I was surprised to see someone sling a tree root and two pieces on the same tree. The not pictured 3rd anchor was solid in rock. What are your thoughts?
Looks like the rope is just passed between the trunk and the root, with the lockers simply clipped to the rope, meaning if one piece pops, you’re just on the rock, kinda sketch
Yeah, the slung root is what caught my eye, but the single cordelette with no knots running through all 3 points looks sketch to me. I don’t think there is actually a knot anywhere. Just a twist at the anchor point. I think if any part of the cordelette rope goes, the whole thing goes. I mean I didn’t want to sit and critique someone elses anchor in depth. But I did get a pretty good look while setting up mine.
The wide angles between all the pieces too.
In this case, it’s conditional. Even assuming the tree is dead it could be a reasonable anchor, but it depends on a couple of factors. First, what loads is the anchor going to see? On TR, you usually don’t have the risk of a high-force fall, but if the route has significant overhang or traverses, you need to be more careful. Second is how strong is the tree/root? In this case, I probably would attach myself to a better anchor uphill and then yank on the trunk and roots to test how solid they are. Tree type also matters - from the little bits of bark & green, I’m guessing this is a cypress of some kind, and they’re very rot-resistant. OTOH if it were something like a birch or a pine I’d be a more hesitant to trust the dead wood.
Putting the third leg of the anchor into rock is a good insurance policy on top of that.
If I trusted the tree enough to sling it I wouldn’t bother with the root too, unless to control direction if fall.
But that tree looks suspect…
I’m certainly not the best person to answer, but since this is a fledgling community, I’ll just say that it looks super good enough to me.
Local beta is that the tree is bomber. It does feel that way but may not stay that way forever
Either way some gear in the cracks cant hurt as backup
I see a bit of green, which tells me the tree is alive. At that size, if it can survive a windstorm, it can survive a climber’s fall.