Alpine Draws Guide: How to Create an Alpine Draw

An alpine draw—also called an alpine quickdraw, long draw, or extendable quickdraw—is a piece of rock climbing equipment that typically consists of two snap-gate, non-locking carabiners (also called biners) and a 60-centimeter sling or piece of webbing. These pieces of gear are essential to rock climbers for their versatility and functionality, helping to increase efficiency on climbs ranging from single-pitch crags to larger multi-pitch alpine climbing routes to ice climbing.

While you may already be carrying other slings for belays, rappel back-ups, or protection while rock climbing, alpine draws offer flexibility. The ability to use the draw with the sling either fully extended (60 centimeters), doubled (making it 30 centimeters), or even tripled (15 centimeters) allows you to minimize the weight you feel when pulling a climbing rope through protection points or over rock prominences—also called rope drag.

Alpine draws come in handy when alpine routes are not straight and will require you to climb in a zigzag fashion up a rock wall. Here are three situations when an alpine draw could be useful:

• When you want to minimize rope drag: Whenever a rope runs through a carabiner, friction between the two objects creates drag or tension. In order to reduce the drag, you want the rope to run through your carabiners without bending, if possible. If you come to a point at which clipping into gear would make your rope zigzag between gear points (because one piece is located to your left and the other is to your right), alpine quickdraws and their adjustable lengths can help bring those distant points closer together, allowing your rope to run straight up and down.
• When you want to avoid “walking” gear: As a result of vibration in the sling, a climbing cam (also called a friend, spring-loaded camming device, or SLCD) may wiggle in the crack it’s placed in, referred to as “walking.” This can happen if a rope running through a carabiner on a cam is taut, risking the cam working itself further into a crack and potentially moving beyond reach. This could negatively impact the efficacy of any belay anchors or belay devices that are dependent upon that cam. Alpine draws allow the rope more play, making it less likely to pull taut and cause walking.
• When you want to avoid clipping short: Similar to walking, alpine draws can help when working with nuts (metal wedges that can be stuck in cracks in rocks for protection). Clipping short, or clipping a carabiner or draw so it is too close to the protection you’re clipping in to, can increase rope drag, cause the direction of pull to change, and risk pulling the nut out of its placement. Alpine draws help ensure a consistent direction of pull.

While the flexibility of alpine draws is a clear advantage to carrying alpine draws with you, there are some disadvantages to keep in mind as you plan your climb:

1. 1. They can move unpredictably. While other quickdraws have keepers—rubber over the end of the dogbone (the semirigid material running between two carabiners) that attaches to the rope-clipping side of a quickdraw—to secure the carabiner and prevent it from rotating, alpine draws do not. Since alpine draw carabiners are free to move around, there’s always the possibility of the carabiner being sideways if you fall, putting all the weight on the minor axis, meaning the inside of the carabiner’s gate and spine (also referred to as “cross load”). Still, the shape of the carabiner should help prevent this from happening in the event of a fall.
2. 2. They can become tangled. Racking alpine draws (carrying them on your person in an organized, functional way as you climb) will result in many strands bunched up next to each other, and they could become tangled. Although they’re not likely to become overwhelmingly tangled, they are not tangle-proof.
3. 3. They can become hazards if damaged. If you take multiple falls on your alpine quickdraws, be sure to check the carabiners for damage. While other quickdraws have a specific carabiner that always clips to bolt hangers, the flexibility of an alpine draw may see you using the same carabiner for a bolt or a piece of gear over and over again. After a fall, your carabiner might have sharp notches on it where the metal was scratched, which could potentially damage your rope.

Even though you can buy premade alpine draws, creating an extendable alpine quickdraw for yourself is fairly simple. Follow these steps:

1. 1. Attach: Attach your two snap-gate carabiners (also called biners) to your looped sling.
2. 2. Loop: Pass one carabiner (the “traveling” biner) through the center of the other one (the “standing” biner), keeping hold of the end of the sling so it doesn’t travel through the biner as well.
3. 3. Secure: Take the carabiner that traveled and clip it to the loop of sling that has been created. You now have an alpine draw.
4. 4. Extend: In the event you want to extend the alpine draw, simply unclip one of the carabiners from all the strands except one and pull the carabiner to effectively dissolve the loop, converting the strands back to a full-length sling.

If the sling becomes twisted around the gear carabiner, it’s preferable to not use the alpine draw until you can safely untangle it, since the strands of the sling will weaken themselves by rubbing against each other. Also, be aware that many short draws have a loop of elastic on the gear end to hold a carabiner in place. Use caution to never use these elastics for alpine quickdraws, as you want to avoid the possibility of a sling ending up attached only by the elastic rather than clipped through the carabiner.

No matter the particular type, all quickdraws—including alpine draws and trad and sport quickdraws—primarily reduce rope drag and consist of two carabiners with either a dogbone (a length of semirigid material) or a sling running between them. Here are a few key features to look at when deciding which quickdraws to add to your climbing gear:

• Carabiner size and weight: Quickdraws for sport climbs will utilize medium or large carabiners. While these add overall weight, they also have larger gate openings (the distance between a carabiner’s nose and a fully open gate), are more durable, and are easier to handle, making them great for sport routes. Quickdraw carabiners for trad climbing are small or medium, which allows you to keep the weight of your trad rack (the trad gear you carry as you climb) to a minimum and save weight on your harness while climbing trad routes. You are able to choose the size of your carabiner for alpine draws, although the smallest, lightest carabiners (such as ultralight carabiners) can be tricky to handle.
• Carabiner type: For alpine draws, wire-gate carabiners, which can be either hooded or snag-free keylock carabiners, are great for easy clipping and unclipping and are more versatile than solid-gate carabiners. For other types of quickdraws, you may see straight, bent, or wire-gate carabiners.
• Dogbones or slings: Dogbones are the semi-rigid material between two carabiners on trad and sport quickdraws. Sport draws have wider dogbones, making them easier to grab since sport climbing requires a lot of pulling on the top quickdraw to gain height. Trad quickdraws, on the other hand, have a skinnier dogbone. Rather than a dogbone, alpine draws have a sling, which is a slightly different material.
• Rubber retainer: Rubber retainers lock a carabiner on the rope end into position, preventing it from shifting and becoming cross-loaded (stressed as a result of not ideal weight distribution). You will find these on sport and trad quickdraws but not on alpine draws.

Climbing is a high-impact activity with an elevated risk of serious injury. Practice, proper guidance, and extensive safety precautions are essential when attempting a climbing pursuit. This article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional instruction or guidance.

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