CS6 | Rock Climbing
Rock Overview, Climbing Classifications, Signing up for Climbs
Classroom Sessions Logistics
Meeting Time: 3/27, 7:00 PM Pacific Time
Location: Remote
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Meeting ID: 876 7737 3737
Passcode: 580030
Learning Objectives:
By the end of CS6, Basic Alpine Climbing course students will be able to...
...explain your role as a participant and follower on a climb.
...begin identifying the gear you will be working with.
...discuss identifying, or feel comfortable asking, a leader for clarification about anchors when climbing. Note: you will not learn how to build anchors in this course.
...feel confident in navigating the Mountaineers website to sign up for a climb.
Pre-Class Assignments:
This session will be held as a "flipped classroom". In this mode, most new learning takes place outside the class itself. The class session is used as an opportunity to discuss with your instructor and colleagues the materials with which you have interacted before class, to ask clarifying questions, and so on. Another advantage to this format is efficient usage of time. You get to decide when you would like to complete the pre-class requirements, and take care of them as your schedule allows.
BEFORE CLASS, PLEASE COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING:
(Time suggestion: give yourself ~2 hours total to complete these assignments. You don't have to do them all at once!)
Complete the reading and viewing materials, listed below. The order in which these are listed is intentional; each one builds to the next! Answer the discussion questions for yourself, either writing them down or just thinking about your responses.
Read the first two ANAM case studies (the 2012 and 2014 incidents) and consider the accompanying discussion questions. Optionally, read the third case study.
(Note for students with previous rock climbing experience: BAC is taught assuming no experience on rock, including basic skills such as belaying, etc. If you already have significant experience on rock, please adjust the materials below to meet your needs, up to and including skipping them if you are already quite familiar with the information.)
(~5-7 minutes; read through the "Gear" section, stop at "Knots")
This short article from Outside Online does a particularly good job of distinguishing between climbing types. They also have a good, simple gear overview.
Discussion Questions:
1. Which of these climbing styles have you participated in, if any? Which style do you think of when you hear "climbing"?
2. What are some major differences between gym, sport, and trad climbing?
(~3-5 minutes; read to the "Learn more..." break)
All of the rock climbing that you do in Basic will be "trad climbing". This short article does a great job focusing in on the definition that you read about in the above article, and has an excellent section about relevant gear.
Note: Everything in the “Learn more about Trad Climbing Basics” section in this article is Intermediate Course material! You are not responsible for any of those skills... though it can be fun to read about them.
(filmed at local climbing crag Exit 38, off I-90!)
Rock Climbing: Lead Belay (~4:45)
Lead belaying is one of the several skills you will learn in this course with which you will literally be holding someone's life in your hands. In this video, REI demo the technique on sport climbs, but the fundamental principles of lead belaying are identical regardless of the climbing style.
One note: when the climbers in this video “close the system”, they tie a knot at the end of the rope. This is a single-pitch climbing technique. In multi-pitch climbing (all your Basic rock climbs), you will close the system by tying the two climbers together, one on each end of the rope.
Discussion Questions:
1. Why is the role of a lead belayer such a critically important one?
2. How do you feel about your role as a lead belayer (the following climber) on your upcoming Basic rock climb(s)? What do you feel confident about, and what do you need more practice with? (...and that's a bit of a trick question, because every belayer always needs more practice.)
Trad Gear and the Trad Climbing "Rack" (~3:30)
Required: 1:39 - 5:10; rest of video optional but highly recommended. Good trad gear descriptions. Great demonstration of nuts and cams in “cracks”. Another reminder: you won’t be buying most of this gear this year! You will be handling it when you remove it from the rock and return it to the leader, the lucky one who got to buy it all.
Discussion Questions:
1. Which of the gear introduced here do you recognize, or own already?
2. What questions do you have about rock pro, or rock climbing gear?
(climbing what looks like the gorgeous waves of cracked granite in Squamish, BC)
Types of Anchors (~6:30)
Altus Mountain Guides: types of anchors. You don’t have to learn how to build the anchor! Focus instead on looking at what the leader is anchoring to. Timestamps for each (feel free to fast forward):
Bolts: 0:10
Gear (one style! there are many): 1:39
Natural: 3:42 and 4:56
Discussion Questions:
1. What do we need to think about when looking at what we’re using for anchors?
2. As a BAC student, you won't be building the anchor-- but what is your anchor-related responsibility as a climber on any climb?
Following a Leader - Cleaning Gear (~3:00)
Outdoor Research: cleaning trad gear. Kind of fast-paced and lots of jargon! Just watch what she does and think about the reasons.
Discussion Questions:
1. How does this relate to your role on a climb?
2. Without focusing on the complexities of removing specific pieces of gear, what stands out as the most important thing to remember when cleaning gear?
(climbing in Red Rock outside Las Vegas— incredible, otherworldly sandstone)
Scott Schissel examines my (excellent!) anchor halfway up Liberty Bell.
What to Expect on a Rock Climb and Other Notes
(~10-15 minutes)
Excerpted from the old Basic Alpine Climbing Manual. Please click here for link to text.
For a detailed, personal account and some great pictures of a few basic rock climbs, check out local crusher Julia’s detailed blog posts at Julia Goes Mountaineering. Her posts about Ingalls Peak and South Early Winter Spire both detail the basic rock climb routes.
LIVE CS 6 Case Studies.pdfCase Studies
Discussion Questions:
1. What went wrong in each of these scenarios?
2. What relevance do these have to your climbing experience up to this point? What potential relevance do they have for your planned climbs this season?
3. What questions do you have about these cases?
signing up for a climb.movHow to Sign Up For Climbs (3:00)
Not part of the pre-class homework! Just here as a handy reference.
This video details the process for signing up for climbs on the Mountaineers website, on a desktop/laptop computer browser. The mobile browser view will look a little different.
(If anyone wants to screen record a similar instructional video on their phone for a mobile video, please send it in and we'll get it linked!)
Everything BELOW this is for an in-class activity. It is NOT part of your homework.
Planning an Alpine Rock Climb
While you won't be responsible for planning a climb, you'll still be an active member of the team, responsible for contributing to route finding decisions, helping the team consider breaks, and maybe even thinking about the turnaround time.
The purpose of this activity is to give you an idea about the considerations that go into climb planning. We hope to get you thinking like a climber!
Each major section of a climb at The Tooth in Snoqualmie Pass, WA, is described below, with plenty of pictures and links to other supporting resources. In the small groups that your CS6 leader assigns you, take ___ minutes to consider the prompt questions and discuss as a group.
A wonderful smoky-season shot of The Tooth (right) and The Fang (left) looking back from Pineapple Pass. Chair Peak is hiding behind Tooth. (Photo credit Jeremiah Melson, 9/2021).
The Approach
Questions to consider:
What can you gather from the informational paragraph (from the M website) regarding the approach?
What does the topographical map and GPS track indicate? (follow the red line E to W-- click on the link for a larger, interactive version)
How much time would you personally budget for an approach like this?
Link to GaiaGPS and a GPS track of a fairly representative early-June (snowy) Tooth approach. Pan around a little, check out the topo lines-- read the route!
Hike up the Snow Lake Trail about 2 miles to a talus slope above Source Lake. Traverse above Source Lake on talus or snow, staying beneath a cliff band. Just beyond the cliff band, head up a steep slope, getting as high as possible before crossing a stream. Scramble into the basin under the east face of The Tooth. Ascend this basin to the second notch south of the South Face of The Tooth. Climb through the notch, then down to the north and back up to Pineapple Pass, the notch between the South Face and the pinnacle to its south.
In early season, an alternative approach is to hike from the parking lot up the valley on the left side of the creek, near Source Lake, ascending snow finger into the basin.
Snow covered depending on what time of year you go! Last year we had a great early June trip where the snow let us avoid all the boulder hopping that accompanies a summer or fall climb.
The Climb
Questions to consider:
How many pitches make up this climb?
What would you say the average grade of this route is?
Can you identify a crux in this climb? What is it? How is it described?
The South Face is one of the oldest rock climbs in the history of Washington climbing, first scrambled by a few intrepid Mountaineers in 1928. It follows juggy features, ledges and flakes up the relatively narrow south face of the Tooth, accessed from Pineapple Pass. There is some dirty scrambling and loose rock on this climb but the position is outstanding, the climbing laid-back, and the summit views excellent.
P1 (5.3, 100ft) - From Pineapple Pass, head up and trend right through the general groove/line of weakness, and belay at the slung block.
P2 (5.4, 100ft) - Climb right to a ledge and follow other ledges back and forth, ending near trees with rap tat on the left.
P3 (4th, 70ft) - Scramble up through ledges and short steps. The path of least resistance leads right at the end but it really is choose your own adventure. Belay below the final steep wall.
P4 (5.4, 50ft) - There are three options for the crux and best pitch. Most will go slightly right to a juggy right-facing flake (5.4) which leads to the first rappel station and a scramble finish. To the left is a steep crack (5.8) with good gear and more rock to the summit. The classic finish leads left on balancey moves (5.4, exposed) to the Catwalk ledge, from which the summit is scrambled.
The Descent
Questions to consider:
Are you rappelling or scrambling?
If you are rappelling, how many rappels will there be? What else do you notice about the rappel description?
Looking at the images in both this section and the last, what are some things to keep in mind as you descend?
Light alpine rack - singles to 3 inches with a smattering of nuts
Rappel stations are fully equipped: (as of June 2021) 1st - 3 rap rings and many slings/cord around tree, 2nd - 8mm doubled cordelette w/2 quicklinks, 3rd - two trees each with a few slings, 4th - several slings and 3 rap rings around a block.
The east gully from Pineapple Pass has two bolted chain anchors to make two rappels with a 60m.
Kim Cross rappels toward the foggy base of The Tooth.
The Exit
Questions to consider:
Are you exiting the same way you approached?
How would you pack for this climb?
Estimated round-trip time?
What turnaround time considerations might be important for The Tooth? Think weather, etc.
Tooth conquerers!