Efficiency tips

Here we go...

I find myself getting in fewer pitches some days; call it an off day, call it distraction, call it whatever you want. I am interested in what MP does to improve/increase efficiency both on the approach and on route. Let me have it. Thank you in advance.

for moderate trad ... DOWNCLIMB the route rather than lower/rap off (on TR) ...

youll get twice the mileage and improve your footwork immensely ...

not to mention its a very important skill to have on more runnout/difficult routefinding climbs

;)

Get in better aerobic condition so you can go longer harder. Start earlier - stay longer. Develop a good gear exchange system to use at belays etc. Don't talk - climb :).

Both partners should Always Be Doing Something.

Don't rest until the next leader is on belay. That means when you reach the anchor spot, build the anchor with the same pace you were using before, get your partner on belay, then rest. Once your partner arrives, nobody gets to eat/drink/sit around chatting until the next leader is on belay with all the gear and the rope already flipped.

I've seen plenty of people have 20 minutes belay changeovers. For beginners, I'd say anchor-building will have the greatest return on saved time. Get the time from anchor to 'on bela'y down from 10-15 minutes to 3 or less minutes.

For your next few climbs, bring a digital watch with you that you can attach to your backpack strap. You'll be surprised where you lose time.

Relevant thread: mountainproject.com/v/tips-…

Ollieon: any advice for this? I think a really common beginner mistake is to overbuild anchors...not that this is a bad thing in terms of safety (as long as you have enough gear for the next pitch), but it definitely kills your pitch count. It's a hard balance to strike, as you certainly don't want to UNDER build. I've noticed a lot of people will save time by belaying off of a single, solid anchor (e.g: a tree); is this acceptable if you're just belaying up a second and not going to be TRing off of it all day?

Already some great tips here. I would suggest working on you and your partner's rope management. Safety in with a clove hitch instead of a personal anchor will cut down on time. Good rope management allows your second to take the lead quickly as you won't be dealing with tangles and knots.

With trading the rack. Give your partner only one piece at a time, as they are clipping that piece to their harness, get the next one ready for them to grab from you.

tsherry wrote:With trading the rack. Give your partner only one piece at a time, as they are clipping that piece to their harness, get the next one ready for them to grab from you.

If you and your partner have an agreed racking system, don't bother with the extra time of passing things between you or the risk of dropping stuff-- just go ahead and have the second directly transfer the gear into its place on the leader's rack (or over his head when it comes to slings).

Practice placing gear. A lot of time is wasted by beginners building the anchor because they just don't see the placements spots. This comes with experience and lots of practice. Judging what is good enough is another time saving quality.

Something that's overlooked is how the second cleans the pitch. Many climbers just clip the gear anywhere they can. This may seem fast but in reality is not considering the time it takes to re-rack. A quicker method is to rack the gear as you climb. Sounds slower but it's not. Granted in strenuous spots you don't do this, sometimes you don't even take it off the rope, you just dislodge it and keep going. At the first stance, take the time to rack the gear in its appropriate spot either on your harness or gear sling. This enables you to take a little rest as well as saving time re-racking later on. So you show up at the belay completely racked except for a few pieces that the leader didn't use.

Once the leader yells "off belay" quickly put your shoes on. If you have a belay jacket, use a stuff sack that isn't too tight. It packs and deploys faster. Although slightly bigger in size, if you hang out off the haul loop, is not that noticeable.

Another trick for more experienced teams is where appropriate, like on a big ledge, the second can dismantle the belay except for the most solid piece before they are even on belay. This is an advanced manoeuvre and both climbers must be proficient in judging and placing bomber gear.

A good time to shoot for is 5 minutes to build a 3 point anchor and pull up the remaining rope. Then once the second gets to the belay 2 minute to clip in, rack remaining gear and be on belay again ready to climb.

Consider leading in blocks rather than swapping leads.

JeffL wrote:Consider leading in blocks rather than swapping leads.

Perhaps I am just dense, but how is that more efficient?

Ashort wrote: Perhaps I am just dense, but how is that more efficient?

The leader has had a chance to rest, if climbing ow, chimneys, or pitches near your max you'll be happy to rest. The leader can eye the next pitch for route finding and gear placements. Short fixing and simul climbing are the most used speed climbing techniques. The fewer times you switch leaders the less time wasted.

This. This is the golden rule.

ollieon wrote:Both partners should Always Be Doing Something.

On the approach

• Learn what amount of clothing you need for the level of exertion on the approach, and start out wearing that. If you are stopping to take off layers 10-15 minutes into your hike, you're wasting time. A nice warm hat can be great for starting cold hikes. Once you get warmed up, you can take it off without stopping.
• If the approach involves anything technical (rappels, roped teams) have all the necessary equipment on and ready to go. Don't show up at the rappel and spend 5 minutes unloading your pack, putting on your harness, ATC, personal tether, etc. Start out with the harness on and all the necessary gear on it, so you can just thread the rope, hook up and be on your way.

Swinging leads on multi-pitch

• If practical, I like to belay off the anchor with an auto-block. Leaves my hands free to complete other tasks while belaying. (I know, we're gonna die.)
• I do all my eating and drinking while belaying the second. If there's time, I'll dig out the topo and scope out the next pitch so I can offer directions when the partner arrives.
• While the second is climbing, I'll take whatever is left of the rack off of my harness and hang it someplace -- usually on one of the legs of the anchor.
• When the second arrives, he immediately begins grabbing the rack off of the anchor. While he's doing that, I'm doing whatever needs to be done to anchor him and/or change the belay over for his lead. By the time he's got the rack, I should be ready to belay for the next pitch.
• As soon as the leader finishes his pitch and calls off belay, I'll start breaking down as much of the belay anchor as I can do safely. If I'm on a good ledge, often times one really good cam is fine. Once the leader pulls up the rope and signals on-belay, all I need to do is pull the cam and start climbing.

On the descent

• Plan your descent at least as well as you plan your ascent. I know plenty of people who have spent almost as much time getting down from a climb as they spent going up it.
• When you finish a rappel and are safely anchored or on the ground, immediately pull out 8-10 feet of slack and call off rappel. The next person to rap can begin rigging their rappel while you're disconnecting yours.
• If you're the first person down and you're doing multiple rappels, thread whatever is left of the "pull" rope through the next rappel anchor. That way it's already done and you no longer have to remember which end to pull. When pulling the rope, one person pulls while the other feeds the rope through the anchors until you get to the knot (or middle mark on single-rope rappels).
• Don't waste time with unnecessary safety. The first person down might want to rig an autoblock. But once he's down, if it's a straight shot and he can give a fireman's belay then there's no reason for the second and third person to waste everyones' time rigging an autoblock.

In general, all you really need to do is look for any period of time when someone is waiting around for someone else to do something. The less that happens, the faster you'll go.

ollieon wrote:Both partners should Always Be Doing Something. .

this

I read this book, and loved the read, along with great tips...
amazon.com/Speed-Climbing-F…

Also be familiar with anchors....
this book
amazon.com/Climbing-Anchors…

any any of the many others would be fine. If you're confident in your anchors, then you'll avoid over buildilng, which is a great way to waste time.
Eqaulization does AMAZING things in the world of physics. Become familiar with the right angles, get it equalized, and climb on.

Chuck Parks wrote:This. This is the golden rule. On the approach * Learn what amount of clothing you need for the level of exertion on the approach, and start out wearing that. If you are stopping to take off layers 10-15 minutes into your hike, you're wasting time. A nice warm hat can be great for starting cold hikes. Once you get warmed up, you can take it off without stopping. * If the approach involves anything technical (rappels, roped teams) have all the necessary equipment on and ready to go. Don't show up at the rappel and spend 5 minutes unloading your pack, putting on your harness, ATC, personal tether, etc. Start out with the harness on and all the necessary gear on it, so you can just thread the rope, hook up and be on your way. Swinging leads on multi-pitch * If practical, I like to belay off the anchor with an auto-block. Leaves my hands free to complete other tasks while belaying. (I know, we're gonna die.) * I do all my eating and drinking while belaying the second. If there's time, I'll dig out the topo and scope out the next pitch so I can offer directions when the partner arrives. * While the second is climbing, I'll take whatever is left of the rack off of my harness and hang it someplace -- usually on one of the legs of the anchor. * When the second arrives, he immediately begins grabbing the rack off of the anchor. While he's doing that, I'm doing whatever needs to be done to anchor him and/or change the belay over for his lead. By the time he's got the rack, I should be ready to belay for the next pitch. * As soon as the leader finishes his pitch and calls off belay, I'll start breaking down as much of the belay anchor as I can do safely. If I'm on a good ledge, often times one really good cam is fine. Once the leader pulls up the rope and signals on-belay, all I need to do is pull the cam and start climbing. On the descent * Plan your descent at least as well as you plan your ascent. I know plenty of people who have spent almost as much time getting down from a climb as they spent going up it. * When you finish a rappel and are safely anchored or on the ground, immediately pull out 8-10 feet of slack and call off rappel. The next person to rap can begin rigging their rappel while you're disconnecting yours. * If you're the first person down and you're doing multiple rappels, thread whatever is left of the "pull" rope through the next rappel anchor. That way it's already done and you no longer have to remember which end to pull. When pulling the rope, one person pulls while the other feeds the rope through the anchors until you get to the knot (or middle mark on single-rope rappels). * Don't waste time with unnecessary safety. The first person down might want to rig an autoblock. But once he's down, if it's a straight shot and he can give a fireman's belay then there's no reason for the second and third person to waste everyones' time rigging an autoblock. In general, all you really need to do is look for any period of time when someone is waiting around for someone else to do something. The less that happens, the faster you'll go.

+1