Alpine Lead Climbing

What is Alpine Climbing?

Alpine climbing combines elements of mountaineering with technical rock climbing and/or ice climbing skills. The ability to adapt to changing terrain and conditions is essential in alpine climbing. The alpine environment's challenging and sometimes unpredictable nature requires climbers to carry lightweight yet comprehensive gear, make strategic decisions regarding route finding and timing, and prioritize safety through proper rope techniques and protection placement.

Compared to climbing at the crag, alpine climbing requires a much higher degree of planning and judgement. When to go, what to bring, and how to protect the team can all become make-or-break decisions.

Planning

Climb planning will often involve the following considerations:

Route selection: Route should be within abilities. Hopefully it is also inspiring and looks fun.
Team selection: Everyone on the team should be comfortable with the route and the team should have the capability to handle emergency situations.
Weather / Avalanche conditions: Understand the weather before, during, and immediately after the intended timeframe. Do not be overly optimistic in the face of a mediocre forecast.
Mapping: Make or find a GPS track. Visualize it in detail, including the distance and elevation profile. Save it to each team member's GPS device.
Scheduling: Determine the key points in the trip and estimate the time between points. Build a schedule that fits the desired timeframe and environmental constraints. Identify turn-around times if applicable.
Gear list: Consider team gear and personal gear.
Emergency plan: Think ahead about how the team could self-rescue from different points in the route. Leave a detailed trip plan with an in-town contact. Include expected return and when to call SOS.

Read (or at least skim) this blog post about planning for a particular climb: https://shashishanbhag.com/climb/planning-an-alpine-climbing-trip/

Gear

Alpine climbing uses much of the same gear as other forms of climbing, although there may be more emphasis placed on gear being lightweight and versatile in a variety of situations.

Helmet: Lightweight and comfortable with good ventilation for all-day wear.
Harness: Comfortable for hiking as well as climbing.
Shoes: Depending on the route, comfortable climbing shoes, approach shoes, mountaineering boots, or some combination may be used.
Rock Gear: Often this is a carefully pared-down selection of cams, nuts, and other traditional protection chosen specifically for the route, plus a set of extendable alpine draws and anchor material.
Belay Device: Traditionally, tube style devices have been preferred because they are simple, light, and versatile, although assisted braking devices are becoming more common in the alpine due to their safety benefits.
Rescue Gear: Additional cordage and other specialized devices in case self-rescue is required. This may include extra anchor material for unplanned rappels.
Food and Water: Consider possibility of finding / filtering water on route.
Clothing: For planned and unplanned events.
Overnight Gear: Route dependent.
First Aid: Basics for common injuries.
Navigation: GPS with offline maps downloaded, plus map and compass.
Pack: As small as possible while still fitting required gear. Should sit close to back and allow access to harness.

Ortovox Example Gear Checklist

https://www.ortovox.com/safety-academy-lab-rock/fileadmin/user_upload/Downloads/180214_Packliste_LS_EN.pdf

Protection Strategies

Because alpine climbing encompasses a variety of terrain from hiking on trails, to scrambling up blocks, to vertical rock or ice climbing, the team must constantly adjust their protection strategy to best fit the situation. The three main protection strategies are:

Scrambling / soloing: Unroped climbing.
Simul-climbing: All climbers move at the same time while tied into the same rope with some pieces of protection between climbers. Protection is placed by the first climber and removed by the last.
Pitching out: Leader is belayed from below while placing gear, builds an anchor, belays followers up.

On an alpine climb, it's typical to employ a mix of these techniques and switch between them as the climb progresses. Generally, techniques that offer higher security demand more time. When time is a crucial consideration due to factors like weather or daylight, the team should opt for the fastest protection strategy that still ensures sufficient security.

Rope Selection

There are 3 ratings for ropes that are used in climbing: Single, Half, and Twin. Single ropes are the only ones rated to be used alone, so they are the simplest option and a good choice as a starter rope, though the other types have advantages in certain situations.

Single Rope

Simplest setup and belay technique
Can be used with tube device (ATC) or Grigri

Half Ropes

Ropes are clipped to alternating pieces of protection
Ropes have more stretch, so the force on protection is lower in the case of a fall
Most challenging belay technique, since ropes must be managed individually
Requires a tube-style device with two slots
Ropes can be tied together for a double-rope rappel

Twin Ropes

Two ropes are clipped together into each piece of protection
Lighter than half ropes; a pair of ropes is similar in weight to one single-rated rope
Similar belay strategy to single rope, but requires a device with two slots
Ropes can be very skinny and may require a specialized belay device (e.g. ATC Alpine Guide)
Adds redundancy vs. single rope; may be desirable if there's a heightened chance of rope damage due to sharp rocks or ice, rock fall, or ice axes and crampons — twin ropes are most commonly used in ice climbing for that reason

Some models of rope carry multiple ratings and can be used in any configuration for which they are rated. Other factors which may affect choice of rope include: diameter, weight, dry treatment, fall rating, and maximum impact force. More information can be found here: https://www.vdiffclimbing.com/basic-rope/

Racking Up

Trad climbing requires the leader to carry a fair amount of gear on their harness. It's important to keep that gear well organized and out of the way so that you know where it is when you need it and it doesn't interfere with your climbing. Ultimately, how a climber racks up their harness is up to personal preference, but there are a few key principles that many climbers tend to follow:

Most frequently used gear toward the front, least frequently used toward the back. Gear that you need to be able to see to choose (e.g. cams) is especially important to have on the front gear loops.
Cams in size order with smallest in front. Having large cams too far forward tends to get in the way of climbing.
Weight somewhat balanced around the harness.

Here is one person's approach to racking up a rather large amount of gear:

Cleaning and Re-racking Gear

The follower on a trad climb is usually responsible for cleaning (removing) trad gear from the wall and carrying it with them as they climb. The most important thing is to not drop the gear! If it can also be kept neat and organized that's even better.

Belayer Positioning

Sometimes the belayer may want to belay from a stance that is not immediately next to the anchor, either for comfort or in order to see and communicate with their climber below. This is common on ledges or the top of a climb, when the best anchor location may be far from the edge. One way to achieve this is to use the rope to extend the anchor and make a secondary masterpoint closer to the belaying position. This video shows how to use a natural feature as an anchor and extend the belay to the edge. The same technique for extending a belay can be used with a traditional anchor by redirecting the climbing rope through a locking carabiner at the masterpoint and walking it back toward the desired belay stance.

How to protect traverses

They are the trickiest pitches to get right when it comes to runners and belays, but traverses often provide our most memorable climbing journeys, taking compelling lines amidst dramatic scenery.

Here is the link to an article covering the art of protecting a traverse safely for the leader and the belayer.

Bailing

Sometimes things don't go quite as planned and it is necessary to get down before the end of the route. It's a difficult choice to make, but it is sometimes the right choice. If bailing is necessary, it is better to make the decision to turn back early rather than press on and risk the team getting in over their heads. Having open dialogue with the team along the route will help identify if there is a need to turn back. Some key points to keep in mind about bailing:

Have a plan for how to bail and update it as you climb.
Bring the necessary gear to be able to bail safely. This may include extra gear, carabiners, rigging material, or webbing.
Do not skimp on safety. Do safety checks. Use rappel backups. Make bail anchors redundant (at least two solid pieces). Don't worry about the cost of gear left behind.

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