What is Reddit's opinion of Climbing Anchors (How To Climb Series)?

From 3.5 billion Reddit comments

It's great you are approaching the skill of anchor building with caution, but I wouldn't put too much weight into what any stranger on the internet (myself included) says. You could learn a lot more by reading a book, taking a class, or hiring a guide. A lot of people put a lot of weight into finding a mentor, but you also have to be cautious to not blindly trust that they know what they're doing - I've met people who have climbed trad for a while but with terrible gear knowledge who just don't fall often enough to know that their gear is shit.

Read this book on anchor building and hire a guide if you can - you'll feel a lot more confident afterwards.

Experienced climber who takes out tons of newbies here.

For me, there are two kinds of "I'll take you out". The first is "I think you're cool, but I have no expectation of you becoming a long term partner". This is the more common. Most of my friends don't climb full time, so taking them out is just like the equivalent of....taking them fishing in my boat. Just a cool time. It's nice if they pay for beer, but there's basically no expectations.

Then, there's the "I am interested in your potential as a long term crush buddy". For these kinds, usually their enthusiasm has already tipped me off that they would be great partners and open to learn. I tend to forward them a version of the following email.

It is intended to cover the things I want them to know in order to project multipitch trad with me. This is basically in addition to the assumption they'll buy a book on climbing anchors and systems, like Long's climbing anchors book.

If they're the kind of people I get along climbing with, they'll tend to geek out and learn it all in the first month or two.

Involves a lot of setting up example rope systems in your room, but I find practicing this kind of stuff tons of fun.

---

Begin forwarded message <Snip>

Here's some youtube links, as promised. 

The escaping the belay guy has a long series of useful vids, everything he says is well thought out. Definitely watch his video on different methods of rappel. The "spider" or "rescue" rappel he shows is particularly important to understand if your partner is injured. And of course knowing how to rap off a munter in case you drop your ATC is crucial. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H26xqP_Upcc

The other youtube guy which is pretty gold is "Mike". He's an older guide, with more alpine than rock experience. He has more videos than is possible to watch, and they're less polished, and often he's behind the times on things, but his perspective is different and so very useful. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VXfrIAgpG0&amp;list=PL8D9710F1DA39CFE5

The overall principles to take away are: how to move yourself/your partner up and down at any time, and how to escape and enter rope systems (to get around knots, go get help, etc) using "load transfers".

After you've practiced this stuff, we can talk about different scenarios and see how they would work out. 

Best,

<Snip>

P.S. The defeating the belay video i would no longer recommend, because he doesn't emphasize enough that the autoblock backup needs to be there before you set up the sling/cord to break the belay, but I think you get that part :)

P.P.S. you might notice that in many videos by mikebarter387 and MazamasICS, they present versions of everything where they use a munter instead of an ATC, microtrax, or other progress capture device. This is pretty important to know, as it allows you to perform any of these tricks not only for when you drop your ATC, but in more critical scenarios like say you have to escape the belay and leave your ATC behind to save your partner, or something similar.

---

Begin forwarded message <Snip>

Long list of links here:

Bible of climbing "anchors" (from bolts to nuts/cams to top rope setups): https://www.amazon.com/Climbing-Anchors-Climb-John-Long/dp/0762782072

Wild country crack climbing video series: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXptgbhwopuhaHLm0wkqTUFnWqaWr9evU

Here's a pretty exhaustive list of fairly technical "things you can learn" that aren't in the book above. Escaping the belay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a81LC0wjO0k Belaying from above: (read ATC guide's instructions for use) "Defeating" the belay from above: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3zOisWbuB8 Ascending a rope: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Uk3rZ5VbBc (remember to tie backup knots below yourself as you climb!) Passing a knot on rappel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTmAd9he_Ys How to haul a climber with a "z-drag" aka 3-1 or 5-1 progress capture pulley: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9JSZSftpg4

If you are comfortable with those things and the stuff in John Long's book, you'll basically be able to self-rescue from almost any climb, even multi-pitch trad.

Essential knots (decreasing order of importance in catastrophe, with uses in above videos labeled): 1. figure eight (follow through for tie-ing in, on a bight for clipping rope to things, for creating master points of anchors)

1. munter hitch + mule (to belay/rappel in emergency, useful in self rescue)
2. clove hitch (clip yourself on direct using just the rope)

3. prusik "knot" (backups, ascending rope, hauling, load transfers)

4. alpine butterfly (for isolating damaged spot of rope, to clip rope to things, bomber catastrophe knot)

5. water knot (only knot for joining sling ends)

6. double/triple fisherman's (only knot for joining rope ends)

7. EDK and "double" EDK

Finally, since you asked yesterday, a good starter rope is the 9.5mm-by-60m mammut infinity for sport only, or if you want to do some top rope as well, I would get something thicker (more durable). Literally can't beat the bluewater accelerator (10.5-by-60m) for the price they have at http://www.mtntools.com/steals/index.html, but any 10mm+ climbing rope will do. The lighter (<65g/m) the better, as you've learned.

If you'll be doing top roping, might as well buy a 30'-by-8mm cord from REI's climbing section, to save your rope from wear by extending anchor over the edge like I showed you. It is usually impossible to top rope without one of these, due to anchors always being above sharp rock edges.

Let me know if you have any other questions!

Building anchors isn't rocket science, but it does hold a couple of important considerations (and why watching a video isn't going to be sufficient):

• There are a multitude of ways you can build a strong anchor and many more ways to mess it up. Messing it up obviously carries a high consequence. A video can't teach you all the right and wrong ways to build an anchor.
• Building anchors is not a strictly procedural process like cleaning a sport route where you can watch a video and follow steps 1 to 10 and it'll be 99% the same everywhere you go. Building anchors requires an understanding of concepts, not procedures (because what you encounter for an anchor placement will vary) - such as what qualifies as a bomber anchor, how to ensure you have redundancy throughout the entire anchor, limitations of gear, etc.

Should you take a class? Maybe if you want some hands-on experience. I would suggest that you do your share of the reading first, you might not need the class, or if do take one you'll have a better understanding of what is being taught and be able to ask thoughtful questions.

Some reading:

• Anchors in Earnest (PDF)
• Trad Anchors (4 parts) and Top Rope Anchors
• Climbing Anchors (book: John Long, Bob Gaines)
• For fun you can check out Jive-Ass Anchors for what not to do (sadly no new updates).

It's a little tough to tell what's going on with your rack, but it looks like you have the cams and draws staggered on your gear loops. Most folks rack protection on the front loop and draws on the 2nd loop; it'll make it easier to make sure you can find the right piece efficiently and prevent cams from getting tangled up with alpine draws. There's nothing wrong with using two hands to place, but you are definitely right that you won't be able to do that on harder climbs, so practicing manipulating everything with a single hand is wise.

Spending time at the base of climbs plugging gear and building anchors + bounce testing them is a great way to get comfortable placing gear and get familiar with sizing so you don't have to fumble around for the right size.

For nuts, make sure you test them for an outward and upward pull. A lot of nut placements will hold a downward pull but as soon as you start pulling out at >30 degrees they'll just pop right out. Extending nuts is one part of mitigating that issue but the other part is finding placements that are less vulnerable to that mode of failure. Your first nut looked okay from that perspective but I would not be shocked if the second one popped right out with an outward pull.

From a learning perspective, I think both Climbing Anchors and Pete Whittaker's Crack Climbing are great educational resources. The latter has good commentary on being efficient with selecting gear both before and during a climb and is especially helpful if your gym or home crag have a variety of crack sizes that you can go and mess around with the figure out the jamming techniques for different sizes.

From the Amazon preview, that book seems to be a bit lacking in content, less than 200 pages and mostly just photos - sounds like the kind of thing you would read over once and never pick it up again.

Consider the library as a resource, you may be able to find instructional books for free (maybe including the one you listed). I read John Long's Climbing Anchors from the library just to say that I've read it (I already know how to build anchors, was looking to supplement my knowledge). Okay book, but over-reliant on SERENE anchors which is not necessarily important.

As an alternative to the book you listed, consider instead Rock Climbing: The AMGA Single Pitch Manual, it's probably a bit more detailed, covers similar content, and is well regarded as a beginner's handbook.

People mention Mountaineering: Freedom of the Hills, but it's pretty broad on all mountaineering, not specific to rock climbing. Good resource to thumb through, but not something to read as a book.

The Climbing Anchors Falcon Guide is a life saver (literally)!

Get the John long intro to climbing anchors and memorize/practice

https://www.amazon.com/Climbing-Anchors-Climb-John-Long/dp/0762782072/ref=nodl_

You should be a copy of “Climbing Anchors” by John Long. It’s a great guide

https://www.amazon.com/Climbing-Anchors-Climb-John-Long/dp/0762782072/ref=nodl_

For specifics, definitely pick up a copy of Climbing Anchors. Nice explanations, illustrations, and examples. It's a must-have.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0762782072/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_1?pf_rd_p=1944687522&amp;pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&amp;pf_rd_t=201&amp;pf_rd_i=0934641374&amp;pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&amp;pf_rd_r=07VR52X0D7GBPA6AT7YG

I know this is standard advice, but I think it is very damaging. It means most climbing safety knowledge is passed down by word-of-mouth, potentially propagating some very bad practices. I've seen some "experienced" people doing very stupid things that they'd been "doing for years." It's a bad way to learn.

Climbing Anchors is a best-practices guide. If you want to be safety conscious you should point people there, not to some random "experienced" climber.