Sunday Skill Builders - Advanced Anchors

Activity Notes

• Sunday Skill Clinics: Advanced Anchors
• Class date: Sunday Sunday Jan 28
• Registration opens: Dec 28
• 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm
• Mazamas Mountaineering Center (SE 43rd and Stark, Portland)
• Mazamas members $35, non-members $45
• Recommended experience level: intermediate/advanced

The Sunday Skill Builders happen on the second and fourth Sunday of the month, usually from 6 to 9 PM. The second Sunday is usually for more beginner/intermediate topics, and the fourth Sunday usually covers more intermediate/advanced techniques. Registration opens one month before the class. Most topics are taught twice a year.

Students are generally accepted first-come first-served. Please apply ASAP after the opening of registration to have the best chance of getting in the class.

If you need to cancel, please be courteous and do so early to give those on the waitlist a chance to get into the class. Don't be a no-show.

Do you have a basic understanding of anchor principles and know how to build a few simple ones? Excellent, let's learn a lot more!

Crafty anchor tricks we’ll cover MAY include (we won’t get to all of these . . .) ​

• Quad anchor, two slings
• Quad anchor, double top rope set up
• Cordelette: keep it open / untied
• Cordelette: using a long cordelette on two bolts close together
• Cordelette:  bunny ears
• Safety near cliff top: Friction hitch (or Grigri) and a bight knot backup
• Using a second “rigging rope” for building a top rope anchor, when anchor points are far back from the edge
• Using the climbing rope and a BHK (Big Huge Knot) to use anchors that are far from the edge on multi-pitch climbs to bring up your second
• Walking the rope around a tree or tossing it over a rock spike, tie a BHK
• Double strand bowline around a tree or rock block 
• The “Alex Honnold anchor” with the rope: clove to one bolt, butterfly on backside of clove, clove or figure 8 to the other bolt. 
• Girth hitch master point
• “V clove” anchor - 120 cm sling and 3 anchor points
• Wrap 3 pull 2 anchor 
• The cheapskate locker - add some tape
• The courtesy anchor
• The easy-to-clean top rope anchor - First person up threads the rope through the hardware, and then clips a carabiner onto the bolt hanger 

Gear needed: harness, a few locking and snapgate carabiners, prusik loop/friction hitch, two 120 cm slings, cordelette (about 16 feet 7 mm cord). If you want to practice with a quad anchor, I recommend a Dyneema 180 cm sling. The Mountain Shop in Portland often has these in stock; support your local climb shop!

You don't need to have all of this gear, we can share. This will be "ground school", so no helmet or rock shoes are needed.

The links above go to articles from my website, Alpinesavvy. If you make time to read some of them before class, your class time will be much more effective, hint hint.

Look forward to seeing you, hope you can make it!

John Godino and Andy Nuttbrock, Sunday Skills Clinic coordinators