rock climbing aalah an extreme sport that takes courage and strength to do do it. Here you can see those who have extraordinary courage in conquering the cliff in various corners of the country
I hadn't heard of the Haute Route before I started working here. It turns out it is one of the most beautiful hikes (or it can be done as a ski tour) in Europe. It's an easy life going from hut-to-hut with only a daypack as you make the 11-day journey near Chamonix, France, to Zermatt, Switzerland.
Here's some proof. Check out these photos from AAI guide Jeff Ries. He shot these earlier this summer on a recent trip:
AAI trekkers enjoy amazing views of the Lesser Combin on day 5 of this Julys Swiss trek.
A great view of the impressive Moiry icefall greets the Swiss.
The Matterhorn welcomes trekkers at the end of the trip in Zermatt.
If an anchor is composed of two pieces, and one piece is directly above the other piece, and you are using a pre-equalized knot on a cordellete clipped to the pieces, then you are likely to be close to completely equalized at your master-point. The photo below shows a three piece anchor with low angles between the pieces. The low angles make this a very good anchor. However, due to the fact that the pieces are not completely in line with one another, the anchor cannot be truly equalized.
A Very Good Pre-Equalized Anchor that is Not Truly Equalized Guides believe that this is an acceptable anchor. Photo from Splitter Climbing Gear
Some may find minor concerns with the different lengths of cord in the preceding picture. Most guides are not concerned about this.
When the angle on a two-point anchor increases, so too does the load on each piece. The theory is that when there is no or a very low angle -- under 20 degrees -- the pieces are close to equalized. When the angle increases to 40 degrees, then 54% of the load is on each piece. As the angle increases to 80 degrees, then 70% of the load is on each piece. And when the angle increases to 120 degrees, then 100% of the load is on each piece.
The following chart from the Technical Manual for Mountain Guides from the AMGA, demonstrates this with proposed weight of 1000 pounds.
The video savvy Canadian guide, Mike Barter, put together a great video on this subject for youtube.com. He uses a number of visual demonstrations throughout the video to show how weight affects an anchor as the angle increases. Check out the video below:
--Jason D. Martin
NOTE:
This is the second time we've posted this blog. And after I posted it the first time a couple of years ago an extremely valid comment was made. I thought that it would be prudent to post the comment as well as my response:
Anonymous said...
I hate to flame people trying to put good information out for the public, but I thought his demonstration was pretty silly. First off(although it really wasn't important for the demonstration) he had the knot of the cordelette directly on the carabiner of one of his "anchors". You think that an IFMGA guide wouldn't do this even in a demonstration. His demonstration really didn't show the increase in force on the anchor, but the change in the direction of pull. I think he could of easily done this by attaching a simple fish scale to each anchor.
I also thought about the knot on the carabiner when I found this video. The knot on the carabiner does weaken the cordellete mildly.
I have seen A LOT of IFMGA guides do this over the years. Indeed, I've seen enough of them do this that I've considered pulling back on the amount of emphasis I've put on keeping the knot out of the carabiner in the classes that I teach.
In addition to this, lets remember what this blog is about. It's about how angle impacts individual pieces...and I think that the video does a great job of demonstrating this...
I had grand plans for that day, more accurately, delusions of grandeur. “Fearless Leader” and I headed off to Foster Falls, Chattanooga's sport climbing hub, but I had more than just a few quick draws in my pack. Influenced by John Sherman's article “Its Big, Its Bad, Its Retro-Trad”, I had lugged my entire rack with me. I was going to show sport climbing who was boss, or something like that. I
-- Oct 23-24 -- Las Vegas, NV -- 2010 National Climbing Management Summit: This fall the Access Fund will host the 2010 National Climbing Management Summit in partnership with the National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, and US Forest Service in Las Vegas, NV on October 23rd and 24th. The summit will bring land managers and field-level personnel who are involved in recreation policy and climbing management together to discuss best practices for climbing management and policy. Topics will include climbing management challenges such as cultural and historic resources, fixed anchor management, protected species closures, climbing in wilderness, trails and staging area impacts, and how land managers can better work with local climbing organizations. For more information contact Jason Keith at Jason@accessfund.org.
By the time you read this, a man with Cerebral Palsy may have just finished climbing El Capitan in Yosemite. Steve Wampler is climbing El Capitan in an effort to raise money for his foundation which provides wilderness camps for disabled children free of charge. It's an extremely impressive endeavor, and I wish him the best of luck! Here is a a video describing what he is trying to do with the climb, and interview with some of the kids it will benefit
I figure I'm just going to dedicate this Weekend Warrior solely to Steve. This next one sums up the first few days of him on the wall. The last 30 seconds is rather touching. If you feel so inclined, please click here to support Steve's cause.
In 1924, George Mallory and Sandy Irvine made the first ascent of Mount Everest...
Or maybe they didn't...
It's hard to tell whether they made it or not. The pair was last seen alive 800 feet below the summit. Seventy-five years later, Mallory's body was discovered by mountaineer Conrad Anker on an expedition designed to find out what actually happened on the mountain in 1924.
Since that fateful day, the day that took the lives of Mallory and Irvine, whether or not the pair reached the summit of the tallest mountain in the world before their demise is one of the most hotly debated subjects in mountaineering history. There are many details that make one believe that perhaps they did summit. For example, Mallory carried a picture of his beloved wife Ruth which he said he would leave on top of the mountain when he summited. The picture was not found on his body, which could mean that it was left on the summit. But there are also details that make one believe that they might not have summited. For example the Second Step, a named feature on the mountain which now has a ladder on it, would require difficult rock climbing at altitude, something that might not have been possible in the twenties.
The new IMAX documentary film, The Wildest Dream, delves deeply into the mystery surrounding the loss of Mallory and Irvine by chronicling the lives of both men as well as the life of modern day mountaineer, Conrad Anker. Anker returns to the mountain with climbing prodigy Leo Houlding, to continue to develop his understanding of the 1924 expedition and to try to surmount the major difficulty that some historians believe may have turned the pair around, the rock climbing required on Second Step.
The Wildest Dream is a fantastic visual journey chocked full of dramatic mountain images and dramatic mountain men. Anker and Mallory are linked through time by a mountain, by a route, and by their commitment to their families. Indeed, the most pertinent moment of the film is when Anker compares his feelings to those that Mallory expressed in his letters. When Mallory was at home with his wife and his family, he was always dreaming of the mountains. When Mallory was in the mountains, he was always dreaming of his wife and family. This is something that most of us in the mountain community can relate to.
The use of IMAX for this film was wise. However, it can make it difficult for those who do not have IMAX screens nearby to see this film before it comes to DVD. The movie's artistic exploration through imagery is far more decisive and more dramatic than the 1998 IMAX film, Everest about the 1996 Mount Everest tragedy. In part this is because the filmmakers really commit to the format. If they didn't have the footage of a given spot on the mountain, they used high-end computer models, which looked incredibly realistic.
The one downside of the film is that it takes a firm stand on why Mallory chose Irvine as his climbing partner, without presenting the fact that historians see this choice as controversial. In part this is because a fit, acclimitized and experienced climber named Noel Odell was close at hand high on the mountain. Some believe that Mallory may have chosen Irvine as his partner because he was sexually attracted to the younger man. Mallory went through a well-documented period where he flirted with homosexuality. Others believe that he may have done this because he was attracted to the younger man's youth and saw himself in the man. But in the film, they tell us that without question, Mallory chose Irvine to be his companion because of his knowledge of the oxygen apparatus that the men carried. It would have been nice if they had at least alluded to the fact that this choice was considered controversial in such a documentary.
Artistically the use of Mallory and Irvine contrasted with Anker and Houlding works extremely well. As such, The Wildest Dream becomes a film about expeditions in the twenties and expeditions now. It becomes a film about men in the early nineteen-hundreds and men now. It becomes a film about the women who fell in love with these men. And finally it becomes a film about a mountain that has obsessed climbers for nearly a hundred years.
--The climbing community is currently responding to a National Park Service proposal to increase the cost of a permit to climb Mount Rainier by two-thirds and for Denali by 250 percent. The Tacoma News Tribune reports that the Rainier park Superintendent plans to propose to the National Park Service that the fee for an annual Rainier climbing pass be increased from $30 to as much as $50. The increase is intended for the training of climbing rangers and for other expenses. To read more, click here
--A black bear in Whistler, British Columbia, was so intent on getting at a few tomatoes growing in a window box that he scaled a three-story condo building to get at them. The bear made the climb Thursday morning as an incredulous resident of the condominium complex rushed to get his video camera. The bear used everything he had, claws and teeth, working his way up the corner of the building, to get at the small crop of tomatoes. To read more, click here.
--In response to the record floods of 1995, 2003 and 2006, the National Park Service has developed the Draft Stehekin River Corridor Implementation Plan Environmental Impact Statement to address, in a comprehensive way, the steps needed to continue to implement the 1995 Lake Chelan National Recreation Area General Management Plan. The goals in creating this plan are to provide high-quality recreational experiences, protect natural and cultural resources, support the private community of Stehekin, and establish sustainable administrative facilities. To read the plan and to make comments on it, please click here.
--An Ellensburg man who was descending from Mount Stuart on Saturday broke his ankle and spent the night with his party while they waited to be evacuated. Jason M. Paschen, 28, was discharged after treatment in Wenatchee. Paschen fell and broke his ankle on his descent Saturday, but his partners could not call for help because there was no cell service. To read more, click here. --After months of preparation, training and fundraising, a Ladner, British Columbia woman achieved two lofty goals. Robyn Thomson has returned from Africa where she made an ascent of Mount Kilimanjaro. She set out to climb the mountain earlier this year in an effort to raise both money and awareness, for the Delta Hospice Society. Her goal was to reach the top of the mountain and to raise $10,000 for hospice. To read more, click here. Sierra:
--The U.S. Forest Service has announced that an off duty ranger recently discovered the bones of a man that has been missing in Yosemite National Park for seven years. Fred Claassen disappeared in 2003 when he went on a twenty-mile hike in the park. To read more, click here.
--A California man with cerebral palsy is trying to be the first person with his condition to climb Yosemite's El Capitan. Steven Wampler has been training for over a year to attempt the climb. Wampler will climb the 2,000 foot face in a wheelchair he helped create for the climb. To read more, click here.
Desert Southwest:
--Zion National Park Superintendent Jock Whitworth has announced the start of a project to rehabilitate campsites and improve utilities in the tent only Loops C and D in Watchman Campground. The project will consist of reconstruction and delineation of 69 campsites with new site furnishings, resurfacing the road system, re-vegetation, installing new irrigation lines, and water and sewer line improvements. Loop C is now closed and Loop D will be closed effective October 12, 2010. The two camping loops will be closed until the project is completed in early April 2011. South Campground, which usually closes at the end of October, will remain open through Thanksgiving weekend to make up for the loss of tent sites in the Watchman Campground this fall. Loop A of Watchman Campground will stay open through the winter months and is open to both tents and recreational vehicles. To read more, click here. --Rangers were dispatched to the Furnace Creek Ranch Resort in Death Valley just after 3 a.m. on September 9th to investigate a report of shots fired. The ranch is a large resort complex managed by Xanterra Corporation and is a private inholding within the park. Rangers regularly respond to the full range of emergencies there based on an agreement with Xanterra Resorts and the Inyo County Sheriff’s Office. Four rangers and a resident California Highway Patrol (CHP) officer responded and met a Xanterra security guard at the scene. To read more, click here. Himalaya:
Christian Stangl's Purported Self Portrait on the Summit Stangl was nearly 3000 feet below the true summit when the photo was taken.
--An Austrian mountain climber says he lied when he made a claim last month to have scaled the world's second highest summit. Climber Christian Stangl now says he did not reach the summit of K2, and he says the picture used to prove the climb was in fact taken 3,000 feet below the summit of the Himalayan peak. The 44-year-old Stangl was attempting to become the first person to climb the two highest peaks on each continent. To read more, click here and here.
--Deep in the Karakoram, an eighteen year-old Pakistani girl summited the previously unclimbed Chashkin Sar (20,997'). Samina Khayal made the ascent with her brother Mirza Ali, Tafat Shah, Yahya Baig, Salamat Khan, Arshad Karim and with Romanian filmmaker Stelian Pavalache. To read more, click here.
Notes from All Over:
--Sarah Shourd, one of three jailed US hikers, has been freed after more than a year in an Iranian prison. Shourd was released Tuesday. The thirty-two year old woman said that she would continue t0 campaign for the release of the other two hikers. To read more, click here.
--Outside Magazine has posted an interesting blog on the issue of charging for rescue. They write: "After the Colorado Search and Rescue Board (CSARB) successfully helped convince one mountain town to stop charging for rescues, municipal public safety agencies seem to be sending more bills. According to the New York Times last week, if you need help from police or fire, don't be surprised to get a bill, the so-called "crash tax." Eight states can lawfully bill for search and rescue services. Remember the teenager in New Hampshire's White Mountains who was sent a $25,000 tab? The Mountain Rescue Association and National Association for Search and Rescue are adamantly against cost recovery in this manner. The reason: it promotes a delay in a call for help." To read more, click here.
--Over the summer Nicolas and Olivier Favresse as well as Sean Villanueva and Ben Ditto completed a series of new routes on the West Coast of Greenland. Many of the lines were big wall ascents and were made from a floating base camp, a thirty-foot sailboat that they used to access the area. To read more, click here.
--British Climbers Tom Chamberlain and Tony Barton have made a significant first ascent on Huaguruncho (5723m), Cordillera Oriental, Peru. Their new line, Llama Karma (1000m ED/ 90·/V, 24 pitches) was climbed over four days and tackles the large south west face of Huaguruncho. Chamberlain and Barton had tried a similar line back in 2008, accompanied by Olly Metherell, but had not reached the top. On re-acquaintance this year the pair (this time without Metherell) found that different snow conditions forced them to take an alternative line. To read more, click here.
--President Obama recently declared September, 2010 as National Wilderness Month, encouraging all Americans to visit and enjoy our wilderness areas, to learn about their vast history, and to aid in the protection of our precious national treasures. Obama has made significant effort while in office to protect America's wilderness. Last year, he signed the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act, designating more than two million acres of wilderness for protection across the United States. To read more, click here.
--Nineteen year-old Brenna Fisch is in critical condition after surgery on her skull following an unroped climbing fall outside of Boulder. The University of Colorado sophomore fell two stories from a hike on Dome Rock in Boulder Canyon. To read more, click here.
James Franco plays Aron Ralston in Danny Boyle's 127 Hours
--The Aron Ralston story has finally hit the big screen. We all know the canyoneer who cut off his arm story by now, but it appears that the sequence on film is quite traumatic. Three people fainted and one person suffered a seizure when 127 Hours was screened at the Toronto Film Festival this week. To read more, click here.
--In early August more than one thousand mountaineers and mountain enthusiasts attended the opening of the Slovenian Alpine Museum in Mojstrana, Slovenia. The multitude of guests who attended underlined just how strong the demand was for an institution such as this in the Slovenian Alps. To read more, click here.
--After months of preparation, training and fundraising, a local woman conquered two lofty goals. Ladner's Robyn Thomson has returned from Africa where she climbed Mount Kilimanjaro. She set out to tackle the mountain earlier this year in an effort to raise money, and awareness, for the Delta Hospice Society. Her goal was to reach the summit and raise $10,000 for hospice. To read more, click here.
AAI trekkers enjoy amazing views of the Lesser Combin on day 5 of this Julys Swiss trek.
A great view of the impressive Moiry icefall greets the Swiss.
The Matterhorn welcomes trekkers at the end of the trip in Zermatt.
A Very Good Pre-Equalized Anchor that is Not Truly Equalized
Coffee will be served most Saturdays and Sundays during peak climbing season in Joshua Tree, CA. 
Christian Stangl's Purported Self Portrait on the Summit
