Anchors

A loop of cord rigged between two or more anchor pieces and tied off at a single master point, a quick way to build a SERENE anchor from gear already on the rack.

Rigged so that each piece in a SERENE anchor carries a fair share of the load, rather than one piece taking it all while the others go slack -- the goal behind techniques like the cordelette, sliding X, and quad anchor.

The single point where an anchor's load gathers, where the climbing or belay rope actually clips in. Built by an equalized rig like a cordelette or quad anchor.

An anchor built to hold a pull from more than one direction, needed any time the load on it could shift, such as the first piece of a traversing pitch or a crevasse rescue anchor.

An anchor built around a tree, boulder, or rock feature rather than placed gear, inspected for solidity the same as any other anchor before trusting it.

A loop of cord tied with two overhand knots, clipped through two of the four resulting strands at the master point, giving full redundancy between two anchor points even if one strand is cut.

A checklist for a sound anchor: Solid, Equalized, Redundant, Efficient, No Extension. Each piece holds load on its own, and no single failure should shock-load the rest.

A sling or cord crossed between two anchor points and twisted into a loop, creating a master point that re-centers itself if the direction of pull shifts. Usually rigged with a limiter knot to cap how far it can extend if one point fails.