Multi-pitch Climbing - Tips & Tricks
When you're climbing at your limit, technical stuff like ropes, gear and belays should be second nature leaving you to concentrate on the climbing itself. Most of us don't give a lot of thought to how we arrange stances and all that stuff. By just focusing on this one thing I reckon many climbers can save themselves enough time to get in another route per day. Have a look through these and see what you think.

	Tip 1
	Save time by leading pitches in blocks. One person leads the first couple of pitches, then change over and the other person leads the next bit. This is quicker than swapping leads on each pitch as you don't have to keep swapping the lead rack between you. Also, you're able to focus on leading for a sustained period so you'll probably climb better.

	Tip 2
	Save time on routes by not getting your ropes tangled at the belay. Here are three tips to avoid frustration: the leader should look which way the route goes from the belay stance when building the belay. If it goes up and to the right of the stance, the leader should position themselves on the right-hand side of the stance and the second goes on the left when they arrive. clip the second's ropes under the leaders ropes when the second reaches the belay. When the leader is on belay he can untie his ropes from the belay and head off with no tangles. If leading in blocks (see Tip 1), the second can run the ropes through whilst the leader gets organised for the next pitch. Ensure that the leader's end of the rope is on top of the pile before the leader sets off.
	Tip 3
	Learn to hate rope drag. It's not just an inconvenience; if you've got rope drag there's a good chance that your runners are being pulled out below you as the rope pulls them in all sorts of weird directions. Carry a couple of extendable quickdraws which can be used either short or long. To make an extendable quickdraw make up a normal quickdraw using a 50cm sling and two snapgate krabs. Pass one krab through the other krab and clip two strands.
	Tip 4
	Carry some 'tat' and a knife. Tat is a a length of rope (3-4 metres of 9mm is good) that can be used to rig an abseil anchor. The second can carry it. Make sure you know how to tie a double-fisherman's knot to make your tat into a rope sling. If you have a problem and have to abseil off, you can abseil off your tat and don't have to leave expensive stitched slings behind.
	Tip 5
	Get rid of all those none load-bearing krabs/clips that you use for racking and organising. One day someone less experienced than you might decide to abseil off them. Swap them for full-strength snapgate krabs that are easier to handle and can be used for protection when you're running out of gear.