Rock Climbing Trad Anchors

Rock Climbing Trad Anchors

Rock Climbing Trad Anchors. How to build a trad anchor is always one of the first questions people ask when they venture into the world of traditional climbing. When there are no bolts or fixed gear to show you the way, where do you set up your anchor, and how do you do it? Well the answer is that it takes a lot of practice and experience. It seems like today everyone wants to just do it first time and be done with it. Just press the magic button and do it. Well, some things in life require practice and more practice. The more you climb, the more experience you gain and the better climber you become. The same is true for placing traditional climbing gear. You simply have to get out there and trad climb. The more experience you have placing gear the better and more efficient you will become. There is no short cut.

Setting up trad anchors

In this video you'll see how to create a trad anchor using three pieces of gear and two slings. The three pieces of gear could be any type of trad gear but in the video we use three cams. The use of the proper gear depends on the rock features, your rack, and what you have left when you get to a stance where you want to make your anchor. Again, experience is what will help you in these situations and a little creativity is always important. Creativity comes with experience. As you can see, get out there and practice!

The two closest cams are equalized with the shorter sling (60cm sling). This creates a piece anchor. If both cams are solid and you feel comfortable with this set up, you're done. Use that as your anchor. Putting in two solid pieces is perfectly ok, you don't need to create 3 or 4 or 5 piece anchors. This takes up more gear and more time and you're bound to end up with a big, ugly, unorganized nest that will most likely get tangled. This mess can end up complicating things which can lead to confusion and time consuming rope tangles. Ultimately, it can also be more dangerous. So if you like the first two pieces that you have, use that as your anchor and continue climbing!

Rock Climbing Trad Anchors: Three piece trad anchor

However, in this video, we incorporate a third cam. We use the 120cm sling to connect the two piece anchor to the third cam. Then we block this sling by making a figure 8 knot on a bight. This creates the master point where we clip ourselves into. To belay the other climber/s, you can belay from the master point or the shelf created above the master point. To give ourselves a little more throw while belaying (more space to pull up the rope) we use the shelf in the video.

There is no substitute or short cut in trad climbing and setting up trad anchors. You simply have to do it often. Practice knots, hitches, and systems in your house. But get outdoors on real rock and climb and place gear to learn the intricacies of placing trad gear. Keep practicing and keep climbing!

To maximize your learning curve, take a climbing course with Bigtime Aventura. Contact us to set up your personalized climbing course or guided climbing adventure.