How NOT to Big Wall 2.0 - Better climbing beta when climbing El Capitan in Yosemite

Christian Black ( / crustacean_black ) shows us how to do big walls better! I did a video a few weeks back where I show logistics and anchors found at • How NOT to Big Wall - ... but it is my system that I taught myself. Christian shows us a better system that he has used when climbing El Capitan and other big walls in Yosemite Valley. We normally go over highlining rigging on this channel but this was gold. If you want to see more climbing videos, let me know in the comments below.
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[@HowNOT2]

Check out our new store! hownot2.store/

[@matthewkelly99]

After hours and hours of researching proficient aid tactics/ anchor management, this is by far the best, and most understandable information on the web. Great work!!

[@tommuhlemanjr.3871]

That’s the best anchor setup and haul bag and lead rope management system I’ve ever seen. Swapping ends of the rope and not having to flake the rope 2-3 times is brilliant. I agree that no one should do anything they see on KZbin, but I’ll just pretend that I thought of some of your ideas myself and when I suggest them to my climbing partners, I’ll be the expert, lmao.... But seriously, thank you both, that was excellent info and video.

[@wow5heyy]

I have zero experience climbing, but goddamn these videos are fascinating. So informative and well made. Makes me want to get into climbing!

[@LocalConArtist]

Do it, it is worth it

[@drawandplay7220]

you should do a video actually showing the process on a actual big wall or you can do one on sleeping on a portaledge

[@HowNOT2]

I plan on climbing a big wall and filming a lot of it since these videos are so popular

[@StabBacker]

@@HowNOT2 Ooh nice! Can't wait to see that! :D Stay safe up there!

[@gruanger]

@@StabBacker I second this. I would love to get into climbing. These videos fill a hunger. I may never end up climbing, but I still enjoy learning the knowledge.

[@Th3Nguyen]

I’m no where close to being able to tackle big wall right now but these videos are super cool to watch

[@johngo6283]

Superb video, very nice that you cover pretty much the whole process from start to finish. And yes, the swapping ends of the haul line is a great tip.

[@irakperez]

Ok, your methods combined I find them like a mix of the best (being the best what I think it is the best) from personal experience, books and several videos out there. Prime stuff guys, prime stuff.

[@_oreolife_2939]

"Im a haul bag" got me laughing for a solid minute

[@rikvdmark]

Exactly 🤣

[@GavynPendleton]

Great content!! Some of this is pretty useful for normal multi pitching too.

[@johngo6283]

Excellent video guys. The tip about swapping the ends of the haul rope is especially helpful. Seems stunningly obvious when you explain it here, but I sure the hell did not figure that out on my first few walls and spent a huge amount of time re-stacking the damm rope. Also, the "unfinished figure 8" is a new one for me as well, that's a good rope trick. Thanks for sharing your tips!

[@brendanrodgers5044]

I really enjoyed this video and part 1. Thank you for making it.

[@johnshultz530]

Hey hombres! I enjoyed your video. Cheers. I think you have some streamlined systems there. My buddy and I ran something similar. But in place of the Quad, we used a Metolius PAS and in place of the sling for the haul line, we used a Metolius Rope hook. The rope hook is totally worth it, as you can easily spin the rope on it for block leading. Very underrated piece of wall kit, IMHO. By my measurements:24" sling 51 g.; Fish rope bag 171 g; Metolius rope hook 45g! For the lead line, we don't recoil at the anchor, but use a huge DMM Boa carabiner when following and clip periodic back up loops. We then just clip that Boa to the anchor, and take the loops out as the leader is leading. This is an Andy K. trick that saves a labor intensive step and is quite neat and tidy. You can spin the loops around the big biner, as necessary. Thanks for the video! Cheers from Osaka, John

[@merds77]

Nice video. I learned the unfinished 8. I noticed the grab handles on your aiders are full strength and actually go around your thin profile/non snagging carabinier. I clip my smallest and lightest Daisy locker there. It gives me more length, it's cleaner, won't accidentally unclip from my tired and worn ladder carabinier and it's easier to escape my ladders if need be. The back up sling for the pig also scares me as I see it becoming fouled as the swivel does it's magic. I simply back my bags to the anchor with the haul line its self after properly docked. My 10th elcap route fell last fall. I haven't repeated any yet. Haven't done the nose yet because I free climb like shit. Thanks for the vid

[@phillipbellgreen592]

I have used a beefy adjustable daisy for the haul bag docking anchor and really found that helpful.

[@BetaClimbers]

Great video! and beautiful rope management I plan on making a video like this too some time! 🤙🏻

[@WilliamsSkilliams]

This is great! Thanks guys! Definitely climbing elcap next month, I think if I watch this a lot and then watch the first video I should be good. I’m sure it’ll be fine!

[@Nrk4u]

Lol love you people!! Thanks for sparking my interest and sharing your techniques

[@papercolor]

Great visual aid of what to do at the anchors all around. A+. A++ for dog is backed.

[@thingfish1967]

really great video gents. big help! thank you.

[@ianpaul6460]

Keep up the great work!

[@cameronstoneadams1183]

Thank you for the education. LOVE the sling in mouth tech.

[@brianrodman1033]

That "unfinished 8" was a much appreciated tip - thank you!

[@williamsherwell8628]

I love your channel!

[@hughthornbery7883]

Brilliant video, wish I'd seen this before I tried (and failed) on my first and last big wall!!!

[@tytorubio3271]

Did you stop climbing? I wish i had the guts to be able to climb something that big..

[@yukoon]

great video, nice work!

[@eturcios1984]

I’m just getting into rock climbing how I wish there were actual classes here in Houston, Tx I just joined an indoor rock climbing gym so it’s a start. Love the video

[@havwusbsb]

I live near Houston TX as well! I go to inspire in spring tx and it is a great gym! One of the managers there Lucas does classes teaching everything from top rope to , rappelling, anchoring etc. Definitely worth checking out. If you ever want to meet up and climb, I go there a few times a week!

[@eturcios1984]

John Tanner Worthington awww that’s cool!! Thanks for the info

[@havwusbsb]

@@eturcios1984 Yeah no problem! Just walk in and ask for Lucas, hes a really friendly guy and can give you more info on pricing and scheduling. You dont need to pay for anything that day but if you want to check out the gym its about 20 dollars. Would recommend it. I believe he does by appointment but dont quote me.

[@cobraclarke203]

Excellent video.

[@nicholasshoffner1809]

Awesome video, learned alot. Thanks for making your videos.

[@apiletal]

Good lesson. 👍🏻

[@xrpreacher6000]

Hauling with a micro trax at the bag end works phenomenal to protect the rope, lower the bag with the extra slack, etc. Mark Hudon system that's saved time and saved rope without the use of plastic bottles.

[@christianblack1]

Zerp Twerp Yes I do that sometimes as well! Didn’t want to make the intro video too complicated. We may do more videos and we’ll show other tips and tricks like this.

[@xrpreacher6000]

@@christianblack1 Awesome! Thanks for the vids, btw. Great work! 👌

[@brianrodman1033]

@@christianblack1 would like to see a video demoing this technique

[@kevinpanik9515]

With the haul line. Keep the locker end of the line clipped in and locked to your haul loop. Keep the hauling ratchet rigged and ready to go, but clip that into the main haul line biner, which is connected to harness haul loop. Keep everything this video shows, but When you end the pitch, first unclip the ratchet from the main haul bag biner and clip the pre rigged ratchet to the belay. Then unclip the haul line biner from your harness (with the pulley now already having been secured to belay anchor), and lock the main haul line into the belay. Same as what you do here, but doing the order of operations this way, you keep a degree of redundancy with the haul line so as not to drop it.

[@christianblack1]

Kevin Panik good tip, I like it! Thanks!

[@rickytownsend9857]

Awesome!

[@dilldowschwagginz2674]

The ascender rope in the mouth demo reminded me of Me Garrisons big wheel scooters.

[@cXilion]

lol that mouth hauling thing is both hilarious and genius at the same time xD

[@JO091715]

Any chance you could do a similar video but include a ledge setup into it? This and the other videos are so helpful, thanks!

[@TannerForrest]

Duuuuuddddeee, blowing up! I have such badass friends🤘🏼🤘🏼

[@AcuteStressResponse]

For someone new to climbing like myself it is nice to see how much I need to practice before I do something WAAYYYYYY out of my league!

[@bonefishboards]

I find biner-on-biner between the ladder and daisy causes me to drop my ladders. I use the single biner method between the ladder and daisy. I like the 'unfinished 8' knot for hauling. Nice. I used the butterfly forever and that seemed ok; better than a standard figure eight knot. Chongo lives.

[@TheRandomSpectator]

I've never gone big walling (though I'd love to some day), so I don't know the conditions from experience, but I'd imagine it gets pretty windy and hard to hear up there. Would you suggest bringing radios/walkie-talkies up with you so that you don't have to yell back and forth at the top/bottom of a pitch and risk your voice getting lost to the wind?

[@HowNOT2]

We try to use a system that requires no talking. Once the leader gets to anchor and the rope gets pulled up quickly, if in doubt you leave it in grigri but if the static rope isn't moving up after 30 feet is pulled on lead rope, then they are fixing your line. As soon as static rope gets pulled up without the dynamic moving you know they are getting ready to haul. There doesn't need to be communication other than doing things in that order so if the bag leaves the anchor, you know 1000% that your line is fixed ready to jug

[@beingaware8542]

How about if he had to do a 2 to 1 haul of the bag? Tricks on that would be valuable! Thanks!

[@kjpg2005]

excellente.

[@mathias5618]

I really like the butterfly/clove hitch combo at 10:30

[@taylor1315]

What's the point of using different knots?

[@christianblack1]

@@taylor1315 Clove hitch is easiest to adjust your length of attachment to the anchor, alpine butterfly is easiest to untie after weighting/jugging on

[@eldiagrama]

If i had known some of this when i went uo there... :/

[@rookiemoves]

I know this is an old video, but one question bothers me rewatching this... does Christian forget to clip the non locking end of the haul line to a separate piece? He left it clipped in to the oval with the PCP on there. This anchor setup also just means you are hauling off the one bolt which is pretty common afaik, but not clipping the end of the haul line to a separate piece means there is a single failure point on the HMS biner for the hauling

[@Tucky79]

I'm having trouble wrapping my pea brain around the back up sling on the haul kit. How exactly does it work? I hear what he says but its not clicking for me.

[@nickbartram9752]

If the pro trax fails, the back up sling keeps the rope redirected through the anchor so that you get pulled into the anchor instead of being pulled off the ledge. Your PAS would prevent your death but man that would suck. So its meant to be more catastrophe protection than a “back up”

[@cbat09]

The "unfinished figure eight" is interesting -- would that work with nylon or dyneema-family slings (when shortening a sling at an anchor, for example)?

[@HowNOT2]

I think i can test that on slacksnap to find out how strong it would be

[@Govanification]

For an anchor master point it's not redundant like tying a try overhand or figure 8 on a bight, so if one of your masterpoint strands gets cut they all could pull through.

[@johnpatton1652]

What is the backup sling for the haul bag setup used for? Is it a backup for the docking cord?

[@johnpatton1652]

Lol nvm this gets answered at 16:35 its a backup for the docking cord

[@confusingdot]

Are there other names for that "Unfinished 8"? It's hard for me to find information on it

[@TheSkate2skater]

Tie it as if you were doing bunny ears/super 8, but don't cinch the bight - clip into it instead (three ears instead of two).

[@briatteantoine2956]

what mark is the purple string please ?

[@17hmr243]

is there a noob day1 video list for wall climbing

[@rockclimbinghacks9222]

6:30 Unfinished 8 ❤️

[@craigslaunwhite579]

I had no clue I needed to learn macramé in order to big wall

[@TheMotherfuckinJones]

That mouth thing with the buddy haul underneath sounds... enticing ;) hahaha, lets see that again! good info

[@awmviking]

12:05 Human haul bag

[@bigmutant69]

Is aid climbing a necessary skill for big wall climbing?

[@beingaware8542]

Favorite haul line rope?

[@husker91]

Twine

[@bryantm6]

I hauled with a torse and chest ascender and that was pretty nice. I bet hauling through a protrax with a microtrax as the ascender and a chest sling to hold it up and redirecting the tail end of the micro to help pull yourself up would use the least amount of effort if you could dial that.

[@christianblack1]

Mark Bryant that’s a pretty good idea. For my TR solo microtrax setup I have a microtraxion with a neck bungee to keep it upright on my chest, I’ll try hauling with that next time to see if maybe I can eliminate the sling in mouth method.

[@cwoodside907]

Before you fix the lead rope for your partner to jug up, do you not take in the rest of the slack first? Or, just arrive at the belay, anchor in, fix your partner and then haul for speed efficiency? There’s many different ways for how to do it.

[@johngo6283]

Woody, typically you would pull most of the slack up before you fix the rope.If your partner needs to do any kind of a lower out, you need to be sure to leave them enough rope to do that. If the leader pulls up the slack, that means your partner does not have to carry up the entire weight of the rope. It's a courteous way to save them a little energy.

[@cwoodside907]

johngo6283 That’s what I figured! That would’ve been the first thing I do. He didn’t show it, so I wasn’t sure if that’s how more experienced big wallers than i do it. Climb safe, climb hard! :)

[@christianblack1]

Woody W Yep, depends on if they need to lower out or not. Generally I don’t pull up the rope though.

[@danielball9648]

I’m a haul bag!! 😂

[@noahnugent6777]

This is like organizing same colored wires to a computer but you die if you do it wrong.

[@HowNOT2]

That's what makes it fun! There hopefully is enough redundancy in your system that you can do 1 cross wire and not die though :)

[@Adventuredad207]

Do you always haul one to one?

[@HowNOT2]

yes... i push against wall with my hands if i need extra umph. multipliers slow the system down too much for me

[@christianblack1]

If I can haul 1:1 I always will, it’s much faster. I personally haven’t done a wall yet where I’ve needed a 2:1 yet.

[@janjeschke6273]

Hi, to save weight, can't you use an Petzl Tibloc instead of an Traxion (either Pro or Micro)? Tiblocs are basicalyy doing the same... Since I've been using them for crevasse rescues thy might be strong enough for hauling too, aren't they?

[@sjmiller131]

Good luck with that..

[@christianblack1]

Way too much friction around the carabiner for it to be effective. The pro traxion is a life saver for heavy loads!

[@dreweflin]

what kid of ladder's does he have??

[@matthewrdgo]

Yates

[@dreweflin]

@@matthewrdgo Gracias- found them eventually after a few searches!

[@matthewrdgo]

What is yalls preferred method for securing the 2nd to the anchor once finished jugging? Just another clove to one of the masterpoints of the quad?

[@sendit2873]

daisy bar tacks are horrible not to safe but still ok for some things

[@austinkopp9811]

These dudes need some serious anchor-management

[@aza1479]

Jesus piece yes

[@pastizzman66gbin40]

Do it Alex Honnold style,much more thrilling,and less expensive 🙂

[@conchosewing]

I love your channel and overall vibe, but these anchors you guys make are so bad for starters, guy is clipped to one carabiner on the master point ... dayum son alpine butterfly knot for a person to jug up... wrong knot for the occasion

[@christianblack1]

concho sewing Alpine butterfly is the preferred knot because it’s easy to untie after jugging on it. You’ll hate yourself and waste a lot of time untying a welded figure 8 knot every pitch, trust me!

[@hereseangoes]

This guy is using a lot of words

[@nickinportland]

No wonder Alex Honnold free solos he’s prob happy to not have to deal with all these ropes and junk lol

[@highjack5555]

Dude goes wayyyy too fast through the set ups.

[@VincentLebeau-vlu]

Guys, don't use HMS as anchor carabiner. HMS are not designed for this, period.

[@HowNOT2]

Why. It's hard to google why it is not designed for something specific?

[@davidf6154]

🧗🏽‍♂️hard to keep up with all the info these guys give all together but I enjoy that. Forces the muscles memory for me. I learned to draw in math class so having dope people like this crew is more than just a blast. Safety people!