Creative Natural Anchors

RC

Some natural anchors are obvious – tree, log, boulder, horn, arch, column, etc. In their absence you can try any of the following:

Drag a log to a position where it will jam securely. You can do the same thing with a large rock.

In the absence of one large rock, you can create a multi-point anchor with several smaller rocks and equalize them with webbing. Just like you would with multiple nuts or cams for a climbing belay anchor. I actually carry an old set of “disposable” nuts just in case I cannot find appropriate natural materials. They each have a small rapid link permanently attached so I can run the webbing through them without sacrificing carabiners.

Build a rock bollard – basically a pile of rocks heavy enough to hold your weight.

Bury a rock or log if you cannot find a constriction in which to jam them.

Use pickets. Drive a series of sturdy sticks into the ground in a straight line and equalize them front to back.

Pitons driven into cracks. Baby angles driven into undersized, drilled holes.

Hooks on flakes.

Use a human anchor. If only one person can downclimb a problem, they can be the anchor and belay the others or allow them to rappel from his body. If nobody can downclimb the problem, the human anchor must turn back after everyone else is down (hopefully they will return the favor in the future).

Carry extremely long ropes so you can use one good anchor for multiple rappels.

Climb out of the canyon to the rim and look for a good anchor that will get you past the problem. This may also require extremely long ropes.

Any other ideas out there? Comments?

Rich