Photos by dan2see

The yellow slings (near the top) simulate the bolts-with-rings that are common in local crags. My top-rope is threaded through slings and locking biners. I have just threaded the rings, and I can now clip onto my 8-on-a-bight, and then untie the 8 on the end of the rope. My ever-patient belayer will then lower me.

The pink-and-yellow slings simulate a pair of rings (one above the other) at a bolted belay station, such as at "Twilight Zone" on "Kid Goat Mountain". My little partner will lead through and I'll escape the belay. I use this to try out various anchor arrangements. That's not a chair in the back-ground: it's a rock shelf. That's not a sheet back-drop: it's sky and wind.

Dan's snapshots of the Goat Ridge Mountain

Dan's three-point equalette. This one is made from a dyneema sling, 120-cm, but you can use any static cord or webbing. This example has two slings in parallel, to make the sling redundant. The three biners at the power-point end are necessary to allow the sling to slide and self-equalize. They all connect to a power-point, which can by your belay loop. Do not re-engineer this rig with a single biner (instead of three) -- that arrangement is called "Dan's Death W".

Daniel on McConnell Ridge, north summit, 10 July 2007. My "over-the-top" route on this day was up the "Four-Lane Boulevard", a ramp on the east side, then along a goat trail to summit, then down the scree and slabs on the west side. The goat trail was easy, the scree slabs were too unstable. Door Jamb Mountain is under my left elbow.