Headpoint gear - page 3 Scenario 3 Good gear but horrible swing If the main piece of gear protecting the crux is off to one side, you might be in for a nasty swing and crash into the rock. These can be just as bad as hitting the ground, so get prepared for them. It might be possible to trail another rope, belayed by another person (make sure they are tied into something) who will stand a long way to one side and might be able to pull you as you fall and dampen the swing. Dynamic belaying is very effective for dampening swings, but might not be possible if you will be stopping not far above the ground. Strategically hung bouldering mats might help out, and make sure you wear a helmet, its sods law you will hit the rock head first. Or you could of course use a side runner, but that’s just not British. Scenario 4 Desperate gear to place on lead Although some still do it, pre-placing gear before a headpoint is definitely not good style. So placing fiddly gear in desperate places is part and parcel of headpointing, its still trad climbing after all. I know stamina is a dirty word for some headpointers, but it will solve a lot of problems. The really effective weapon for getting the gear in without getting pumped for the crux is to learn to downclimb. The harder routes around, especially longer ones have some savage downclimbs, harder than the route cruxes. Sometimes the routine of placing the gear and downclimbing can be used as a handy warm up if headpointing in cold conditions. If you need to get it in quickly, make sure the rack is organised in order on your harness. You can use Blu Tack to hold down skyhooks if you don’t have time to hang in there and get them tied down. The main thing is to recognise that if you headpoint routes habitually, sooner or later you will fall off, and it will inevitably be when you least expect it. On most routes, a little attention to detail goes a long way to making them a much safer proposition, but no less of a buzz. First Published in Climb Magazine 2005
|
