Building natural rock anchors is required know how for any climber, so having a system to rely on insures safety. Pro climber and Trango and Osprey athlete Marcus Garcia shows us how he makes a S.E.R.E.N.E (Solid, Equalized, Redundant, Efficient, and with No Extensions) anchor. For this he uses three cams and a pre-sewn sling.
Passive, or removable protection like cams, call for a crack system in the rock. Find a good crack in good rock, and you’re in business.
1) Gear selection
Wen used properly, spring-loaded camming devices, or cams, exert an outward force on the rock – so the harder you pull, the stronger they become. Garcia says it’s important to select sizes that allow you to make adjustments as needed. Solid.
2) Follow the rules
“Since we’re making an anchor, it’s always a rule of thumb to have three bomber pieces,” Garcia says. Everything is backed up twice. The pull test is a good way to make sure everything is in order. Equalized and redundant.
3) Efficient orientation
Always orient the cams in the direction of potential force. Equalized, efficient and redundant.
4)The system
Garcia uses a long pre-sewn sling for his anchors, tying a clove hitch for his first loop to isolate the sewn section of the sling on a carabiner. (What’s a clove hitch? Check out our video above). Then, he clips the other carabiners from the cams to the sling, pulling down the middle sections of the sling between the carabiners and forming three long bites, or loops, in the sling. Equalized and efficient.
5) Take a bite
With the three bites in hand and in the direction of potential force, i.e. the second climber, Garcia ties a standard figure eight knot to create an equalized master point of an anchor. And with no extensions.
Serenity now.
