What’s On My Climbing Rack And Why?

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What’s On My Climbing Rack And Why?

My climbing rack is one of my basic tools of the trade. Every piece of gear on it has been used many times and is very familiar to me. What I actually select for my rack on a day out depends on the rock type and grades of the routes I am expecting to climb. When on granite or gritstone I carry more cams, and sometimes doubles of common sizes like 1 and 2. When on slate or harder Lake District routes on rhyolite I take more small wires. Here’s a summary of anything I might carry, and why.

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Rope Skills & Rescues #4: Tape Hoist

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Rope Skills & Rescues #4: Tape Hoist

The first post in this series showed how to escape the system, the second explained how to pass a knot, and the third was all about in-the-system hoists. This fourth post is about a simple tape hoist for whenever you need to free up a loaded knot or if you have something jammed under load - your 'get out of jail free' card. You can use this whether you are in the system or out of the system.

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Rope Skills & Rescues #2: How To Pass A Knot

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Rope Skills & Rescues #2: How To Pass A Knot

The first post in this series showed how to escape the system. If you find yourself needing to lower your second off, due to injury or not being able to get up the climb, you might need to tie two ropes together to make 100m of rope – enough to lower someone to the ground on most crags in the UK. You'll then need to pass the knot around the belay device - here's how to do it

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