Its such a breathe of fresh air seeing someone on youtube who many climbers can relate to. Not a world champion thats been climbing for 10 to 20 years but someone who is working their way through the grades, encountering similar problems and all else. You're doing awesome! You got this!
I found this thanks to the RUclips algorithm. I’ve been climbing for 5 years now and have been a fan of Mike Boyd’s channel for longer then that. This channel was an instant subscribe.
If you use the clipstick, always clip the ones below! If the third bolt breaks out you are on the floor, if there is a second quick draw in, there is a chance you dont make a ground fall :)
I climbed for the first time ever a year ago and fell in love with it. I just climbed a 7a last week! It's really fun progressing through the grades but also starting to get very difficult now.
That lower-off anchor is fine. I find that we as climbers sometimes question gear and apply rules/systems in uneven ways. That anchor (assuming you visually inspect it prior to use) is safer than all the bolts you trusted on the up. Each draw you placed/clipped was only a single bolt and snapgate carabiners, the anchor was two bolts and a snapgate. Could that anchor be more redundant? Yes. Do I wish that was an anchor setup I encountered more often? Also yes. I think asking those questions of how good is this, and can it reasonably be better, or can I do things to better protect me and my partner are questions well worth asking. Though it looks likes after you asked yourself those questions you came to the reasonable decision that it was good the way it was. Understanding reality, is more important that adhering to rules/systems.
The risks with a snap gate are getting above the height of the gate such that you could essentially backclip yourself out of the system which has resulted in fatalities on mussy hooks, the snap gate orienting to be against a rock and opening, or in an even more theoretical case a twist or knot forcing the same thing. In this case the chain of hardware is a gluein, rapide, and the open lower off, which more or less forces the open lower to a good position. You can see the rope going across it the whole time. And you can be in control of not going over the height of the gate. Since those 3 major risk factors are mitigated I would have no hesitation using that open lower off with no backup.
Not commenting on the anchor in the video, but just regarding your statement 'it is safer than the bolts': the quickdraws are backed up by the ones beneath them, so it isn't fair to say you are trusting a single snap gate. If one were to fail, you would be caught by the one below. Some climbs this might get a little spicy, but if well bolted you should avoid a ground fall. You would never lower off just a single quickdraw, because once you go too far, if the bolt fails there is too much slack and you deck. For this reason if you ever do need to retreat from a single bolt, it is important to put a prusik on the belayers line. This ensures if anything goes wrong you are still backed up by the next lowest quickdraw.
i would also add that if your working the route, its good considered good etiquette to put in your own screwgate or draw that takes the load at the top anchor and just have the built in one there for redundancy, as it reduces wear on the gear which some local is probably paying to put in and replace (although they do still tend to last quite a while)
Your journey here is so relatable, I'm a stable V3/6a-6b boulderer/climber and have recently taken to indoor lead climbs, with a goal to do outdoor over the summer around the UK. It's insane how leading a climb can change the dynamic and perceived difficulty, and I'm so grateful to see your journey to take points away to my climbing and help me improve. Amazing content as always, congrats on the send (with top tier Ondra screams), and can't wait for the next one.
I'm really liking this style of editing for climbing content. I feel like no one else on youtube does it this way and the quality is quite refreshing to watch.
@@MikeBoydClimbs You'll live a lot longer that way! As you've seen, not all trad anchors and gear are the same, so understanding the principles is way more important than memorizing the "rules". Good luck and keep climbing!
I love how after years of trying different things you managed to find a true passion besides mountain biking. I wish you the best of luck and as much safety as possible on your journey! I also can't wait to see what's planned for the main channel haha
After watching your main channel for so many years, I see you starting posting climbing videos and then opening a whole channel dedicated to climbing at the same time I also start and get as excited as you about it. Love it, keep it up Mike... You're smashing this.
That send looked awesome, and the route looked really tough at the start so having any energy after that is impressive. Also love the production quality, great use of drone, never seen someone talk to a drone at the top of a climb and it felt really immersive
This is such a cool channel man. I don't even climb or anything and I just find it really enjoyable to watch. You should definitely promote this channel a bit on your main. Ive been a pretty avid viewer of your channel since the early learn quicks and I had no idea this channel existed. Keep it up.
I love how relatable this channel is LOL, thank you Anchor situation is perfectly fine for lowering off. If you are in a scenario where a gate opening might put you in peril, and it is possible that the gate could open, you use a screwgate. This is the important concept, understanding why we use locking caribiners. Then you can apply that concept to any scenario you encounter to keep yourself safe. Which is exactly what uou did! 🤝 In this specific scenario, the snapgate will not accidentally open. You are simply lowering and not doing anything else at the anchor, the rope is weighted the whole time, and the snapgate is oriented in a safe way under load. Even if the gate opened, the rope would not come out as it is weighted (yes this weakens the carabiner, but not enough to be unsafe for lowering) Some scenarios where you might want to use a screwgate in your system: You are hanging out at the anchor to belay a follower up (more rope moving about, and you are moving about, making it a non-zero chance that you may open a gate on accident) A single critical piece of lead protection that is keeping you from decking You are planning on climbing above the anchor for whatever reason When top roping. The anchor is out of sight and moving around a lot more than when lowering, and the rope will be unweighted between climbers. I always use opposite and opposed carbiners, or a single locker. This may also help prevent a noob from doing something weird at the anchor when they are scared.
Cinematography was really well done. It was one of the thrings I didn't think about until I noticed some of the other comments mention. It's one of those things where it's easy to notice if it's done badly, but since the video was so well put-together, I just enjoyed watching, and realised afterwards that was in part due to great canera work and editing
great video mike you really show the perspective of someone coming into something that is full of people that have been doing it for a long time and not making it look intimidating 👍👍
Just hit the one month mark of climbing this last weekend. Entered my first indoor sport route competition in recreational division (which goes to 5.10b) and placed 4th. Not bad for a 46 year old I guess, everyone above me in standings was half my age lol. Yesterday I tried my first 5.10c sport route indoors, got 2 moves from the top.. so close. Your channel makes me want to get out on rock, but taking it one step at a time. Signed up for a Lead climbing 2-day course next month. Looking forward to more content from you!
Great video as always! I had a bad accident on the sea cliffs on Mull last December. I broke my back in 4 places but I'm just about recovered these days. Your videos are helping me get motivated to be out on the rock again!
Well done on your send! I agree with other commenters that lowering off that particular single wiregate is safe. It's held in place at the top so it won't spin and they usually have stiff or weighty gates so the chance of the gate opening by accident is reduced. The rope is unlikely to come out while you're weighting it. I found it unnerving the first time I used a setup like that but I got used to it! It's important to think logically about these things when assessing the risk. Also, if you don't like the option to use the fixed wiregate for whatever reason (gate is broken, it's rusty or corroded, etc), you can just rethread and lower off the central mallion. There is usually something like a mallion, ring, chain, or whatever that you can rethread even if there is also fixed gear. Sending your first 7a is a big milestone. I sent my first one when I had done 2x 6b+'s, 1x 6c and my hardest onsight was 6a+. Sending the 6c took 5 or 6 days, and then I immediately tried a 7a which took another 5 or 6 days. Don't be discouraged if you can't do all the moves on your first session! Also I'd advise you not to go down the route of thinking you need to train to do it. You really don't need to be a strongman to do 7a.
I used to watch you when i was in in late middle school/ early highschool and always found your hunger for new skills really awesome and have carried that with me through my life. Now here i am in college COMPLETELY obsessed with rock climbing and now you pop back up on my feed!
i'm from Scotland too Mike! I live down by Ayr and your first video climbing inspired me to start! It's now a weekly activity with my brother and some friends, can't thank you enough for introducing it to me! If I'm ever up in your neck of the woods i hope i bump into you in the gym! Nice send too ;)
Ooh, footage from Kirriemuir and Robs Reed! Been too long since I've been climbing in Angus. Check out Legaston quarry and Elephant Rock. Both really fun if you're climbing 6b+. Really enjoyed the video. Lovely to see some relatable, well-filmed progress outdoors. Stick with it!
Insane content here Mike, I think we can all tell that climbing's taken a hold of your life! very nice stuff... good to see you so driven! maybe you already know this but if at some point you have to lower from a single point as you were showing, and you don't trust the material on the anchor, for whichever reason, know that as long as you are clipped into quickdraws below you, you can unite both ropes with a Machard knot and then if the top hold fails catastrophically you'ld be fine, since the active rope would be shortened at the Machard knot point!!! works also when bailing from a route from a single maillon! keep on the tough climbing!
I recently got into climbing and saw one of my favorite RUclipsrs getting into it as well. Been binge watching all your climbing videos and loving every single one. Keep up the great work!
It's so awesome to see you climbing and taking it seriously its a beautiful sport and i love how much attention has been coming to it in the past year, your progression in the short time you have climbing has been awesome to watch keep it up man!
Great job on the send. It's totally normal for the climb to feel different when you try to lead it for the first time. Remember to practice clipping positions! Sometimes it can feel like the crux of a climb but usually there is some trick to make each one easier. I tend to work on the individual moves on my first lead up a route and then on the clipping positions while I descend the route on top rope.
Such great content, thanks Mike! Top tip: try not to double tap your foot every time you get on a new hold, place it right first time and use it. You can drill this indoors until that urge to "taptaptap" each foothold isn't so natural
So glad to see a mainstream RUclipsr making climbing content. The single snap gate is fine as long as you don't go above it. It's an acceptable redundant system with that clip attached to 2 bolt. Enjoy the rock!
i started a couple months before you did and i've been a big fan in the past, so you have been a huge inspiration for me to try and get better at climbing!!
7:42 - This is the main purpose of the stick clip, to pre clip the first bolt only and mitigate the risk of unprotected climbing to the first bolt. As you experienced here it's easy for a small slip to result in a fall, and if you were falling onto uneven ground or from a little higher, you could have easily damaged your ankles, or something else if you fell differently (e.g. onto your back). As a beginner sport climber, it'd be wise to just make a habit of stick clipping the first until you're comfortable reading the initial moves.
Was a bit jarred at the lack of an already secured clip in at 7:47. Really gotta remember that you're a full-on climber now! I've personally never climbed so just looking at these sketchy walls (especially the crumbly sections) makes me a bit queasy. I just KNOW my soft hands would get scratched up and I'd somehow find a way to fall facefirst 20 meters up. Harrowing stuff. Great video, Mike!
Red wall at 9:59 or so makes ME scared. No need to beat yourself up for not full-sending it that day, humans are bad at estimation and this stuff is tricky as hell.
Lowering off that anchor looks fine. I wouldn't want to climb above it, but it should be plenty fine for lowering. Side note, at 14:04 it looks like your quickdraw is attached to the permanent draw at the top. It's not a huge deal but I would avoid attaching two non locking carabiners together like this since if you twist them they can fairly easily unclip themselves. Putting your draw into the chain above would be a much better solution, and it would allow you to transition to lowering off the fixed hardware easier since your rope wouldn't be fighting for space with your draw.
@12:28 I would trust that. Those are generally stainless steel. Super Strong. Also The spring on the gate are also usually very firm on fixed rappels. The rope is under constant load, so not much is going to happen up there. I would not top rope on that. when top roping you sometimes bounce on the rope for long periods of time and there is a risk of unclipping. Also... It's just bad manners to top rope on fixed gear.
12:35 realistically it's probably fine and despite what instructors tell you there are often times in climbing when we put our lives on one snapgate and its the right/only move. That said looked like you had taken the draws out on the way up but you can slightly increase safety by doing it on the way down so if that snapgate fails at the anchor/you climb above it and it unclups your still on lead on the bolts below. Tbh i would probably just thread the chains in this situation or if its a project im coming back to leave a screwgate on it, just not worth the small amount of risk for me
The chance of the rope lifting up and over the gate is slim, especially not climbing above the anchor. But that being said I've seen crazier things happen in safer situations... 😅😅 I'd be using a screw gate just to be extra safe. I'm not a great climber, but I climbed like a cocky twat, thinking I knew it all. Its only after seeing multiple mistakes I've made that I knew I needed to take safer measures. Keep safe if you can.
Keeping your draws in below and cleaning on the way down would be highly reccomend as otherwise you are solely reliant on the single caribeaner. It'll keep you from decking in the case that you become unclipped from the anchor.
It's fine to lower off without the screwgate. It's common to find "musty hooks" at the top of sport routes specifically for lowering off. If it's just lowering, then the rope is continuously weighted the whole time. When you're climbing you jiggle around and take falls which dynamically loads and unloads the rope and moves the gear around which could lead to the gate coming open. A smooth lower off won't cause that. I will say though that usually there are 2 hooks not just one.
North Wales sport climber here, great to see you fall in love with the best sport in the world, I am keen to check out some Scottish sport climbing crags one day.
Thought about giving you advice. thought ud not read anyways. id be impressed if u make 7a. my peak is 7b+ with 3-4times of training/w and starting young. One thing i notice heavily in your climbing is your feet. Try to use them more activly. I know u climb a sorta passiv shoe but still you can learn to "scatch like a bull" meaning to get you heel further up, more presure on your toes, and then pulling through your legs. onto the foothold. your hip is closer to the wall and youll have to pull less through your arms, especially in slab or sometimes to keep your hips inside during a roof cheers tho. lovly video
Lowering off the anchor comes down to whatever you’re comfortable with. It looks bomber, but personally I would’ve used a PAS to anchor myself in, untied and retied through one of the quicklinks, and lowered myself off from that. There are no right answers though, it’s just whatever you’re comfortable with. Nothing is 100% “safe”.
Single snaplink is fine for lowering with a couple of caveats. First up, inspect to make sure it's not worn to the point there are sharp edges. I've got a couple of steel carabiners for swapping out lower offs, although there's always the risk someone will booty them since they don't have a fixed eye. The next one is don't allow enough slack to develop that the rope can flick a loop over the snaplink and unclip itself. On a straight lower that's unlikely, but if you're unclipping runners or swinging about you can get some weirdness. Even if the gate somehow locks open a decent snaplink shoulld hold about 6kN open, and that's going to be 5 times any reasonable lowering load. Ryan from HowNot2 has a catchphrase about that. Finally, if you're feeling at all sketchy then leave something. Having a bit of reasonable cord and an older 'biner that you're happy to bail off is cheap insurance, and even a couple of cams is cheaper than a rescue or a funeral.
My main worry with that anchor would be the rope crossing over the quickdraw and unclipping it. Similar to the danger of backclipping, only you'd take a much bigger fall. I'd recommend doing two quickdraws opposite and opposed.
I have been climbing for about 2 years now, and my goal for this year is a 7a as well! Unfortunately I cannot find the time to train properly. Watching your videos is motivating me to reschedule and make it happen somehow this year
Haha. Great content! Your shouting is funny as hell. If you had only audio, I would imagine you are already doing a 7a. I can relate😅 huffing and puffing your way up.
It looks like the anchor lower is fine. It may be worthwhile familiarizing yourself with using a lanyard/PAS attach yourself to the anchor and then passing a bight of your rope through the quicklink to lower off of that, but only if you encounter closed anchor systems. Practices differ in different parts of the world and perhaps you'll never have to worry about that sort of thing where you are.
Anchor is brand new and bomber, used to just be a single hanger that you had to abseil off. Send looked great and with putting the clips too, looks like you had a little extra left in the tank. Robs reed is a lot about the feet, there are soo many options it can be hard to find the best one, I find lots of high feet are useful at RR. The 7a to the right is class and good option for ya first seeing as it is fairly local.
Regarding your anchor question. 100% I'd lower off that. As long as the rope remains weighted, there's no risk of it upclipping. I wouldn't top rope off of it as the rope could be weighted, unweighted, bounced, etc. (and you shouldn't TR off fixed anchors anyway to reduce wear). Everyone will talk about redundancy and not having a second anchor for lowering will be bad etc etc etc. But you have one rope, one harness, one belayer/device/loop. Most of the system doesn't have an equipment backup, but those are mostly under direct human supervision, so, with safety/partner checks, adds the redundancy you need for those components. Anchors are (generally) unattended, and need to have equipment redundancy in case something fails. But simply lowering once at the end of the day, no issue from me. (sorry, posted this under another comment originally)
Disagree. Would i lower off it once in a pinch? Sure. Would i make a habit of it? No. There is no comparison between the lack of redundancy of rope, harness, belay device etc and a non-locking anchor. Human error notwithstanding, all of the former devices tend to require insanely rare or unusual forces to break. A quickdraw gate opening does not. I'm not trying to suggest this is an insanely dangerous practice, because it's obviously not, but this is a video that's going to attract a lot of traffic from inexperienced climbers and there's really no reason why they should be encouraged to lower off of a quickdraw.
@@lukedavies900 If you go to 12:18 in the video, you can clearly see that this is a permanent lowering biner, and not a draw/biner that Mike added. I'm guessing that's standard at this crag. I don't understand how it could come unclipped if lowering (not TRing, not projecting on it, simply lowering to the ground once). Any climber that's ever projected a route (and not made the anchor) has lowered off of a single quickdraw (and single bolt for that matter; Mike's anchor is two bolts) and thought nothing of it, yet you seem to think it is dangerous to get lowered off of a quickdraw? In fact, projecting likely means taking repeat falls, again and again, on a single quickdraw, and yet, how often does the draw become unclipped while falling from above (almost never, but I'll conceed not never, but again, that's my point - it was unweighted, and then weighed again). Acknowledging that sport routes have multiple draws in a row... On short routes like this, once you're about 5 feet below the last clipped draw, you're likely into ground fall territory if the draw/bolt breaks, or the rope unclips. But I still don't understand how a rope would unclip a from a fully and continously weighted biner.
The lower off at 12:15 looks fine, sometimes they don't have screwgates but are designed to be stiffer and oriented in the right direction as you pointed out. Psyched for the colab with Dave MacLeod!
I bottled it on a 5c the other day having lead up to 6a+/b during the height of the season last year, it felt weird not being willing to do moves that last year id have felt more than comfortable doing and that i know I am able of doing, its funny how a few months away from the crags can totally play with your head
don't worry about it too much. First time on rock after a few months off can feel like starting all over again. Stick at it! I bottled a 6a the other day too!
The snapgate lower-off is good as it's unified so if one bolt breaks you're still safe. There's also no chance of it rotating and somehow unclipping your rope
Pre clipping the first draw is perfect acceptable in UK sport climbing or any sport climbing for that matter. You often see pros do it on much harder routes as the first bolt can be quite high up to prevent rope drag. Don’t feel you have to do something dangerous to properly tick the route. That’s what we have trad for. - sincerely someone that’s been climbing in the UK for 30 years.
Its often easy to forget that climbing top rope is often easier due to a small amount of your weight being taken by the rope. It could massively benefit you to ask for a very small amount of give in the rope, so you aren't being 'pulled' up the wall. Either way, fantastic job!
Its great seeing you climb at places that are really close to me! Its making me want to try outdoors for the first time! Just need to find people to go with lol
@12:20 Wouldn't toprope on it without an aditional screw gate. But why shouldn't you lower on it? You always pull on it, always staying beneath it. There's no chance the rope will jump out, in my opinion. If one (or two) of the bolts will come off, the screw gate won't help you anything. Cool video by the way. Struggling somehow similar. I like seeing your progress 👍
man me and my mate seen u and dave at dunkeld a couple weeks ago we were the two lads u spoke to climbing next too u. at the time i sat there while talking to u trying to remember where i had seen u before and it was only when u left i realized it was yourself. glad to see u making ur way to 7a tho.
And getting down on that one snapgate is fine. usually its a harder one as well, just dont toprope on it. to get off after a lead or the followup, its gucci.
Anchors absolutely fine, and the norm pretty much everywhere I've climbed. People get a little silly about anchors and what's safe, imo. People seem to forget there's one carabiner attaching them to their belay partners harness.. Redundancy is good and all, but only where it really makes sense. There's tons of times while climbing where we don't have redundancy. We also (usually) only climb with one rope, for example
@@MikeBoydClimbs Some things to watch out for are loose bolts, rusted bolts, or a snapgate/ring that is very badly worn. The badly worn ones, can be a bit sharp, and there's a bit of risk there. If that's the case, you just leave your own carabiner up there. Can only think of one time I've ever had to do that though, so it's rare. Best of luck on your journey to 7a! Getting that in 1 year of outdoor climbing would be very impressive. Took me a lot longer than that, and when I did it was because I really concentrated on getting good at indoor bouldering and then picked my routes wisely (short ones, or ones with a big proper rest mid way up)
Great content! The chain looks bomber, here in Italy many if not most of the chains are the same. If i May suggest you something to work on more Is your footwork, It seems you almost Always palace tour feet sideway. Keep It up and come to Italy, we have lots of nice crags with perfect scenarios for a video.
@@MikeBoydClimbs that's normal, especially for men or people with more upper body strenght, we tend to rely to much on It. Btw i Just senti my First 7a few weeks ago!
12:33 Technicaly you're not supposed to go higher so you won't take a whip that could open the gate of the carabiner with the rope, and the gate of the carabiner is at the oposite side of the rock so it won't be opened by pressure of the rock For me it's safe but i'm not an expert However, i'm personnaly not a fan of top-roping, with only one quickdraws as you did at 3:10 I would have clipped the 3 other in the case of any failure on one quickdraw But really cool video :)
Its such a breathe of fresh air seeing someone on youtube who many climbers can relate to. Not a world champion thats been climbing for 10 to 20 years but someone who is working their way through the grades, encountering similar problems and all else. You're doing awesome! You got this!
You can always rely on me to be average 💪 thanks for watching!
Average old (I am almost 60ty) present !!
That's exactly what I was thinking and also one of the reasons I like Mikes videos
@@MikeBoydClimbs Says the guy riding a unicycle up a cliff to a muscle up bar while juggling 3 sabres
Such a good send! Looks like a wicked route.
ello ello, didnt expect to see you here
mumbo???
We gotta make this collab happen
can we see a mumbo jumbo climbing video?? I think a lot of people would love that
Mumbo??? Do u climb i watch climbing and hermitcraft
4:35 "there are some good handholds in there" and literally 2 seconds later, the hold breaks. this is peak climbing relatability hahah
Honestly, I never said there were good handholds at any point before that!
This juts proves how addictive climbing really is. His whole channel has changed into a climbing one
I'm absolutely hooked!
@@MikeBoydClimbs Climb hard and enjoy!
I love how Dave MacLeod just appears in the sponsor and just isn't in the rest of the video lmao
Next video 🔥
can't wait@@MikeBoydClimbs
@@MikeBoydClimbs Nice! Looking forward to it :D
@@MikeBoydClimbs class mate
🎉🎉@@MikeBoydClimbs
Some proper Adam Ondra screams out there, keep up the good spirit man.
Your climbing journey has been some of the most enjoyable climbing content in the past year.
That’s so heart warming to hear ❤️
@@MikeBoydClimbsI fully agree, i ve been following you for years and got into climbing around 3 years ago and its always nice when interests match :)
I really appreciate that you show yourself failing physically and mentally.
I found this thanks to the RUclips algorithm. I’ve been climbing for 5 years now and have been a fan of Mike Boyd’s channel for longer then that.
This channel was an instant subscribe.
If you use the clipstick, always clip the ones below! If the third bolt breaks out you are on the floor, if there is a second quick draw in, there is a chance you dont make a ground fall :)
I climbed for the first time ever a year ago and fell in love with it. I just climbed a 7a last week! It's really fun progressing through the grades but also starting to get very difficult now.
good progress!
I just wanted to tell the same story lmao. Started 03.03.23 and just did my first 7a outdoors :D
Sick man, it's so awesome to see you becoming a climber, can't wait to see you reach 7a!
Cheers. Thanks for the support
That lower-off anchor is fine. I find that we as climbers sometimes question gear and apply rules/systems in uneven ways. That anchor (assuming you visually inspect it prior to use) is safer than all the bolts you trusted on the up. Each draw you placed/clipped was only a single bolt and snapgate carabiners, the anchor was two bolts and a snapgate. Could that anchor be more redundant? Yes. Do I wish that was an anchor setup I encountered more often? Also yes. I think asking those questions of how good is this, and can it reasonably be better, or can I do things to better protect me and my partner are questions well worth asking. Though it looks likes after you asked yourself those questions you came to the reasonable decision that it was good the way it was. Understanding reality, is more important that adhering to rules/systems.
The risks with a snap gate are getting above the height of the gate such that you could essentially backclip yourself out of the system which has resulted in fatalities on mussy hooks, the snap gate orienting to be against a rock and opening, or in an even more theoretical case a twist or knot forcing the same thing. In this case the chain of hardware is a gluein, rapide, and the open lower off, which more or less forces the open lower to a good position. You can see the rope going across it the whole time. And you can be in control of not going over the height of the gate. Since those 3 major risk factors are mitigated I would have no hesitation using that open lower off with no backup.
@@sheepborg well put
Not commenting on the anchor in the video, but just regarding your statement 'it is safer than the bolts': the quickdraws are backed up by the ones beneath them, so it isn't fair to say you are trusting a single snap gate. If one were to fail, you would be caught by the one below. Some climbs this might get a little spicy, but if well bolted you should avoid a ground fall.
You would never lower off just a single quickdraw, because once you go too far, if the bolt fails there is too much slack and you deck.
For this reason if you ever do need to retreat from a single bolt, it is important to put a prusik on the belayers line. This ensures if anything goes wrong you are still backed up by the next lowest quickdraw.
I agree that it's fine.. Also, no major forces on the anchor when lowering. I'd be more worried about just clipping one bolt with your clip-stick.
i would also add that if your working the route, its good considered good etiquette to put in your own screwgate or draw that takes the load at the top anchor and just have the built in one there for redundancy, as it reduces wear on the gear which some local is probably paying to put in and replace (although they do still tend to last quite a while)
Your journey here is so relatable, I'm a stable V3/6a-6b boulderer/climber and have recently taken to indoor lead climbs, with a goal to do outdoor over the summer around the UK. It's insane how leading a climb can change the dynamic and perceived difficulty, and I'm so grateful to see your journey to take points away to my climbing and help me improve.
Amazing content as always, congrats on the send (with top tier Ondra screams), and can't wait for the next one.
I'm really liking this style of editing for climbing content. I feel like no one else on youtube does it this way and the quality is quite refreshing to watch.
Glad you enjoy it! Thanks for watching 😊
Your anchor rappel is fine. I actually liked that you verbalized your reasoning as that part is very important.
This is something I'm trying to do more and more rather than just blindly following "rules". Thanks for watching 😊
@@MikeBoydClimbs You'll live a lot longer that way! As you've seen, not all trad anchors and gear are the same, so understanding the principles is way more important than memorizing the "rules". Good luck and keep climbing!
I love how after years of trying different things you managed to find a true passion besides mountain biking. I wish you the best of luck and as much safety as possible on your journey! I also can't wait to see what's planned for the main channel haha
After watching your main channel for so many years, I see you starting posting climbing videos and then opening a whole channel dedicated to climbing at the same time I also start and get as excited as you about it. Love it, keep it up Mike... You're smashing this.
That send looked awesome, and the route looked really tough at the start so having any energy after that is impressive. Also love the production quality, great use of drone, never seen someone talk to a drone at the top of a climb and it felt really immersive
thanks for the kind words!
This is such a cool channel man. I don't even climb or anything and I just find it really enjoyable to watch. You should definitely promote this channel a bit on your main. Ive been a pretty avid viewer of your channel since the early learn quicks and I had no idea this channel existed. Keep it up.
Mike casually chilling with Dace MacLeod has got me hyped for what's to come 🔥 Echo wall next proj?😉
😉
Great video as always thank you!! Can't wait to see the collab with Dave!
Very soon!
I love how relatable this channel is LOL, thank you
Anchor situation is perfectly fine for lowering off.
If you are in a scenario where a gate opening might put you in peril, and it is possible that the gate could open, you use a screwgate. This is the important concept, understanding why we use locking caribiners. Then you can apply that concept to any scenario you encounter to keep yourself safe. Which is exactly what uou did! 🤝
In this specific scenario, the snapgate will not accidentally open. You are simply lowering and not doing anything else at the anchor, the rope is weighted the whole time, and the snapgate is oriented in a safe way under load. Even if the gate opened, the rope would not come out as it is weighted (yes this weakens the carabiner, but not enough to be unsafe for lowering)
Some scenarios where you might want to use a screwgate in your system:
You are hanging out at the anchor to belay a follower up (more rope moving about, and you are moving about, making it a non-zero chance that you may open a gate on accident)
A single critical piece of lead protection that is keeping you from decking
You are planning on climbing above the anchor for whatever reason
When top roping. The anchor is out of sight and moving around a lot more than when lowering, and the rope will be unweighted between climbers. I always use opposite and opposed carbiners, or a single locker. This may also help prevent a noob from doing something weird at the anchor when they are scared.
Cinematography was really well done. It was one of the thrings I didn't think about until I noticed some of the other comments mention. It's one of those things where it's easy to notice if it's done badly, but since the video was so well put-together, I just enjoyed watching, and realised afterwards that was in part due to great canera work and editing
great video mike you really show the perspective of someone coming into something that is full of people that have been doing it for a long time and not making it look intimidating 👍👍
Just hit the one month mark of climbing this last weekend. Entered my first indoor sport route competition in recreational division (which goes to 5.10b) and placed 4th. Not bad for a 46 year old I guess, everyone above me in standings was half my age lol. Yesterday I tried my first 5.10c sport route indoors, got 2 moves from the top.. so close. Your channel makes me want to get out on rock, but taking it one step at a time. Signed up for a Lead climbing 2-day course next month. Looking forward to more content from you!
Can't wait to see you get there! Its awesome to see how far you've gotten :)
Thanks for the kind words!
Great video as always! I had a bad accident on the sea cliffs on Mull last December. I broke my back in 4 places but I'm just about recovered these days. Your videos are helping me get motivated to be out on the rock again!
thats really nice to hear that you are getting motivated again. Hopefully you'll be sending again soon. Thanks for watching
You are doing so good i have been climbing for 6 years and in this pace your gona overtake me in a year or 2 awsome
thanks! I'm not there yet, so we'll see! Thanks for watching :)
Well done on your send!
I agree with other commenters that lowering off that particular single wiregate is safe. It's held in place at the top so it won't spin and they usually have stiff or weighty gates so the chance of the gate opening by accident is reduced. The rope is unlikely to come out while you're weighting it. I found it unnerving the first time I used a setup like that but I got used to it! It's important to think logically about these things when assessing the risk.
Also, if you don't like the option to use the fixed wiregate for whatever reason (gate is broken, it's rusty or corroded, etc), you can just rethread and lower off the central mallion. There is usually something like a mallion, ring, chain, or whatever that you can rethread even if there is also fixed gear.
Sending your first 7a is a big milestone. I sent my first one when I had done 2x 6b+'s, 1x 6c and my hardest onsight was 6a+. Sending the 6c took 5 or 6 days, and then I immediately tried a 7a which took another 5 or 6 days. Don't be discouraged if you can't do all the moves on your first session! Also I'd advise you not to go down the route of thinking you need to train to do it. You really don't need to be a strongman to do 7a.
loving the new channel, mike. excellent power screams!!
I appreciate that! Although they were more like "scared screams" 😉
I used to watch you when i was in in late middle school/ early highschool and always found your hunger for new skills really awesome and have carried that with me through my life. Now here i am in college COMPLETELY obsessed with rock climbing and now you pop back up on my feed!
i'm from Scotland too Mike! I live down by Ayr and your first video climbing inspired me to start! It's now a weekly activity with my brother and some friends, can't thank you enough for introducing it to me! If I'm ever up in your neck of the woods i hope i bump into you in the gym! Nice send too ;)
That is awesome! I'm so happy to hear you are climbing! Keep it up.
I’m absolutely hooked, that and golf have taken over my life 🤣
7a is also my objective, I'm so far from that. Good luck ! And thanks for the videos :)
Please for next time, don't cut when you send a route, even if it's longer video, I think it's very interesting to see how you fully climb the route
Ooh, footage from Kirriemuir and Robs Reed! Been too long since I've been climbing in Angus. Check out Legaston quarry and Elephant Rock. Both really fun if you're climbing 6b+.
Really enjoyed the video. Lovely to see some relatable, well-filmed progress outdoors. Stick with it!
Insane content here Mike, I think we can all tell that climbing's taken a hold of your life! very nice stuff... good to see you so driven! maybe you already know this but if at some point you have to lower from a single point as you were showing, and you don't trust the material on the anchor, for whichever reason, know that as long as you are clipped into quickdraws below you, you can unite both ropes with a Machard knot and then if the top hold fails catastrophically you'ld be fine, since the active rope would be shortened at the Machard knot point!!! works also when bailing from a route from a single maillon! keep on the tough climbing!
I recently got into climbing and saw one of my favorite RUclipsrs getting into it as well. Been binge watching all your climbing videos and loving every single one. Keep up the great work!
Welcome aboard! Thanks for watching 😊
I was so stoked for the first bouldering video you uploaded. Now I discover a whole channel for it. Amazing.
It's so awesome to see you climbing and taking it seriously its a beautiful sport and i love how much attention has been coming to it in the past year, your progression in the short time you have climbing has been awesome to watch keep it up man!
Great job on the send. It's totally normal for the climb to feel different when you try to lead it for the first time. Remember to practice clipping positions! Sometimes it can feel like the crux of a climb but usually there is some trick to make each one easier. I tend to work on the individual moves on my first lead up a route and then on the clipping positions while I descend the route on top rope.
As someone who has been climbing about the same time as you have, its really nice to see how our journeys are the same yet different
Such great content, thanks Mike!
Top tip: try not to double tap your foot every time you get on a new hold, place it right first time and use it. You can drill this indoors until that urge to "taptaptap" each foothold isn't so natural
My guy climbing and handling the drone by himself at the same time is hilarious and very impressive
Saying that "a fit person" who never climbed before could send a 6a is just wild.
Congrats! Loved the emotions at 14:09! Was smiling widely myself while watching 💪🏽
great to hear! Thanks for watching 🙏
So glad to see a mainstream RUclipsr making climbing content. The single snap gate is fine as long as you don't go above it. It's an acceptable redundant system with that clip attached to 2 bolt. Enjoy the rock!
Glad you are enjoying the content. More to come!
i started a couple months before you did and i've been a big fan in the past, so you have been a huge inspiration for me to try and get better at climbing!!
7:42 - This is the main purpose of the stick clip, to pre clip the first bolt only and mitigate the risk of unprotected climbing to the first bolt.
As you experienced here it's easy for a small slip to result in a fall, and if you were falling onto uneven ground or from a little higher, you could have easily damaged your ankles, or something else if you fell differently (e.g. onto your back).
As a beginner sport climber, it'd be wise to just make a habit of stick clipping the first until you're comfortable reading the initial moves.
Was a bit jarred at the lack of an already secured clip in at 7:47. Really gotta remember that you're a full-on climber now! I've personally never climbed so just looking at these sketchy walls (especially the crumbly sections) makes me a bit queasy. I just KNOW my soft hands would get scratched up and I'd somehow find a way to fall facefirst 20 meters up. Harrowing stuff. Great video, Mike!
Red wall at 9:59 or so makes ME scared. No need to beat yourself up for not full-sending it that day, humans are bad at estimation and this stuff is tricky as hell.
love the climbing content (i just started in november last year and it has since taken over my life lol). also mega hyped for that dave mac collab
Lowering off that anchor looks fine. I wouldn't want to climb above it, but it should be plenty fine for lowering.
Side note, at 14:04 it looks like your quickdraw is attached to the permanent draw at the top. It's not a huge deal but I would avoid attaching two non locking carabiners together like this since if you twist them they can fairly easily unclip themselves. Putting your draw into the chain above would be a much better solution, and it would allow you to transition to lowering off the fixed hardware easier since your rope wouldn't be fighting for space with your draw.
@12:28 I would trust that. Those are generally stainless steel. Super Strong. Also The spring on the gate are also usually very firm on fixed rappels. The rope is under constant load, so not much is going to happen up there.
I would not top rope on that. when top roping you sometimes bounce on the rope for long periods of time and there is a risk of unclipping. Also... It's just bad manners to top rope on fixed gear.
Cheers! Thanks for the input. We top roped on my screw gates then cleaned the anchor
Nice to see you have a whole channel for climbing now. shows your dedication and love for the sport! 👍
12:35 realistically it's probably fine and despite what instructors tell you there are often times in climbing when we put our lives on one snapgate and its the right/only move. That said looked like you had taken the draws out on the way up but you can slightly increase safety by doing it on the way down so if that snapgate fails at the anchor/you climb above it and it unclups your still on lead on the bolts below. Tbh i would probably just thread the chains in this situation or if its a project im coming back to leave a screwgate on it, just not worth the small amount of risk for me
The chance of the rope lifting up and over the gate is slim, especially not climbing above the anchor. But that being said I've seen crazier things happen in safer situations... 😅😅
I'd be using a screw gate just to be extra safe.
I'm not a great climber, but I climbed like a cocky twat, thinking I knew it all. Its only after seeing multiple mistakes I've made that I knew I needed to take safer measures. Keep safe if you can.
Keeping your draws in below and cleaning on the way down would be highly reccomend as otherwise you are solely reliant on the single caribeaner. It'll keep you from decking in the case that you become unclipped from the anchor.
I love the clip stick part, made me laugh out loud. Best of luck to you :D
Great to see Rob's make it to youtube!
Wtf, how didn't i know this channel existed?! Long time fan of mike and climbing is my passion haha
This is the sport for you... Awesome Mr. Boyd
It's fine to lower off without the screwgate. It's common to find "musty hooks" at the top of sport routes specifically for lowering off. If it's just lowering, then the rope is continuously weighted the whole time. When you're climbing you jiggle around and take falls which dynamically loads and unloads the rope and moves the gear around which could lead to the gate coming open. A smooth lower off won't cause that. I will say though that usually there are 2 hooks not just one.
North Wales sport climber here, great to see you fall in love with the best sport in the world, I am keen to check out some Scottish sport climbing crags one day.
hopefully you enjoy it up here 👌
that's great, we have same grade of climbing and sure we all want to climb a 7a :D I will be following you closely
thanks for watching ☺
Thought about giving you advice. thought ud not read anyways. id be impressed if u make 7a. my peak is 7b+ with 3-4times of training/w and starting young. One thing i notice heavily in your climbing is your feet. Try to use them more activly. I know u climb a sorta passiv shoe but still you can learn to "scatch like a bull" meaning to get you heel further up, more presure on your toes, and then pulling through your legs. onto the foothold. your hip is closer to the wall and youll have to pull less through your arms, especially in slab or sometimes to keep your hips inside during a roof
cheers tho. lovly video
Lowering off the anchor comes down to whatever you’re comfortable with. It looks bomber, but personally I would’ve used a PAS to anchor myself in, untied and retied through one of the quicklinks, and lowered myself off from that.
There are no right answers though, it’s just whatever you’re comfortable with. Nothing is 100% “safe”.
Single snaplink is fine for lowering with a couple of caveats.
First up, inspect to make sure it's not worn to the point there are sharp edges. I've got a couple of steel carabiners for swapping out lower offs, although there's always the risk someone will booty them since they don't have a fixed eye.
The next one is don't allow enough slack to develop that the rope can flick a loop over the snaplink and unclip itself. On a straight lower that's unlikely, but if you're unclipping runners or swinging about you can get some weirdness.
Even if the gate somehow locks open a decent snaplink shoulld hold about 6kN open, and that's going to be 5 times any reasonable lowering load. Ryan from HowNot2 has a catchphrase about that.
Finally, if you're feeling at all sketchy then leave something. Having a bit of reasonable cord and an older 'biner that you're happy to bail off is cheap insurance, and even a couple of cams is cheaper than a rescue or a funeral.
Two days and you've already SEND it!! You're really good and you engage in the passes!! I would love to climb with you! Next from 7a to 8a ..
8a seems years away but maybe! That'd be a huge achievement!
My main worry with that anchor would be the rope crossing over the quickdraw and unclipping it. Similar to the danger of backclipping, only you'd take a much bigger fall. I'd recommend doing two quickdraws opposite and opposed.
i went through a similar process of aiming for my first 12a (7a+) couple of years ago. Lots of ups and downs but just keep at it, you got this!!
did you make it? and where are you now grade wise? 😄
@@alwaysthink1st i did! right now im chasing my first 13a. Just waiting for warmer temps and all the snow to disappear.
I have been climbing for about 2 years now, and my goal for this year is a 7a as well! Unfortunately I cannot find the time to train properly. Watching your videos is motivating me to reschedule and make it happen somehow this year
awesome. Hopefully you get it. Enjoy the process!
Haha. Great content! Your shouting is funny as hell. If you had only audio, I would imagine you are already doing a 7a. I can relate😅 huffing and puffing your way up.
Great route! Falls apart in your hand!
It looks like the anchor lower is fine. It may be worthwhile familiarizing yourself with using a lanyard/PAS attach yourself to the anchor and then passing a bight of your rope through the quicklink to lower off of that, but only if you encounter closed anchor systems. Practices differ in different parts of the world and perhaps you'll never have to worry about that sort of thing where you are.
Anchor is brand new and bomber, used to just be a single hanger that you had to abseil off. Send looked great and with putting the clips too, looks like you had a little extra left in the tank. Robs reed is a lot about the feet, there are soo many options it can be hard to find the best one, I find lots of high feet are useful at RR. The 7a to the right is class and good option for ya first seeing as it is fairly local.
Regarding your anchor question. 100% I'd lower off that. As long as the rope remains weighted, there's no risk of it upclipping. I wouldn't top rope off of it as the rope could be weighted, unweighted, bounced, etc. (and you shouldn't TR off fixed anchors anyway to reduce wear).
Everyone will talk about redundancy and not having a second anchor for lowering will be bad etc etc etc. But you have one rope, one harness, one belayer/device/loop. Most of the system doesn't have an equipment backup, but those are mostly under direct human supervision, so, with safety/partner checks, adds the redundancy you need for those components. Anchors are (generally) unattended, and need to have equipment redundancy in case something fails. But simply lowering once at the end of the day, no issue from me.
(sorry, posted this under another comment originally)
Disagree. Would i lower off it once in a pinch? Sure. Would i make a habit of it? No.
There is no comparison between the lack of redundancy of rope, harness, belay device etc and a non-locking anchor. Human error notwithstanding, all of the former devices tend to require insanely rare or unusual forces to break. A quickdraw gate opening does not.
I'm not trying to suggest this is an insanely dangerous practice, because it's obviously not, but this is a video that's going to attract a lot of traffic from inexperienced climbers and there's really no reason why they should be encouraged to lower off of a quickdraw.
@@lukedavies900 If you go to 12:18 in the video, you can clearly see that this is a permanent lowering biner, and not a draw/biner that Mike added. I'm guessing that's standard at this crag.
I don't understand how it could come unclipped if lowering (not TRing, not projecting on it, simply lowering to the ground once).
Any climber that's ever projected a route (and not made the anchor) has lowered off of a single quickdraw (and single bolt for that matter; Mike's anchor is two bolts) and thought nothing of it, yet you seem to think it is dangerous to get lowered off of a quickdraw? In fact, projecting likely means taking repeat falls, again and again, on a single quickdraw, and yet, how often does the draw become unclipped while falling from above (almost never, but I'll conceed not never, but again, that's my point - it was unweighted, and then weighed again).
Acknowledging that sport routes have multiple draws in a row... On short routes like this, once you're about 5 feet below the last clipped draw, you're likely into ground fall territory if the draw/bolt breaks, or the rope unclips. But I still don't understand how a rope would unclip a from a fully and continously weighted biner.
My favorite videos to watch on all of RUclips right now are your climbing vids
so nice to hear! Cheers!
It's insane how fast you've improved!
thanks a bunch. It's been fun! 🙏
The lower off at 12:15 looks fine, sometimes they don't have screwgates but are designed to be stiffer and oriented in the right direction as you pointed out.
Psyched for the colab with Dave MacLeod!
Cheers! The Dave collab will be out next month.
Saw this video pop up at school, been waiting all day to watch it, this is gonna be good!
hope it lives up to the hype!
It certainly did, can’t wait for the next part
Loving the matching colours between kims jacket harness hat and helmet XD
She’s too cool!
Love how pumped you were to send
Adam Ondra wouldn't be ashamed of those screams on the send go. Gread vid, waiting for more
ha thanks! 👌
Adam Ondra also skips most of the clips so at the end it looks like he has been top roping too😂
I bottled it on a 5c the other day having lead up to 6a+/b during the height of the season last year, it felt weird not being willing to do moves that last year id have felt more than comfortable doing and that i know I am able of doing, its funny how a few months away from the crags can totally play with your head
don't worry about it too much. First time on rock after a few months off can feel like starting all over again. Stick at it! I bottled a 6a the other day too!
The snapgate lower-off is good as it's unified so if one bolt breaks you're still safe. There's also no chance of it rotating and somehow unclipping your rope
Pre clipping the first draw is perfect acceptable in UK sport climbing or any sport climbing for that matter. You often see pros do it on much harder routes as the first bolt can be quite high up to prevent rope drag.
Don’t feel you have to do something dangerous to properly tick the route. That’s what we have trad for.
- sincerely someone that’s been climbing in the UK for 30 years.
thanks for the insight. Next time I'm pre-clipping!
Its often easy to forget that climbing top rope is often easier due to a small amount of your weight being taken by the rope. It could massively benefit you to ask for a very small amount of give in the rope, so you aren't being 'pulled' up the wall. Either way, fantastic job!
absolutely. Even a KG of weight can make a huge difference when you are close to the limit.
Its great seeing you climb at places that are really close to me! Its making me want to try outdoors for the first time! Just need to find people to go with lol
Try Facebook or go to a bouldering comp and ask around! Good luck!
Well done Mike! This is so inspiring, I'm hoping to do my first 7a lead this year!
You can do it!
You can do it!
12:30 you are perfectly self descending on this kind of anchor
Wow you got the perfect difficulty for a project! Took a few days and then you sent!
Awesome video man. Really looking forward to climb outside now that the weather is better 🏴
enjoy it!
@12:20 Wouldn't toprope on it without an aditional screw gate. But why shouldn't you lower on it? You always pull on it, always staying beneath it. There's no chance the rope will jump out, in my opinion. If one (or two) of the bolts will come off, the screw gate won't help you anything.
Cool video by the way. Struggling somehow similar. I like seeing your progress 👍
man me and my mate seen u and dave at dunkeld a couple weeks ago we were the two lads u spoke to climbing next too u. at the time i sat there while talking to u trying to remember where i had seen u before and it was only when u left i realized it was yourself. glad to see u making ur way to 7a tho.
Nice to meet you dude. Hopefully see you again
Nice to meet you dude. Hopefully see you again
@@MikeBoydClimbs yeah man was good meeting u and hopefully we will meet again. looking forward to seeing that dunkeld video.
Yassss, can't w8 to see all this journey
random dave macleod cameo? wuuut???
And getting down on that one snapgate is fine. usually its a harder one as well, just dont toprope on it. to get off after a lead or the followup, its gucci.
Love this content! If you ever make it out across the pond to Canada, I’d love to give you a local sampler. Keep crushing it!
I might take you up on that offer!
Anchors absolutely fine, and the norm pretty much everywhere I've climbed. People get a little silly about anchors and what's safe, imo. People seem to forget there's one carabiner attaching them to their belay partners harness.. Redundancy is good and all, but only where it really makes sense. There's tons of times while climbing where we don't have redundancy. We also (usually) only climb with one rope, for example
good point. I'm trying to use reasoning to determine what is safe. Thanks for watching!
@@MikeBoydClimbs Some things to watch out for are loose bolts, rusted bolts, or a snapgate/ring that is very badly worn. The badly worn ones, can be a bit sharp, and there's a bit of risk there. If that's the case, you just leave your own carabiner up there. Can only think of one time I've ever had to do that though, so it's rare. Best of luck on your journey to 7a! Getting that in 1 year of outdoor climbing would be very impressive. Took me a lot longer than that, and when I did it was because I really concentrated on getting good at indoor bouldering and then picked my routes wisely (short ones, or ones with a big proper rest mid way up)
What what ??? You cant just throw Dave in the video like that and not mention/include him :D such a legend !
check back in a few weeks 😉😉
@@MikeBoydClimbs looking forward !!
Great content! The chain looks bomber, here in Italy many if not most of the chains are the same.
If i May suggest you something to work on more Is your footwork, It seems you almost Always palace tour feet sideway. Keep It up and come to Italy, we have lots of nice crags with perfect scenarios for a video.
yes my feet are a problem for me, particularly when I get scared or tired! Working on it! Thanks for watching 🙏
@@MikeBoydClimbs that's normal, especially for men or people with more upper body strenght, we tend to rely to much on It. Btw i Just senti my First 7a few weeks ago!
you're doing great!
12:33 Technicaly you're not supposed to go higher so you won't take a whip that could open the gate of the carabiner with the rope, and the gate of the carabiner is at the oposite side of the rock so it won't be opened by pressure of the rock
For me it's safe but i'm not an expert
However, i'm personnaly not a fan of top-roping, with only one quickdraws as you did at 3:10 I would have clipped the 3 other in the case of any failure on one quickdraw
But really cool video :)