Climbing Anchors

I decided to make this webpage because I found it quite difficult to find any good sources of information online that explain some of the basics of setting up top rope anchors. After starting out knowing next to nothing and probably breaking every rule of what you are not supposed to do, I've managed to survive some sketchy anchors and learned how to make much safer ones. Most of my knowledge I've picked up in the past six years by learning from others, as well as some climbing books, and an anchors class I took with my friend Kate at our local gym. After taking this class, I felt compelled to design this site because I learned so much that I hadn't known before, and felt that many other people should know what I had learned.

Update: Due to my climbing experiences in the past year, I felt like I should update my anchors page with some additional information for you. There's a common saying, "climbing is only as safe as you make it" and nothing holds more true than for climbing anchors. Now there are all sorts of factors that can contribute to a well built anchor and there are so many different ways to build anchors that it can fill an entire book, but I'm just going to list the basics and a couple rules of thumbs that I picked up and now adopt in my everyday climbing setup. I can't stress more that you should backup your anchor as much as possible given the situation because it will never hurt and it's better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it (an anchor failure will certainly not end up good). Every crag has it's own unique setup, and as a climber it is important to be able to adapt your anchor to any kind of situation, to be able to evaluate the quality of rock and the condition of bolts (if there any), and to make your anchor as "bomb-proof" as possible (able to hold your car). There are all sort of old bolts out there with spinning hangers and rusted through nails put up by climbers in the 70's with just a hammer (ie.1/4 inch buttonheads), and most of these bolts wouldn't be able to catch a 50 lb kid if it were put to the test. Also, if you're used to climbing in the central coast, most likely you have climbed on sandstone at one point or another and this is the softest rock out there as far as PSI goes. Quality of sandstone can widely vary but at times I've seen bolts placed in some extremely choss rock which means that no matter how solid that bolt is, it's only as strong as the rock around it and thus you should always be cautious. Now that I've gotten my buzz kill of a message out there, let me just give you my basic rules of thumb based on the aforementioned information. Whenever I'm climbing at an area that I know has solid bolts (ie. Cracked Wall at Bishop's Peak where Ranger Ken put up most the routes and maintains them regularly) then I'll use my shoulder or double shoulder length slings to setup a basic sliding X anchor that equalizes the force between each of the bolts. The reason for this is that well placed bolts should not fail if waited correctly and with dependable gear, and an equalized anchor sharing the force between the bolts should have a minute chance of failure. Thus there's less worry about a piece failing and shockloading the other side (which the sliding X anchor doesn't prevent). Also, this setup is very fast to build and gives you a broader range of climbing below the anchor. However, if I'm climbing at an area that I'm unfamiliar with, I'm climbing trad, or the pro is sketchy, then I'll use a redundant anchor setup and preferably with 3 or more pieces of gear. The redundant anchor might not perfectly equalize the force between the pieces, but if you are in any doubt of a piece's ability to hold then it is much better insurance to use than the sliding X. If one piece were to fail, the anchor will only move slightly and none of the pieces will be shockloaded. It may take a bit longer to build and you should only climb directly below the redundant anchor, but it is worth the piece of mind and overall safety given a less than optimal situation.

Top Rope Anchors

In order to set up anchors for top-roping, you'll need these basic supplies:

• Carabiners:
  • Locking gate
    • Use these for the moving pieces of the anchor, or any other piece if you want to be extra cautious or can't see the anchor
    • The screw gates are my preferable choice and will come open less than the auto-locking ones
    • 
  • Non-locking
    • Use these for static pieces of the anchor (the top pieces connected to bolts), and use them in combination for any other parts while making sure their gates are faced the opposite direction
    • 
• Any of the following three items:
  • Slings (much more easy to work with than webbing or cordlette in my opinion, and also safer since it's already knit together in a loop)
  • Webbing (can come in any length, which makes it very versatile and great for backing up anchors or bolts)
  • Cordlette (great for 3 bolt anchors, also comes in any length)
• Rope! (duh)
  • You can use either dynamic or static rope for tope ropes (if you use static make sure that there's minimal slack when climbing)
  • Make sure that the rope length is atleast twice the height of the climb (common sense :-P. Using a 60m rope is my preferable choice)
  • Some ropes change designs or have a midpoint marker which make it really easy to find the middle when setting up top ropes, such as the following example below:
  • 

Basic Safety Tips: