Stick clips for short people on sport routes

I was wondering if there is an extendable pole/stick clip that is light and small enough to climb with clipped to ones harness (ideally 1-4 feet and 1-2 lbs). While I imagine that most people would use something like this to work a sport route, I've recently run into the problem of poorly placed bolts on slab climbs being an issue for my girlfriend who is quite short with a negative ape index.

On a lot of rap bolted routes with slabs she's been on recently we've encountered bolts off of ledges that she can't reach to hang a draw off of. Once the draws are hung this isn't a problem, but making committing moves off a ledge to clip a bolt often with a 10-15 foot runout below could have fairly nasty consequences and tends to stress both of us out. Any ideas would be appreciated (getting someone else to hang the draws isn't always an option).

theundercling.com/stick-cli…

Just attach to a short stick.

kong.it/en/2-products/items…

How did I know you'd be posting Chuck?

That Frog sucks.

If you only need to extend your reach a few inches, try making a "stiffy" quickdraw. Start with the longest draw you've got (or go buy one of the longer ones with a nylon dogbone), and reinforce it with tape. You can add rigidity by putting a plastic drinking straw inside the dogbone first. If you're doing this at the crag, use a twig and some climbing tape. As a short person myself, I've found this handy to clip the first bolt on some routes at City of Rocks. Here's an example: mountainproject.com/v/11184…, and a discussion of this concept and some issues (potential to unclip): mountainproject.com/v/12cm-…. Once you can reach that clip normally, adding an opposed, untaped draw is a good safety practice.

This is what I use:

trango.com/p-266-beta-stick…

I've climbed with a woman who has the same problem: many sport roots have clipping stances that are just out of reach for her.

She has a customized quickdraw, that consists of a long dogbone (about 10-12"), with a PVC pipe (maybe 1-1/4" dia) over it. The pipe has notches at the bolt end, that the carabiner sits inside for clipping onto the bolt.

Usually she'll replace it w/a normal QD once she is high enough to reach. The pipe also is a little shorter than the dogbone, so it can slide off the top biner, allowing it to pivot, and be left there if not needed higher on the route.

Take a Mad Rock trigger wire carabiner, put it on the rope end of a stiff, long dogbone. Increases your reach by a foot or so and its easy to clip to the bolts. It also works as a normal quickdraw if need be.

Or, just climb a bit higher. Are there really that many times where you cant clip the bolt at head or chest level? Climb a bit higher and know when its no big deal to fall

Travis - Not being able to clip from the intended stance can have huge consequences on harder, rap bolted lines. Lots of nasty fall potential onto ledges, pendulums, and other risks that aren't present if you can hang the draw and clip before charging ahead. Many times on harder lines, the stance you get is all you get til the next bolt.

I've had good luck with simply finding a twig and taping it as a sort of "splint" on an 24cm draw. If you don't like the stiffness (easy to have the draw rotate or shift when stiff), you can always snap the twig or pull it as soon as the draw is in place.

My wife is under 5', not being able to clip is a huge deal. Often a safety problem, not convenience.

Use a stiff draw as mentioned. Last week I saw a selfie stick modified to be a tiny harness sized stick clip. It seemed like it would have a place.

These are really nice.

kong.it/en/2-products/items…

Rock and Resole has the 45 cm length in stock. 30 cm backordered.

30 cm probably more practical, but you can clip the 45 behind your back to keep it out of the way.
Plus 6 more inches of reach which can be handy in full on project mode.

The stiffening rod is firm, but you don't feel like you will be skewered in a fall.

Yep, this is one reason sport climbing has never really grown on me. Frequently the bolt is JUST out of reach from what is obviously meant to be the clipping stance. Sometimes just inconvenient, but when it means having to clip mid-crux above a ledge, can be dangerous.

Climb trad more often - place the gear where it makes sense for you. Of course, you can't always get good gear wherever you'd like it, but it's far less frustrating when you have no one to blame but nature. :)

I picked up a mad rock trigger wire, and the stiffest draw I could find, with a rubber keeper on it. I've seen awesome set-ups with pvc or semi-rigid wire that let you go 1-2' or more, but for the few inches that are usually the difference between the route developers reach and mine, a regular stiff draw does the trick. The trigger wire is clutch though.

I think we'll try a stiffy with a trigger wire and see how that goes. Thanks for all the helpful responses. I also didn't know that the beta stick clip was made in two sizes so that's good to know. Still a little too long to clip to a harness, at least based on my experiences with snow pickets.

rocknice2 wrote:That Frog sucks.

What did you not like about it? I had a partner who was quite short and swore by one for these cases, never got to use it myself though.

Cory F wrote:This is what I use: trango.com/p-266-beta-stick…

That's what I have now, too. It's the shiznit, yo.

Modify an extendable back scratcher. 6" to 8" long and light when not in use.

Stich wrote: That's what I have now, too. It's the shiznit, yo.

I remember having the sick satisfaction of watching someone with a brand new Beta Stick realize that there are weight limits to the device -- it literally went limp and snapped under the weight of a fat rope while they were showing off how great it was for clipping 1st/2nd bolts.

Nick Drake wrote: What did you not like about it? I had a partner who was quite short and swore by one for these cases, never got to use it myself though.

It clipped great but did suffer a lot of nicks in the gates from the edges of the hangers.

The worst part was, after clipping the far bolt I would try to switch out the draw. The Frog is so bulky that it was difficult to impossible, depending on the hanger. Once on a route that was bolted by a giant, chances are it wouldn't be just one bolt that was out of reach. I guess I could have bought more of them but I didn't go that way.

That other biner with the gate capture thingy is a much better design.

BrianWS wrote: I remember having the sick satisfaction of watching someone with a brand new Beta Stick realize that there are weight limits to the device -- it literally went limp and snapped under the weight of a fat rope while they were showing off how great it was for clipping 1st/2nd bolts.

It is definitely not going to like being held horizontal to the ground. You have to be directly under what you want to clip. If you need more rigidity you need the painter's pole attachment ones. But the BetaStick is great because it fits in a large pack completely, so you can pack it and forget it.

This is for route developers and their friends. You should be bolting the route in a way that anyone roughly 5 feet 2 inches on up can clip without going through the scary extra moves and exposure to longer and dangerous falls that you, as a taller person, won’t have to deal with. It’s pretty easy. I just drill the bolt about 8-9 inches lower than where I would want it at my maximum yet still solid and secure clipping limit (I’m 6 feet). The extra 2 foot fall that I might take with the bolt that little bit lower is not something I love consciously setting into potentiality, but that tiny extra bit of fall is almost always of no real consequence, and I leave behind a route that almost can climb while facing no more risk than I face.

Yes, 5 feet 2 inches is an arbitrary number, why not make it ADA compliance and install a via ferrata if my goal is 100% accessibility, but I’d wager 90% of the “outdoor and leading” climbing population is over that height and, well, you can’t please everybody. If you are really height challenged you’ve probably already learned your safest option for leading some climbs is probably to just lead the route only after you have found a way to get the draws hung before you lead it.

Not a perfect solution, I know, but I hope my fellow developers think of this issue. When you are already rap bolting, I do feel there is an obligation to put the bolts where almost all of the population can reach them without exposing themselves to risks you did not: that would be unfair and frankly kind of dickish!

Stich wrote: It is definitely not going to like being held horizontal to the ground. You have to be directly under what you want to clip. If you need more rigidity you need the painter's pole attachment ones. But the BetaStick is great because it fits in a large pack completely, so you can pack it and forget it.

These things sbould come with a roll of bubble wrap.
Got one last weekend, put it in my pack and hiked to the crag. When i opened my bag, the top had snapped off. I guess just from dropping my bag on the ground.
Convenient though if you baby your gear.