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How do you bring you stick clip up on the route?
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I am getting a super clip which then am attaching to a 4.5 ft - 11.75 ft painters pole. I know when people are climbing and need to bail they will sometimes stick clip to the anchors so they don’t have to leave gear. My question is when you need to bail do people lower to the ground and haul up with there stick clip or do they leave it on a bolt on the first easy half of a climb. Also do people just climb up the route with it (seems a bit impractical especially with a 4.5ft pole)? Please get back to me with what you think is best! I am thinking I may just leave it on the wall on my project on the first easy half but would love to hear other opinions.
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Go in direct to the bolt, pull up enough slack to have the rope reach the ground and have your partner attach the stick and pull it up. If you are very safety conscious you can attach a prussik to the rope and have your belayer keep you on belay as they’re feeding you slack. That will take a lot longer but will keep you from decking if the bolt failed on you. |
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The short beta stick is great for carrying on route. It has a hole in the head piece that is designed for clipping with a carabiner. On my longer painter pole I have a cord tied on the end that I’ll occasionally use to carry it on route but it’s a monster and is pretty hazardous. I wouldn’t try to free any moves with the latter setup but have freed steeper moves with the small beta stick without too much worry. Usually I avoid freeing with the stick clip at all though and just use it hang draws, get to the top of the route, or clean them from the bolt below. Some other creative options beyond carrying the stick on route: - Longer poles on shorter routes can be extended all the way and leaned against the wall if you need to swing over and snag it. Be sure that it’s stable so that it doesn’t fall over and whack you, your belayer, or other nearby climbers of course. - Bolts on neighboring routes can also be used to store your stick temporarily. - There are also some quick and creative ways that you can build an anchor using the rope and two bolts midway up a route. You could use that technique to send a bite down and haul a stick clip up (or anything else you might need). Probably worth practicing this one in non-consequential terrain first. Some of the most fun climbing lessons I’ve taught have been on advanced stick clipping techniques. Could be a great reason to hire a certified guide!! |
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Sometimes people climb with stick clips attached to their harness, though usually something like the Trango beta stick and not a full on painter's pole. Usually they're just trying to get the draws up for their proj and not actually climb. So they'll just go in direct to every bolt, clip, jug up, etc. Also there is the 'wimpy stick' which is basically a mini stick clip that's easy to climb with attached to your harness. You get a collapsible antenna/selfie stick, and you attach a draw with a self closing carabiner like the Kong Panic. This is a good option if you want to mostly free climb the route but might want to clip past a bolt or two. Here is Kevin Capps with instructions on how to make one: https://www.instagram.com/p/CotU4W2AGli/ |
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How is this a form of climbing.... Some of the craziest shit I've ever heard |
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The same way you say “meat loaf” in French |
Potter Wonderland wrote: ...you've never heard of stick clipping up a route? |
Big Red wrote: I just discovered what a stick clip was this past winter in mexico... |
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Sometimes the cost of admission when you can’t dog up a route is a carabiner. |
Potter Wonderland wrote: I think the OP considers this a form of bailing, which I would agree with. |
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Potter Wonderland wrote: Huh, that's surprising. Yea, stick clipping up a hard route is now a pretty common way to get the rope up or bail off for free. |
Big Red wrote: Keep that shit outta Yosemite! |
Potter Wonderland wrote: For sure. Keep aid climbing out of Yosemite! |
Potter Wonderland wrote: "no aiding" in Yosemite is going to be hard to enforce. |
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The basic mechanics have been explained in the first answer. Obviously you can only do this if you are no higher than ~1/3rd of your rope length up. If your rope is 60m, you can’t be any higher than ~20-22m up, depending on the steepness of the route, and whether there are any boulders your partner can scramble up, to use up every last bit of rope. For metric-unit-challenged Americans, 60m = approximately 200ft, so if you are 90ft up, your 60m rope wouldn’t be long enough to do the trick. In terms of a stick clip that you can carry up a route, This is the most compact one currently available. I still wouldn’t want to climb with it on a regular basis, it’s not a “just in case, might as well have if hanging on my harness”, but if you are trying a long route with a known crux higher than 1/3rd of your rope length, you have already tried to do the moves, and hadn’t been able to do them on your own power, this might be worth it to you. |
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The kailas stick clip fits in or on a small backpack. |
Long Ranger wrote: The idea of projecting hard sport routes may be a bit new to Potter. Potter, Yosemite is awesome, but there's a lot of climbing beyond it, with many different rules, ethics, and strategies. I encourage you to broaden your horizons and keep an open mind. As for the original topic, if you don't want to bring even a beta stick up, you can get a stiffy quickdraw if you climb at a crag with close bolt spacing. |
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Important to note that when you are stick clipping your way up a route, be very confident in the quality of the bolts you are going direct into. Ideally, you are just pulling enough slack to clip up to the next bolt but if the bolt were to fail while you have a full stick of slack pulled out, the ground could get close quickly. |
slo ta wrote: You're stick clipping through your aid pitches? Wow.. really missing the point of this whole climbing thing! |
Potter Wonderland wrote: Yes you are. |
