Epiphany: Clipping the shelf when anchoring off a tree

Epiphanies can be big or small. They can be "Eureka" or "Huh, interesting". It is great that even after decades of climbing I can still get that sudden realization and learn something new. Or maybe it´s just a sign that I have not been paying attention.

Anyway, one such epiphany was supplied by John Godino at www.AlpineSavvy.com, who has created a great resource for anything related to wilderness travel and climbing.

So, when you wrap sling around a big tree and tie it off, you now have four strands disappearing around the trunk. How would you clip the "shelf"? I found that if I did not give it a second thought, I might clip the two top strands. The reason could be that most anchors involving nuts or cams are usually spread out horizontally, and in these cases we clip the two top (or bottom) strands. But if we do the same with our tree-anchor, we will actually be clipping only one loop, which creates a non-redundant anchor.

Here are a few pics to explain (Yes, that is actually my cat´s "tree"). Check out John Godino´s post too!

Good. Both loops are included.
Good. Both loops are included.
Bad. Only one loop is included.


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