when rock climbing how do climbers get their hook/anchor above them to climb up?

Question

Does the first climber do it bit by bit until those behind have a decent distance to climb? In my head they’re climbing using a rope that’s anchored 20 feet above them. If so, how does it get there?

In: 272

Answer 1

The rope is just a safety rope. They do not use it to climb. It is technically harder to climb with a safety rope then without because you have to set all the anchors while also climbing. The safety rope does not have to be anchored above the climber to be effective. It can be anchored just bellow the climber. That does mean that the climber will end up falling for a bit before the rope gets tight however because the rope does stretch a bit they still get a nice and slow stop to their fall. So the process is to climb up a bit using the rocks, then install an anchor at about chest height, then climb onward.