Sold Out Introduction to Top Rope Set-Ups October 5

We are excited to offer a natural top rope anchor building clinic on Saturday, October 5. Topics will cover knots, anchors, rope management  & care, edge safety, and anchor-building practice.

The clinic will be at the usual climbing area at Carderock.  Meet at 8 a.m. in the normal parking lot.  If you are not sure where this is or have other questions contact Andy Bernat – andypbernat at gmail.com

Please review the following before class. Anchor principles, Friction hitches, Bowline knots (please note what he refers to as an improved Bowline is actually a double Bowline and what he calls a double Bowline is actually a Bowline on a bight). If you do any reading in the climbing literature you will find numerous acronyms for building anchors: ERNEST, SERENE, NERDSS and there are others. These checklists/guidelines are primarily for building gear anchors for single and multi-pitch trad climbing. Top rope anchors tend to be overbuilt as compared to trad climbing, not because they need to be stronger, but rather that they are used many times and are often totally out of sight and unsupervised and are continually being loaded when lowering.

In other parts of the country, it is often common to encounter bolted anchors at the top. That is not the case here at Carderock, Great Falls, Sugarloaf and many other local climbing areas.

This clinic will only address natural anchors, trees and boulders: 
– trees – healthy, suitable size, well rooted, etc.
– boulders – boulder (and outcroppings) size, stability, slope of cliff edge, etc.
Webbing can be used to construct anchors, but static line is much more robust and user friendly. We will concentrate on using only static line in this clinic.
Useful knots to know:
– figure 8 (includes 8 follow-through and 8 on a bight)
– bowline (with backup)
– friction hitch (prussik or other)
– clove hitch
– BHK – big honking knot
– there are other knots that may make your life easier, but these will cover almost all scenarios

Please bring the following:

  • Helmet
  • Harness
  • Belay Device
  • Snacks & Water
  • If you have them:
    • top-rope anchor setup – static line and two locking carabiners
    • Prusik loop
  •  October 5, 2024
     8:00 am - 4:00 pm
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Venue:  

Venue Website:

Address:
38.5579376,-78.325019, Carderock, Maryland, 20817, United States

Description:

Carderock Recreation Area is on the Potomac River just outside the 495 Beltway. Carderock is part of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park and is well known for top rope climbing and hiking.  The Potomac Mountain Club has published a guidebook to Carderock.

The climbing area is less than a hundred yards from the parking lot. To access the climbing at Carderock, park in the north parking lot (Pin) and follow the trail westward past the toilet. It leads to the top of the cliffs. At the end, stay slightly left of straight to take the easy scramble to the bottom. You can also go right and follow the longer trail until it turns left. It continues along the base of the cliffs for a couple hundred yards.

Note that cars have been broken into in this parking lot, so do not leave valuables in your car.

PMC Social Events are often held at the Carderock Pavilion.  There are two Pavilion parking lots, one to the left and one to the right upon entering Carderock.