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Pop Quiz! How good are your trad skills?

Original Post
BBQ · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Apr 2009 · Points: 554

Debate and pick the most correct answer to the following question:

A lead climber has finished a long crack route in which several cams and stoppers were placed into the crack. The anchors are made with two 3/8 bolts and metolius hangers. Two pieces of what appear to be fresh webbing are tied to the hangers and the webbing is equipped with two steel quick links. The climber has a Trango Cinch , an ATC, some leftover active and passive gear, along with several slings and quick draws. The climber uses a Sterling Chain Reactor to attach themselves to the left bolt clipping the hanger with a locking carabiner. They use the other the bolt and hanger to attach themselves with a clove hitch at their end of the rope. After giving the off belay signal and bringing up the rest of the rope The climber should.

a) Use a locking carabiner to attach the Trango Cinch to the quicklinks attached to the webbing and proceed to belay.

b) Attach the Trango Cinch to their belay loop send a length of rope into a quickdraw on the left bolt and a sling with locking carabiners on the right bolt.

C) Use their ATC instead of the Cinch with a similiar setup to answer b.

D) Use their ATC and locking carabiners to set up an autoblocking belay.

E) All of the above are correct.

cdec · · SLC, UT · Joined Jan 2007 · Points: 654

Should have saved $50 bucks on the pas, cloved with the rope to a master point or shelf and spent the fifty on tasties. As for the rest let the masses have their say.

Nate Solnit · · Bath, NH · Joined May 2013 · Points: 0
cdec wrote:Should have saved $50 bucks on the pas, cloved with the rope to a master point or shelf and spent the fifty on tasties. As for the rest let the masses have their say.
+1
Stagg54 Taggart · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Dec 2006 · Points: 10

PAS=POS

If he needs one of those to build an anchor I think he should just quit climbing.

Edit to add: Either that or become a sport climber.

Robert Mooring · · Lafayette · Joined Aug 2008 · Points: 300

F) drop acid, untie, and free solo the hell out of there

Benjamin Chapman · · Small Town, USA · Joined Jan 2007 · Points: 18,818

Should have constructed an anchor with an equalette and clipped into the master point. Belay from the Cinch or ATC via a redirect with a quickdraw from the bolt. Screw the PAS (save $50) and use a Purcell Prussik next time to back up the tie in.

cdec · · SLC, UT · Joined Jan 2007 · Points: 654

^^^^^
Nope needlessly complicated.

Eric Klammer · · Eagle, CO · Joined Oct 2012 · Points: 2,070

This is hard to take seriously with your misspelling "biner" haha. Otherwise I agree with the above. Forget the PAS, keep it simple.

marty funkhouser · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Dec 2007 · Points: 20

How is belaying off 2 bolts a trad 'skill'?

Chris Winters · · Chattanooga, TN · Joined Jul 2012 · Points: 25

I love where this thread has gone.

Eliot Augusto · · Lafayette, CO · Joined Dec 2013 · Points: 60

Look at the webbing in the hangers and laugh on your way past. You have gear and "trad skills." Why stop at the anchors? Once you get to 60m, you should start simul climbing.

SethG · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Aug 2009 · Points: 291

Why on earth would you haul around a Cinch and an ATC? Seriously, does anyone do this? I've never seen anyone dragging a Cinch up a trad route.

EricF · · San Francisco · Joined May 2012 · Points: 120
Scott Robertson · · Portland, OR · Joined Jun 2002 · Points: 110

A locking beaner? Or a locking biner? Oh man that's not good...

Scott Robertson · · Portland, OR · Joined Jun 2002 · Points: 110
Eliot Augusto wrote:Look at the webbing in the hangers and laugh on your way past. You have gear and "trad skills." Why stop at the anchors? Once you get to 60m, you should start simul climbing.
Buuuuuuueno.
doligo · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Sep 2008 · Points: 264

Correct answer would be next time you go up there bring two chain links and a knife and replace that soon to be a mountain of tat pile with nice chains.

Greg D · · Here · Joined Apr 2006 · Points: 883

Correct Answer:

F) Bolted anchor on trad climb. Ha ha.

G) PAS (Piece ah shit) on a skilled climber. Ha Ha

H) Slings on Metolius anchors? You mean the Metolius anchors that you can rap off direct?

I) Trango Cinch? Sport climbers aren't even using these.

Anonymous · · Unknown Hometown · Joined unknown · Points: 0

Go get a lesson cause your totally guessin!!

Travis Weil · · Leavenworth, WA · Joined Mar 2009 · Points: 0

If you say that you have slings, why not build a proper anchor off of the bolts then attach yourself and the belay device to it and bring your partner up. If the slings won't work you can use your rope to create an effective master point in which to belay your partner. Seems like you didn't list enough options for your hypothetical situation.

highaltitudeflatulentexpulsion · · Colorado · Joined Oct 2012 · Points: 35

I think Brent failed the pop quiz by posting it.

Add another to the n00b file.

camhead · · Vandalia, Appalachia · Joined Jun 2006 · Points: 1,240

I'm glad the OP specified that they were Metolius hangers. Otherwise this post would have been unnecessarily confusing.

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

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