Some call it alpine climbing, some call it trad climbing. I prefer adventure climbing because it covers the full range of mountain travel skills needed for a good adventure into the unknown and not just in the alpine. These are skills you might use in the desert topping out a tower or even descending a canyon. Or of course, on the alpine ridge above a glacier–with skis on or not.
This is one framework to approach the skills needed to comprehensively address most mountain travel contexts. This is meant to be a skills check-in and provide food for thought on where to allocate further skill building given your objectives.
Climbing is a balancing act of efficiency and security. The employment of these tools can be viewed in this framework. Some tools allow us to move quickly while some focus more on being secure. Our job as good climbers is to find the necessary balance of the two– given our risk tolerance.
These modules are not necessarily meant to occur in a specific order. Often these skills are developed in parallel. If you are interested in further developing your adventure skillsets, these modules can be viewed more as mentorship opportunities as opposed to courses. Once we begin to learn the tools we need opportunities to refine how we use them–and that where the value really lies.
Fundamentals of Multipitch Climbing
This topic is easily covered on a single day.
These are fundamentals that apply to most all belay systems whether on rock, snow or ice.
Personal gear selection:
- Picking your personal safety gear: harnesses, helmets and footwear
- Designing your “back-rack”: what carabiners, slings and why
- Understanding the material properties of climbing gear
- Choosing a climbing rope and system
The ‘rope cycle’ of multipitch climbing:
- Knots and hitches: bight knots, clove hitch, munter hitch
- Lead and top belay
- Attaching to an anchor with the climbing rope
- Rope and stance management
- Choosing a system: the short rope, simulclimbing and 5th class pitching
- Traverse management
- Communication strategies and talking through the rope
Belay Modules
Each of the belay modules is best introduced in two days. One to introduce techniques
and one to practice implementation. To be worthwhile a good grasp of the ‘fundamentals module’ is key
Terrain and body belays
These are tools that excel in areas with lots of larger geometries and broken geology like the tops of formations, ridgelines and generally lower angle stepped terrain. Big picture we want to:
- Use ourselves as an anchor in the counterbalance configuration.
- Attach ourselves to the terrain using the climbing rope and then belay off ourselves.
- Use terrain to add friction to the belay system.
Excel in:
- Loose geology on ridges and topouts without good bedrock for gear
- Moderate exposed climbing without hard falls or potential for hanging
- Provides a TON of efficiency in moderate terrain
Limited in:
- Climbing near the limit where hard falls are possible
- Potential for hanging
- Often reduces the ease of rescue as the rope and body are part of the system
- Terrain lacking large geometries
The climbing rope as an achor
- Use of the BHK, and C&C hitch to create anchor points using the climbing ropd
- Climbing rope as an anchor extension from gear anchors
- The friction wrap anchor
Terrain as an anchor
- The roll of terrain friction
- Durability considerations for ropes on terrain
- Terrain as a running belay
The body as an anchor
- Stance choice
- The lazy belay vs the braced belay
- Hip belaying vs using a munter hitch
Gear Anchors
Cams and nuts are an essential part of all kinds of alpine climbing. While important in moderate terrain, they begin to take a more integral role in environments that don’t provide the needed terrain for body based belays and are steep enough to create harder falls and the potential to hang.
Excel in:
- Good rock where placements in bedrock are easy to find
- Clean steep faces on bedrock
- Hard climbing where hanging and hard falls are possible
Limited in:
- Areas where access to good bedrock is challenging
- Time efficiency
- Gear conservation
Assessing rock quality
- Look and LISTEN
- The “what if” assessment
- How close together can gear be placed
- The roll of force multiplication in cams
Anchor ‘equalization’
- The classic equalized loop
- The untied cordallette
- The double length sling anchor
- Cam stacking
- Gear conservation for the next pitch
Ice and Snow Anchors
- See the course specific outline
Moving Through Terrain: Leading, Following and Rappelling
In between the belays we have the movement. These topics are much more the art in climbing and should be considered more of a coaching endeavor than a ‘class’ per se. This is where we talk about when and why to use the tools, not simply what they are. This is where things become much more art than science.
Leading
- Assessing routes and picking objectives
- Lead rack and gear conservation
- Pitch and anchor strategy: longer vs shorter.
- Protecting the pitch vs protecting the move
- Aiding and french free
- Bailing
- Rope drag and extensions
- Strategy around lead swaps: block leading vs swinging
Following
- Cleaning gear
- Traverse considerations
- Follower pack
Rappelling
- Personal anchors system (PAS) or ‘teather’
- To backup or not, considerations for efficiency vs security
- The double strand rappel extension and backup (alpine grigri)
- Ascending a double strand rap
- Rappell anchor considerations
- Advanced techniques: Simul-rappelling, knot blocks and releasable raps
Improvised Self Rescue
To fully cover either rescue module often takes two days. For those who have a
solid background in ropework fundamentals one day can suffice.
High Angle Rock Environments
These are the top self rescue skills in order of where usefulness for a typical recreational climber.
- Belay pickoff for injured leader
- “Alpine GriGri”: Using and extended rappel to descend and then convert to ascend
- Counter balance rappel with an injured climber
- Releasing a loaded plate into a lower
- Passing a knot in a loaded lowering system
- Tandem rappel with and injured climber
- Hauling an injured climber
Snow and Glacier Environments
See the course specific notes.
Auxiliary Skillsets
These are auxiliary skillsets that complement technical systems in many contexts and are worth considering as specific learning objectives.
- Understanding the high angle and mountain objective hazard
- Equipment selection and self care
- Emergency response
- Mountain weather
- Snow and avalanche
- Glacier
- Expedition craft
- Geology’s effects on climbing
- Hauling gear