Petzl is a well known industry leader in climbing gear and safety. When I first started climbing over 20 years ago I looked forward to each annual Petzl catalog for the wealth of technical information they would include, along with some of the most stunning and inspirational photos! I probably learned as much about climbing from these catalogs back in the day as I learned from that timeless classic Freedom of the Hills!
The author on the summit of Forbidden Peak, North Cascades, wearing the Petzl Sirocco Helmet and Petzl Sitta Harness
Now Petzl has just launched a new series of downloadable “ACCESS BOOKS”, basically a collection of technical tips centered around one particular aspect of climbing. In their first PDF “booklet” Petzl focuses on indoor climbing.
As always the illustrations are clear and to the point. The techniques described are considered “best practices” throughout the industry. Whether you are a new climber or a salty veteran a little review of the basics never hurts!
Yesterday I had the pleasure of introducing David and his daughter Nicole to rock climbing in Echo Lake State Park. We started our morning over at the sweeping granite slabs of Whitehorse Ledge. After some ground school we climbed 4 pitches to Lunch Ledge then rappelled back to the deck. After a scenic lunch a top Cathedral we rappelled the Barber Wall and climbed Upper Refuse to round out our day.
It was great meeting you both and I hope to see you back this winter for that Washington climb!
Climb long enough and eventually you will rappel past the next anchor and need to climb back up to it. Or you will rappel past a tangle in your ropes assuming it will untangle itself from those bushes when you are below (it didn’t). You might also end up needing to ascend the belay side of a top-rope to assist a nervous (or stuck) climber or rescue an injured lead climber. For these occasions you’ll be glad you know how to “flip a plaquette” from belay/rappel mode into “guide” mode. In this configuration your belay device functions as a reliable improvised ascender.
The first thing you’ll obviously need is a plaquette style belay device. There are many out there to chose from but these are my current favorites:
These and quite a few other suitable models can be found on Backcountry.com HERE.
The above short demonstration video shows the steps of flipping a plaquette while rappelling on an extension which happens to be the simplest situation. Let’s go over the more complex method first.
Flipping a plaquette when it is directly off your belay loop
There are a few scenarios where this might be a good solution. First, you are rappelling directly off your belay loop and realize you’ve passed your anchor. Second, you are belaying a climber on a top-rope system and they need assistance. Third, you’ve caught a leader fall but the leader is injured and needs assistance. So let’s break down the steps.
While maintaining a brake-hand tie an over-hand bight a couple of feet below the device and clip this to your belay loop. This step is important because step 3 carries with it some risk if one is not careful.
Clip a locking carabiner to the “ear” or “anchor point” of your plaquette and attach that to your belay loop.
Carefully open the belay carabiner in a manner that traps the rope in the narrow side of the belay carabiner while removing the belay carabiner from the belay loop. This is best accomplished by rotating the belay carabiner so the narrower side is pointing away from you.
On moderate low angle terrain you may be able to start walking/climbing back up while pulling the slack through your device which is essentially in “guide” mode now directly off your belay loop. If the terrain is steep you can add a friction hitch above your device and extend it to a foot loop.
Flipping a plaquette when it is extended off your belay loop
Since extending your rappel device away from you has lots of advantages more and more climbers are defaulting to this option. Yet one more advantage to extended rappel systems is the fact there is literally just one step to flipping the plaquette and you do not need to open the rappel carabiner at all!
Clip a locking carabiner to the “ear” or “anchor point” of your plaquette and attach that to your belay loop.
Ascend as in step 3 above.
So that’s it! You now know how to flip a plaquette and get yourself out of quite a few possible situations that undoubtedly will pop up over your long adventurous climbing career! Thanks for reading!
Yesterday I took Dianna and Annie on their first outdoor rappelling adventure in scenic Pinkham Notch for Northeast Mountaineering. The weather was stellar and both of these thrill seekers took multiple rides down the 140 foot west face and the shorter overhanging south side, each time becoming more comfortable with the process and exposure. Here’s a quick clip of their adventure!
The Waterfall and Cliff Rappelling adventures Northeast Mountaineering offers can be an excellent way to have a little adrenaline rush while learning a little bit about a fundamental skill of the broader sport of climbing. I wouldn’t be surprised if I don’t see Dianna and Annie back here for a rock climbing adventure in the near future!
Book any lesson on http://www.nemountaineering.com and use promo code “DavidNEM” to be entered in a monthly raffle to win a free guided day of your choice!
See you in the mountains!
Northeast Alpine Start
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I’d like to start sharing some tech tips on a weekly basis so I’m going to start with this Tuesdays Tech Tip with a super quick video showing how to tie a clove-hitch on the carabiner. With any new skill there needs to be a “why bother” clause… so here is why you should learn to tie a clove-hitch on the carabiner:
Leader security. You’ve arrived at a small belay and established your anchor (or even part of an anchor)… if you can tie a clove-hitch on to a carabiner you can give yourself some added security while still holding a part of the anchor or your ice axe with your other hand.
Efficiency. Many climbers will tie an “air-clove-hitch” then adjust it until they are at the right distance from the anchor carabiner for belay duties. Often times tying the clove-hitch on the carabiner can let you get it “right” the first try and save you time adjusting at transitions.
If this quick and short video was helpful please let me know in the comments below or on the YouTube video! I’d like to share a lot more info like this but I’d like to gauge interest so please speak up if you found this helpful!
This past Saturday I got the opportunity to take this father-son team on their first outdoor rock climbing experience on Cathedral Ledge. Harley and his son Jonah have literally been on adventures all over the world from Cambodia to Africa and I was happy to play a small part on some domestic adventure for this dynamic duo! We started with some top-roping on the Thin Air Face then headed to the top of the ledge for some anchor building/knot practice.
Father and son at the top of Cathedral Ledge with Whitehorse Ledge in the background
After some lunch we headed down the Barber Wall and over to the classic multi-pitch climb “Upper Refuse”.
Jonah and Harley at the 1st pitch belay on Upper RefuseJonah all smiles while finishing pitch three of Upper RefuseDad was not far behind!Father and son quite proud in the moment!
Taking a parent/child team climbing like this is one of my favorite things about being a climbing guide. I’m always remembered how my own father hiked out to a remote cliff in Red Rock Canyon and let me tie him to a boulder so he could belay one of my first ever traditional leads. I also think about how great it will be when I can take my almost 6 year old son on similar adventures. As Harley reminded me parenthood will fly by in a flash and I’m doing what I can to make the most of every moment. I’m super grateful for getting to share experiences like this with adventurers like these.
Thank you Harley and Jonah for a great day in the mountains! Hope to see you both back up here soon for some more fun!
See you in the mountains,
Northeast Alpine Start
For more info on available climbing adventures please check out Northeast Mountaineering here. If you book a course use promo code “DavidNEM” and get entered into a monthly drawing for a free guided day for two!
This past Sunday was my first day out on the rock this season with Northeast Mountaineering guests Megan and Britney. Both had a fair amount of gym climbing experience and some outdoor single pitch experience and were stoked to try some multi-pitch climbing. After some indoor skills practice focused on cleaning single pitch sport leads we headed to Whitehorse Ledge and climbed Standard Direct to Lunch Ledge. We then rappelled and headed over to Cathedral Ledge for a quick afternoon run up Upper Refuse. Perfect weather and not too busy crags made for an excellent first day of the season! Get after it before black fly season arrives!
This past Saturday I had the privilege of taking the New Jersey based Schenck family out rock climbing at Whitehorse and Cathedral Ledge. Having spent the previous day kayaking the Saco River they were ready for some vertical fun.
On our way to the cliffAlexa was dying to go first!Coming down took some getting used to but we got there!Ricky takes on the challenge. Heights isn’t Ricky’s thing, but he gave it a solid shot and I hope he tries it again!Alexa liked belay duty as much as climbing!Hanging out at the base of Thin Air in the afternoonAlexa took multiple laps on the routeDefinitely hooked on climbing!
Super fun day with this outdoorsy family! I think a multi-pitch climbing day with Alexa & her dad may be in-store for the near future!
Hope everyone is enjoying this spectacular climbing weather!
It’s been a great summer so far with lots of families & camp groups climbing with EMS Schools. I haven’t done as many individual trip reports as most of my free computer time has been spent on reviewing some of the coolest new packs & gear on the market. Hope everyone has been enjoying the summer!
This past 3 day holiday weekend had me guiding Yu Chih Chieh from Taiwan as he finished up 8 days of climbing instruction. Yu Chih, who goes by Brendan in the US, is in doctorate level program at Brown University in Rhode Island and is a die-hard botanist (and motivated aspiring alpinist).
Cathedral Ledge
We started the morning with a brief anchor clinic and I show’d Brendan a couple options for extending top-rope anchor setups. Anchor theory is a hot topic with this guy’s scientific mind! We then hiked down to the Barber Wall for a quick rappel and discussed some of the finer points of the process.
Rappelling the Barber Wall, Cathedral Ledge, Echo Lake State Park, NH
We then took a quick trip up Upper Refuse with a focus on seconding proficiently and transition efficiency.
Thumbs upTopping out Upper Refuse, Cathedral Ledge
After we got a little heckled by the tourists at the top (the frat party was a bit offended I declined the beer they offered me for climbing the cliff, but I was working, and I do not drink Bud Lite) we made our way over to the quieter Airation Buttress for some lunch. Then a quick drive over to Whitehorse Ledge for 600 feet of slab ascent/descent.
Whitehorse Ledge
After 4 pitches of Beginner’s Route we headed back to the shop to look at a quick demo/practice of a belay escape.
For Sunday, July 3rd, the weather forecast was the same as the whole weekend. Bluebird. Knowing every cliff would probably be a bit of a zoo I decided to do something rash and head to the biggest zoo of them all. Rumney.
It had been a few years since I last visited this mecca of sport climbing. We pulled into the lot right at 9:30am and spaces were starting to fill up. The Meadows wall wasn’t too busy and we grabbed “False Modesty” and “Rose Garden” while discussing sport climbing issues that crop up every year (rigging to lower, closed systems, belayer placement, clear communication, etc).
Brendan cleans “Rose Garden” at The Meadows
We then headed down the road and up the hill to the Main Cliff to check out some of the new 2 pitch moderates that have been getting talked up on Mountain Project lately. “Crowd Pleaser” had quite a long queue on it but an obvious local regular pointed out the nearby 2 pitch 5.8 called “Tipping Point” with no line on it. We hopped right on and greatly enjoyed this fun little route.
Brendan reaching the first pitch belay ledgePretty scenic spot
The next pitch was super fun 5.8 with a solid crux right at the end… felt a bit closer to 5.9 to me but I’m not that well calibrated to Rumney grades ATM.
We then headed across and up the hill once again passing hordes of climbers on the wildly overhanging and popular crags like Darth Vader & Waimea making our way up to the highest bluff, the Jimmy Cliff. Up here we did two 2 pitch cruiser routes and enjoyed a steady fresh breeze the whole time.
Brendan had quite a bit of lead climbing experience in the gym and no “second belaying” experience so we covered some of the multitude of ways to properly belay the second while enjoying the cool breeze and lack of crowds.
Clip a Dee Doo DahBrendan finishes the last climb of the day
We stopped by the Black Crack Boulder on our hike out for yet another anchor building session (a critical trad climbing skill), then headed back across the Kanc to Mount Washington Valley. Despite some concerns about hitting the busiest cliffs on what might have been the busiest weekend we managed 5 climbs at 3 areas with 8 pitches total (plus that whole area is a botanist dream according to Brendan, who would often disappear while hiking behind me only to be found crouched at ground level camera in hand).
For July 4th, the last day of Brendan’s 8 day excursion, I picked an objective that I thought would be a suitable way to finish and also prepare him for his home country objective, Mount Yu Shan, the highest point in Taiwan!
Mount Yu Shan, highest point in Taiwan: 3,952 metres (12,966 ft)
We headed to Mount Washington with sights set on the Henderson Ridge. I had never climbed this route and found it to be fun outing. It took us 3.5 hours car to car with a leisurely pace and many stops to examine the unique flora that exists on Mount Washington (Alpine Garden Trail). We only saw one other climbing party of two on Pinnacle Ridge, and greatly enjoyed the cooler than valley temps!
Electronics
After three days with Yu Chih Chieh I know he is well on his way to accomplishing whatever goals he sets for himself. An inquisitive scientific mind and desire will take him far in all aspects of his life and I look forward to the next time I share a rope with him.
Hope you all had a great Fourth of July weekend and spent a little time contemplating how lucky we are to have our freedoms!
Did you get out this past weekend? Let me know what you got on in the comments below!
Northeast Alpine Start 