Advice: Winter climbing rack

Getting started
For winter climbing in the UK, a diverse range of items are needed to make the best use of the sometimes very varied protection possibilities that may be encountered. These may well include normal rock spikes, threads and cracks, but could also be hard snow, ice (thick & thin), iced-up cracks, and frozen turf. Many climbers will start off with their normal rock climbing rack and add specific winter items, which is fine, but can often lead to having a hugely heavy and bulky rack to lug around. The following suggested winter racks are based on gear guru Andy Kirkpatrick's advice published in issue 228 of High magazine:

	Ice hooks One of the most versatile pieces of winter protection, suitable for turf, rock and ice, and an essential part of any winter climbers rack - if you can find a solid placement for your pick then you can find a solid placement for your hook. Bare in mind, however, that they are not nearly as strong as a well placed screw, and unless no other means of protection can be found are possibly best used for temporary protection whilst constructing a proper belay, or for resting. Suggested product: DMM Bulldog, BD Spectre
	Ice screws For climbing in the UK, you don't need a huge rack of screws (4 to 6 depending on the route). Don't buy poor quality screws - they blunt very quickly (making them very difficult to place) and aren't reliable. Get medium length screws (13 & 17cm), although one long one (22cm) is useful for making ice-threads (also known as a V-thread or Abolakov). Screws with built-in winding handles are exceptionally quick to place, increasing safety and comfort for the leader. If you are watching the pennies, get a mixture of standard and 'express' screws - use the standards for belays and the express for lead protection. Suggested products: BD Turbo Express, DMM Revolution, Petzl Charlet Laser Sonic.
	Pegs Although very 'un-PC' for protecting normal rock climbs (due to the amount of damage they cause to the rock), they are still vital for UK winter climbing, due to the large amount of hoar and verglas encountered, which limits the effectiveness of normal protection. Short Knife Blades, Leepers (or Onders), Lost Arrows and small Angles are all useful.
	Deadman Useful for low to medium grade routes on snow, providing much better protection than snow stakes or bollards. Correctly placed, a deadman will dig itself deeper into the snow when loaded, increasing it's holding power. However, they are a very bulky addition to your rack, and it is usually always possible (although more time consuming) to construct a buried axe belay instead. Suggested product: DMM Anodized Deadman
	Warthog Specifically designed hammer in/screw out protection for use in frozen turf, they are becoming less popular since the emergence of the more versatile ice hook. Their advantage over the ice hook is that they are much easier to remove from turf (unless they 'question mark' against underlying rock, in which case you are in for a lot of chopping and digging).

Other useful stuff
• Load-limiting quickdraws can certainly help reduce the shock loading on pieces of protection, potentially making the difference between a piece of gear holding or ripping in the event of a fall, but don't expect miracles. Best used for marginal screw, hook, or small wire placements, or when directly belaying a second (i.e. belay device is attached directly to the anchors). If in doubt, place 2 or more pieces of pro and equalise with a sling.
• Dmm Revolver snapgate carabiners incorporate a small roller which allows rope to run through them much more smoothly than through a standard carabiner. This not only reduces rope drag on the leader, but in the event of a fall, lowers the impact force on the last item of pro, again potentially making difference between a piece of gear ripping or holding.
• For constructing V-thread anchors in ice, as well as at least one 22cm ice screw, you will need some accessory cord (7mm or larger) and some kind of threading device. This could simply be a bit of coat-hanger wire (25cm long?) with a small hook in the end (and a loop at the other for hanging on to it, perhaps). Otherwise, you can buy purpose made theaders such as the Petzl-Charlet Multi-hook, which also functions as a nut key.
• For low grade routes, especially if there are sections of moving together, a single rope will probably be most convenient to use. However, as well as their other benefits of lower rope drag, increased safety, and making longer abseils possible, half ropes will usually have a much lower impact force (i.e. they are more stretchy) than single ropes, again reducing the shock load on gear and potentially making the difference between a piece of gear holding or ripping in the event of a fall.

Other general comments:
• Cams don't work in iced-up cracks, where as Rockcentrics can be hammered into place. Lowe Tri-Cams feature a 'tooth' which can be very effective at biting through verglas.
• New large size Wild Country Rocks-On-Wire (sizes 11 to 14) allow easier hammering as they can be held in position by the stiff wire.
• Rock provides better protection than ice; ice provides better protection than snow.
• A great deal of protection on winter routes - most notably in ice or snow - can be very marginal (i.e. crap). It can not be relied on to the same extent as well placed rock protection in summer. The best approach is not to fall off... ever.

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Last updated March 1, 2007

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