Climbing rack for winter climbing.

Winter climbing is the most extreme type of climbing which requires years of experience and practice. Not only placing a gear is difficult but the assessment of the quality of this placement is extremely hard. Winter climbing requires a far more greater and varied selection of equipment for safeguarding falls and belays. For long multi-pitch climbs with long pitches, you will need to double some of the gear.

Don’t buy second-hand gear unless you’re sure of its history, and never buy a second-hand rope.

Ropes

Although you can climb some winter routes using a single rope, doubled ‘half’ ropes are better for arranging the gear, reducing drag and improving safety. They also allow for easier abseil descents. Double rope use (‘half ropes’) varies between 7.9mm and 9mm in diameter. I would recommend getting 60m ropes, you will have more options in choosing a route. Dry treated for winter climbing is a must.

Passive protection:

Nuts are metal chocks, assembled on a wire loop, that can be fitted into cracks and sometimes pockets. There are many brands so it is better to make a choice and keep to it, to have a rack entirely of Rocks or of Walnuts etc, so you get used to their characteristics. They come in sizes from 1 to 12 or larger, and a normal climbing rack for a wide range of trad routes would have two of each up to about number 8, then one each of the larger ones up to size 12 or so. You could amend this for short pitches, or those with a restricted type of protection.

Microwires. Size 1 nuts are pretty small, but some cracks are even thinner, so micro wires are an option for these thin cracks. For shallow thin cracks, which are quite common, brass nuts swaged directly onto wire remove the requirement for the wire to loop over the top of the nut and therefore allow a narrower design. Although micro wires look nice, they are limited in their holding potential. This is a pro climber gear. 

Hexes usually come in an asymmetric hexagonal shape, sometimes with curved surfaces, mounted with a sewn sling. They are light and fit well in near parallel-sided wider cracks, and are particularly suitable for certain rock types (e.g. gritstone, granite) However, a camming device is usually a quicker and more secure option hexes are much cheaper than cams, so a mixture of the two to cover a wide range of large crack sizes may be an option.

Active protection:

Cams (Friends). Camming devices revolutionised climbing when they first appeared. Generally, they are quick and easy to place and remove and they provide multi-directional security but they are expensive. There are several manufacturers, all producing units that work similarly in principle. As with nuts, therefore it’s best to decide on a manufacturer and assemble your rack with those. At the beginning, 3-4 cams (friends) will be a good start. As with nuts, there are microcams available which can be very useful but they become less reliable as size diminishes.

There are additional specialist and alternative items, for example, tricams, offset micronuts, sky hooks and pegs. This is again a pro climber gear and not necessary to have your first choice.

Slings and quickdraws

It’s a good idea to have a selection of short and longer quick draws, and several 120 cm slings, clipped across a chest with snapgate. An average rack might include 4 each of the short and 4 of the longer quickdraws and 4 slings. It might be a good idea to have one 240 cm sling to arrange a belay.

Other gear

Belay device – this should be a modern device and I recommend buying the one with an option to belay in guide mode (of the anchor point). It should be compatible with your rope diameters. Check this! It’s not always obvious. You should have at least 2 screw gates and 4 snapgate binners. A nut tool is an essential aid for removing gear and perhaps cleaning out thin cracks for wires when on lead.

For winter extra gear will be required:

Ice screw – best to have different lengths and one brand, great to have them on caritool. Another important protection is Wart Hogs which are a steel long needle to be hammered in frozen turf. Bulldog are primarily a drive-in anchor that finds strong placements in frozen turf and mud, can also be placed into hooks in the ice created by your axe, and can even be hammered into cracks and seams like a peg. If ice climbing equipment to make an Abalokove tread is very useful.

Disclaimer: All climbing and mountaineering are activities with a danger of personal injury or death. Participants in these activities should be aware of and accept these risks and be responsible for their own actions. If any of the techniques, skills or advice presented on my blog are not clear to you, seek professional advice and instruction before applying them.

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