Climbing Extreme

Ice climbing on a multi pitch route opens an entirely new world. You get to places where you other vice wouldn’t, but you also need a lot more knowledge to make such climb safe and efficient. One of most important things on a multi pitch route is the belay stations between the pitches. One needs to be able to pick a right spot, build the belay station correctly and in right order, know how to come and leave the station, how to handle the rope on the station, select and prepare the gear already before starting the climb etc. Here’s a short introduction to these matters.

Picture above: Belay station ready for the belay.

These instructions focus on the efficient and fluid progress of the climbers. This means efficient rope handling and changes between the lead and follow, as well as lean belay station build. The key elements in efficiency are the changes between the lead and follow as well as the build and removal of the belay station. Each climber follows first and changes almost immediately to lead at the belay station. Another key aspect is the design of the belay station. The balanced two screw design of the belay station as well as the minimum amount of carabiners and slings is the key towards efficiency. Balanced design is also safe, especially when combined with appropriate spot selection (i.e. good ice + easy start for the leader).

While I found that the practices below work well, I have to admit that I have plenty to learn. So, all the comments and recommendations are welcome.

You need

• 1-2 meters of the rope that’s attached to your harness left.
• At least two preferably >19cm sharp ice screws left, longer the better, length adds security though the ice conditions might limit the length you can use.
• One 120cm dyneema sling
• Four carabiners, at least one of which should be large diameter carabiner
• Belay device that has auto-locking mode (often called guide mode)
• Knowledge of tying clove hitch knot without having either one of the rope ends free
• Knowledge of using your belay device in auto locking mode

Preparation on before the climb

• Tie the rope appropriately to your harness.
• Tie a simple overhand knot to the dyneema sling, place the knot so that one third of the sling is left on the other side and two thirds on the other.
• Clip the two loops of the dyneema sling to the one of the carabiners and place the carabiner-dyneema loop over your head and one shoulder.
• Clip one of the remaining carabiners to the loop of your belay device that’s used for clipping the carabiner to the belay anchor. Then clip it to your harness somewhere handy.
• Make sure that you have at least one large diameter carabiner left.
• Place the two screws you’re going to use to the bottom of your screw rack and clip remaining two carabiners to your harness.

Picking the right spot

Try to plan ahead, read the ice and route ahead. Pick a spot that has good quality ice and is easy to leave. Don’t just think about yourself, you should also have a clear idea of where your colleague is going to go on his / her next pitch. A good stand has several characteristics:

• It allows you to move a bit so that you can dodge the possible ice blocks
• It’s not immediately below the next pitch, so that majority of falling ice goes elsewhere
• There’s at least few meters of easy climbing ahead, so that your partner can place his first screw with ease, thus causing less risk of fall factor 2 fall of your leader that causes high impact forces to your belay station.
• Additionally you might consider a spot that allows you to stand a bit as it allows movement and is more comfortable than hanging entirely on your harness.

Building the belay station

• Place the first screw, as you’re going to place the second screw at least 20-40 cm lower or higher and at least 20-40 cm apart from the first, try to figure the likely place of the second screw already at this stage.
• Clip the large diameter carabiner to the screw, make sure that you clip it so that the gate faces towards the planned location of the second screw.
• Tie yourself to the carabiner using the clove hitch. Be careful, as the clove hitch may slip slightly, but it’s good for this purpose because it allows adjustment of your distance to the stand easily and can be tied without untying the rope from your harness.´
• At this point, you can tell the other climber that he / she can stop belaying and start preparing for a climb and removing his / hers belay station.
• Place the second screw. Try to place it on solid ice at least 20-40 cm below or above the first screw and preferably at least 20-40 cm away from the first. The distance, both vertical and horizontal, between the screws makes the station more secure. The idea is to avoid a situation where cracked ice around one of the screws could also crack the ice around the other. You should make sure though that the dyneema sling that has the knot is long enough and there’s some slack left so that you can equalize the belay station properly.
• Free one of the ends of the dyneema sling that has the knot and clip carabiner that’s still attached to the other end of the dyneema sling to the second screw. If the second screw you’ve placed is the one that’s higher, the shorter loop should stay in the carabiner and vice versa. Clip the free end of the sling to the large diameter carabiner and secure the carabiner gates.
• Clip the carabiner that has the belay device to the sling. Make sure that you clip inside the sling (i.e. not over both strands of the sling). Turn the carabiner 180 degrees and clip the other strand of the sling. Clipping it this way allows at the same time the equalization of the force to both of the screws and either one of the screws to fail without the possibility of carabiner slipping from the sling. It’s called a sliding X. The knot in the sling is designed to minimize the length of fall in case one of the screws would fail, thus limiting the force applied to the remaining screw.
• Drag in the remaining of the slack rope. You shouldn’t have too much though. :-) You should place the rope either both sides on top of the rope that holds you or over your legs, in a few meters long loops. This keeps the rope organized and minimizes the risk of rope loop getting stuck on different features of ice.
• Once all the slack rope is draged in, put the rope or ropes through the belay device and clip the remaining carabiner through the rope loops so that the belay device is now on auto locking mode.
• Tell the other climber that you’re ready to belay and he / she can start climbing.
• TIP: If the ice is bad, is likely to crack, or you feel for some other reason that you need extra strength, you can use one long screw and two medium ones (or short ones), or four screws and fully balance the belay station across all of them in similar fashion.

Belaying and handling the rope

• When belaying the follower, form a few meter loops laying them either on top of the rope that holds you on the belay station or on top of your legs. This keeps the rope in order and minimizes the risk of rope getting stuck on different features of ice.
• When the follower arrives at the station, he clips to either one of the screws using appropriate length sling and carabiner or the rope and clove hitch knot for the while you change the belay device to the lead belay mode and clip it to your harness.
• Then it’s just a normal belay of leader. You feed the rope from the pile you created as the leader goes.
• TIP: You can make use of the time at the belay, either while belaying or while waiting the second to start climbing, by building an Abalakov for later use or by taking a sip of tea + some energizing food.

Leaving the belay station for lead

• The follower takes the lead from the station. It’s much easier and more straightforward that way for instance from the rope handling point of view.
• Leader should climb until the first protection is placed very carefully, as a direct fall to the belay station generates high impact forces and means higher risk. In other words, place the first screw well before you have to. A good distance depending on difficulty is 2-4 meters above the belay station.
• Once first screw is placed, lead normally.

Leaving the belay station for follow

• After your leader confirms that you can stop belaying, you can start removing the belay station. Remove all the gear and place them as you did on the ground preparation, except the screw you’re attached to with your rope.
• Once leader confirms that he’s ready to belay, detach the rope from the remaining screw and remove the last screw. You’re ready to follow.

Possible dangers and mistakes

• Incorrect selection of ice (not solid enough)
• Improperly tied clove hitch knot
• Slipping clove hitch, pay attention to what you do and be careful
• Incorrect placement of screws (too close)
• Incorrect clipping of carabiner (i.e. not clipped inside the sling + remember to turn the carabiner)
• Difficult climbing right from the belay, i.e. the danger of leader following directly against belay station
• Placing the first protection when leading too far away from the belay station

Finally, as I’ve found Will Gadd’s blog as an excellent source of information, I thought to include few pointers to blog articles where he writes about matters that relate to multi-pitch belay stations:

• Equalization/Extension in anchors post #2
• Maybe better to limit anchor extension after all…
• Simple Tricks for Speed on Multi-Pitch Ice Routes
• Auto-Block Belay Devices and Other Winter Thoughts
• Equalizing belays

Few images about creating belay station:

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