Following a pendulum

Aaron led pitch 8, which started with a pendulum from Dolt Hole (at the end of pitch 7) into the famous Stoveleg crack. This was an even bigger pendulum than the one I had done on pitch 7, but Aaron pulled it off pretty easily. Once he was in the Stovelegs, he was in crack-climbing nirvana for about a hundred feet, and he quickly and easily free-climbed to the anchors.

When he was ready to haul, Aaron radioed down to me to release and lower out the pigs. As I did, I noticed that the new Petzl Swivel that we had put on the haul bag had a tendency to slip down over the gate of the bag's main locking carabiner. It occurred to me that if it were loaded while in that position, it could cross-load the biner across the gate and wrench it open. I took care to keep the swivel in the proper position as I released the bags, and made a note to myself to point this out to Aaron. Unfortunately, I forgot to mention it... another little mistake.

This photo shows me giving a perfect demonstration of how to follow a pendulum. The large shadow above and to the left of me is Dolt Hole. The crack system to my right, along which the rope is running, is the Stovelegs. I am in between them, lowering myself out from the anchor in Dolt Hole as I pull myself to the right and up with my jumars.