Closing basal anchors

[hatchetation]

Been trying to sort something out- not quite there yet, hoping for some advice.

When on a basal anchor, I usually end up advancing the TIP before redirecting. A lot of the time, the TIP union is where I want to be, puts me six feet higher in a stable position, especially on a stem without a lot of other features. But eek - without a closed system like a canopy anchor - getting above the TIP like this pretty much leaves you without an anchor. (... so I DdRT up on the tail)

Second annoyance is gravity pulling slack into the anchor side of the line while advancing. Usually it's no big deal, but if it's not the first advance there can be a lot more friction along the way and hauling the slack out can be a pain.

I'm not a fan of canopy anchors, but have been playing around with simple/fast/temporary ways to anchor until the TIP is advanced since it would seem to solve both problems. Slinging with a figure 8 further up the stem works, but is awkward. Been thinking of capturing the union with a quicklink around both sides of the line, haven't gotten around to trying it yet.

Any thoughts or tips? Haven't heard this discussed, wondering if I'm on the wrong track.

 

[Steve Connally]

4:35 in the video Heres your solution

 

[CutHighnLetFly]

I've never seen that video Steve,thanks for that.

If I wanna work a canopy anchor that is going to be retrieved from the ground and know I'm going to have to advance the TIP, I'll just send up the cinched anchor wth a short tail (just long enough to reach it from a comfortable spot) and the deal with it up there.
If I gotta advance the TIP on a base anchor, I pitch the rope or as you said set up a ddrt system on my rope tail.
Dont aim to avoid using one or the other, keep trying them both out and find out when and where you prefer one over the other. Individually they both suck if you were to only use one or the other.

 

[JontreeHI]

I use the ddrt on the tail quite often and don't find it to be that annoying advancing in large firs or just traveling spans between leaders. I usually pull 20-30 ft or so of slack into my srt system and lock it to the carabiner with a slip knot. Don't have to fight gravity for a while.