Guide Mode belay setups using Half Ropes - A Rock Climbing how to! DMM Pivot / ATC Guide etc...

[@gracek00]

Love your videos, they've been great during the lockdown. It's always lovely to see the hills and quarries, even though we can't be there right now! Me and my Dad are big fans, and we both love the mountains! Keep up the uploads, you are inspiring young climbers like me to keep going when it's difficult getting out.

[@JBMountainSkills]

Glad you're both enjoying them :)

[@vdiffclimbing]

Jez, These videos are excellent. Top quality info, well presented, simple, concise, clear. Cheers mate!

[@JBMountainSkills]

Much appreciated!

[@vaclavsedmidubsky4638]

Brilliant, starting with half ropes and this is exactly what I've been looking for. Thanks!

[@philippkummer5771]

i love the new mic!

[@JBMountainSkills]

Thanks!

[@doughobbs7706]

3:34 - super well said about not using the back of the knot and it pulling in odd directions!

[@markdemmery5411]

Found your films really helpful the first time around and going through them again now we're allowed to go climbing again. Can I suggest as a topic a film on belay set ups on multi pitch when you lead every pitch. Had a great afternoon in the sun yesterday with a relatively inexperienced climbing mate but found building a belay with the rope (by necessity) caused issues when it came to leading the next pitch. Cheers.

[@JBMountainSkills]

I'll put it on the list :)

[@abdurrahmanaydemir7502]

So helpful, thanks for your efforts.

[@jasonzevenbergen6338]

Great video as always! Sound is great, and I enjoy hearing the carabiners. With the plate off of the biner you've clove hitched to, I think if I had limited lockers, I might want to be able to remove that one if I needed to escape the system. Probably totally fine.

[@JBMountainSkills]

Glad you liked it! I think you're right, potentially ties up a crab.

[@vSTExx]

Brill vid as per, feel slightly responsible for this one because of the last vid, but thanks very much for clearing things up! Will have to give this a go! The sound was grand also, good improvement!

[@JBMountainSkills]

It was a useful bit of inspiration!

[@stephennoble4786]

Mind blown!

[@georgemitson9565]

Another fantastic vid thankyou for putting these together.

[@JBMountainSkills]

My pleasure!

[@jonwatson6138]

Nice vid as always! You know you’ve made it in the you tube world when everyone else answers the questions for you! 😂

[@JBMountainSkills]

Makes my life easier!

[@georgehawksworth9446]

As always, proper good vid, Jez!!

[@JBMountainSkills]

Cheers!

[@paulmorrey4298]

Thanks

[@danielkosiorek3163]

Hey, quick question. What would be an efficient way to lead off this set up, when you used your end of the rope to build the anchor? Would you have the second build a new anchor of the same gear?

[@jezedwards6495]

Hi jez could you look at muilt pitch routes with same person doing all the leading, ie change over at belays. Thanks jez 🙂

[@JBMountainSkills]

I think this one might show some of that stuff :) kzbin.info/www/bejne/gJCUqWyleceYnpI I'll give some thought to a more specific video!

[@seventoneskits232]

Does it ever bocome a concern when clipping into a master point with only one loop? When making both anchor strands independent it makes the master point loop independent as well. I’ve always wondered if the one loop master point is redundant enough especially with slings

[@jasonzevenbergen6338]

With a rope, not really an issue; every time you climb with a single rope (and at many points with half ropes) you trust your life to a single line, harness, belay device, etc. This is generally ok because a rope is much more resistant to abrasion/cutting than slings, which is the only realistic failure mechanism for climbing soft goods (other than chemical exposure). With slings, I'd be a bit more hesitant, but if it was an attended anchor with no chance of abrasion, I wouldn't worry too much.

[@seventoneskits232]

@@jasonzevenbergen6338 yeah makes sense, cheers mate

[@tommasopado2918]

Excellent video, as always. I'd have a question: in the case "2 in-reach anchors + 2 ropes" would it be an acceptable options to clove hitch snugly one rope per piece, and then tie an overhand on both tails together for a 2-loop masterpoint? This would save the one karabiner (no need to clove hitch on the masterpoint since you are safe already)

[@JBMountainSkills]

I sometimes do something similar, but in the spare strands I tie one big overhand encapsulating the strands, giving me a master point.

[@1Celebrindor]

Just a heads up, my understanding is that when you put the safety on the same carabiner as your ATC you are triloading the carabineer. This is actually a massive safely issue as when you do this you push the atc into a weaker part of the carabiner and it cuts the breaking point to 50% of it's normal rated value. If your climber then takes a heavy fall you could have a problem. Now, if you have a 30kn carabineer or are on a climb where you know you aren't going to take a heavy fall then it doesn't really matter

[@JBMountainSkills]

In principle perhaps, but it's not really pulling it three ways in this setup so it's no drama in my opinion.

[@PavoniFan]

Thank you for the video, sound is great on my side! I‘d have a question regarding atc in guide mode. So far, all good when I led a pitch, set the anchor and bring my partner up. Where I struggle a bit is when my partner reaches the anchor and lead the next pitch. Until now, I took my atc on my belay loop , out of the anchor. Since I‘d like to keep using my atc to avoid the rope to twist with an italian hitch, what would be the cleanest and safest method to belay with the atc on the anchor? I hope, this makes some kind of sense! Thanks in advamce! Really enjoying the videos!

[@jamesgerrie6784]

Seconded! A transfer from guide mode on the master point to allowing what was the second to lead through? I suppose you could...bring them up using your belay device in guide mode (A), pinch their belay device (B), connect to the tails of the guide mode belay device (A). Strip out the original (A) so they're on belay and give them the one that was in guide mode(A)? Then you belay them up from your loops on your harness as you normally would on (B)?...

[@PavoniFan]

@@jamesgerrie6784 thanks for the answer. Basically that‘s how I handle things right now. I was wondering if there would be a way to belay form the anchor with an atc type device, so I would have all the benefits if the atc and not being belaying from the belay loop of my harness, which can be problematic in case of the leader falling.

[@jamesgerrie6784]

@@PavoniFan the other way would be tie off the tails and transfer the belay device, but yeah I see your point, hopefully Jez can clarify. Personally I don't think I have seen it done, but be interested to hear other options! Happy Climbing mate :)

[@PavoniFan]

@@jamesgerrie6784 Thanks! Happy climbing to you too!

[@JBMountainSkills]

The short answer is my second makes themselves safe on arriving at the belay, then I switch my ATC on to my harness and belay in "normal" mode. This is assuming you're on halves. If you're on a single, you have the option you mentioned of using an Italian off the anchor.

[@andrewlarigo1423]

Sound was much improved! What's the mic you used out of interest? Some episodes for me are like Mandarin on Duolingo? HA! HA! All will become clear I know...

[@JBMountainSkills]

It's a Rode Wireless Go :)

[@jenyates3033]

Potential downside to putting your belay biner on your masterpoint / personal anchor biner is what happens if your climbers weight the guide plate and you feel you need to escape the system? Can you still undo your biner to get free? Should you even try to undo it if your climbers are on it too? Will you have to untie from the rope end? Is this an issue that's likely to occur, maybe not - but is it worth thinking about? Maybe.

[@JBMountainSkills]

I like you're thinking. It's certainly worth considering the fact it traps your crab. However with escaping the system, it wouldn't be too much more drama to make yourself safe on a sling / lanyard and then untie.

[@jerodgriffith337]

Love the vids keep it up!

[@JBMountainSkills]

Thanks! Will do!

[@mrnosy1]

When securing yourself to the strong point with clove hitches, is there any point in using both ropes? I guess theoretically this is more safe, but not really necessary in practice.

[@tomsalerno1064]

If your half ropes are not triple rated, can you still clove hitch in with just one strand like you do in the video or should you use both? Also would you need to use at least 2 loops for your carabiner and 2 for the atc? And what about ropes that are just rated for twin? Thanks!

[@JBMountainSkills]

Yep, one strand of half rope is plenty strong enough :) Just one loop is fine. This would be the same for twin too.

[@MrFF7FF7]

Having the belay plate on the master point carabiner seems like a good idea, is there an issue that the carabiner might become cross loaded?

[@JBMountainSkills]

Nah, shouldn't be, it can work nicely sometimes, giving you some space to work :)

[@MrFF7FF7]

Awesome, thanks for the reply!

[@suspower]

Great option if you're switching leads. Otherwise, this is not really efficient. Regardless, good video!

[@bobwilson4414]

As always - great video. If you are bloick.leading I'm guessing you wouldn't use this set up?

[@JBMountainSkills]

Ideally not as it's extra faff really. Doable, but not ideal.

[@RobouVideos]

7:39 you end up on relying on two clove hitches. Can we consider 1. that a clove hitch can get loose and 2. both get loose at the same time ?

[@RobouVideos]

(I am not sure if we can say that a clove hitch is always self tightening, but maybe yes) ps : looks like it is after a few tests :D. containment made me forget everything haha

[@JBMountainSkills]

Hopefully you answered your own question, but yeah I'm happy to rely of clove hitches!

[@Needafollower]

Sorry for asking a newbie question.. why would you use two ropes?

[@JBMountainSkills]

No worries! Gives you a bit of extra security should one get damaged on an edge for example, cuts down on rope drag and gives you the option of longer abseils to get down :)

[@Needafollower]

@@JBMountainSkills thank you for your reply. All the best for the new year mate

[@yvindwestrum1439]

At 9:13 Why not just tighten the clove to the gear to secure yourself?

[@jasonzevenbergen6338]

I agree, seems like that would be reasonable in many situations. My guess would be that if that piece fails, there is some extension before the second piece is loaded. Although it's a dynamic system and shock-loading is a bit overstated as an issue, a lot of extension can load pieces in unintended directions. Also, you'd need a locker on that piece, and escaping the system would take a couple extra steps.

[@MJ720]

The video is regarding using guide mode on a belay plate with half ropes. If he just secured himself, there wouldn't be an obvious master point to use a belay in guide mode. Of course, you can secure yourself directly as you point at, but you would have to belay in a different way (Maybe with a redirect). It would also make the change over a bit more difficult I would imagine (but that's more dependant on if your block leading or not)

[@yvindwestrum1439]

@@MJ720 I do it the way I described and I belay from guidemode

[@MJ720]

@@yvindwestrum1439 Out of interest, where do you put the guideplate? I might be misunderstanding you. As long as its safe and you're comfortable doing it that way, then great! There are so many different and correct methods you can use.

[@yvindwestrum1439]

@@MJ720 I do it like this: imgur.com/zphvtqD and then I make a figure-of-8-knot and belay from the masterpoint in guidemode.