Nice Climbing Rack

You’re heading out to go climbing and your partner asks you to bring the rack. What exactly do they want you to bring? Here are a few basic guidelines to help you show off your nice climbing rack.

First, to be clear, a rack is whatever you need to climb the objective that day. If you are ice climbing, ice screws are the rack. If you’re going sport climbing, quickdraws would be the rack and for crack climbing you will need a trad rack. The rack will vary from one person to the next depending on your skill and comfort on the terrain.

What is a standard rack?

That again depends on what medium you are climbing. Typically the guide book will describe the standard rack in the early pages of the book. Even sport climbs will typically list how many bolts to expect so you know how many quickdraw to carry. For most trad areas, the standard rack may be a single set of cams to a certain size, and a set of nuts. This standard rack is just a starting point. You may find due to your ability level, the difficulty and the size of crack may warrant that you want more or less of a certain size of gear.  Be sure to ask friends, and search for beta on sites like mountain project to find out what you will need on route.

Should I rack on a sling or on my harness?

This is such a personal preference, there is no right or wrong answer. When you are starting out, try racking both ways to see what you prefer. Each method has its benefits and drawbacks. If you rack on the gear loops of your harness, the weight is carried closer to your center of gravity. If you rack on a gear sling, the weight is higher up on your torso and you can more easily see which pieces you have available. No matter how you choose to carry the gear, have a clean, organized, methodical system that you can replicate. This way you can find the gear you need when you are in the crux.

Get familiar with your rack.

No matter what rack you carry, or how you carry it, get familiar with it. Squeeze cam triggers within the optimal range and compare the size to your hands or fingers. This way when you are in the business you will have some idea what piece goes into the tight hand crack. The more familiar you are with the gear, the easier it will be to place when you are stressed.

Finally, don’t over rack. There is no need to bring items you simply do not need. Every extra “just in case” piece adds up quickly. A reasonable rack can quickly grow into something too big to climb with that will weigh you down and make climbing more difficult. At some point you just have to trust that what you have is enough. Again, experience and a little beta can go a long way.

At Chicks Climbing our clinics focus on skills to make you an independent climber. Learn how to rack up, place gear and build solid anchors, multi-pitch transition strategies and loads more. Let us help you understand how the gear works and when to use the right tool at the right time.  Our upcoming Red Rocks, NV and our newest program in Joshua Tree, CA are both the perfect places to work on all of these skills and more. We hope you will join us!

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