r/tradclimbing • u/ivegotawoman • 15d ago
What climbing system is this?
I was watching this youtube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hSLpqtlOn4 (5:00) and noticed this anchor setup. What exactly is going on here? It seems like the anchor is made from the climbing rope and then there is some kind of master point-esque thing with another thinner green rope attached to it via some kind of traxion?
Tommy Caldwell is tied to both the climbing rope/green line. Would love to understand what this is
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u/Weekly_Tutor_8196 15d ago
Rope anchor and a haul line. Probably leading large blocks w/simul climbing and fix/follow so the rope anchor may have been built out of necessity? Maybe all the slings were used up. The progress capture device is holding the weight of the haul line
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u/haplessromantic 15d ago edited 15d ago
Trad climbing with some big wall experience here. This is a rope anchor. Very efficient for going light and simple as you don't need extra gear for the anchor.
This works best when there are bolts and you are block leading as the long end of the rope is connected to the second when you build the anchor so it makes sense if the follower leads the next pitch. Then you break down the anchor (the end of the rope is already on you) and continue following the pitch.
The advantage is that it eliminates some gear: no separate cord for the anchor and no PAS to connect yourself to it. Also as you can see, the system is much cleaner than most other big wall anchoring systems (look up Big Wall Climbing Anchor and get stressed out). The disadvantage is that if you mess something up it is significantly harder to re do the anchor or fix something - you would essentially need to build a new anchor to change anything.
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u/anondescriptguy 15d ago
*makes sense when you are swing leading, No?
Block leading the follower has to rebuild an anchor on the same bolts and leader breaks theirs down unless they swap ends
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u/NhcNymo 15d ago
That green traxion thing is the Edelrid Spoc. It’s the same progress capture thingy as the traxion devices, but it can also be set open so it’s just a pulley. Tommy is sponsored by edelrid so it makes sense he would carry that instead of a Petzl.
Green line is for sure some kind of tagline (you can see Tommy leaving with it tied to the back of the harness). Maybe they are hauling bags to avoid climbing with them on a hard pitch or something. Why they have the tagline through the Spoc I don’t get either, but it may just be to reduce friction by keeping the Spoc in pulley mode.
Rope going through the biner on the right bolt is the redirect. What the rope going through the green biner on the left is for I can’t really figure out.
Anyways, using the rope itself is a pretty valid strategy, essentially the most minimal lightweight solution you can do.
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u/Hides_In_Bushes 15d ago
It’s a bunny ears figure eight. It’s super easy to tie and untie. Not a bad way to do it if swinging leads. Sometimes it’s just easier to do something like this than do a traditional anchor with a sling or cordalette. When taking the anchor down there’s nothing to pack up and rerack which can be kind of nice.
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u/BostonFartMachine 15d ago
They seem be be using bunny ears 8 often. In the previous scene you can see it used for their last anchor as well when Tommy started leading.
Also in that scene he has no back pack to the green line is their haul line.
The rope is redirected thru both bolts for different reasons: on one bolt from Tommy to the belayer as he is presumably about to start again and likely thru the other bolt to aid in stacking it when bringing up the second. Simple ergonomics.
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u/cordelette_arete 15d ago
Very hard to tell, looks like a single strand bunny ears figure eight? Some crafty anchoring with just the rope? I’d love to know more, looks interesting.
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u/smackdaddybfs 15d ago
Haha. I recognize that. It’s from the Quarter Dome video of TylerK and TommyC. I look forward to watching people shit all over it as amateurish.
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u/KDs4thBurner 15d ago edited 15d ago
He secured himself with a sling then created a bunny ears rope anchor then improvised on top.
Edit: you can see a bit better here (redirect so no factor 2 fall, green line to haul stuff, etc).
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u/ivegotawoman 15d ago
The climbers are Tyler Karow and Tommy Caldwell so I'm a bit surprised they would improvise so much on two bolts
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u/BostonFartMachine 15d ago
It isn’t improvised just because you don’t understand it
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u/serenading_ur_father 15d ago
The only people who don't improvise anchors are absolutely beginners.
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u/KDs4thBurner 15d ago
If you haven’t make a neat master point, it starts to look like this organically as things happen. Beginners tend to fixate on optimising anchors, but experienced climbers often intuitively do what works, rather than being fastidious.
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u/Ghastly-Rubberfat 15d ago
There was a time 15 or so years ago when people started hating on cordalettes and boosted the idea of using the rope for all anchors. I don’t deny that it’s totally fine, but it’s not for me. I always thought the simplest way was the best way, and that looks complex
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u/AlexanderHBlum 15d ago
It’s not complex at all. It’s really simple, fast, and easy to learn how to do. Absolutely less steps than using a cordellette …
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u/Ghastly-Rubberfat 15d ago
Dude, it’s a 2 bolt anchor with what looks like some fucking hippie making a macrame vest. Give me a break, and a quad.
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u/ricky_harline 15d ago
The quad would only replace the bunny ears knot. To achieve the functionality they want from the anchor it would still look like a hippie macrame vest, just the bunny ears knot would be replaced with the quad. That isn't simpler, faster, or less complex.
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u/Fumanchusucka 15d ago
Its e.r.n.e.s.t and im not saying id trust my life to it but its all on what risk you wanna take on
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u/Mountain_Conclusion6 15d ago
Possibly a version of the American death triangle
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u/ricky_harline 15d ago
The ADK has a strand up top that goes directly from one side to the other. This is just a bunny ears knot which is extremely safe and bomber and textbook.
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u/Mountain_Conclusion6 14d ago
Granted poor choice of words and might be venturing into a religious discussion but it seems like a whole lotta lotta for a weekend duffer bringing up their second. Clearly Caldwell who back in the day you would see climbing in the Boulder Rock gym with his dad is not in the WD category 🤣
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u/gergek 15d ago
Just looks like a bunny ears figure 8 anchor made from the rope.