cool, dark place, and never use it for anything other than climbing. When flaking it, feel along the length of the rope for any flat spots or inconsistencies in the weave, and if you are ever in any doubt about its ability to perform well, have it checked professionally or simply discard it and buy a replacement.
MY INTRODUCTION TO SEA-CLIFF CLIMBING
Growing up in the south of England, Swanage was my local crag and this is where I started my climbing career. For my first ever trip there I was accompanied by a crisp copy of Pete Crew’s Dorset guidebook, a mate from school, a few sandwiches – and my mother’s old washing line. I was particularly proud of the latter: it looked like a climbing rope (albeit a tad on the short and thin side) and was nicely coiled, just as I’d seen on TV. (You can probably tell by now that we had no idea what we were about to get in to; even the legend on the inside cover of the guide that stated ‘the pages in this book will easily separate after a thorough wetting’ didn’t stand out as sufficient warning.)
Suffice to say that we were lucky to get away with our lives. Heading straight for the Cattle Troughs area we avoided the many sections of cliff that would have entailed an abseil to reach the start of the climbs. With our meagre knowledge and equipment that would almost certainly have proved fatal. As it was, I’m sure that only youthful ignorance and stubbornness kept us alive that day, along with the fact that we didn’t fall off anything and so test the recently liberated washing line. We were both soaked from the waves crashing onto the ledges at the base of the routes, and retired stunned, numb – and not a little frightened – after a few hours to the safety of the bus back home.
Sea cliffs, I quickly learned, are unforgiving places. You need to not only be able to abseil in, but more importantly be able to climb back out again. You need to know about tide times, the state of the sea, how to belay at the bottom as well as at the top, and have some mechanism in place for getting help if you do not return home at a given time.
Sea cliffs are also stunning places: wonderful solitude, the rock under your fingertips vibrating with every crash of the waves, the bright sunshine glinting off the sea and a slight breeze cooling you in the summer sun. This is why, despite my initial experience, sea-cliff climbing became a very important part of my life in the vertical, and I still look forward to trips to the coast with great anticipation.
Mind you – I quickly learnt a lot more about it after that first trip. I even went out and bought myself a rope.
Snapgate karabiners
These are used when leading to allow quick clipping of any gear being placed for protection. There are various shapes and sizes, but they can be put into two main categories: those with solid gates and those with wire gates.
The advantage of a wire gate is threefold.
They weigh less than an equivalent-size solid gate.
The gate closure is performed by the clever positioning of the wire gate; there are no moving parts which could break or jam (unlike the solid gate, which often has a spring incorporated into its design).
Most important is the mass of the gate. When a fall occurs, the passage of the rope through a karabiner sets up vibration. This can be sufficient to open and close a solid gate very quickly. If the point of loading on the karabiner – the stage at which the fall stops – coincides with the gate being open, this massively reduces its strength. A wire gate, as it has less mass, is less affected by the vibration and thus unlikely to be in the open position when the rope tightens after a fall.
Solid gate (left) and wire gate (right) snap karabiners
Although I prefer wire gates there is nothing to stop you using solid gate karabiners for your rack of gear (see Gear Rack), but I would recommend supplementing them with wire gates over time.
Snapgate karabiners have either straight or bent gates. A bent gate allows easier clipping of the rope – especially when making ‘desperate’ clips – but there is also a slight increase in the chance of the rope unclipping during a fall in some situations, particularly if the gear has been clipped incorrectly (see Chapter 9).
Straight (left) and bent gate (right) snap karabiners
It is also essential that a bent gate karabiner is always used at the rope end of any protection and never clipped into the gear itself; any twisting motion could cause it to come undone in extreme circumstances.
Screwgate karabiners
These have a sleeve on the gate that is fastened to prevent accidental opening. This is important when they are used as part of an anchor system, or when connecting a belay or abseil device to a climber. They are often categorized into two types: D-shape and ‘HMS’ or ‘pear-shape’. The contrast is obvious from the photograph below.
It is important to know how the two differ under use.
The strongest axis of a karabiner is along the back bar, and the D-shape will automatically align the rope in the correct position. This makes it the stronger of the two overall (although this will not matter too much in careful everyday use).
The HMS does not have a tight bend at the end of the back bar, thus any load could fall some distance from it, so making the karabiner weaker than the ‘D’.
However, the HMS is great for clipping big knots or gear into, and will work well with a variety of belay and abseil devices. Its big advantage is when using an Italian hitch, as it allows the knot to work in the correct manner (since it is not forced into a tight corner). This function will become more obvious once we look at alternative belay methods (see Chapter 8).
‘D’-shape (left) and HMS (right) karabiners
There are also different methods of locking mechanism. Many karabiners will use a sleeve that you need to tighten manually (don’t overdo it: make it snug then turn it back a little, otherwise it could jam), while others have an automatic facility. Automatic locking karabiners have a one- or two-stage function:
Close-up of a ‘ball-lock’ karabiner, where the green button has to be depressed and the sleeve rotated in order to open the gate
Single-stage You just rotate or pull down on the sleeve, depending upon the design, and the gate can be swung open.
Two-stage Either rotate the sleeve then pull it back, or press a button and then rotate.
I rarely use self-locking karabiners, but always go for the two-stage system as this seems to be safer than the single-stage operation.
Extenders
Sometimes known as ‘quick-draws’ or ‘tie-offs’, these are an essential part of a leader’s rack. They consist of a short length of sling with a snapgate karabiner at each end. Once a piece
