What do you bring in case you epic on route?

the rope. the rack. the shirt on your back...

Highlander wrote:Rastafarian bivy kit: 2 joints and a lighter

I call it "attitude adjustment"... Anyone who starts worrying, whining, getting angry or scared when the day starts going downhill gets an attitude adjustment. Some days I find its more important than Advil or a band aid.

Amen, Stagg.

Or to quote Chouinard: if you bring bivy gear, you will bivy. Gotta think hauling a lot of epic repellent would have similar effects.

A close friend of mind is a longtime member of Alpine Rescue. I'd need a massive first aid kit to live through the ass-chewing I would get from him. Pretty good epic deterrent right there.

Semi-seriously: tiny knife w/scissors, munchies, imitrex for the migraines, bandana for everything, clothing; maybe a pint of water. It all fits in an old BD SuperGenius bullet pack. It doesn't leave the ground for anything shorter than about 8 pitches, but is always with us above 8,000 feet.

And the best partner anywhere, and a shovel to keep my shit together.

ViperScale wrote: Or a special needle with instructions... of which the same partner of mine has used twice from me not waking up...

Dang. Yeah good call...
I once climbed with a dude who apparently had seizures at random times... I had no idea of this and found out much later... should have told me, I wouldn't have been upset, just would have been glad to know.

Stagg54 wrote:the rope. the rack. the shirt on your back...

Going pantless... soon you will be like the guy in NC who climbs with nothing but a hat.

I think his name is Austin Howell?

If u dun have some kinda of rain protection during the common canadian rockies afternoon thunderstorms ur effed

It can go from blue skies to torrential wind blown cold rain pretty quick .... And even the "toughest" men can go hypothermic with their hands shaking to much that they cant setup a rappel

The other thing to remember is that even if you call in dem rescue folks ... You may well need to survive the night

Out here in canmore/banff weve had several freezing nights this august as well as a snowstorm .... At altitude itll be even worse

Now in squamish in the summer you can get by with climbing the chief with basically nothing

It all depends where and when

;)

B.S. Luther wrote:I got a chalk bag with a little zipper pocket that I really like. I've seen a few around, the one I have is the BD Mojo: blackdiamondequipment.com/e… I leave a small knife, lighter, and a bit of tape in there. Don't even notice it. You can stash a headlamp in there too, although you might notice the bulge when you're chalking up if it's a bigger headlamp. Instead of the usual chalk belt I use 6mm cord, that way it doubles as a prussik/auto-bock for rappels or self-rescue. Could also use it as tat for a rap anchor. Pretty handy, especially for unknown rappels in the dark. I'm also a big fan of pants with a zippered hip pocket. Nice way to stash food, headlamp, topo, and/or camera. Just don't put your phone in there on offwidth pitches...

I wish my chalk bag had a pocket... it would be so nice to always have a few lightweight items like a knife, tape, etc. without ever having to think about bringing them up, even on a 2 or 3 pitch route. Maybe I will invest in the near future... Does anyone else have a model that you prefer? Ideally I would like something that has a really good closure so that I don't spill too much chalk.

flynn wrote:Amen, Stagg. Or to quote Chouinard: if you bring bivy gear, you will bivy. Gotta think hauling a lot of epic repellent would have similar effects. A close friend of mind is a longtime member of Alpine Rescue. I'd need a massive first aid kit to live through the ass-chewing I would get from him. Pretty good epic deterrent right there. Semi-seriously: tiny knife w/scissors, munchies, imitrex for the migraines, bandana for everything, clothing; maybe a pint of water. It all fits in an old BD SuperGenius bullet pack. It doesn't leave the ground for anything shorter than about 8 pitches, but is always with us above 8,000 feet. And the best partner anywhere, and a shovel to keep my shit together.

I think that the bivy gear quote has some truth to it. If you think that you can do a route in a day, it might be best to just go light and leave the bivy gear at home.

What I am more curious about is what people are bringing on shorter multi-pitch routes to make your life less miserable in case things don't go exactly according to plan. For me, I think there are a few items that I could carry more regularly that might actually save me from an epic if things do go wrong. The weight of these items would probably have a minimal impact on climbing performance for the type of routes that I normally do.

#1) Enough cord that I can leave a few anchors and get down and a knife to cut it.
This generally consists of my partners and I carrying cordalettes in the 15'+ range.

Everything else is less important. It is far easier to get help or whatever on the ground than 1/2 way up a cliff.

Alex Abrams wrote: I wish my chalk bag had a pocket... it would be so nice to always have a few lightweight items like a knife, tape, etc. without ever having to think about bringing them up, even on a 2 or 3 pitch route. Maybe I will invest in the near future... Does anyone else have a model that you prefer? Ideally I would like something that has a really good closure so that I don't spill too much chalk.

your chalk bag can have a pocket:

tufaclimbing.com/full-shop/…

Things I have actually used in emergencies:

knife
lighter
headlamp
space blanket
bandages
bandana/ace
closed-cell foam
cell phone

also, climbing specific emergencies: slings/cord, biners/rap rings, pro

extra food/ water/ clothing layers also often get used

Tapas wrote: your chalk bag can have a pocket: tufaclimbing.com/full-shop/…

That chalk bag looks really nice... I like how the pocket is on the bottom. Do you have one? Is it actually big enough to fit a windshirt, knife, headlamp, etc.?

I like to keep a razor blade taped to the inside of my helmet, instead of carrying a knife.

revans90 wrote:some harden the fuck up

haha, yes.

Wow, some people going lite in here. For me, if its an alpine route within my grade, the 16oz down/synthetic jacket isn't going to make a difference climbing wise. If its pushing my grade, then the 160z jacket might actually be needed, even though it might make a small difference for climbing. Either way, I think if you're stuck on an alpine route without insulation you would never be glad you didn't bring that extra 160z. You would probably never climb without out it again.. Insulation is so lite these days it seems ridiculous not to bring some on longer routes in the mountains. Where lighter approach shoes, cut a couple cams from your rack, or something...or freeze your ass off. Or go hypothermic if it rains.

Wow, some people going lite in here. For me, if its an alpine route within my grade, the 16oz down/synthetic jacket isn't going to make a difference climbing wise. If its pushing my grade, then the 160z jacket might actually be needed, even though it might make a small difference for climbing. Either way, I think if you're stuck on an alpine route without insulation you would never be glad you didn't bring that extra 160z. You would probably never climb without out it again.. Insulation is so lite these days it seems ridiculous not to bring some on longer routes in the mountains. Where lighter approach shoes, cut a couple cams from your rack, or something...or freeze your ass off. Or go hypothermic if it rains.

knowledge.

In RMNP one of those lightweight bivy sacks or a bothy bag. Mostly for comfort sitting out hard rain / hail storms. Of course a synthetic belay jacket and a head lamp.

Brassmonkey wrote:knowledge

Possibly the best answer... Fitness also. Knowledge keeps you from getting in trouble, fitness gets you out of trouble.

Extrablue wrote:Sex Swing. Can't be epic without one. But seriously if you bring a bunch of emergency gear you run into a conundrum. If you're prepared it's not an epic. But if you carry a bunch of crap with you, you increases your chances of epic-ing (or at least failure). But since a prepared epic is no epic. You see the circular logic.

Naw... Prepared epics do happen, and are the ones we don't wish on anyone. 14 year old boy who rescued his dad in our backcountry, definitely in this first category. They'll probably celebrate a second birthday for dad every year now. For the rest of us, surviving our own stupidity will be the stories we'll repeat, once the people we inflicted ourselves on get over being pissed.