How did Honnold+Caldwell do like 40 raps without leaving gear?
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I just watched "A Line Across the Sky" where Alex Honnold and Tommy Caldwell complete the Patagonian Traverse. |
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Don't they say their rope kept getting shorter and shorter because they were having to leave part of ithe for raps? Probably also fixed gear up there on a lot of it. It wasnt uncharted territory just had never been climbed all the way across at one time. Also I think they were probably rapping off rock threads and horns. Sketchy! Tommy and Alex ate bold! |
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Leaving a single stopper tapped in by an ice tool is a great rap anchor. |
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I've thrown the rope directly around horns when running low on tat a few times. If it's the right shape block you can whip it off instead of wearing sheath pulling. Just like a bollard |
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I believe much of that trip, they used established descent routes that would have bolted anchors for the most part. It was a FA, but only in the sense of that ridge, I believe the entire route has been climbed in sections. Either way. Great question, and I'm interested to learn the actual answer. Hope someone can give a definitive answer, instead of my conjecture. |
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-They wouldn't have needed to do more than a few rappels until after summiting Fitz Roy, about halfway through the entire climb. |
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The late Charlie Fowler told me of how he and his partner, Mike Munger, rapped the Super Caneletta on Fitzroy years ago. Charlie had something like 50' of 1" tubular webbing rapped around his neck. He would cut off a chunk, set up a rappel and head down. |
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blakeherrington wrote:-They wouldn't have needed to do more than a few rappels until after summiting Fitz Roy, about halfway through the entire climb. -They rapped a popular and standard ascent/descent route off Fitz Roy. Likely leaving no new gear and likely scavenging and cleaning some gear to re-purpose later. -For more adventurous or unestablished rapping (off Poincenot or St. Exupery) they would have left some tat or stoppers or cams, and probably encountered an occasional in-situ anchor.I bet Tommy rapped and Alex tossed the rope and free solo down climbed....like a bossssssss... |
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Eric Thompson wrote: I bet Tommy rapped and Alex tossed the rope and free solo down climbed....like a bossssssss...Tommy rapped off Alex's belay loop. They also had an 80m 6mm tag line that could have been cut, their rope was only 60m starting out. |
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I want to be angry about this somehow |
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I've done a large number of raps in the back country without leaving any metal gear. Slings around horns, flakes and chockstones and jammed knots work in many places. You might cut a rap short if you pass a good opportunity for some kind of sling shenanigans---i.e. always be on the lookout for natural anchors. Often, it is possible to pick up rocks and set them as chockstones (the way the Brits used to protect their climbs before they started using knots scoured from the cog railway at Cloggy). If you have a hammer, sometimes you can hammer in a chockstone when just trying to wedge one is too unstable. |
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A macrame hitch (dufour knot in the Alps) works well in an alpine situations, especially short rappels, where there are plenty of horns to choose from. |
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What Tommy and Alex did there was amazing!....I think I asked Tommy about this once, when he was hanging in Yosemite. He said they used mostly in-situ slings and nuts, and did a lot of down climbing. |
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I don't know if Honnold and Caldwell used any of these techniques, but in canyoneering, there are many techniques that are used for "ghosting", i.e. setting up raps without leaving any or minimal trace. These techniques consist of using macrame to provide releasable anchors, retrievable slings, deadman anchors, rock cairns, etc. In most cases, this reqires only the regular climbing gear, and a tag line/pull cord that is the same length of the rap, and possibly a bit of webbing to leave behind. Some climbers do take one look at canyoneering anchors and run the other way in sheer terror, though. |
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Thanks for the response all, its been great to hear everyone's experience with the route and different techniques. I typically just bring a lot of bail webbing, but I looked into the canyoneering retrievable anchors too. Here is some info in case others are interested in those: |
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re. canyoneering techniques (tag line in particular): |
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Russ Keane wrote:re. canyoneering techniques (tag line in particular): This is not applicable to alpine climbs. You have to have smooth, un-interrupted pulls to get your rope back. The knot you have to tie (and back it up with a locking biner) is pretty huge. In most rapelling situaions you will get that thing stuck. Especially alpine!This is highly dependent on the type of alpine terrain you are in, or perhaps simply how you define "alpine." I use the equivocation hitch (aka macrame or death daisy) frequently in alpine terrain for relatively short rappels. It's convenient, quick, uses no gear, and works well. Tag lines can be rigged to minimize bulk in climbing contexts, but employing them would require more situational awareness than might typically be needed in a smooth-pulling slot canyon scenario. Certainly for long pulls a typical one- or two- rope rappel system common in climbing is the best strategy, but for shorter rappels, there are many options. There's also always the option of rappelling shorter distances in general, to help minimize the risk of get the rope stuck on a longer pull. |
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I think how Honnold and Tommy climb, ascending or descending, is not really relative to us mortals. |
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I've never rappelled off a knotted sling slotted between rocks... A-hem. Metal only if absolutely necessary. That stuff gets $$$$. On the other hand, what is life worth? |
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Just Solo wrote:I've never rappelled off a knotted sling slotted between rocks... A-hem. Metal only if absolutely necessary.You realize there are climbing areas where knotted slings and cord are the only allowed lead protection, yes? They're more secure than you think. |
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"for shorter rappels, there are many options." |