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Оглавление2 EQUIPMENT
If you have ever strolled through a climbing shop or looked at sites on the Internet, you will be aware that there is a huge array of tantalising climbing equipment available. The trick is to buy what will be appropriate for the type of climbing you wish to do and avoid the ‘toys’ – those fancy pieces of kit that look great but have no particular use at the crag.
There are important standards for climbing equipment manufacture. The UIAA (Union Internationale des Associations d’Alpinisme) has had a very sound voluntary code of practice in place for a number of years, and gear meeting their test criteria will bear a UIAA stamp. However, the PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) standards have been a legal requirement for a number of years in Europe. Equipment that satisfies this standard will be marketed with a CE (Conformité Européene) symbol. This shows that it conforms to the relevant sections of the European legislation as far as manufacturing requirements are concerned, and indicates that it can legally be sold in the European member countries.
I have listed below some items of the most important kit, and given a few pointers as to what may be appropriate where. There will inevitably be many factors to consider when buying kit, and your final choice will be largely down to personal preference.
Helmet
This is an essential piece of gear, and should be one of your first purchases. Gone are the days when helmets looked like (and weighed the same as) coal scuttles. Modern helmets are lightweight, strong and comfortable. Take a hat with you when buying a helmet to make sure that it can be adjusted sufficiently to accommodate your hat underneath it during the colder months.
Note
A helmet will not only save you from debris or gear dropped from above, it will also protect your head in the event of a fall. In addition, if you are belaying, it will prevent you from banging your head if you are pulled forward when holding a leader fall. Although a lot of magazines show pictures of climbers without helmets, any type of head injury is extremely serious, and it is not worth taking a chance with your life.
Modern helmets are lightweight and strong
Harness
There are many different types of harness available, and the final decision will often come down simply to how comfortable it feels when being worn. There are a few other points worth taking into account.
Firstly, if the harness is just going to be used for rock climbing you may decide to go for non-adjustable leg loops. This will make the harness a little lighter and less elaborate, but will preclude it from being worn if you are wearing bulky clothing, as in the winter or when a cold wind is blowing. If you want an all-round harness, suitable for rock climbing all year, go for adjustable leg loops.
Good, all-round harness
One of the most important sections will be the abseil loop, the sewn loop at the front that serves as a strong point. I wouldn’t think about buying a harness without one of these as it has so many uses. The gear-racking layout is also important, as you need to have plenty of space for equipment. I prefer to have my gear loops forwards, with two on each side, so that I can get to everything easily. Padding aids comfort, although too much tends to get in the way and can also make the harness a bit sweaty in hot weather.
Rock boots
There are probably as many types of rock boot as there are harness! As these will be worn for long periods comfort is an important issue. My advice would be not to go for the eye-wateringly tight fit that some shops will try to persuade you to buy, but for something that feels quite snug. If your boots feel firm in the shop without socks they are probably the right size, as they will stretch up to half a size after some use. Really tight boots are the preserve of those climbing at the very top levels; you can always graduate to a pair of these after a while, once you have decided which direction your climbing career is going to take.
Rock boots often come with a choice of fastenings, either laces or Velcro. The lacing system will be better at this stage, as Velcro tends to be used on very technical boots where the fit is skin-tight, meaning that little adjustment is possible.
Rope
Ropes come in a bewildering array of sizes and colours, and everyone you talk to will have their own view as to what type will be best for you to begin with. As a starting-out rope I would suggest that 50m of 10.5mm with a dry treatment would be a good all-rounder. A 60m rope would be more appropriate for climbing multi-pitch routes, but even here a 50m rope will be adequate. It needs to be designated as a ‘full-weight’ rope, denoted by a ‘1’ in a circle on the tape around the end, and also on the packaging. Thinner ropes are designated as ‘half ropes’, denoted by a ‘½’ in the circle. These must be used alongside another rope to give full strength, using techniques known as double- or twin-roping. This book covers predominantly single-rope climbing skills, and so a full-weight rope will fulfil your needs for now.
The information at the end of a climbing rope will tell you if it is the right one for you
Carrying a rope
Step 1 Starting flaking the rope by laying lap coils across your hand
Step 2 Wrap a few turns of rope around the coils
Step 3 Pull a loop through the top and place this over all the coils, pulling the ends tight
Step 4 The completed flaked rope will not kink or knot when uncoiled
This is best done by ‘flaking’. Flaking stops the rope from twisting and kinking, which does tend to happen if a rope is ‘coiled’ in the old-fashioned manner. It also enables you to carry the rope on your back, in much the same manner as a rucksack, when walking down from the top of the crag or when abseiling.
A rope carried in this way will be easy to undo when needed. Simply lift off the final loop and unwrap the coils. You can now place the whole rope on the ground and run it through hand over hand to check it for knots. If it has been flaked correctly the only thing you may find is a loop through a loop, which is easily remedied.
To carry the rope on your back, leave a couple of metres of tail. Put the rope behind you and bring the ends forward over your shoulders, around your back (over the flaked rope to keep it from swinging about) and then round to the front again. Tie the ends together with a reef knot.
A flaked rope tied to the climber’s back is easy to carry
Note
Take good care of your rope as this will extend its life. Carefully read and follow the instructions that are attached to it when bought, as these will outline cleaning procedures and give details about its lifespan, as well as other useful information. Make sure that you don’t tread on your rope, as this can cause grit to enter the weave and cause damage. Store it dry and loosely flaked in a cool, dark place, and never use it for anything other than climbing. When flaking it, feel along the length of the rope for any flat spots or inconsistencies in the weave, and if you are ever in any doubt about its ability to perform well, have it checked professionally or simply discard it and buy a replacement.
MY INTRODUCTION TO SEA-CLIFF CLIMBING
Growing up in the south of England, Swanage was my local crag and this is where I started my climbing career. For my first ever trip there I was accompanied by a crisp copy of Pete Crew’s Dorset guidebook, a mate from school, a few sandwiches – and my mother’s old washing line. I was particularly proud of the latter: it looked like a climbing rope (albeit a tad on the short and thin side) and was nicely coiled, just as I’d seen on TV. (You can probably tell by now that we had no idea what we were about to get in to; even the legend on the inside cover of the guide that stated ‘the pages in this book will easily separate after a thorough wetting’ didn’t stand out as sufficient warning.)
Suffice to say that we were lucky to get away with our lives. Heading straight for the Cattle Troughs area we avoided the many sections of cliff that would have entailed an abseil to reach the start of the climbs. With our meagre knowledge and equipment that would almost certainly have proved fatal. As it was, I’m sure that only youthful ignorance and stubbornness kept us alive that day, along with the fact that we didn’t fall off anything and so test the recently liberated washing line. We were both soaked from the waves crashing onto the ledges at the base of the routes, and retired stunned, numb – and not a little frightened – after a few hours to the safety of the bus back home.
Sea cliffs, I quickly learned, are unforgiving places. You need to not only be able to abseil in, but more importantly be able to climb back out again. You need to know about tide times, the state of the sea, how to belay at the bottom as well as at the top, and have some mechanism in place for getting help if you do not return home at a given time.
Sea cliffs are also stunning places: wonderful solitude, the rock under your fingertips vibrating with every crash of the waves, the bright sunshine glinting off the sea and a slight breeze cooling you in the summer sun. This is why, despite my initial experience, sea-cliff climbing became a very important part of my life in the vertical, and I still look forward to trips to the coast with great anticipation.
Mind you – I quickly learnt a lot more about it after that first trip. I even went out and bought myself a rope.
Snapgate karabiners
These are used when leading to allow quick clipping of any gear being placed for protection. There are various shapes and sizes, but they can be put into two main categories: those with solid gates and those with wire gates.
The advantage of a wire gate is threefold.
They weigh less than an equivalent-size solid gate.
The gate closure is performed by the clever positioning of the wire gate; there are no moving parts which could break or jam (unlike the solid gate, which often has a spring incorporated into its design).
Most important is the mass of the gate. When a fall occurs, the passage of the rope through a karabiner sets up vibration. This can be sufficient to open and close a solid gate very quickly. If the point of loading on the karabiner – the stage at which the fall stops – coincides with the gate being open, this massively reduces its strength. A wire gate, as it has less mass, is less affected by the vibration and thus unlikely to be in the open position when the rope tightens after a fall.
Solid gate (left) and wire gate (right) snap karabiners
Although I prefer wire gates there is nothing to stop you using solid gate karabiners for your rack of gear (see Gear Rack), but I would recommend supplementing them with wire gates over time.
Snapgate karabiners have either straight or bent gates. A bent gate allows easier clipping of the rope – especially when making ‘desperate’ clips – but there is also a slight increase in the chance of the rope unclipping during a fall in some situations, particularly if the gear has been clipped incorrectly (see Chapter 9).
Straight (left) and bent gate (right) snap karabiners
It is also essential that a bent gate karabiner is always used at the rope end of any protection and never clipped into the gear itself; any twisting motion could cause it to come undone in extreme circumstances.
Screwgate karabiners
These have a sleeve on the gate that is fastened to prevent accidental opening. This is important when they are used as part of an anchor system, or when connecting a belay or abseil device to a climber. They are often categorized into two types: D-shape and ‘HMS’ or ‘pear-shape’. The contrast is obvious from the photograph below.
It is important to know how the two differ under use.
The strongest axis of a karabiner is along the back bar, and the D-shape will automatically align the rope in the correct position. This makes it the stronger of the two overall (although this will not matter too much in careful everyday use).
The HMS does not have a tight bend at the end of the back bar, thus any load could fall some distance from it, so making the karabiner weaker than the ‘D’.
However, the HMS is great for clipping big knots or gear into, and will work well with a variety of belay and abseil devices. Its big advantage is when using an Italian hitch, as it allows the knot to work in the correct manner (since it is not forced into a tight corner). This function will become more obvious once we look at alternative belay methods (see Chapter 8).
‘D’-shape (left) and HMS (right) karabiners
There are also different methods of locking mechanism. Many karabiners will use a sleeve that you need to tighten manually (don’t overdo it: make it snug then turn it back a little, otherwise it could jam), while others have an automatic facility. Automatic locking karabiners have a one- or two-stage function:
Close-up of a ‘ball-lock’ karabiner, where the green button has to be depressed and the sleeve rotated in order to open the gate
Single-stage You just rotate or pull down on the sleeve, depending upon the design, and the gate can be swung open.
Two-stage Either rotate the sleeve then pull it back, or press a button and then rotate.
I rarely use self-locking karabiners, but always go for the two-stage system as this seems to be safer than the single-stage operation.
Extenders
Sometimes known as ‘quick-draws’ or ‘tie-offs’, these are an essential part of a leader’s rack. They consist of a short length of sling with a snapgate karabiner at each end. Once a piece of gear has been placed, one karabiner is clipped into it and the other karabiner is used to hold the rope. For most styles of climbing a selection of different-length extenders can be carried, from around 15–30cm. This enables runners off to the side of the climbing line to be used effectively.
Types of extender
Extenders can be bought ready set-up with karabiners, or you can buy the sewn tape loops and add your own karabiners – buying ready-made sets will often work out cheaper. The sewn loops are either open like mini-slings, or have the middle parts attached so that the karabiners sit in their own loops on the ends. Make sure that neither of the karabiners is held too tightly by the stitching or by any rubber keeper device, as this will affect how they react when moved by the rope. If there is a separate keeper remove it to allow the karabiner to hang freely.
Slings
Slings are available in a number of lengths and widths, but the following are particularly useful (note that sewn slings are generally sold in flat measured lengths in centimetres, but are still often referred to by circumference in feet).
4ft (60cm) sling made from a narrow fabric such as Dyneema. This length is very useful when equipped with two snapgate karabiners as it can be used as a long extender for off-line runners. The narrow fabric makes it easy to handle.
8ft (120cm) sling made from a wider tape is extremely useful, and should be equipped with a screwgate karabiner. It can be used as an anchor or a running belay and, being made from thicker tape than the 4ft sling, is a little more robust.
16ft (240cm) sling is the ‘Big Daddy’ and has many uses. For general outcrop use a wide fabric will be hard-wearing, but if you are going to venture on to multi-pitch routes you may wish to go for the thinner Dyneema, as this makes the sling very easy to handle when tying into anchor points. This sling should also be furnished with a screwgate karabiner.
(Left) Short slings with two karabiners on being doubled. They can then be carried like extenders.
(Right) Carrying an 8ft (120cm) sling
Carrying slings is sometimes a problem, although with a bit of thought can be made quite easy. The short slings can be carried on your harness doubled through each other (see below). The medium-sized sling can be doubled, taken over the shoulder, then under one arm and clipped into itself. This enables you to take it off with one hand (not possible if you wrap it over your head). When carrying the long sling, double it and clip it into itself, then take it over your shoulder and under the other arm.
Belay device
This crucial piece of kit has a number of jobs, such as belaying a leader, belaying a second, and also doubles up as an abseil device.
There are two main categories:
Passive where you control all the braking of a fall.
Active where the device itself – although not hands-off – helps you by locking off, either through rotation or by internal moving parts (akin to a car seatbelt). A passive device is ideal for the techniques covered in this book.
Belay devices can be split further into different categories, the main two being:
Slick which has a large aperture through which the rope fits. If the rope is thin – say less than 10.2mm – it may have difficulty holding it in the event of a fall.
Grabbing devices often allow more control on thinner ropes (and sometimes too much on thick ropes, especially if abseiling), either on account of their shape or by the use of a channel through which the held rope is run. This channel will usually have a ribbed surface, providing extra friction that makes controlling the rope easier.
Variety of belay devices
Devices will normally have two slots to accommodate two ropes at the same time, useful for both double- or twin-rope techniques. This is also an important feature for abseiling, which is often done using two lengths of the same rope at once.
Wires
This is a generic name given to wedges of metal attached to the end of a swaged wire loop, often simply referred to as ‘nuts’ (the use of these and other equipment for protection is covered in detail in Chapter 7). They are, in fact, very technical pieces of kit and have been designed to exacting standards and great tolerances, and are the basic protection equipment for most climbers. The heads measure from a couple of millimetres to a couple of centimetres across, and the strength varies from 2kN (see Appendix 1) on the smallest to 12kN on the larger sizes. Most climbers will carry a rack of wires made up of two sets of 1–10, all doubled up, although the final make-up will be down to personal preference. These will often be carried on the harness on two karabiners; I tend to have sizes 1–6 on one krab and 7–10 on the other. This means that you have a range of sizes to hand, useful once you have learnt to recognise which one fits which crack. Many wires are colour-coded for ease of identification.
Set of wires
You may see very tiny wires called ‘micro-wires’ for sale, as well as some others with very irregularly shaped heads. These are intended for a specific purpose, often for a one-off placement on a particular route. It is best – at least in the early stages of your climbing career – to stick to regular concave/convex designs.
Camming devices
These are often known as ‘SLCD’s (spring-loaded camming devices) – see Chapter 7. Most climbers will refer to them by the trade name – such as Friends or Quadcams – but camming devices or cams is generic enough for us. They are an extremely useful, albeit expensive, piece of kit. You don’t need to buy them when setting up a basic rack, but once you get hold of one and try it out you won’t know how you survived before!
The smallest cam/crack size is about 12mm, and the largest weighs in at a whopping 140mm (even bigger ones are available for specialist purposes). Two main considerations that will affect your choice:
Firstly, they come in rigid-stem and flexible-stem versions. The rigid stem gives a good solid placement, but many climbers will now opt for the flexible-stem version as it is more forgiving when placed in a horizontal crack and fallen on – some rigid stems, especially older designs, could bend or even snap.
Secondly is the decision of whether to go for three- or four-cam units. Three-cam units are generally narrower across the width of the cams, so are useful in the smaller sizes. Four-cam units are very stable, so are well suited to bigger sizes that will be used in wider cracks. It is unusual to find a three-cam unit on anything bigger than a size 2, so most people go for four cams.
(Left) Four- and a three-cam unit
(Right) Size 0 and size 4 cam
Some designs incorporate a sewn sling that can be extended. This can help to avoid rope drag around bulges or if the placement is a little way off-line.
Cam sling at normal length
Cam sling extended
Rockcentrics
These are basically a large version of a wire – but without the wire! Also referred to as chocks (and a reworking of the original ‘Hexentrics’ – still favourite with many people), the Rockcentric is available in large sizes and nicely complements our rack of wires. However, they are a slightly different shape and work well in a variety of placements.
Rockcentrics
They are frequently supplied with the tape or rope already stitched or tied in place. It is possible to buy them loose and tie them yourself, but in this case make sure you are using the correct material for the job. For instance, tying Spectra or Dyneema tape will not work as the fibres are quite slippery, and the resulting piece of gear will be very dangerous. Check with the supplier of the rope or tape you intend to use to thread the chocks to ensure that it is up to the job, also as to the best knot to use.
Rockcentrics work by a basic camming action, with the pull on the affixed tape making them jam tighter in a crack. If we have a rack of wires up to number 10, I would choose to start my Rockcentric sizing from there and go up for perhaps four sizes. You would end up with quite a large piece of gear, handy for a variety of situations and placements.
Nut key
This will be the best money you’ll ever spend! A nut key is an invaluable tool for a second to carry in order to remove wires and other gear that has become jammed in place. Normally consisting of a long flat bar with a hook at one end, a key will very soon pay for itself (and may even get you some free gear by allowing you to winkle out someone else’s kit!).
Nut key
Chalk bag
This is included here only for completeness, and hopefully you won’t be rushing out to buy one. Chalk is useful where the climbing is hard and fingers get sweaty, such as when training on an indoor climbing wall. Outside, however – unless the route is quite hard – the use of chalk should be discouraged. Chalk is slightly abrasive, which is how it aids finger friction. If used on the holds of an easy route, the hands and feet of subsequent climbers will have the effect of polishing the hold: the chalk particles work as a scourer. As more people will tend to climb easier graded routes than hard ones, and if many of them use chalk, the rock will very quickly become polished and slippery. Only use chalk on a hard route, when you are bouldering or climbing indoors.
Chalk bag, with ball and block chalk
Prusik loops
A prusik loop is a very useful piece of kit, with two being carried for more advanced techniques. It is commonly used for protecting an abseil, and can also be used in a simple hauling system to get your partner over a hard section of the climb. The loop is made up from just over 1m of 6mm accessory cord, purchased direct from the reel in a climbing shop. It is tied together with a double fisherman’s knot, and should measure about 40cm long from end to end when laid flat.
Prusik loop, tied with a double fisherman’s knot
Note
These days all technical equipment is manufactured and sold to rigorous standards. However, there is some cheap gear on the market (although not normally in reputable shops) which has been made in Eastern Europe and the Far East. This kit will often not have gone through the same processes and testing as stamped gear, and should be treated with extreme caution – or rejected altogether.
GEAR RACK
Rack of gear laid out on the ground
I have outlined a list of kit below that would be a really good rack for starting out. As far as possible I have put them in the order in which they should be purchased: buying a rope will probably be more important than getting hold of a couple of prusik loops, for example. This gear list will be ideal for routes up to VS (and probably higher).
Bear in mind that some rock types will predispose themselves to accepting different types of gear. For instance, if you are climbing on sandstone regularly you may wish to increase the number of camming devices. Conversely if you are climbing on limestone a good range of wires will possibly be of more use.
Harness
Helmet
Rock boots
Belay device
Rope (50m × 10.5mm)
HMS screwgate karabiners × 3
4ft (60cm) sling × 2
8ft (120cm) sling × 2
16ft (240cm) sling × 1
D-shape screwgates × 3
Curved wires 1–10 × 2 sets
Rockcentrics 6, 7, 8, 9
Nut key and small carrying karabiner × 1
Camming devices, flexible stem, 1, 2, 3
Extenders × 6
Snapgate karabiners: 2 for carrying wires, 4 for carrying hex’s, 12 for extenders, 4 for 4ft (60cm) slings, 3 for camming devices. Total = 25
Prusik loops × 2
Chalk bag
