Ice Climbing

Tech Tip Tuesday from @seanisaacguiding and @howtoiceclimb : On December 12, 2000, three ice climbers reached the top of the four-pitch Spray River Falls on Sulphur Mountain in Banff. The terrain on top was relatively flat ice so the climbers un-roped and prepared to rappel the route. They discovered a small loop of 7 mm cord poking out of the ice. It was a previous V-thread that they assumed had frozen over covering the knot. They threaded their rappel ropes through the ex...isting V-thread and gave it a yank to test it. The first climber began rappelling while the other two stood beside waiting their turn. As the first climber leaned over the edge and committed their full weight to the ropes, the anchor failed and he fell 140 metres to his death. The cause of failure was that the loop poking out of the ice was in fact not the actual V-thread but only the end of the tail of the V-thread knot. When the rappel ropes were fully weighted, the tail popped out of the ice resulting in the climber falling with the ropes leaving his two partners stranded on top. This accident could have easily been prevented by backing up the V-thread with a sling clipped loosely to an anchor. The tail still would have popped but the back up would have caught the ropes. This is also why V-thread back-ups are clipped to the actual climbing rope and not the V-thread cord. The lesson learned is to ALWAYS inspect existing V-threads and ALWAYS back up single-point rappel anchors. Note: Try to use no-threads (forgoing the cord and feeding the rope directly through the V-thread holes) when possible if the ice is dry and the chance of the rope freezing in is low. This will help reduce plastic garbage in the watershed. Second note: If in doubt about the quality of the V-thread then do not hesitate to add a second V-thread as a permanent back up. Plastic garbage in the watershed is preferable over human body hitting the ground. Photos @alexpopovphotography

@jasfauteux on the upper half of Fearful Symmetry in the Ghost

Skiing distracted me from posting Tech Tip Tuesday so here it is on a Wed. From @seanisaacguiding Ice Climbing Physics 101... There are a lot of myths and misguided notions about ice climbing systems and strengths. All of this can be debunked with a general understanding of climbing physics. By the numbers: Human = 1kN (225 lbs) 20kN is considered full strength in climbing Single climbing ropes are rated to dissipate a maximum impact force of 9kN At 10kN we start breaking bones and damaging organs (dead at 15kN) Carabiners = 20kN Sewn slings = 22kN Knots reduce sling strength significantly (~50% in dyneema; ~30% in nylon) Mid-length screws in high-quality ice rate = ~10kN Ice threads (V, A, No) = 11-14kN Modern 10mm bolts = 24kN Most manual-braking devices (i.e. Reverso, ATC and Munter hitch) start to slip at 3-4kN Munter in open position slips at 2-3kN Assisted-braking devices (i.e. GriGri, Megajul, Smart) won’t slip until 7kN therefore exert 30% more impact force Load-limiter draws (i.e. Screamers, Rippers) can dissipate 2-3kN of impact force Now let’s look at application of these numbers in top rope context: When we say take to lean back, the anchor’s master point sees 2kN of force (double our body weight due to pulley effect). Max force a TR anchor may see is 5kN Two good anchor screws equalized should produce a full-strength anchor of ~20kN An anchor configured with a dyneema sling and tied with a master-point knot (figure-8, overhand, girth hitch) is still rated 22kN since the sling is doubled (=44kN) before the strength-reducing effects of the knot. A directional screw placed to the side decreases force on the anchor (deflection) by opening the angle And even more importantly in multi-pitch lead context: FF2 (10m of rope in system for a 20m fall) onto the anchor produces 9kN to the anchor and 9kN to the climber FF1.9 (10m of rope in system for a 19m fall) onto a single redirected screw of the anchor produces still 9kN to the climber but a whopping 15kN to the screw due to multiplication of forces from pulley effect. FF1 is still a very high force fall with the 11kN to the anchor and 6kN to the climber s

Always love the shots with the motion blur. Great one of @jeff_mercier_ by @marc_daviet

Still one of my favs, @jon.walsh leading Superlite in Protection Valley