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Free climb harder via tag lines
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Tl:dr use a tag line to climb closer to your limit on hard routes IMO The tag line is one of the most critical (and underrated) pieces of gear you can use to climb harder on multipitch routes. Having use various manifestations of tagging over the past few years, here are some things I’ve learned. Hopefully you can apply some of them to climb harder on multipitches. Why tag? If your goal is to climb near your limit on multipitch climbs, wearing a backpack is basically a non-starter. Any steep climbing will be made many x harder wearing a pack, both because you are heavier and also because your center of gravity has changed. I also find depending on the pack it can be hard to maintain full range of motion. Basically, by definition you cannot climb at limit if wearing a backpack. Tag selection: When packing the tag kit I normally make the decision based on rappels. If we are doing some decent number of rappels, bring a “full strength” tag line (6mm) for ease of use. If walk off, or single rope raps etc then I’ll opt for a skimpy micro cord (3-4mm) Hauling; Put a progress capture pulley on top of the tag line (Spock or micro trax), lead with it and try to finish the pitch with one alpine draw left on your harness (not critical). When the pitch is done fix the rope for the follower to rope solo and haul the tag bag up. For a very light bag, I would just hand over hand the bag. For anything more then trivial weight, I will use the alpine draw to put a Garda hitch on the slack side of the progress capture. Now you can simply kick with your foot in the sling to advance the bag. (If you don’t have a sling but have a few carabiners you can just tie off a large loop of the tag and use that.) If the tag used was 4mm cord, I will flake it into a bag like this ( flipandtumble.com/products/…) to prevent any tangles. We have two so the line always stays in a bag. You can leave this on a keychain carabiner. If the cord is 6mm the follower will tie the bag in short. If the route is steep I will just let one loop dangle down. On a more slabby section, windy day, or flaky terrain, I’ll coil the tag. What to tag: Normally I use a metolious small haul bag to tag. It’s universally applicable, large enough to get your stuff to the base and has a nice side effect of being strong enough to stand on. Basically if you are at an uncomfortable stance you can stand on the bag (or turn it sideways and made a belay seat from it). This has provided substantial quality of life improvement for trying to send hard pitches with sub-amazing belays. I’ve also used fish beef bags and metolious big wall stuff sacks for smaller missions (for example water, a few bars, a shared jacket and some bigger cams). Make the most of tagging: If I’m the leader I generally forgo all extra gear and tag up a belay device etc once the pitch is done. it’s also helpful if you realize you need some cams you didn’t bring on the lead, just tag them up. This has made me way less susceptible to “taking the 4 just in case” syndrome where you end the pitch with 10 cams left on your harness. Minimize the free rides you offer! As the follower, same thing. I clip everything on my harness to the tag so I start climbing with the carabiner I was indirect with and that’s it. Adding a few more pounds to the bag really has no implications when you are tagging and using the Garda to “leg haul”. This (for me at least) means I can bring enough jackets to be comfortable, enough food and water to stay “performing” tighter shoes for a crux pitch, shoes for the walkoff etc. Occasionally the bag gets stuck, normally if it’s just a light tagbag you can wiggle it free. If there is a really problematic roof, we will have the second hold onto the end of the tag (bag tied in short) and they can flick with their end to try and clear the roof. Normally a 6mm 70m tag will run your about 4lbs, and a 4mm is probably just a pound or two. Plus the weight of a micro or Spock on your harness, it maybe adds a pound or two on the average lead. To me, this is a great price to pay for much easier following, and all day comfort on the wall. Closing thoughts: Friends don’t let friends belay and friends certainly don’t let friends follow with a pack.   |
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This is gold! |
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This is why people on the Rostrum are hauling and taking hours per pitch and knocking off loose rock on to people below. |
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Second is your tag line. |
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This guy doesn't need tag lines or a pack: |
Pino Pepino wrote: He’s not advocating for climbing on a skinny single tho? |
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The few times I’ve tagged a line it’s been sweet. Almost 20 years ago Tommy Caldwell told me how useful the tag line is, especially for only bringing a small rack when leading and tagging extra gear when leading. I bought a 7mm static cuz I wanted to rap as well and I was too chicken to rap on anything smaller. I join my ropes with a figure 8 - if anyone has a better way let me know. It’s been great the few times I’ve used it and tagged a bag, no issues to think of. |
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Recent convert to the tagging system, but still wondering a few things: With a 6 or 7mm tag that I'm rapping with, I've been doing biner blocks and using the tag as a pull line. This is fine but a bit of a hassle. I'm not yet confident enough to double rope rap with the tag - what's the minimum tag diameter that folks are comfortable EDKing to the lead for raps? What setup do folks use to TRS on the fixed lead line? Without getting into a TRS debate, do most folks use a single trax? Crash knots or no? I've had issues with having enough weight on the end of the line for smooth feeding on a shunt, but I don't want to be pulling up a bunch of crap to the next belay that might get stuck. |
Levi Goldman wrote: Overhand knot with long tails. I’m joining the PUR’LINE at 6mm with a 8.5mm single most times. |
Big Red wrote: Grigri and spoc for me, just pull the slack when you have a free hand. Have to be comfy TRS tho |
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I think of this as an advanced technique, in the sense that many less advanced parties (the kind climbing trade routes — including me!) should rather focus on bringing less junk up the wall. If tag lines are widely adopted I believe the trade routes will become even more of a cluster. And I know you said hard routes, but hard is relative. |
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It’s a technique for the quiver - isn’t always the best way and it depends on more than difficulty - how many hard pitches, how long is the route, does it traverse, how clean are the hauls, how much water do you really need, etc. If dialed, it shouldn’t add more than 2-5 mins or so to a pitch - mainly because the second climbs on a trax or auto block while leader hauls. Another related technique is to tie a pack or bunch of gear in short to a fixed lead line and trax the pitch, 2nd hauls while leader starts next pitch - gets you through a hard pitch or two without committing to tagging the entire route. |
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4 mm cord can become a serious time waster to untangle. |
Ben Podborski wrote: No, but Kirkpatrick is advocating against singles and tag lines and in favor of doubles in that article. |
  If you have issues with the skinny tagline getting tangled you can make a small rope bag to help manage it. |
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For TR solo on a dynamic line the preferred combo for me is a Camp Lift on top and a Micro Trax under it. Key beta for making sure it feeds is that you let the whole rope hang down the previous pitch. The second never ties in. When the second arrives at the belay they attach to the anchor and then flip the micro trax on the lead line. This sets up the micro in "hauling" mode and allows the belayer to have a few feet of slack out so you don't short rope anyone. You never pull up the whole lead line. Since the length of the lead line no longer really matters for weight/cluster it's more convenient to bring a longer lead line which an be used for rapping the route. This way a micro tag (4mm) line can be put +1 for flaking the smaller tag lines in some type of plastic or shopping bag. Even a 6mm Purline gets super tangled if you try to stack it on sling. I've heard that some people use a 2nd flipped micro to manage the tag. I've yet to try this but there is now a super light solution with the combo of a new Nano Trax and a DMM XSRE biner. Surely these are all "Advanced techniques" but logistics is a part of multi-pitch climbing that can be optimized. |
Pino Pepino wrote: Doubles don't help w/ hauling, which is the primary benefit of the tag line in OP's use case. |
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Been thinking about using this technique for a while. Does anyone have pack recommendations? Small and comfy enough for the hike in, but burly enough for hauling? |
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Matt said he uses the Metolius small haul bag but I'm guessing he meant their Mescalito haul pack - metoliusclimbing.com/haul_p…. It's pretty much purpose built for this application. I've got one and like it quite a bit. Use it for plenty of other applications, beyond hauling missions. |
shredward wrote: I was gonna ask about this too, I'm thinking either a metolius express or mescalito, maybe a sentinel for 2 day stuff |
