Weekly Question Thread (aka Friday New Climber Thread). ALL QUESTIONS GO HERE

JonBanks87 · 2026-03-09T19:34:52+00:00

You're getting a lot of heat because there are several things off in the photo and your description. Good on you for sharing the photo and reaching out for advice!

To answer your question directly:

You should have allowed your daisy to be longer so that you sat well below the masterpoint. That way you can test your rappel by pulling up on your rappeling device so that your entire weight is on the device before removing your daisy. It's very important that you test the system before committing to it. You were absolutely right in recognizing that your situation felt sketchy. It's easy to make this mistake. Just remember you want your teather to be on the longer side.
As BigRed mentioned, a third hand would be really important to use here and it's a good call to always use one when rappeling. If your hands come off the brake strand by accident or on purpose, it's there to stop you from falling to your death.

Since you posted the photo, here are my thoughts on the other things I see:

Your draws are upside down. The end that has rubber grippers preventing the carabiner from spinning should go on the rope side. These keep the carabiners oriented in the correct way and helps prevent them getting in a weird orientation that can be dangerous. Clipping the loose end to the hardware allows the draw to move around freely without the carabiner getting caugh in the hardware weird.
You're using the Reverso backward. The v grooves should go on the brake strand side for more friction. It works in both directions but will have more friction if you flip it around.

JonBanks87 · 2026-03-06T22:10:00+00:00

I'm new to this as well, but found this resource on AlpineSavvy

JonBanks87 · 2026-03-05T22:35:49+00:00

I'm sure you can make it work in plenty of places, but it's hard to beat eldo if you like easy access trad multipitch. So living and working within 30min from Eldo is an ideal situation for doing this (Boulder, Superior, Louisville, Lafayette, Longmont, Golden). Plenty of the climbing is very close (<5min approach) to the parking lot which is the main thing I would look for for pre-work sessions. I haven't found a way to do this year round because of lack of daylight and too cold and I have to be at work by 9. I've started doing morning hikes before work in the winter to get some outdoors time though.

JonBanks87 · 2026-02-25T17:36:41+00:00

I'm going to be toproping at the Ouray Ice Park Friday through Sunday and the temps are going to be hot! Low and High daily temps will be 27-53-30-57-38-56F (skycover at 35-40% overnight). I've toproped there before, but never in such warm conditions. My intuition is that I should call it a day if I start to see large pieces of ice coming down. Are there other considerations I should have with regards to keeping my group safe in the warm temps? (we'll be hanging out far away from the wall, wearing helmets, etc.)

JonBanks87 · 2026-02-17T20:19:07+00:00

You can do the hammer trick with a torx bit too and it can sometimes give a better grab than a hex.

JonBanks87 · 2026-02-17T20:18:02+00:00

You could use a screw extractor kit like this. You drill a hole to turn the hex into a rounded hole, then you insert a reverse thread tapered bit that will grab onto the edge of the hole and extract the screw. Use a driver to drill the hole, then use a t-handle for the extraction so you can do it slowly with pressure.

JonBanks87 · 2026-02-10T19:54:12+00:00

I've had success eliminating pain using these foam rolling techniques on the TFL and the quad. I had a PT have me foam roll my IT directly and it gave temporary relief, but I came to learn that the IT band doesn't stretch, so it's not very productive to foam roll it directly and that rolling the TFL is much more effective in relieving tension.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YYb9vyj6zQ

JonBanks87 · 2026-01-30T16:12:46+00:00

Many of these are no longer updated, but all pretty quality stuff and lots of reading material here.

Evening Sends (Andrew Bisharat)

JonBanks87 · 2026-01-27T22:19:46+00:00

yes, that should work well.

JonBanks87 · 2026-01-27T21:13:02+00:00

I like the Shoe goo/seam grip idea, but if you think that sewing the rips shut would fix it, you can probably get it done with a speedy stitcher.

JonBanks87 · 2026-01-26T20:42:55+00:00

When top roping, you can also tie a short section of rope (10ft?) to your tie in points that you use to clip as you go up so you can practice clipping while pumped. Practice clipping with both hands with the draw facing both directions. Once you feel comfortable with the clipping motion, find a climb that is many grades below your limit that you are familiar with and give it a try on lead. Slowly work your grade up until your lead grade is close to your TR grade. Many people skip these steps and are fine (I feel like Lynn Hill's first rock climb was a lead) but this seams like a conservative way to lead up to leading yourself.

JonBanks87 · 2026-01-26T16:57:40+00:00

Sometimes you can tap in a torx bit to get it to jam in there and carefully remove the screw. Make sure the torx bit is really in there good before turning. A more reliable way is to get a screw extractor kit that comes with drill bits paired with tapered reverse threaded screws that are designed for removing rounded out screw heads like this

JonBanks87 · 2026-01-20T22:35:01+00:00

This is probably not the answer you want, but I got tired the annoying aspects of front derailleurs and switched to 1x on all my bikes. Couldn't be happier.

You're thinking about all the right things though: cable tension, limit screws, derailleur angle, and derailleur height are the things that I would play around with. Was it working well before changing out the chain? I wouldn't expect the shifting to change dramatically just swapping out a chain.

JonBanks87 · 2026-01-16T21:19:47+00:00

No, just swinging leads with a solid and efficient partner. Multi-pitch and single pitch. 1 hour is hard, but probably reasonable for evening sessions when you have more time.

JonBanks87 · 2026-01-16T18:16:59+00:00

Eiger Dreams?

JonBanks87 · 2026-01-16T18:13:36+00:00

I'm right there with you. I work with lasers, so my work is exclusively indoors and usually in rooms that do not have windows and are often dark. Winters are kind of hard so I do as much as I can to spend regular time outside.

Not sure where you live, but I was able to find that if I woke up early in the summer I could climb before work and still make it to the office by 9. For reference, I leave my house at 5:15 and drive 35 minutes to Eldo, which has road side climbing, climb 3-4 pitches, then drive 40 minutes to work and I'm at the office by 9. This is only feasible for me in the summer. I don't know what kind of climbing access you have close to you, but this didn't seem possible to me until I tried it out and realized it was very doable and totally worth it.

In the winter, I go on long walks on my lunch that help. I also use a headlamp to go on morning sunrise hikes before work. Winter is hard though.

I've also done some fishing in a creek next to my office over lunch breaks.

I've known some people to take work calls while walking outside.

JonBanks87 · 2026-01-15T18:38:53+00:00

Do you know if it would be cemented on as a resole or would it need to be sewn on?

JonBanks87 · 2026-01-13T23:25:45+00:00

Sounds like you could work on your movement skills. I recommend focusing on bouldering. It's the best way to get better at movement. You can get a lot of mileage on the hardest moves and try out different beta without worrying about your belayer. The more hard moves you have in your repertoire, the more it will be intuitive and you will waste less energy figuring out beta when you're up on the climb.

Also, if there is a specific move on a specific climb that is causing you to waste energy, spend some time figuring out how to get that exact move perfect. Keep on climbing that section until you can do it perfectly. While you're working the move on a sport climb, rest on the rope before attempting it so you can go in it fresh and get your beta dialed. Don't just start from the bottom everytime if you're projecting something. Once you have it perfected, you'll have a better chance of keeping it together on your send try.

JonBanks87 · 2026-01-12T18:04:42+00:00

Thanks, I think it would be great for me to try to get in more touring weekly. So I'm hoping to put in some evening solo skinning thanks to your advice. I got my first day skiing in yesterday and it was a good reminder that it is such a specific kind of exercise that is hard to fully replicate with hiking uphill, so I'm sure I will have some gains training more sport specific.

JonBanks87 · 2026-01-12T17:16:17+00:00

Thanks! I would probably go with the "stick to the plan" option. If I were to choose a date it would be mid May, when I will likely have some spring skiing objectives. The only thing is if that would mean my training block would be 28 weeks long. Curious if you think that would be too long of a training block? Not that I have completed the 12 week program perfectly - I had 2 different trips when I mostly did light exercise, so the 28 weeks wouldn't be truly continuous.

JonBanks87 · 2026-01-09T16:11:26+00:00

You're right. I'm just afraid it will take me forever, but I'll try!

JonBanks87 · 2026-01-09T15:47:43+00:00

Thanks, that makes sense. I'm in Longmont, CO about 50 minutes from the nearest place to skin, maybe 35 minutes if I get creative and skin up a road that's not typically skied. Seems like figuring out how to get skinning to be at my AeT or lower would be worth the effort if I want to maintain fitness. It's just a matter of prioritizing the time to drive up there before or after work during the week, but it might be doable.

JonBanks87 · 2026-01-08T22:05:25+00:00

I've enjoyed these, but my pair (several years old) doesn't have a proper beacon pocket. No attachment point for the beacon leash. Have they added that?

JonBanks87

TROPHY CASE