ways to practice anchor building at home

I was wondering if anyone had suggestions as to ways to practice anchor building at home. I live in Chicago So getting to a cliff isnt always an option.

I know i can practice with tree's etc in my backyard but was curious to hear other suggestions as to what they may have done to practice.

Mike,

Without rock it's hard to simulate gear placement for anchor construction. However a board with a bunch of screw eyes (to simluate gear placements) would allow you to practice the actual rigging of the simluated gear placements in various configurations.... cordelette, equalette, alpine equalizer, a.c.r, double loop figure eight, oppositional pieces, etc....

This would allow you some ability to evaluate various configurations for their various characteristics such as extension, redundancy, equalization, etc...

It's something I suppose, better than nothing, but nothing like a real life scenario either. Hang in there... Devils Lake will be warmed up in no time!

-Glenn

if you mean non gear anchors ...

for gear anchors ... find a concrete/brick building where you can do funkay stuff with cams ... underground parking lots sometimes have ones with "cracks"

This is my anchor wall. I used some scrap angle and just drilled some holes in it to make hangers. Then used Molly bolts to attach them to the drywall. I placed them at four different locations as a gear anchor might be. I have had it for over a year or so and still have fun with it. I have literally built hundreds of anchors for rapping, belaying, setting up z pulls escaping a belay ect ect. I never gets old and is right next to the tv so when there's nothing on I play around with it. It also keeps it fresh in my mind if I don't get out for a month or so. I also use it to teach my girlfriend and hang up the rack when not in use. I would highly recommend one for an aspiring climber, get a book and practice every type of anchor and rigging until it's second nature. After awhile you'll just get smother and faster at setting up anchors. Remember climbing takes only a short while to learn but a lifetime to master. Have fun and be safe.

Does your local gym not have any fake cracks?

If you want to build gear anchors there's no replacement for spending some quality time on the ground at a local crag. But if you're like me and feel the need to build something in the middle of the night you could do something like this.

I placed bolts in various places on my balcony when I was starting out. It definitely helps with the learning curve if you take some time to practice at home. Pick up a good book like Climbing Anchors (John Long and Bob Gaines) and go through it cover to cover.

Pick random objects around your house and build an equalized anchor off of them. It can't simulate gear placement, but it does a good job of giving you odd angles and locations to work with.

Strategic piercings.

Oh, and where is that picture of the "busty" TCU placement?

When I was learning I used the legs on the dining table and accompanying chairs. Girth hitch slings around the legs, pick a spot on the carpet where you want the power point to be, pick a primary direction of pull, and have at it.

Someone has to dig up the busty TCU placement photo . . . .

That's just going to slip in and out of there, Mark,

And that's

OK.

Mark Cushman wrote:

That Cam is way to small for that crack, I find that Offsets work really good in these types of cracks.

I have my hang board mounted to a couple of 2x4s with about an inch plus in between. I can get cams and tri cams in between the boards, as well as in the pockets of my hang board and maybe a slung knob on the bigger holds on the metolius simulator. All the placements are horizontal, but I have built bomber hanging belays from them.

Mark Cushman wrote:

You should give a seminar.