Sold Out Introduction to Top Rope Set-Ups November 23

We are excited to offer a natural top rope anchor building clinic on Saturday, November 23. Topics will cover knots, anchors, rope management  & care, edge safety, and anchor-building practice.

The clinic will be at the Sandbox area at Great Falls.  Meet at 8 a.m. in the climber’s lot (immediate right turn after passing the entry gate).  If you are not sure where this is or have other questions contact Kat Carlile – kathrcarlile at gmail dot 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 at Great Falls, Carderock, 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
  • Top Rope Set Up Instruction
     November 23, 2024
     8:00 am - 4:00 pm
Top Rope Registration

Sold Out

"Introduction to Top Rope Set-Ups November 23" is currently sold out.
Please check back again later, as spots may become available.

Venue:  

Venue Phone: (703) 757-3101

Venue Website:

Address:
9200 Old Dominion Dr, McLean, Virginia, 22102, United States

Description:

Great Falls (Virginia) is a US National Park located on the Potomac River just north of the Washington DC 495 Beltway.  There are around 260 listed top roping routes in this guidebook published by the Potomac Mountain Club.  The park is located here.  You need to pay an entrance fee or possess one of several NPS annual passes.

Normal meeting place is the Climber’s parking lot – turn right immediately after passing the Entrance Kiosk