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oldsalt
Oct 17, 2006, 12:33 AM
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Registered: Jan 19, 2004
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I went to Table Rock with partner Jimmy this Saturday. I brought my rack, including the new small Tricams that I just bought. We swapped leads on Jim Dandy and then the Cave Route. I placed gear between bolts on my leads, and then it was my turn to lead pitch #2 of Cave.
The people ahead of us pointed out some bees above us, but I didn't see them. I started out and went high to avoid a mess of loose, flaky lichen and missed the bolt. I was run out and had nothing clipped, so I stuck a Flex Cam in a nice horizontal. I didn't think about anything beyond finding the route, looking around for bolts, and placing gear.
Now I know that there is a moment in a trad climb that is NOTHING like anything in sport...
I placed a medium small curved nut in a nice slot with a groove for the wire and slipped a draw on it. When I reached for a sling, I realized that I had left them below - after all I was sport leading when I started. I clipped the draw and moved on up, angling for the trees above.
The musical sound of a medium small bell tinkled in my ears. I looked for the source of the tinkling and saw my draw and curved nut skipping and sliding down the rope until it came to rest on the sturdy cam below. I don't know why I was so calm, but I just said, "Oh, heck" and placed another Flex Cam.
Looking up, I saw the expected trees, but no rap anchors. I went up to a sturdy tree with a double trunk and reached for a sling...
Since I had a decent stance on a 5.1X section at the top of the brow, I worked the belay station sling off my harness loop and clipped it to my Prusik loop, then closed the loop with a locker and clove hitched myself to that. As a backup, I made a chain of draws and clipped them around the smaller trunk with another locker. Finally, I clipped the rope to both lockers and redirected the rope down to the ATC on my harness.
About this time, while I am visualizing myself clinging to the top of the world and totally alone, out of sight, even out of voice contact with Jimmy, two guys walk up to the tree above me, look down, then one says, "Damn, this is Cave Route." They walk back down the path and out of sight. I must not have been crying then or they would have offered to call for an airlift.
I brought Jimmy up, expecting him to freak at the sight of my impromptu anchor, but he was grinning. He had intended to get me on trad lead, and the rat knew it was only partly bolted. So, I got my first trad lead and an onsight to boot. Jimmy's only suggestion was that next time I use the next larger size cam on every placement, since I was leaving the cams too open.
It's funnier to me now.
Underlined text edited for accuracy.
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boredwolf
Oct 17, 2006, 12:40 PM
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Awesome! I did my first trad lead on Sunday at Moore's. It really is a new experience, unlike any previous climbing experience. About the nut... shit happens, but on (my sole) nut placements I give gentle tugs in the downward, out, and upward directions to make sure it isn't gonna wiggle out on me like that. Great stuff though, I'm dying to get over to Table Rock.
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ratmnerd
Oct 17, 2006, 12:53 PM
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Yeah, Give the nut a good firm yank to set it. That way you can be sure it's secure. If it's the right size and not placed in lovely chossy rock (mmm, choss *licks lips*) it should both hold you in a fall, and not come out when you move past it.
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timm
Oct 17, 2006, 1:19 PM
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Jim Dandy and Cave Route were some of my first leads ... 20 years ago :D
In reply to: Jimmy's only suggestion was that next time I use the next smaller size cam on every placement, since I was leaving the cams too open.
If the cams were too open they were too small for the crack you used. You need to use the next size larger to make sure the cam lobes make contact in the middle of the cam's expansion range.
Cheers.
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klong
Oct 17, 2006, 2:36 PM
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great story.
Be nice to your second, don't totally set the nut into place. All it takes is a mild pull not a hard yank to get the nut to stay. They tend to stay in place even better when your using 2 foot slings instead of quick draws.
And when you can set them back in a little more into the crack.
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csproul
Oct 17, 2006, 2:45 PM
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Good job on the lead. Keep it up! As others have pointed out, setting a nut well can keep it from lifting out, but setting a nut hard is not a substitute for adequate sling length. A short sling can cause the rope to pull the piece out when falling on the piece(s) above the nut too, so that setting it in the anticipated direction of fall will not help. Good sling length is usually more important than really setting a nut in my opinion. And for the anchor, also remember that if you have enough rope, you can always use the rope around the tree and clipped back to yourself as an anchor as well. This is a good alternative to chaining draws together.
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saxfiend
Oct 17, 2006, 3:01 PM
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Nice story, oldsalt! Not quite an epic, but you did get a good lesson on having the right stuff on hand for different anchor contingencies. I'm looking forward to my first trip to Table Rock next month.
In reply to: Be nice to your second, don't totally set the nut into place. All it takes is a mild pull not a hard yank to get the nut to stay. They tend to stay in place even better when your using 2 foot slings instead of quick draws.
JL
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csproul
Oct 17, 2006, 3:18 PM
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In reply to: Nice story, oldsalt! Not quite an epic, but you did get a good lesson on having the right stuff on hand for different anchor contingencies. I'm looking forward to my first trip to Table Rock next month. In reply to: Be nice to your second, don't totally set the nut into place. All it takes is a mild pull not a hard yank to get the nut to stay. They tend to stay in place even better when your using 2 foot slings instead of quick draws. Good point about using slings instead of quickdraws, but I disagree about not setting the nut. It's far more important that a piece of pro be dependable in a fall than for it to be easy to remove. Set your nuts hard and let your second deal with it. JL |
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krusher4
Oct 17, 2006, 4:04 PM
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Sweet, glad you loved it. It's another world, I love clipping bolts too but it does little to feed the beast compared to trad!!!
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oldsalt
Oct 20, 2006, 2:18 AM
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In reply to: If the cams were too open they were too small for the crack you used. You need to use the next size larger to make sure the cam lobes make contact in the middle of the cam's expansion range.
Thanks, timm - you and Jimmy both pointed this out to me. It was a true mis-type, and not a misperception. I made the edit tonight.
I appreciate all of the responses - traddies are OK, or you guys were going kind to the newest member of the group.
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oldsalt
Oct 20, 2006, 2:21 AM
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In reply to: If the cams were too open they were too small for the crack you used. You need to use the next size larger to make sure the cam lobes make contact in the middle of the cam's expansion range.
Thanks, timm - you and Jimmy both pointed this out to me. It was a true mis-type, and not a misperception. I made the edit tonight.
I appreciate all of the responses - traddies are OK, or you guys were going kind to the newest member of the group.
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oldsalt
Oct 20, 2006, 2:22 AM
Post #15 of 16
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In reply to: If the cams were too open they were too small for the crack you used. You need to use the next size larger to make sure the cam lobes make contact in the middle of the cam's expansion range.
Thanks, timm - you and Jimmy both pointed this out to me. It was a true mis-type, and not a misperception. I made the edit tonight.
I appreciate all of the responses - traddies are OK, or you guys were going kind to the newest member of the group.
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bozher
Mar 29, 2007, 5:01 PM
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Registered: Mar 7, 2005
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[quote "ratmnerd"]Yeah, Give the nut a good firm yank to set it. That way you can be sure it's secure. If it's the right size and not placed in lovely chossy rock (mmm, choss *licks lips*) it should both hold you in a fall, and not come out when you move past it.[/quote]My second prefers that I use a runner instead of a quick draw to clip nuts. She has a heck of a time getting them out if I give even a little tug on them. If you move past your runner with out pulling up on it, it should stay put.
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