Would top-roping in this limestone quarry be reasonable?
So there's this limestone quarry that looks like a beautiful place to rock climb. It's about 40 feet high, and the top is easily accessible and has many trees that look like they'd make fine top-rope anchors.
I haven't yet taken the class I intend to take to learn how to build top-rope anchors outdoors, so I won't be climbing here anyway until I do that, but I was just wondering if this looks like it is an acceptable place to climb. I've attached some photos of the rock. They may not show enough detail. My main concerns are that some of the rock may be loose, and edges are sharp. Any thoughts?
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1 answer
From the technical side I do not see any major issues. Assuming you made a proper, redundant top-rope anchor, your main concern should be a possible sharp edge at the top which can be countered with a rope protector if necessary. If there are more sharp edges and you are worried, using double ropes is always a good option, albeit often unnecessary. (I am deliberately not going into too much detail of a top rope anchor here.)
Loose rock is always something to expect while rock climbing. This is especially true for newly or undeveloped crags but even in long term used crags I have seen enough rockfall to use a helmet every time I go climbing. I only have one head ;)
Apart from the climbing specific part you should check your local rules. For example, here in southern Germany all crags are specially protected and climbing is prohibited unless explicitly allowed by local government. You should check this before climbing to avoid causing any issues for other climbing crags nearby (like "since climbers don't obey the rules, the whole area has to be completely forbidden").
Also check who owns the land of the crag and the approach to avoid issues. This again greatly varies depending on where you live
This post was sourced from https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/24428. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
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