CLIMBING GEAR

Warning : ALL your stuff will suffer from contact with the sandstone. Be careful of the sand!

 

Preparing the equipment before attacking one of the largest of the cracks at Abu Lasafa.
(Photo B. DOMENECH)

ROPES

2 from 45 to 50 meters (8,5 mm.)  Taking wear and tear into account, a spare rope is not an unnecessary luxury for a stay of any length. Watch out for the sand which gets into things! And look out for ropes tearing on the ridges !

Use the double-rope technique for climbing.  Contrary to what many people believe, (especially French climbers who are not used to it….) the advantage of this technique is not in the clipping, rigorously alternating one and the other rope (1 time out of   2). It is rather that I clip everything on the right with the red, everything on the left with the yellow - and never the 2 cords in the same runner.

Rope dragging, and untimely dislodging of the nuts can be avoided like this.  Not to mention that it is a much better distribution of any strain!  A single 10.5mm rope (60 to 70m) is often enough for the single pitch climbs or top ropes.

 When I was coming down from "Providential Al' Uzzâ" with Bernard (Domenech) and Denis (Condevaux), we tugged at one of the rappels above like mad! There was no way to get it down! It was too dangerous to go up with the jumars! We dropped down on the fixed ropes, luckily they were still there!

A few days later, in order to get the stubborn thing back, we climbed up via "Martha's Steps". The rope, blocked by a simple bump, had quite simply dug a trench almost 20cm. deep in the sandstone!

SLINGS & CORDS

As many as you can bring (nothing under 7mm).

They are always useful everywhere. Entire climbs have been done threads and bracelets! The slings help to prolong the nuts which avoids rope-drag. Not to mention changing the abseil slings. Or for the essential prussik knots….

Perhaps you, like Albert (Precht) and Siggy (Brochmayer), are a specialist in using knots in the slings and tapes for belaying? In that case, good luck! You will need to learn how to :

• Arrange the cords conscientiously; the finer ones like a "lark's head" on your gear loops and the larger ones strung around your chest

• Avoid securing them by too tight a knot before using them. You need to be able to detach them quickly,

• Knot them (the basic granny knot) with one hand

• Not to tighten the knot too much – the final tightening being done at the time of the fall (this absorbs the shock),
• Choose the right place, of course. Tighten it thoroughly by drawing first on one end, then on the other to jam it correctly.
• Use a short stick (30 to 40 cm.) that you cut into the shape of a spatula at the end, in order to wedge the knots into cracks or any other narrow place.

Imagine the weight gain! And really, when they are properly placed, these knots hold as well as steel. In the soft sandstone, they are often better than a nut. A short training course in the practice in Elbsandsteingebirge will do you the greatest good!

Any surplus cords? Leave them for the other climbers there or offer them to your Bedouin friends. They are always pleased to have them.

 Is there any place in the world where climbing cords are used so much? The majority of the Bedouin tents are held up with Edelrid, with Millet, Edelweiss, or Beal!

We find ourselves in a world where goat hair spun and woven by hand is supported by the most sophisticated methods of synthetic machine weaving!

Replace all the slings systematically, even when they appear recent

MAILLONS

Most of the belay points are not sealed or bolted. More than in other places, the maillon on abseil slings obviously help lowering off the rope, already considerably slowed by friction on the rough rock .

Let me repeat: climbing is exclusively free and natural. You need to be correctly equipped with the necessary nuts and slings.

In short, if the very sight of nuts gives you hives, then you are not in the right place!

SET  OF NUTS

In duplicate for standard climbs (the majority). Read and understand the topos. They generally specify the exact gear you will need. The "RP' s" and other very small cables are essential for certain climbs.

Once again, you must realise that all depends on the rock. If the micro nut has a surface too small, and in soft rock grain, it will "scratch" the rock in "grooving" its surface if it is subject to a sudden strain and then, hop - out! (a disadvantage which you don't get with a cord or a tape knot!). In many cases, it is the repetition (reassuring!) of these modest points, which allow one to brake (absorbing the strain) which is not unimportant in the case of a fall. In short, do not spread outyour runners too far

When I was opening Al' Uzzâ I zipped with my feet, in the crux - a superb dihedron as smooth as can be. I was held by masses of small nuts and RP' S.

I couldn't hold on with just the tips of my fingers! I heard - ping, ping, ping! All the nuts popped out, and here I was, swinging back and forth, held by the belay with the relay, in the arms of Bernard! A flight of a good fifteen meters, held by a good micro-friend, firm as concrete!

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CAM DEVICES

The "Camalot" are today THE reference for the average to big sizes.

For the smallest, it is the specificity of the ground which determines the choice. The importance is often the size of their head, and therefore of their versatility! (holes, surface cracks…)

The chief problem in Rum, is that at the time of a violent shock, the behaviour of the cams depends not only on the surface of the rock, of positioning, but also of the quality of the total rock mass.

Illustration :

I put my Camalot in the crack, the cams half open. I lengthen it with a sling, I clip my cord to the right-hand side, etc. Everything is fine. It is nearly a textbook example of ideal placement. But then, I jump… Perhaps a bit abruptly… The cams expand, get encrusted in the sandstone, and then … everything explodes!

The sandstone around it couldn't resist the strain. The edge of the crack has dissolved into sand.

Don't let's be paranoid! It is easy to deal with all that when you are caught up in doubt. And believe me, it would be very bad luck for it to happen! I just want to warn you about an incident which wouldn't occur in other kinds of harder rock (granite, good limestone, basalt...)

Solution : put the device a little deeper in than usual, further from the edges of the crack.

Another problem, already mentioned with the micro-nuts : popping out after severe "grooving" of the too soft sandstone by the fine cams of the gadget.

The ideal would be to have broader cams, in order to get rid of the problem!  Certain manufacturers are experimenting with this (in the USA, in particular). Problem - the more metal there is, the greater the weight...

(Let me say again : the wedging of big cords or tapes knots avoids these problems)

It is therefore important to place these mechanical tools with their cams pretty well closed. If they slip, the cams have a large reserve and give an increased safety margin. Conversely, if the cams are already stretched almost to their maximum (too small size…), there isn't enough margin in the event of shock and disintegration of the rock! For all these reasons, I repeat, avoid spacing out your protection.

NUTKEY  TO,… DETACH ALL THIS BEAUTIFUL GEAR

In adventurous terrain, it can be useful to take along a hammer and some hard steel pegs. They can help you out of trouble! But, be careful! In no circumstances trust them to hold you in a real fall!

A valuable combination to have in reserve :

•   a hammer with a rather fine point

•   a masonry drill with its bit

•  an "Abalalov" hook (for small threads)

Like this, you easily bore threads in the tafonis, the flakes, etc. It is the principle of "Abalakov", applied to the rock.

NB: this method is often used by certain openers who prefer to bore a thread (by hand or by drill) instead of placing a bolt, or any other metal "parasite". Clever boys!

FIXED EQUIPMENT IN SITU

 (Large minority of routes)
 

You might meet bolts (10 and 12 mm), some very rare old 8mmm bolts, rare pegs, sealed rings, and "peg-bolts".  Let's talk about these "peg-bolts".

* * *

I had the pleasure of  being the first to use this system in Wadi Rum, when we opened "Alan & his perverse frog" (Um Ejil West/6b).  That was the perversity! Boring a hole in the rock to fix a solid anchor point where there was absolutely no chance of any natural one. The problem was that my friends were English, and thus basically allergic to anything artificial like this!

Alan Baker, my companion that particular day, couldn't care less.

A "peg-bolt", is a very small V-shaped piton, made of hard steel (chromium molybdenum or something close), which one hammers into an UNDERSIZED hole previously drilled with a very simple wall drill (and a 10 bit).  We carried out live tests. They hold very well (if they are correctly done, of course!).

Another advantage – you can also stick it on afterwards with resin, by injection into the interstice of the V. Ex: the "peg-bolt" of the key passage of the Pillar of Wisdom (Jebel Rum East/6b or Ao/6a).

Attention however, when they are not stuck. Check them very carefully. Repeated strain loosens grains of sand between the bolt and the rock. The "bending" of the piton is cancelled then, and... Nothing holds. The bolt is "floating" in its hole.  Whatever,  don't hammer them in again. The shock of the hammer blows leads to the same result!

NB: I learned this system in Colorado, from Harvey Carter, historical pioneer together with Layton Korr and others, of climbing among the sandstone towers of the American west. (I first met him in the "Garden of Gods" in Eldorado Spring - Colorado/USA in 1979).

Bolts 10 or 12 mm, pretty long, behave well for ... A certain time only!  Same phenomenon: the sandy grain of the sandstone disaggregates. Again, everything always depends on the hardness of the sandstone - really not the same everywhere.

They are of course practical for opening routes, and preferable in a large diameter. Let us note that altruists wanting to "redo" the equipment can block any movement of the stem by sticking the whole with resin (Sika or similar).

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Rings sealed with resin are perfect! No comment.  And the resin can be coloured with a little sand for environmental aesthetics!  Let us point out here the brilliant work of the openers of "La Guerre Sainte" (Nassranyia N, East face), who have entirely worked over their route and sealed it.  A perfect example of how such routes should be.

Otherwise, most rings are used as relays, belaying anchors and as protection in "shorts climbs".

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CAUTION !

The traditional pitons will certainly not resist (usually...) any real strain (a fall, I mean), or repeated strains. Note this well. If you use them to get you out of a bad hole, choose V, S, some blades…. If possible made of hard steel.

One finds nowadays, like everywhere else, more and more threads and "tunnels", drilled with the power or the hand drill, and provided with good thick cords ("Abalakov").  They are very solid, clean and replaceable. Provided that the consistency of the rock at this place is good, and that the thickness of the thread is strong enough.

Stories of threads which explode – we've already been through that…!

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 CHECK-LIST CLIMBING GEAR, and so on…
 

In your bag (classic routes))

• comfortable harness + large chalkbag 

• lightweight helmet, light coloured

• camelback or similar

• 3 ropes (8,5 mm.) of 45 to 50 m.

• plenty of slings (7mm. minimum), a few tape slings

• 2 sets of nuts (2 x 9 numbers)

• 2 sets of Friends, or  Camalots, or DMM, or…

Ex : Camalots (2 x from n°0,3 to n°3,5) + one n°4 (a n°4 is part of the basic rack !) 

•  a handful of RP’s + Offsets (HB)

• 12 quickdraws + few single carabiners

• 1 nutkey

• descender (8), with its screwgate carabiner

• belay-plate (double-rope), with its screwgate carabiner

• one «"Mini-traxion" pulley from Petzl

In your bag (longer, committing routes, without equipment in situ…)

• first aid kit

• lightweight headtorch

• few maillons

• spare slings

• lighter

• pocket knife

• food

• hand drill

• 2, 3 mini-pegs (V angle)

• variety of 3, 4 pegs

• a hook for threads (for Abalakov’s)

• mini tea-pot (with tea and sugar inside)

• water

• polar-fleece jacket

For the specific gear on "Bedouin routes", see "bedouin routes – how to get on"  in MORE ABOUT MOUNTAINEERING & SCRAMBLING.

Wilfried Colonna