Blog

Light is Right: Gear for Long Routes

• July 2013
• Climb

In the last two Light is Right posts, I posted some tips for hydration and bivy gear for long routes. But most important of all is racking up for the climb itself. Long routes can mean different things to different people–anything from towers like Castleton or Ancient Art, to walls in the Black, Tuolomne and Yosemite, or peaks like the Diamond or Fitzroy. What I have to say is nothing is as important as saving weight, nothing! 🙂

Here’s a rundown of what I normally take for a long rock climb–things may vary, based on the route or the season, but this is the real fundamental setup for me.

Harness
I like the Mammut Mana harness for my ultralight setup. Let me rephrase that, I CHERISH the Mana, especially because it is no longer available, and it is irreplaceable to my light setup. 🙁 If you have one, be happy! If you don’t, look for the other most ultralight harness you can get…it doesn’t have to be comfortable, it has to be light.

Chalkbag
I carry the smallest chalkbag prAna makes, which is the women’s chalkbag, and think realistically about how much chalk to carry. Long route in the Black in July? Okay, fill it. Late fall on Higher Cathedral? Maybe around half full. I also use a short piece of 6 mm static cord as the chalkbag belt. I tie an overhand knot to close it, and make sure to tie the cord through the belay loop of the harness (so it’s doing the same thing as the swami). Now I have an ultralight backup for in case my swami breaks (unlikely) or in case I forgot to double back my buckle (also unlikely, but why not?). This chalkbag belt option also gives me a piece of prusik cord in case I want to use a backup brake for rappelling on the way down, or for some unexpected emergency. For the same weight as a regular chalkbag belt, I get a full strength harness backup and a piece of potentially useful cord, which is a good deal in my book. I also put a partially used roll of tape on the chalkbag belt, which is the first aid kit, repair kit and tape supply.

Jacket/Hat
I bring a SUPER light windbreaker that stuffs into its own pocket and has a clip-in point, and a small hat, clipped to a toy biner. This way I have an extra layer for belays or in case it gets cold, windy or drizzly. Never use real biners for carrying items–it’s just a waste of weight. Toy biners are much lighter.

Water/Headlamp
Again with the toy biner, and a 12 ounce plastic soda or water bottle with a small cord tied around the neck. I also bring a tube of chapstick and sometimes a couple of pieces of chewing gum–both really help with thirst. If there is a reasonable chance of getting benighted or if you are alpine starting without a moon, bring a very light headlamp, and make sure to put in new batteries before the route. You can wear this around your neck all day if you want to reduce the amount of stuff hanging off your harness.

Food/Shoes
I like to bring a little bit of caffeine in the form of Clif Tropical Punch Shot Blocks, and some Mojo bars (less sweet–go for the Mixed Nuts flavor). If the approach is not too rugged, the best thing you can do is hike up in Evolv Cruzers. If you have a long approach with a bivy before the climbing day, consider packing in the Cruzers so you can take those for the approach to your climb and leave the big shoes at the bivy–it’s a huge amount of weight savings right there, as opposed to climbing with big, bulky approach shoes clipped to your waist. When you clip them to your harness (with a toy biner!), you can put the bars inside them and stuff your socks in behind to keep the bars from falling out.

Ropes
My standard is a Mammut Infinity 60m rope, definitely duodess. If I am bringing a tagline, I usually take a 6mm static, or possibly up to 8mm if I know there will be a lot of rappels.

Rack
The rack starts with a superlight, full strength gear sling in my personal size (small). Sorry, yet again this is an awesome, crucial gear item that you can’t buy anywhere anymore for some unknown reason. But you can make one yourself by tying a piece of one-inch webbing with a water knot and sewing some fleece padding to it and sewing the gear section into a tubular shape (this is what I did before I got lucky enough to find one in a store once, years ago), or get one made for you by someone with a bartacker (this is what I keep meaning to do for the people in my Indian Creek Clinics–October folks, it could be you!).
Usually I bring:
some small to medium nuts and a light nut tool
cams from blue Metolius up to 3.5 inch size (I prefer Mastercams for the small ones, and then Powercams because they are the lightest), 1-2 sets
biners: everything racked on Moses biners, and 4-6 freebies also
slings: at least 6 of the superlight Mammut dyneema Contact slings, all equipped with a free biner
4 light quickdraws with Moses biners
3 ultralight locking biners
light belay device on ultralight locker

This is a lot of gear, but compared to the same equipment that has not been meticulously pared down to ultralight choices, it is shockingly light. It will make a difference on your route.

I have one final tip for girls–well maybe for boys too in some circumstances. It took me years (I’m embarrassed to admit this but in case I’m not the only one, I’m going to tell you) to realize that I didn’t have to unclip the elastic harness suspenders on the back of my harness when I needed to pull down my pants and use the facilities. See, being elastic, they STRETCH ! (yes, duh.)

Forget the unclip/reclip/reach-behind-all-awkward sequence when you have to go. Just unbutton your pants (or if they are elastic waist, even easier), pull em down, and don’t worry about the harness at all. At least I finally did figure it out after only a decade, and it improved my life enormously! 😀