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How to Move Faster in the Mountains

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 UKC Articles 24 Feb 2015
Emily Roo Saying goodbye to the sunshine for a few hours. Grand Capucin on the left and Aiguille Verte in the distance. , 3 kbChamonix-based alpinist Dave Searle gives his top ten tips for moving faster in the mountains.

Being able to climb harder or being fitter will certainly help you move faster, but this article looks at "quick fixes" or adapting your systems to gain more speed and efficiency for your current level of climbing. You never know it might just make enough of a difference to you that you can start to look at higher grades or longer routes.



Read more at http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=7096
 Bob 24 Feb 2015
In reply to UKC Articles:

Ooh! The gear freaks aren't going to like the first of those
 George Fisher 24 Feb 2015
In reply to Bob:

> Ooh! The gear freaks aren't going to like the first of those

They'll love it... they can now spend hours and hundreds re thinking their old systems and shaving grams.
 Bob 24 Feb 2015
In reply to George Fisher:

> They'll love it... they can now spend hours and hundreds re thinking their old systems and shaving grams.

"Hmm, I'll get this titanium widget that weighs 20g less than my current steel one. I've never used it but I've saved 20g"
 lithos 24 Feb 2015
In reply to UKC Articles:

0: get fit

10 PractiSe PractiSe PractiSe
1
 Robert Durran 24 Feb 2015
In reply to Bob:

> Ooh! The gear freaks aren't going to like the first of those

And the purists aren't going to like the second. Good to see it though; I reckon, heretically, that if you can afford the luxury of doing a route free or without a bivi then you should be getting on something harder.
 goose299 24 Feb 2015
In reply to UKC Articles:

Get fitter
 Bob 24 Feb 2015
In reply to UKC Articles:

Actually #5 is wrong - it should be HTFU!
 Dave Searle 24 Feb 2015
In reply to lithos:

Sorry... Practise.

I tried to stay away from the cliche "get fit" but I agree it's a key point.
 lithos 24 Feb 2015
In reply to Dave Searle:



> I tried to stay away from the cliche "get fit" but I agree it's a key point.

i still thought it a good article dave,
 planetmarshall 24 Feb 2015
In reply to Dave Searle:

> I tried to stay away from the cliche "get fit" but I agree it's a key point.

It is, but the end goal is to save time, and it's easier to save an hour during a multi-pitch climb by not faffing than it is by being fitter. Similar logic goes into saving time during triathlon transitions.

 AlanLittle 24 Feb 2015
In reply to Bob:

> "Hmm, I'll get this titanium widget that weighs 20g less than my current steel one. I've never used it but I've saved 20g"

"What is not there, weighs nothing, cannot break, and won´t catch snow" - design philosophy from Austrian splitboard manufacturer Splitsticks

http://www.splitsticks.com/de/products/binding-interface/
 barbeg 24 Feb 2015
In reply to planetmarshall:

Absolutely,

Faff, both in the Greater Ranges, Alps or indeed Scotland, is the biggest time waster...be efficient and fast in all the small stuff...and you'll have time for the rest.....!

ANdy
 Robert Durran 24 Feb 2015
In reply to planetmarshall:
> It is, but the end goal is to save time, and it's easier to save an hour during a multi-pitch climb by not faffing than it is by being fitter.

It may be easier in the short term for an individual to learn to avoid faff than to get fitter, but I bet the fastest climbers on big alpine routes are still the fittest ones (given equal technical skill) and that the biggest factor for an individual is still fitness.

> Similar logic goes into saving time during triathlon transitions.

So are you saying that triathlons are generally won by those with the slickest transitions rather than the fittest competitors or than slick transitions are an easier gain to make than getting a bit fitter?
Post edited at 16:29
1
 planetmarshall 24 Feb 2015
In reply to Robert Durran:

> So are you saying that triathlons are generally won by those with the slickest transitions rather than the fittest competitors?

No not at all, just that it's easier to save 30 secs by having a slick transition (assuming it's pretty crap to begin with) than it is to save the same amount by being fitter - particularly when so little separates elite competitors.

 Robert Durran 24 Feb 2015
In reply to Bob:

> "Hmm, I'll get this titanium widget that weighs 20g less than my current steel one. I've never used it but I've saved 20g"

I don't think I've ever actually "used" my helmet in the Alps, but I still take one and I keep buying lighter ones. Some generalisations on weight saving make nice slogans but not much sense. Each bit of kit should be judged on its own merits. The best advice I've seen is Andy Kirkpatrick's: decide what it actually makes sense to take and then take the lightest version of it you can lay your hand on (or words to that effect).
 David Coley 24 Feb 2015
In reply to Robert Durran:

> ..... the biggest factor for an individual is still fitness.

I'm not sure this is really true on rock and for most climbers, Alpine might be different. The super fast, Nose-in-sub-5hrs, people are both fit AND their systems are fast. Super fast. I'm a very poor climber and very unfit, but I seem to be able to get up long easy stuff faster than many people half my age, who climb much harder. Mainly because they take 10min to build a belay, and 10min to switch leaders, then 10min per rap. (10+10+10)x20 pitches = 600mins = 10hours not climbing! That's a lot of faff time and in my experience watching people, can mean the non-climbing time is often greater than the climbing time.

I found the key was a video camera, and Excel. Video yourself on a 5 pitch route, extract the timings for each event (time from reaching crag to leader off ground, time placing protection, time from calling safe to second moving etc.) and chart it. I found it very embarrassing.
 Robert Durran 24 Feb 2015
In reply to David Coley:

> I'm not sure this is really true on rock and for most climbers, Alpine might be different.

Yes, I was more thinking of a big alpine mixed face with stretches of relatively non-technical ground rather than continuously pitched technical rock (though it's still not much good if you're too knackered to keep going after 30 pitches however slick your belaying!)
 David Coley 24 Feb 2015
In reply to UKC Articles:

In fact I'm going to stick my nose out on this one. Having spent many a summer in Ailefroide watching many friends climb the long slabs whilst I changed nappies, I would say that on such routes (i.e. approx 10 pitch, bolted, mostly F5, with the odd move of F6a-6b) that in almost all cases they spent more time not climbing than climbing. I don't think fitness would have helped. Big snowy stuff is no doubt very different.

 planetmarshall 24 Feb 2015
In reply to David Coley:

> I found the key was a video camera, and Excel. Video yourself on a 5 pitch route, extract the timings for each event (time from reaching crag to leader off ground, time placing protection, time from calling safe to second moving etc.) and chart it. I found it very embarrassing.

Not sure I'll go to the lengths of charting it, but I might start timing my systems to see what I can do faster. As a software engineer obsessed with optimization this kind of thing appeals to me.

 planetmarshall 24 Feb 2015
In reply to David Coley:

> Big snowy stuff is no doubt very different.

I remember watching Andy Cave in 'Distilled' and being pretty amazed at how fast he moved over easy ground in Scotland. Something to aspire to.

 summo 24 Feb 2015
In reply to planetmarshall:
> No not at all, just that it's easier to save 30 secs by having a slick transition (assuming it's pretty crap to begin with) than it is to save the same amount by being fitter - particularly when so little separates elite competitors.

The solution is to have both, slick admin and fitness. 30secs!!??, I've seen people on stances who could save 15mins every pitch. Jackets on/off, drinks, photo, swap some gear, tighten a boot.... endless list. Sometimes you will be a bit too hot sometimes cool, just cope then have a mad 5 mins at either the top or bottom, drink as you dress/tighten/photo/pass gear.... 1-2 hours saved instantly. Folk often have no plan with their second, on how they'll swing leads, lead through, do 3 straight leads then swap... so much can be planned in the hut the evening before.

Especially in France it's often a race off the phrique to the bottom of some routes, I often thrash up the first pitch or two, with much of my gear not quite right, or even in the bag, just taking what I will need immediately etc. then progressively sort as I go, much better than getting stuck behind a slow party with poor admin and not really able to climb the grade efficiently.
Post edited at 16:54
 planetmarshall 24 Feb 2015
In reply to summo:

> The solution is to have both, slick admin and fitness. 30secs!!??...

Wires crossed here - I was using Triathlon transitions as an analogy, where time to be saved is on the order of seconds rather than minutes.
 summo 24 Feb 2015
In reply to planetmarshall:
OK, I see what you mean now, in climbing though, the stance time for some is as long as the climbing time. In tri it's obviously minimal and little to be gained in admin compared to fitness.
Post edited at 16:58
 Robert Durran 24 Feb 2015
In reply to David Coley:

> I would say that on such routes (i.e. approx 10 pitch, bolted, mostly F5, with the odd move of F6a-6b) that in almost all cases they spent more time not climbing than climbing.

But that's hardly proper alpine climbing under pressure. They might just have been enjoying a relaxed day out.
 Robert Durran 24 Feb 2015
In reply to planetmarshall:

> I remember watching Andy Cave in 'Distilled' and being pretty amazed at how fast he moved over easy ground in Scotland. Something to aspire to.

Yes, the ability to move fast on relatively easy ground is something that many UK climbers seem to lack at first; it's both confidence and fitness.

 Michael Gordon 24 Feb 2015
In reply to UKC Articles:

If it's relatively easy ground then it's perhaps non-climbing stuff that will make the difference, but on harder routes you'll sometimes easily save 1/2hr per pitch just from learning to climb with a bit more urgency as opposed to the 5 mins from a slightly quicker changeover.
 BnB 24 Feb 2015
In reply to UKC Articles:

This winter I've been learning to speed everything up and I've realised that there is a time and a place for the mantra "never climb past gear in winter without using it", and that place isn't on easy routes. I've realised that on outings within one's comfort zone it pays to amend this to "if you can walk past it, walk past it." PROVIDED ALWAYS that you have a reasonable expectation of pro when you hit the harder moves. This was amply demonstrated recently when I watched a leader spend 25 minutes placing and carefully extending a hex before walking 30m up grade I ground to an obvious and well protected belay.
 Michael Gordon 24 Feb 2015
In reply to BnB:

A lot of the time on easier ground I think it's good to place gear if it's obvious but not to spend long looking for stuff - hopefully the best of both worlds type approach?
 Rob Parsons 24 Feb 2015
In reply to Bob:
> Ooh! The gear freaks aren't going to like the first of those

Yvon Chouinard gives some excellent advice on this point (as well as on a host of other matters) in his 1978 book 'Climbing Ice.' Namely:

"Carry light packs, and leave most of the 'ten essentials' and other impedimenta behind. Remember: if you take bivouac equipment along, you will bivouac."

He also remarks that the French at the time referred to the route 'Voie des Plaques' on the Dent du Requin as the 'Englishman's Bedroom', precisely 'because so many British climbers come straight onto it from an apprenticeship on twenty-meter leads on small crags and end up having to bivouac.'
Post edited at 18:37
 summo 24 Feb 2015
In reply to BnB:
>" This was amply demonstrated recently when I watched a leader spend 25 minutes placing and carefully extending a hex before walking 30m up grade I ground to an obvious and well protected belay."

everyone has to learn and it's better folk learn safely and cautiously at first, so I would cut them some slack. If you can throw a bit of gear in an obvious slot, or sling a spike, whilst romping up easy ground, then little time is lost. It just gives you 30 secs for the calf burn to ease. But, should something out of the ordinary happen, like somebody knocking something off, rock or ice fall, falling sheep(wales) freak gust of wind etc.. you'll probably live to tell the tale.
Post edited at 18:31
cb294 24 Feb 2015
In reply to Michael Gordon:

+1. On easier ground slings are often the best type of protection: Quick to place, quick to remove by your second, light, and as safe as the rock structure you place them round.

Just chuck them over a rock spike every few meters or thread them through a hole as you go along.

CB
 BnB 24 Feb 2015
In reply to summo:
Absolutely. It wasn't a criticism. It was an education for the observer (and hopefully the leader too).

I set myself a 2 minute target for cleaning ice, placing gear and extending in winter, 20-30 seconds in summer. And I'd certainly take the opportunity to invest that sort of time on safety, even on easy ground.

Believe me, I often overreach the target by some margin. But it helps to have that focus on well-dialled gear placement. I'm still a crap climber though.
Post edited at 18:59
 planetmarshall 24 Feb 2015
In reply to summo:

> ...I would cut them some slack.

Maybe not the best idiom in this context

 planetmarshall 24 Feb 2015
In reply to BnB

> I set myself a 2 minute target for cleaning ice, placing gear and equalising in winter, 20-30 seconds in summer.

I give little thought to equalisation, on the basis that it is virtually impossible to achieve (would be interested in experimental data on this, though), and go for redundancy instead.

 BnB 24 Feb 2015
In reply to planetmarshall:

Sorry, I meant to write "extending" not "equalising". I'll amend the original post.
 David Coley 24 Feb 2015
In reply to Michael Gordon:

> If it's relatively easy ground then it's perhaps non-climbing stuff that will make the difference, but on harder routes you'll sometimes easily save 1/2hr per pitch just from learning to climb with a bit more urgency as opposed to the 5 mins from a slightly quicker changeover.

That's what I thought too until I started to time things. I have found it far easier to knock 20 min per pitch with better systems, than climb faster.
 David Coley 24 Feb 2015
In reply to Robert Durran:

> But that's hardly proper alpine climbing under pressure. They might just have been enjoying a relaxed day out.

They were my friends so I know they were climbing as fast as they and the systems they were using would allow
 Rick Graham 24 Feb 2015
In reply to UKC Articles:

A really good article.

Tip number eleven could be : plan your route and start time to be on the mountain at the ideal time of day for optimum conditions.

Examples could be

Climb Le Ticket on the Peigne on an evening. NW facing so in the late day sun, no crowds and no morning wet weeps.

Once did the Swiss route on the Courtes crossing the bergschrund at 6 pm, in a few hours, up frozen neve steps, after watching teams slog up deep slush for 16 hour ascents.

On routes like the Eiger 38, it is well documented how certain sections are lethal at the wrong time of day in summer.

Parts of the Peuterey ridge ( integral or just the top "bit") can be easy, a slog or just downright dangerous depending on the time of day.

Timing is everything, not just speed and fitness.
 Michael Gordon 24 Feb 2015
In reply to David Coley:

I think you're probably correct for alpine stuff. For e.g. Scottish mixed with usually not many pitches but often quite technical climbing, the difference between a team finishing in the light and the dark may well be more the actual climbing. It's something that's hard to improve on yourself but I've noticed it climbing with a few different partners and it's often independent to the grade they lead.
 Michael Gordon 24 Feb 2015
In reply to cb294:

Yes certainly slings if a spike or thread is available. I was thinking more along the lines of a deep crack which at a glance is obviously good for nuts/hexes rather than e.g. thin or icy parallel cracks which may give decent gear but which will require more work to see if anything will go in.
 Robert Durran 24 Feb 2015
In reply to Rob Parsons:
> Yvon Chouinard gives some excellent advice on this point (as well as on a host of other matters) in his 1978 book 'Climbing Ice.' Namely: "Carry light packs, and leave most of the 'ten essentials' and other impedimenta behind. Remember: if you take bivouac equipment along, you will bivouac."

Often quoted but almost by definition bollocks (and quite possibly, I imagine, responsible for various epics or even deaths); if something is "essential" then obviously it should not be left behind. And if you don't take bivouac equipment and shit happens (and it sometimes does), then you might die unnecessarily - which I reckon is always worth bearing in mind.

All these "fast 'n light" mantras and dogma are all very well, but really shouldn't be taken too literally - just make sensible decisions on what to take on a route by route basis while keeping the weight as low as you can.
Post edited at 23:51
 Robert Durran 24 Feb 2015
In reply to Michael Gordon:

> If it's relatively easy ground then it's perhaps non-climbing stuff that will make the difference.

And/or perhaps the ability/confidence/fitness to climb fast on relatively easy ground.
 Sharp 25 Feb 2015
In reply to UKC Articles:
I can see how moving together is a good technique in the Alps to save time and consequently increase your safety margin but it seems to be the in thing in the UK at the moment as well. Nothing wrong with people employing whatever systems they like of course but while saving time is always going to increase your safety somehwhat, on the UK's short routes that increase is less pronounced than on longer routes abroad and it's worth remembering that moving together carries it's own (pretty serious) risks. Having pitched both tower ridge and North East Buttress on the Ben over the last few winters and arrived at the plateu by lunch time I'm not sure it's that applicable to UK climbing on the grounds of safety and speed alone.
I certainly don't think there's anything wrong with moving together and climbing isn't just a safety equasion, I can see how like all things doing it well must be satisfying but I just suspect that for a lot of people they're telling themselves the time saving is making them more safe when in reality they're adding risks, especially when you meet people who trip up over their crampons on the approach and then tell you it's best to move together because it's safer, no thanks.

Ben
Post edited at 08:16
 Rob Parsons 25 Feb 2015
In reply to Robert Durran:
> Often quoted but almost by definition bollocks (and quite possibly, I imagine, responsible for various epics or even deaths); if something is "essential" then obviously it should not be left behind.

Chouinard's advice in his book (I won't type in the entire 'Speed and Safety' section - or indeed, the entire book ...) is great , and will help any aspiring alpinist. I assume you realise that the 'ten essentials' is a direct reference to a 'dogmatic' list prescribed in 'Freedom Of The Hills'?

> All these "fast 'n light" mantras and dogma are all very well, but really shouldn't be taken too literally - just make sensible decisions on what to take on a route by route basis while keeping the weight as low as you can.

I agree - but that's what is meant by the advice. I think you yourself are being slightly too literal ...
Post edited at 08:27
 Jamie B 25 Feb 2015
In reply to Sharp:

I share your unease about moving together on Scottish routes having seen it alarmingly employed on a number of occasions.
 Robert Durran 25 Feb 2015
In reply to Rob Parsons:

> I assume you realise that the 'ten essentials' is a direct reference to a 'dogmatic' list prescribed in 'Freedom Of The Hills'?

No I didn't realise that, and I expect most people hearing this quote out of context don't either.

> I agree - but that's what is meant by the advice. I think you yourself are being slightly too literal .....

Maybe, but I really think that more sensible advice on gear would be a lot more useful and responsible than catchy slogans which, on their own, might be downright dangerous to the inexperienced (such as the highly technically competent but inexperienced alpinist I once met who thought he would save weight by carrying neither water nor a stove* on a big north face - after all "light is always right........").
Note that this is not in any way a criticism of Dave's article!

*That's my little bit of advice: the weight of a very light stove and gas cylinder is very often worth it, even on big single day route, in order to stay hydrated (assuming snow is available).

 Bob 25 Feb 2015
In reply to UKC Articles:

I think a lot of "problems" with British climbers in the Alps stem from the attitude that "this is the way to do it", things like insisting on three anchor points at every belay.

Going "fast 'n' light" is an attitude, I wouldn't take it to the extreme of one French pair I saw heading to the North Face of Les Droites one winter who had a bum-bag each with a half litre of water, some granola and a bit of parachute silk for emergencies in them. Making kit do two jobs where possible helps: rather than take a Karrimat or Thermarest which are both bulky and weighty, take three cuts of Karrimat and stuff them down the sleeve in the back of your rucksack - provides padding when you are carrying the sack and insulation when you are sleeping; takes up very little space and weighs about 100g. (I think Rick taught me that trick). Prussik loops can be used as slings or vice-versa.

Getting fitter helps but it isn't strength or stamina per se that is required but efficiency - the top athletes in all sports are very efficient in how their bodies convert food to energy, up to twice as efficient as a typical sedentary person. They also have better economy of movement - though that comes from climbing lots as much as anything. All that takes time so a quick way to speed things up is to make your climbing system more efficient as the article indicates.
 Rick Graham 25 Feb 2015
In reply to Bob:
> Going "fast 'n' light" is an attitude, Itake three cuts of Karrimat and stuff them down the sleeve in the back of your rucksack - provides padding when you are carrying the sack and insulation when you are sleeping; takes up very little space and weighs about 100g. (I think Rick taught me that trick).

I only use one now I have made something lighter!

Fast + Light is OK but be very aware of the risks. You need to know what situation (in forced bivi terms ) and general suffering is survivable. It worse than you probably think but not nice. Just like Mr Lopez said "it depends how 'ard you are".
Post edited at 17:41
 summo 25 Feb 2015
In reply to Rick Graham:

> . It worse than you probably think but not nice. Just like Mr Lopez said "it depends how 'ard you are".

I've tried to sleep in a stone shelter at about 3000m in the Alps until midnight, before starting to climb(barre noire couloir). 3 rucksack widths of carry mat from my head to bum, rope for insulation, legs inside rucksack, down jacket, hat/mitts, waterproof jacket/trousers... we shivered and didn't sleep, eventually gave up and set off on route simply to warm up.

I've gone to the other extreme, 'British Style', bivi bag, sleeping bag, stove etc. and been woken up by people stepping over us in the morning! Totally over slept (but what a great sleep a few hundred metres up from the hut on La Meije), missed an early start and had to drag a silly big bag around for it.

But, it's all learning and now I try to the find the balance ie. just warm enough to sleep / survive.
 Chris Craggs Global Crag Moderator 25 Feb 2015
In reply to UKC Articles:

I might be wrong but isn't the 'saying goodbye to the sunshine for a while' shot actually taken at dawn?


Chris
cb294 25 Feb 2015
In reply to Chris Craggs:

Well spotted! The view is towards the north east, looking at the south faces of Verte and Droites. Shadows falling to the left (west) means sunrise.

CB

 bigbobbyking 25 Feb 2015
In reply to UKC Articles:

As an aside i don't think theres any need to single out british climbers as doing too much faffing. I've seen plenty of faffing continental climbers too
 summo 26 Feb 2015
In reply to bigbobbyking:

> . I've seen plenty of faffing continental climbers too

The continentals may faff too, but they don't carry half the gear or weight of the British alpine novice!
 Dave Searle 26 Feb 2015
In reply to Chris Craggs:
Very well spotted... Actually it was just before we climbed the rebufatt gully on the tour ronde.. We walked through a patch of sun from the from the hut into the shade for the day.

Thanks for all the comments everyone. Some interesting points. I would of course advise you use extreme caution when adopting a light weight approach, it has a time and a place possibly not in Scotland but then again where better place (as a uk climber) to practice for the Alps?

In my albeit limited experience 90% (or more?) will save the most time from slicker systems and a more focused approach. The top ten 10% have already eaked every last second out of this and a major fitness increase will be the only help.
 Dave Searle 26 Feb 2015
In reply to bigbobbyking:

Agreed! I just rather see the Brits beating the frenchies more!
 Chris Craggs Global Crag Moderator 26 Feb 2015
In reply to Dave Searle:

> Very well spotted... Actually it was just before we climbed the rebufatt gully on the tour ronde.. We walked through a patch of sun from the from the hut into the shade for the day.

Cheers for the reply, that makes sense. The colours , long shadows and caption made me think you were setting up for a bivi!


Chris

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