Cannon come to mind. Every other situation I can think of benefits from a pack that can carry your shit. Even roadside cragging - so much easier to just bring all the comforts up the 2-minute approach. Maybe rack up at the car if you're just trying to hit one route in particular after work?

the Black canyon is made for the gear up at the car style, other than that just don't, you will regret it...

I do it for classic routes in Red Rock. You can't just wake up earlier since the gate opens at 6. But if I get to the base at the same time as someone who has all their gear in their bag not attached to their harness, I can be done with the first pitch before they've racked up. 

PatMaswrote:

I do it for classic routes in Red Rock. You can't just wake up earlier since the gate opens at 6. But if I get to the base at the same time as someone who has all their gear in their bag not attached to their harness, I can be done with the first pitch before they've racked up. 

really? that's a long time to hike with gear to the classics.

I always rack up at the car and I carry my water bottle up front in my undies.

PatMaswrote:

I do it for classic routes in Red Rock. You can't just wake up earlier since the gate opens at 6. But if I get to the base at the same time as someone who has all their gear in their bag not attached to their harness, I can be done with the first pitch before they've racked up. 

Do you also drive in already racked up? Because otherwise you're not actually accomplishing anything.

How is it that not a single person has mentioned - “rack up, get all set, take harness off, carefully slide into pack, hike to base, pull harness out, put on, start climbing.”

Edit: fwiw, this can actually be done the night before... total pro move to make your morning a bit less stressful *and* give you time for a second number two :)

Its sort gear at the parking lot, rack up, and hike in vs have gear already sorted, in pack, drive up and hike in.

One will beat the crowd, and its not the technique the crowd is already using.

Bonus points if you have already pooped long before you got to the parking lot, and you were not foolish enough to have that coffee requiring a second poop.

I rack for the approach unless I'm walking multiple miles. Maybe I've just never had that dream pack, but I find weight on my harness is more comfortable than weight in a pack. I personally hate climbing with weight on my back and have all my needs for the day racked up, so a bag is just more weight and something I have to get at the end of the day. If there's a lot of vegetation, a pack can be nice. But like jungle amounts. In the NW and CA I've rarely had a problem having stuff hanging on my hips.

Either way, I'm not gonna shit on people who prefer it one way or the other. They're both valid options and neither one makes you less legit or cool.